Child Inmates of South Korea's Immigration Jail
Helene* had a challenge that no mother would want. She, with her husband, was a refugee in a foreign land with a foreign language, trying despite all odds to raise her children as best she could. If this weren’t enough of a challenge, Helene was in jail, locked up
Undocumented Workers: International Students As South Korea's Migrant Labor
One day in his elective class, Cương just couldn’t stay awake. Whenever the professor started talking, Cương’s eyelids started to feel heavy. His head dropped down to his desk, seemingly on its own. The professor noticed. After class, Cương, an international student from Vietnam, explained to her that
Battle Over South Korea's Constitutional Reform Focuses on LGBT Rights
On Sep. 2, 2017, there was a rally in downtown Gwangju the likes of which the city had never seen before. Streets were blocked off and a large stage was set up in the heart of the city. With drummers, dancers, and singers, at a glance it didn’t look
KÉ Interview: 10 Years in the Life of an Unregistered Laborer
He came here to “fulfill his Korean dream,” I was told. But I wasn’t talking to a teenage boy looking to become the next K-Pop star. He is an ordinary, working-class person from Vietnam, coming to South Korea to work long hours in physically gruelling jobs. Despite
A Lost Decade for Human Rights in South Korea
In November 2015 I was invited to be a judge at a debate contest for university students. The topic was whether Kaesong Industrial Complex was helping the human rights situation for average North Koreans. At the end of the day, I heard one of the winners remark that he was
KÉ Interview: Meet a Man Who Farms Your Abalone
A satellite picture of Nohwado, an island off the southwest coast of South Korea, shows numerous farms in the surrounding waters. (Source: Naver Map) Satellite photos of Nohwado are striking. Rows upon rows of neatly arranged black rectangles fill the waters surrounding the island, as if the farmland continued out
Gwangju: the City of Democracy
Gwangju, in the southwest of South Korea, is admittedly hard to sell as a place to live or even visit. The economically stagnant former capital of South Jeolla Province, it doesn’t have glistening shopping malls, stunning architecture or expansive green spaces. Mixing drab residential areas with industrial
What Happened to "Safe Korea"?
A few weeks ago, I was walking through my small town in North Jeolla Province when I saw a building under construction. Two floors up, a sign proclaimed, “There is no exception to safety, no premonition of accidents.” Five stories above that, directly in line with the sign, a worker
"Damunhwa" Is No Multiculturalism: A Congolese Refugee Reflects on Life in South Korea
Meet Yiombi Thona, one of South Korea’s highest-profile refugees. He came to South Korea in 2002 after fleeing his native Congo under fear of arrest. As a member of the Congo intelligence service, he had leaked documents revealing government corruption and was in turn accused of trying to lead
Weekly Brief: Dec. 12th - 18th
Nicaragua breaks up protest at South Korean-owned factory Normally union-friendly Nicaragua stamped down on a union protest at a South Korean-owned factory after workers complained about working conditions. The company fired the union leadership and called the police, who detained a dozen workers. The two countries signed an FTA just
Fines Won’t Change Discrimination in Job Search
A fresh graduate from university, looking to land his or her first full-time job, has a number of steps to go through. Scouring job boards for openings, painstakingly editing and re-editing her resume, and, of course, going to a studio for a professional profile photo to attach to the application
Weekly Brief: Dec. 5th - 11th
Corruption at heart of Presidential scandal In a rare scene, lawmakers questioned the CEOs of nine major conglomerates on live television. The CEOs represent the largest companies in the country, each suspected of buying favors from the government through Choi Soon-sil, the President’s confidante. The most common answer? “I