We are inviting RAS members and friends to the RAS online lecture via Zoom.

G.I.s in the Morning Calm:
The American military in Korea,
1968 through 1986.

Lecturer: Martin Limón
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2021. 07:30PM (Seoul)

Summary:

In this March 9, 2021 presentation to the Royal Asiatic Society, Martin Limón hopes to shed light on the G.I. experience in Korea.  As a young soldier he was stationed in the Republic of Korea on five separate tours for a grand total of ten years; during which time he studied the language and culture and traveled extensively throughout the ROK.

The duties he performed for the United States Army were unusually varied.  He worked in the 8^th Army Public Affairs Office, wrote by-lined stories for the Stars & Stripes, routed top secret messages at the Yongsan Compound communications center, edited a small unit newspaper for the 1^st Signal Brigade, served as a 105mm Howitzer gun crew chief near the DMZ, evaluated aerial imagery of North Korean military deployments and, finally, managed the enlisted club at Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu.  In his off duty time, Limón developed skills at blackjack card counting that not only supplemented his income but allowed him even more opportunity to travel.

Eventually, military orders forced him to return to the United States.  Facing the culture shock of becoming a US Army recruiter in Oakland, California, he yielded to a desire he’d long felt.  He began to write mystery stories about his experiences in Korea.  They featured the inevitable misunderstandings between the US Army and Korean society and the unrelenting hierarchical tension that exists within the army itself.

During the talk, he will use an autobiographical approach to explain how life in the Land of the Morning Calm directly impacted the stories he has written and the characters he has created.

Bio:

A native of Southern California, Martin Limón spent twenty years in the US Army, ten of them stationed in South Korea.  While still on active duty he began writing on a Smith Corona portable typewriter and after four years of trying, he published the first of what has now become over fifty short stories.  His debut novel, Jade Lady Burning, featured 8^th Army Criminal Investigation Agents George Sueño and Ernie Bascom.  It was published in 1992 and was selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.  Since then, George and Ernie have appeared in a total of fourteen novels, in addition to Nightmare Range, a short story collection.  The fifteenth novel in the series, War Women, is scheduled for publication in the summer of 2021.

** Zoom link: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89042989626?pwd=ZFZNVXZheS9wdjlZL1g5aHJHT0ZMdz09
Meeting ID: 890 4298 9626
Passcode: 916395
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