Face-Eating 'Zombie' Probably Not on Drugs
It’s Monday morning, you’re back at work, tired and bored already and… what?! The top-trending news term on portal site Naver is “Zombie drug.” Irresistible. Click. Cue a string of headlines reporting a story originally run by broadcaster SBS, the gist of which is this: A Southeast Asian
Trump Touches Down; Craves Red Meat
Disclaimer: Don’t take this seriously. Officials at the Blue House scrambled to avert a diplomatic crisis early on Tuesday as U.S. president Donald Trump flew from Japan to South Korea. Several members of Trump’s entourage confirmed that the U.S. president had been left “seething” after
Ropeway, Airport Encroaching on National Parks
It’s a familiar sight for anyone exploring the South Korean countryside: Just when you least expect it, a row of giant concrete columns newly growing out of a rice paddy, rising upwards in readiness for another highway or high-speed railway to be laid across the top. This is
Under Moon: Business as Usual for S Korea's Nuclear Power?
President Moon Jae-in’s commitment to renewable energy was thrown into doubt on Friday when a specially-appointed public debate committee recommended resuming construction of reactors 5 and 6 at Shin-Kori nuclear power plant. In his election manifesto earlier this year, Moon pledged to halt construction of new nuclear and
Moon Jae-in May Not Live Up to His Promise in "Oxy Affair"
Victims of South Korea’s deadly humidifier disinfectant scandal, which has killed dozens of consumers and left hundreds more injured for life, had pinned their hopes on the new Moon Jae-in administration to provide compensation. But the signals now coming from the government are mixed. Humidifiers are widely used in
Führer Causes Furor: Absurd "Mein Kampf" Edition Irks Expats
Earlier in August, British expatriate author Michael Breen was wandering around a branch of Kyobo Book Centre, one of the capital’s largest bookstores, in downtown Seoul. Amid the hundreds of rows of books, something odd caught his eye: On a shelf of recommended reads, next to Deborah Lipstadt’s
Meet the S. Korean Companies Destroying Indonesia's Virgin Rainforest
In the 1850s, travelling British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described New Guinea as “a country which contained more strange and new and beautiful natural objects than any other part of the globe.” Almost 150 years later, American ornithologist Bruce Beehler echoed Wallace’s sense of awe, calling part of the
Alpabet or Alphabet? The Case for a New Hangeul
“I heard from the horse’s mouth it’s the most scientific alphabet in the world,” I once overheard a South Korean student say as he showed a Westerner a display on Hangeul, Korea’s indigenous alphabet, at the National Museum of Korea. Get over it, I thought, annoyed at
Beyond the Static: Renewable Energy in South Korea
As the sun rises over the mountains of Gangwon Province, the valleys are still full of mist. Cuckoos call and frogs cross the roads. Above the fields of maize and ginseng, another silent crop prepares to gorge itself on the intensifying sunlight. Soon, the thousands upon thousands of photovoltaic panels
Who Is to Blame for Inequality? The Hell Joseon Debate Rumbles On
Middle-aged KAIST professor Lee Byung-tae found himself at the center of a social media furore of Trumpian proportions earlier last week after wading into the debate that is South Korea’s inter-generational divide. At 5:26 pm on Jul. 16, just minutes after posting links to articles on South Korea’
Praise for Nuclear Industry Grows. Guess Who Is Paying for It.
As Moon Jae-in’s government looks for ways to implement its promised move away from nuclear power, publicly-owned Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) appears to have dramatically upped its spending on pro-nuclear publicity. Data obtained by independent lawmaker Yoon Jong-o and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) and
It's Just Plain Weir-ed: The Plan to Liberate Seoul's Han River
As yet another drought keeps South Korea’s reservoirs and waterways in the news, campaigners are calling for Seoul’s iconic Han River to be restored to its natural state. The news may come as a surprise to many who view the wide, placid river each day from its bridges