[KS] charcoal in yeontans?

[Ruediger Frank]

Dear all,
the yeontan thread has become quite long; apologies if the below has already been mentioned. 
Based on my own observations and talks with locals, I can say that yeontan are still very much in use in NK. I saw numerous small piles of coal dust (a centner or two) on the roadside in cities in Hamgyeongnamdo last October. They were pressed into briquets right on the spot - same shape as the ones I had seen in SK and in China. Lack of proper heating during wintertime is a major problem in NK, and as far as I was told, not everyone can afford yeontan. So much for nostalgia... And for our often too exclusively food-centered discussion of shortage in NK. Being cold can be as painful as eing hungry. Needless to say that this is a shame for a country so rich in high-quality anthracite; although we also must concede that the NK coal exports to China have allegedly been reduced a few weeks ago to cover (more of) domestic demand.
A side note on the smoking trucks: I saw many of them in the past years, mostly outside of Pyongyang. Poor folks on the open platforms were covered in smoke but endured it stoically. At least they had a ride... I think the engines are woodgas powered, and it seems possible to use either fresh wood or charcoal. Here's the wiki link for some technical details. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas My parents told me that these were widespread in Germany after WWII.
Best,
Rudiger Frank


on Samstag, 10. Dezember 2011 at 21:25 you wrote:


I am now recalling how we used to have a jump-start
on making snowmen by rolling those used cylinders
of yeontan ash in the snow. It made for an odd, lumpy
rhythm to the construction of the big snowball. 
I also recall how, when the freshly-expended yeontan
were left outside, we would often annoy the adults
(and each other) by pissing on them and creating
the foulest-smelling cloud of urine-steam.
And, of course, the carbon monoxide poisoning,
which I imagine nearly every Korean over 40 has
experienced!
Cheers,
HIF



-----Original Message-----
From: Brother Anthony <ansonjae at sogang.ac.kr>
To: Korean Studies Discussion List <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
Sent: Sat, Dec 10, 2011 5:27 am
Subject: [KS] charcoal in yeontans?

I think that the confusion comes from the etymology of 'tan' whether in yeontan 

(briquette) or seoktan (coal). The Chinese character 'tan' is (if anyone can 

read it online) '炭' which in Korea is identified as "숯 탄" (sut tan) where sut / 

숯 is the Korean word meaning 'charcoal'. I think there is no doubt at all that 

the modern domestic briquette is and always has been made of anthracite and part 

of the confusion comes from a lot of Koreans (and perhaps others) not knowing 

what 'charcoal' is, how it is made, or how it differs from other forms of 

'coal'. The internet is full of mentions of "charcoal yeontans" but that does 

not make for proof, being only a sign of fairly natural confusion. All technical 

descriptions specify that the briquette is made using anthracite.



In recent years the yeontan has become something of an endangered species, as 

described by the Korea Times in 2007 http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2011/04/123_11874.html 

(an article where the word 'charcoal' manages to creep in once despite its 

stress on the shortage of anthracite). One result is probably a large increase 

in the number of broken limbs on icy slopes in winter, since in the Good Old 

Days we used to thankfully crush used yeontans all the way down the hills when 

it snowed. The clouds of filthy dust that rose above Seoul in the wind after the 

ice and snow were gone were an unhappy by-product, as were the cases of black 

lung disease among people living close to the huge mounds of powdered coal in 

the yards of yeontan factories.



The nicest way of looking at yeontans is in a poem by An Do-Hyeon:



One coal briquette 



There are lots of other ways of putting it 

but it's as if  what we call life 

means becoming a coal briquette 

for someone other than myself. 



From the day the floors first feel chilly till the following spring, 

the loveliest thing on all the roads of Korea 

is the briquette truck chugging 

its way up steep inclines with all its might. 

I eat piping hot rice and soup every day, 

but it's as if I had not realized that once the flame has caught hold, 

each briquette grows scorching hot, 

seeming to know just what's required of it. 

It's as if I have been unable to become a briquette for anyone so far 

because  I was afraid of the way, once love has caught fully hold 

all that remains is a sorry handful of ash.



On careful thought, 

it's as if what we call life 

is pulverising me 

in order to make a safe path where someone other than myself 

can walk at ease on slippery mornings after snow has fallen 

and I had failed to realize that. 



A final bit of nostalgia: it used to be such fun to get home late on a freezing 

evening and find that the yeontans in the stove had gone out because no one had 

been there to change them, so one had to start all over again and it took ages 

before they were properly lit and glowing. The young generations don't know what 

they have missed.



Brother Anthony

Sogang University etc







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