Se-Woong Koo: On Waning Enthusiasm for Unification in NYT
North Korea comes to the Pyeongchang Olympics, but not all South Koreans are happy about rolling out the red carpet for the northern brethren. Our publisher Se-Woong Koo wrote about young South Koreans’ declining support for unification with North Korea in the opinion pages of the New York
Why Are South Korea and North Korea Enemies?
The first thing that needs to be addressed is, are South and North Korea enemies? My short answer would be yes and no: They are frenemies in a love-hate relationship — a result of a complicated history of division that originates in the Cold War. To get into the details,
Ho Kyeong Jang: On #MeToo in South Korea for BBC World
Did #MeToo just start in South Korea? Well, yes and no. There hasn’t been the sort of huge, widespread hashtag campaign that #MeToo has prompted; but there has been similar hashtag campaigns in the same spirit. Korea Exposé writer Ho Kyeong Jang spoke to BBC World about the
Why Are South Koreans "Meh" About North Korea in the Olympics?
#Olympics: Why are some South Koreans “meh” about North Korea’s presence? Sports diplomacy? Symbolic peace gestures? Sure, it’s not the first time North and South Korea have done all this. But remember, the last time the two even communicated was in February 2016. At
Se-Woong Koo: On US Policy Toward N Korea for Al Jazeera
Our publisher Se-Woong Koo wrote in Al Jazeera’s opinion pages about the implications of the recent decision by the Trump administration to abort the nomination of a hardliner for the post of ambassador to South Korea.
Kimchi Premium and S. Korea's Cryptocurrency Mess
On Jan. 30, the government regulations regarding the cryptocurrency market in South Korea went into effect. What is the ‘kimchi premium’? Check out the video above. For a more detailed look at the premium and the government regulations, read Raphael’s “Kimchi Premium? Arbitrage? Regulations?
Juwon Park: On Cryptocurrency for PRI
An excerpt of business writer Juwon Park’s “I am a 24-year-old South Korean and my hopes are in cryptocurrency” has been published on PRI’s The World. “Cryptocurrency … is like a ray of sunshine for me,” Park, who recently invested about $2,500
K-pop 101: Why Do Artists Keep Singing "Niga"?
Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with the N-word. Niga (니가) in Korean literally means ‘you.’ More specifically, 니 (ni) means ‘you’; 가 (ga) is a particle that indicates the noun attached to it is the subject of the sentence. K-pop, which stands for Korean popular music, is
What Are North and South Korea’s Propaganda Loudspeakers?
Walk around Seoul and the chances are you’ll hear catchy K-pop tunes playing out of various shops, bars and restaurants. But did you know that North Korean soldiers may be humming along to the same songs in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) — the inter-Korean frontier, also known as the
How Influential Is Islam in South Korea?
Islam has a very small presence in South Korea. As recently as 2005, the religion section in the country’s census did not offer “Muslim” as a category. Currently, the number of Muslims in South Korea reportedly stands at roughly 200,000, or about 0.4 percent of the population.
Ben Jackson: On Korea's Problem of Apartment Development in Internazionale
Our environment editor Ben Jackson’s article “A Complex Issue: The Apart-ization of South Korea” has been translated into Italian and reprinted in Internazionale (not yet available online).
Se-Woong Koo: On Inter-Korean Engagement for Al Jazeera
Our publisher Se-Woong Koo wrote for Al Jazeera’s opinion section on the significance of North Korea’s planned participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month in light of Washington’s growing determination to wage war.