When We Don't Go to College
“If I don’t go to college, I don’t belong to a community.” As of 2016, nearly 70 percent of South Koreans had at least a bachelor’s degree. For most students, the ultimate goal of a high school education is admission to a
Nothing Says Chuseok Quite Like Spam
Half a century ago, most South Koreans would never have imagined that in the 21st century, canned meat from the U.S. — not exactly seen as a culinary delicacy in its motherland — would be the most popular gift for Chuseok, the Korean holiday marking the harvest season. Back
If a Nuclear Bomb Falls on Seoul, Where Do You Cook Pork Belly?
“If a nuclear bomb falls on Seoul, where do you cook pork belly?” How are South Koreans talking about North Korea’s nuclear threats? This is another question we get asked very often. Here’s a rather ingenious take from a South Korean start-up, Geekble.
North Korea: Brother, Enemy, Not My Problem
Everybody in South Korea knows the song “Our Dream is Unification.” I sang it in elementary school. I watched as Kim Jong-il and then South Korean president Kim Dae-jung sang it in Pyongyang at the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000. And I unwittingly teared up when Park Geun-hye, the recently
S. Korea Has a Female Foreign Minister. But "Women Are Still Inferior."
Segye Ilbo reporter Kim Ye-jin was having dinner on Sep. 14 with fellow journalists covering the foreign ministry. A high-ranking ministry official was also present. This wasn’t unusual; it’s typical for journalists reporting on government ministries to dine with officials. But unusually, Kim wrote about the
Dog Meat: Not Your K-Food Poster Child
Dog meat is a part of Korean cuisine and as well-known internationally as kimchi, but unlike kimchi, it’s not not on any K-food poster. Understandably so. It’s an ugly pus in South Korea’s global branding machine, and it resurfaces whenever there’s a
Young S. Korean Speaks: "What the Fuck is North Korea's Problem?"
On the eve of the 69th anniversary of North Korea, outsiders are watching for any sign of threats from Pyongyang. Many are asking what young South Koreans think about these threats. We bring to you the passionate voice of a young South Korean: Guk Beom-geun is the founder of
Keep the Disabled Out: Tyranny of the 'Normal'
On Sep. 5, residents in Seoul’s Gangseo district gathered at a local elementary school to discuss the future of a public real estate project. On the one side were the parents of children with disabilities, who wanted a school specially adapted to their children’s needs. On
KÉ Journalism School: What the Students Taught Us
One class, Sewoong and I were talking to the KÉ: Journalism School students about how journalists use social media. We were talking about Twitter, showing them the tweets and retweets, why it has been effective, what it means in the world of news. Then we asked them if they
Sleep Forever: The Morbid Road Signs in S. Korea
I love driving through the Gyeongbu Highway, cruising the five or so hours from Seoul down to Busan. There are plenty of rest stops, gas stations and stretches of rice fields encased by the mountains. At this time of the year, the rice fields are emerald green, with spots of
Those Texts Between Samsung and S. Korean Journalists
“Dear respected Mr. Chang Choong-ki! …. I have finally mustered the courage to send you this text message, after hesitating again and again. My son XXX applied to the XXX department of Samsung Electronics…. His application number is 1XXXXXXX, and he graduated from XXX University with a degree
Where Are All the Women in South Korea's Democracy Protests?
Moon Young-me was one of the five million South Koreans estimated to have come out onto the streets in June 1987. She was bare-faced, wearing no makeup or fancy clothing. That was the norm for the student protest culture at the time. She was a 21-year-old history major, a transfer