In an effort to recruit more people into the U.S. army who speak strategic languages, the government approved of a program to fast track citizenship for these enlistees.  Guess which immigrant population had the most people coming to the army’s doorstep?  Koreans were the largest group of the 8,000 applicants.  The process for attaining U.S. citizenship can be long and tiring but this provided many good people who are working and earning an honest wage to finally make their American dreams come true.  Go to WSJ for more on Uncle Sam’s latest recruitment tactics.

May was a coming out party for many because there were numerous people who made a big splash during this past month.

• Park Ji-Sung became the first Asian player ever to participate in the biggest soccer game in the world: the UEFA Championship.
• Ji Young Oh won the Sybase Classic on the LPGA tour.  Danny Lee, the heralded PGA tour rookie finally made his first cut.
• Three Korean-American actors played significant roles in three summer blockbuster movies:  Daniel Henney in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, John Cho in Star Trek, and Moon Bloodgood in Terminator Salvation.
• The Far East Movement and Epik High went coast to coast for their first U.S. tour.  Maggie Kim released her third album.  The Wonder Girls extended their stay in New York and showed the world that their English has improved.
• A handful of Korean-Americans announced their intentions to run for political office.
• Sung J. Woo published his first novel “Everything Asian.”
• Liz Chae received a Special Jury award at the Tribeca Film Festival
• So Yong Kim keeps winning every award at every festival she enters Treeless Mountain
• It wasn’t all good and dandy because there are still two journalist (Euna Lee and Laura Ling) still detained in North Korea.  Kim Jong-Il keeps trying to pick a fight with the world and former president Roh of South Korea committed suicide.
• Dan Choi was dismissed from the army because they found out he was gay.

We may be leaving out a few other events and people but as you can see, May was a coming out party for many.  Looks like the summer is going to be a whole lot of fun.

For those who live in New York City or California, you know about Pinkberry and their long lines.  Perhaps you order yours with mochi and blueberries or maybe with captain crunch.  Whatever the combo, Pinkberry has taken the east and west coast by storm with its yummy frozen yogurt.  If you’ve placed an order among their 73 stores then you’ve probably contributed to the building of the Pinkberry founder’s home in Malibu.  Young Lee and Shelly Hwang (co-founders) live in a 3,000 square foot home who’s interior is designed by the same gentleman who designed the stores:  Guy Cnop of Linea Inc.  In this week’s Real Estate section of the Wall Street Journal, the house that Pinkberry built is the featured home.  Go to WSJ to find out more about their residence.

QUICK AND EASY KOREAN COOKING: More Than 70 Everyday Recipes. By Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee. (Chronicle Books, $22.95.) Until David Chang’s book comes out this fall. …

The families of Euna Lee and Laura Ling have finally broken their silence and they’re speaking out prior to the June 4 trial date in North Korea of the two journalist.

“Our families have been very quiet because of the extreme sensitivity of the situation, but given the fact that our girls are in the midst of a global nuclear stand-off, we cannot wait any longer.”

You can make a difference by contacting your congressman or senator. Act now!

Details from their Facebook page:

Monday June 1st.
Schedule of appearences of Lisa Ling:

The Today Show (NBC)
the 7AM block on Monday morning.

Larry King show (CNN)
9pm (EST) l 6pm (PST)

Please tune in and hear from Lisa Ling.
————————————————————-
Journalist Lisa Ling, Laura’s sister received one letter from Laura, dated May 15, 2009. Below are excerpts from Laura’s letter, read by her cousin Angie Wang, at the vigil.

When I first got here, I cried so much. Now, I cry less. I try very hard to think about positive things, but sometimes it is hard too. Some days I get to go outside and get some fresh air. In the early evening, I do some stretching. I also sit and meditate. I breathe deeply and think about positive things that have happened in the day. For example, I think “I’m lucky I made it through another day.” I’m lucky my family is working so hard to get me released. I’m thinking about you all constantly and how fortunate I am to have an amazing family. Stay strong and please take care of yourselves. That is my request. Know that I’m thinking of you and dreaming about being reunited with you all again.

All my love,

Laura

Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee, their cameraman Mitch Koss and their Korean Chinese guide had entered China to interview North Korean defectors living along the PRC-DPRK border near the Tumen River. According to JoongAng Ilbo, a Seoul based newspaper, they were detained by North Korean border guards on March 17 as they were walking along the shallow Tumen River into North Korea. Although Koss and the Korean Chinese guide were able to escape captured by the North Korean, Koss was detained by Chinese Border guards, and released.

North Korea has stated “they’re suspected of hostile acts”, and has charged them with spying and illegally crossing the border. Their trial date is set for June 4. If found guilty, they could be served a sentence of five to ten years in prison.

Park Ji-Sung of South Korea made soccer history by becoming the first Asian person to participate in the UEFA Championship in Rome.  He is a midfielder who is on the same line as Cristiano Ronaldo – considered to be the best soccer player in the world – and Wayne Rooney of Manchester United.  Unfortunately for Man U, they lost 2-0 to FC Barcelona.  However, it was a big step for not only Korean soccer but for Asian soccer by Park Ji-Sung’s participation in the most elite soccer game.  Park Ji-Sung was on Manchester United last year and had contributed to the team reaching the UEFA Championship game, but he was excluded from the squad for the final game.  That exclusion became the biggest disappointment for Park Ji-Sung, but this past Wednesday he started and played most of the game.  He actually came closest to scoring for Man U at the beginning of the game.  The New York Times covered his special story this week so take a read or watch the MBC series below on Do You Know Park Ji-Sung.

Believe it kids.  There is an officially sanctioned competition for air guitar and the regional competition rolled into town last night in New York.  The tour slogan is “25 Cities, 1 Winner, 0 Guitars.”  Yes, I said air guitar.  And one of the greatest champions of Air Guitar (2003 Int’l Champ) is a Korean-American from North Carolina: David Jung who goes by the stage name C-Diddy.  He even has a worldwide fan site because of his legendary status as champion Air Guitarist.  He wears a Hello Kitty breast plate and I can’t tell you which guitar brand he uses to strum because it is air guitar.  He was featured in the documentary Air Guitar Nation which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival a couple years ago.  Hard to believe but there’s a competition for everything.  Find out more at the US Air Guitar web site.  See below for more of C-Diddy’s performances.

If you watched last night’s riveting spelling bee competition, you’ll notice the absence of Korean-Americans in the finals.  Damn it!  Why can’t Koreans spell?  OK, it wasn’t a complete wash out.  There was Esther Park who made it to round 5 but she got stumped with the word “barbotte,” which is a dice game according to the Internet wiki.  Unfortunately Miss Park misspelled it as “barbot.”  Oh well, maybe next year.  Thanks for representing!

The Kogi truck took LA by storm.  Twittering its locations across Southern California, the media picked up on how the Kogi truck utilized social networking to organically gain a following.   It also helped that the tacos were pretty darn good.   What an interesting recipe combining bulgogi and tortillas.  Do you ask for salsa or gojoojang on the taco? ABC News, the LA Times, the New York Times and many other major publications did separate features on the popularity of the Kogi truck.  If you go on YouTube, people chronicle their hunt for the Kogi truck.  It’s almost reaching cult status.  Well, it’s now inspired Gourmet Magazine to bring the Korean tacos to your home.  Check out the recipes on how to make bulgogi tacos and kimchi fried rice.  Of course it’s always risky to try out a Korean recipe from an American publication, but this is fusion food so definitely worth trying out.

Bulgogi

Adapted from Kye Soon Hong
Makes enough for about 18 tacos

Note: the same marinade may be used for kalbi, thin-sliced bone-in short ribs

• 1 1/2 pounds beef rib eye, thinly sliced (preferably from a Korean or Japanese market)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons mirin
• 2 teaspoons water

Combine all ingredients and marinate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Cook meat on a grill or in a skillet, then chop for tacos.

Dwaeji (Spicy Pork) Bulgogi

Adapted from Kye Soon Hong
Makes enough for about 12 tacos

• 1 pound pork shoulder, thinly sliced (preferably from a Korean or Japanese market)
• 3 tablespoons coarse-ground hot Korean red pepper powder
• 1 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• pinch of black pepper

Combine all ingredients and marinate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Cook meat on a grill or in a skillet, then chop for tacos.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Adapted from Kye Soon Hong
Makes about 5 cups, enough for 4 burritos

• 4 cups cooked rice, cooled and chilled in refrigerator
• 4 strips bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cups Napa cabbage kimchi, the riper the better, diced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• salt
• sesame seeds, for garnish
• sliced scallions, white and green parts, for garnish

1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the kimchi and cook several minutes.

2. Raise the heat to high, add the rice and stir-fry several minutes, until rice is beginning to brown.

3. Stir in butter and sesame oil. Season with sesame seed and salt to taste and garnish with scallions.

Napa-Romaine Slaw

Makes about 6 cups, enough for many tacos, with leftovers

For the dressing:
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

For the salad:
• 4 cups (5 ounces) shredded romaine lettuce
• 2 cups (3 ounces) shredded Napa cabbage
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) thinly sliced onion
• toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Toss the salad in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of the dressing. Add more dressing to taste and garnish generously with sesame seeds.

For all those soccer lovers out there – excuse me, it’s called futbol – imagine if you were on the same forward line as Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, two of the biggest names in all of soccer.  It looks like Park Ji-Sung will complete that trio tonight and become the first Korean player to be part of the UEFA League Championship game, when his Manchester United goes up against FC Barcelona.  Last year he was left off the squad for the final game, but this year it looks like he’ll get a chance to start.  Read more>