Category: Asia

ON THE TRACK OF THE PAST IN SEOUL

10/14/2014

I was recently back in Seoul after publishing Phoenix Rising: A Journey Through South Korea and like all authors after publishing a book, I wanted to find out if what I had discovered and written about almost a year ago still held true.

Was This Really Seoul?

I stayed in a 4-star hotel in Myeongdong, near the Cathedral where all the riots and protests against the military government took place in the 1980’s but also very close to the largely middle class shopping district.

The middle-class atmosphere of the shopping avenues hadn’t changed much, except perhaps the district looked even more like an upscale shopping quarter in any country of the world: designer shops, boutiques, Starbucks, international labels, department stores. What seemed to be missing was the feel of the traditional, rather eccentric, do-it-yourself Seoul I knew when I first lived there – and on many subsequent visits.

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Interview: LEADING YOU INTO UNEXPLORED TERRITORY

8/22/2014

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David Clive Price has been at various times a wine and olive farmer in Italy, a Renaissance scholar, speechwriter for one of the world’s leading banks, a strategic adviser to Asian multinationals, and an explorer of the unknown corners of South Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Myanmar (Burma), to name just a few of his ‘unexplored territories’.

He has written books on the ‘lost civilization’ of rural Italy, music and Catholic conspiracies in Elizabeth I’s England, Buddhism in the daily life of Asia, the secret world of China’s Forbidden City, the intricacies of corporate life in London and Hong Kong, off-the-beaten track Seoul and South Korea, and the underworld of 1980s New York.

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID CLIVE PRICE BY ERIC WENG FROM WWW.UNEXPLOREDTERRITORY.NET

Q: What really floats your boat? Why did you go to the Far East and why now publish all these books about Asia business cultures, along with novels and travelogues set in Asia?

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Chinese Walls

8/6/2014

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My novel Chinese Walls has been published, a story of love and corruption set in the business world of Hong Kong and London.

Following on the success of The Master Key to Asia and The Master Key to China, my new novel (mystery & detective genre) reflects the themes of intercultural relationships and the need for transparency that I have encountered in my professional life in Asia.

THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM

High-powered business strategist Nicholas Powell takes up a position in Hong Kong as an advisor to one of the world’s leading banks during the handover of the territory to China. With his wife back at the spacious family home in the Home Counties, and his children already beginning adult life, Nicholas feels free to acknowledge – and act on – feelings he has kept secret for years.

He soon begins a clandestine relationship with Daniel, a Chinese manager at the bank, and in the first flush of romance promises him a new life in the UK.

After Nicholas moves to London with Daniel, first as an advisor to the Board and then as the prospective advisor to the Chancellor, complications set in. Daniel makes it clear he expects them to be open about their partnership. A powerful mentor shows increasing nervousness about Nicolas’ suitability for the top Government post. And Nicholas is haunted by a one-night stand in Hong Kong.

When the bank’s merger plans are leaked, and the media launches a witch-hunt, Nicholas finds he has become the target of speculation and censure.

As his relationships and career begin to unravel, Nicholas frantically tries to identify the forces he is up again and salvage what matters to him most – though the realization of what that is may have come too late.

The novel is published as an Amazon paperback and as an Amazon Kindle (e-book).

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Phoenix Rising: A Journey Through South Korea

8/2/2014

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Want to discover more of East Asia?

Check out Phoenix Rising: A Journey Through South Korea, a new book in my ‘Unexplored Territory’ travel trilogy that takes the reader from 1988 through the struggles of recent decades to modern times.

After the excellent reception of my novel Chinese Walls: a Story of Love and Corruption in London and Hong Kong (5* reviews on Amazon), and the publication of my bestselling cultural business guides The Master Key to Asia and The Master Key to China, my new book aims to guide readers around this fascinating East Asian country, home to Samsung, Hyundai, and LG, to name just a few of its globally recognized enterprises.

Almost unnoticed by the countries of the west, South Korea has risen like a phoenix spreading its wings throughout the world after the fire, destruction and suffering wrought by the Korean War and the long period of military rule that followed until 1988.

And yet the country is offside for many Western businesses and even for those who have traveled in Asia. Everyone knows something about China and Japan, but very few know about South Korea (except perhaps for its fiery kimchi pickle). This is a serious oversight.

A HUGE FAMILY

South Korea is one of the most exciting countries in the world, with a rich culture based on passion for learning, Confucian values and respect for the family. In many ways, South Korea resembles a huge family, and this sense of unity and purpose is fed by a long series of invasions and the ongoing threat from North Korea. The country moves with extraordinary cohesion at critical moments.

My voyages into every corner of the country reveal a nation on the crest not only of an economic but also of a creative wave that has enormous resonance for the peoples of Southeast and Northeast Asia – and also for the economies of the US, Australasia and Europe.

THE NEW SPRINGING FROM THE OLD

It is a country that is rich in Confucian heritage, ancient traditions and Buddhist devotions. It is also increasingly renowned for cutting-edge movies, theatre, pop music, fashion, and indeed performance of Western classical music. Korean classical performers are to be found all over the world.

If you watch a Korean movie (as I often do), you can be sure that it will push the boundaries of every genre and offer much richer and riskier content, cinematography and acting than movies from almost any other nation in Asia.

This journey into the heart of South Korea takes the reader from the birth of democracy and the hosting of the Olympic games in 1988 to the brash, sophisticated, innovative South Korea of today.

On the way I pause at Korean temples, mountain hermitages, the border with the belligerent North Korea, romantic islands, and ancient dynastic capitals to evoke a portrait of a country in constant, dynamic flux and yet reliant on its centuries-old culture and traditions.

The book is available at http://www.davidcliveprice.com/books, on Amazon and in all good book stores for order (ISBN 9781500451462)

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ON THE TRACK OF THE PAST IN SEOUL

Interview: LEADING YOU INTO UNEXPLORED TERRITORY

Chinese Walls

Phoenix Rising: A Journey Through South Korea

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