Cornell professor attracts attention in Korea for bow at Kim Dae-jung memorial.

Looks like Cornell University's Mark Selden (마크셀던) has attracted some attention in Korea for his traditional Korean bow. An excerpt from the Korea Times:

When Mark Selden, an East Asian studies scholar from the United States, got on his knees to perform the traditional Korean bow "jeol" at a memorial altar for the late former President Kim Dae-jung, Sunday, he didn't really think of it as a big deal.

"It seemed a sensible thing to do," said the professor from Cornell University. He actually bowed in the traditional manner twice, the first at Severance Hospital in a visit to the former president.

In a recent telephone interview with The Korea Times, Selden said he'd had good tutors during his first experience: namely, the eight Korean people in front of him who had stood in a line to do the same.

But it was Selden's bow at the funeral in front of City Hall that caught the attention of Korean media, when the American stood next to Wada Haruki, the Japanese scholar and activist who was an advocate in the campaign to rescue Kim from the death penalty during the previous authoritarian regime.

"Wada bowed his head, but I kneeled," Selden said. "Each of us did what seemed right."

The photograph in that Korea Times article was contributed by a Korean blogger. The article says that a video of the bow also exists.