Tommy Tran is a PhD student at the University of California at Los Angeles in the department of Asian Languages and Cultures. His primary focus is urban ethnography in Korean Studies.

In this interview he discusses what happens when Jeju Island, a former periphery of Korea, becomes a premier testing ground for development highlighting the contradiction between urban expansion and cultural and ecological preservation.

He also speaks about his (extremely painful) 7 day, 150 km pilgrimage around the entire perimeter of Jeju (in straw sandals) in 2011 and his relationship with Korean Son Buddhism.

You can read more about his work at his blog, Jeju Palimpsest:
https://jinmunhak.wordpress.com

Music on this episode is 바니걸스 with 파도 (Banigeoulseu- Wave) circa early '80s. Watch their video on youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL5hyxwUuRY