There is a park in South Korea called Haesindang Park, and its most noteworthy feature is that the park is essentially an elaborate celebration of the erect penis. One might guess that it was dreamt up by Ron Jeremy (or his South Korean equivalent) but in fact, its origins derive from a sweet and supernatural folk tale from centuries ago. The park is located at the fishing port of Sinnam on the eastern coast of the country.

The basic situation is a familiar one in port and fishing cities across the span of history—as in, the husband is a sailor or a fisherman and is often away at sea while the wife waits at home. So jump back a few centuries: a maiden named Aebawi is married to a fisherman in Sinnam. One day before boarding his boat, the fisherman places his wife on some rocks, with a heartfelt promise to come back soon. But a storm intervenes and prevents his quick return, and poor Aebawi perishes after being swept from the rocks. But due to her premature demise, Aebawi’s purportedly virginal soul remains in the area, and the disquiet in the waters cause the fish to abandon the region in search of a calmer locale. Later on, a man wanders by and chooses Aebawi’s rock as a place to fish. Not wanting to leave his fishing line unattended, he drops trou and relives himself in the waters. The sight of the man’s penis pleases Aebawi’s soul, which has a calming effect on the waters, so the fish decide that they can return to the area.

What a charminglly oddball rationale for a park as interesting as this! Haesindang Park is very much a family-friendly location, and people are unconcerned about their children being confronted with all manner of phalluses everywhere. I have never been to Korea but this park is a strong reason to visit!
 

 

 
More dicks after the jump…

 
In the list of the top 10 countries ranked by the raw number of plastic surgery procedures undertaken, South Korea stands out for being the smallest country in terms of population—thus, pound for pound, it’s fair to consider the nation fairly obsessed with plastic surgery. So perhaps it’s not so surprising that South Korea made the news this week for a mildly gruesome story involving plastic surgery. In the posh Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea (yes, that Gangnam district), which features a so-called “Beauty Belt” neighborhood with dozens of plastic surgery purveyors, the offices of one such joint briefly displayed a pair of impressive translucent cases filled with the jawbone parts of roughly 1,000 patients.

For reasons that resist brief summary, chin reduction surgery is very common in Korea. I would show you some impressive before/after pics from South Korea, but the ones I was looking at didn’t seem legit to me, and my command of the Korean language gets a little pyeongbeomhan after my third glass of soju. You can see a few typical pics here.

This diagram depicts one of the typical chin procedures:
 

 

Every jawbone in the glass cases bore a label with the name of the respective patient. The clinic in question mostly specializes in jaw procedures, as many women desire a thinner facial look. A procedure to narrow one’s face by shaving off sections of jawbone to get a more V-shaped chin costs more than $3,000.

The sculptures, if they can be so called, have gotten the clinic in a bit of legal trouble, as they “contravened regulations requiring the disposal and incineration of body parts removed in medical procedures.” An official from the Gangnam district office “visited the clinic after some people filed complaints” and intends to levy a fine of three million won ($2,796), which, coincidentally, is pretty close to the price of one jaw reduction surgery.
 
via RocketNews24

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Creepy masks give you extreme plastic surgery look

Shocking news—professional StarCraft, the biggest national sport in South Korea, has apparently been rigged by the mob for years. Infected Hive! INFECTED HIVE!

We all know South Korea takes their StarCraft seriously, but here’s a new window into just how seriously: Reports of widespread match-fixing and illegal betting is rocking the pro-gamer StarCraft community in the country, literally shaming some of the most popular professional StarCraft players into retiring.

As Gamepron reports, “various pro gamers” were involved in rigging their matches in coordination with illegal gambling groups, having some players intentionally lose their matches as well as leak replay files of their matches to said gambling groups. But it wasn’t just a few current players involved in the deceit—evidently the widespread match-fixing involved retired players and coaches who helped the gambling rings get in contact with the current players in the first place.

And what’s more, reports state that the e-sports organizers in South Korea knew about the match-fixing (although for how long isn’t clear), and attempted to resolve the issue themselves before actually discussing “the possibility of co-existing with the illegal betting sites.”

(1up: Starcraft Rigged!)

(Previously on Dangerous Minds: The Odd World of Professional Starcraft Players)

(Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty)

If the parliamentarians in South Korea get this riled up over media reform, I’m left to wonder what a Battle Royale over universal healthcare might look like on our own Senate floor.  I got my eye on you, Baucus.  You look like a podium crasher!

Debate Ends With Massive Brawl in South Korean Parliament