Revisiting: My Political Coming of Age
Almost every Saturday for the last twenty weeks or so, my friends and I took a stroll down to Gwanghwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul to join the protesters. We were young, awkward, and clueless. It didn’t take us long to realize that it was the first time, too, for
Jungle: A Drag Queen and Man
“Have you heard of Junglé?” Alex, a young French director, asked me with excitement. On Jun. 16, I met up with Team Ohioh, a Seoul-based French-Korean video production team at their office in Seoul. The only thing I had been told in prior to this rendezvous was that we would
Soy Sauce For Your Baby's Ear Inflammation
An online community for anti vaccination in South Korea, called “Ahn-a-ki,” is finally closing. In this infamous Naver cafe, users called “mom-doctors” individually diagnosed other online members — there were about 60,000 of them — consulting with each other the symptom of their babies. And some of their advice,
Reporter's Notebook: Summer in Tapgol Park
As my colleague Jieun and I stepped into Tapgol Park in downtown Seoul, all eyes immediately turned to us: two young women in a space where elderly people come to spend their free time. Many approached with a smile, looking intrigued by our presence, but wary of the bulky camera
Sympathy For Student Vengeance?
“Did you see this?” On the morning of June 14, a scary message started circulating in my group Kakao chat with other peers at Yonsei University. The message read: “There has been an explosion on the university campus. While the possibility of revenge crimes, terror or further explosions is
Sex Workers Speak Out About S. Korea's Shadowy Underbelly
“Welcome to the land of morning calm. Alternative noraebangs are a shadowy decadent underbelly of South Korean society where soju and an hour of sex with a prostitute go hand in hand; both commodities can be bought cheaply and enjoyed frequently.” – July 26, 2016 by Korea Exposé In
What If Snow White Was Fat?
Snow White steps into the room and takes her robe off after a long day. Two dwarfs, accidentally entering the room through a magic teleporting mirror, hurriedly hide under a sofa, leering at her as she undresses herself. She goes on to take off her red heels, in an oddly
Moon Jae-in Vows to Dismantle Police Conscript Force
When young college students in Seoul went out to march through the streets calling for Park Geun-hye’s impeachment in a long streak of demonstrations that started last October, it wasn’t difficult to bump into an acquaintance blocking you — dressed in a navy military drab armed in a
I'm Not Mad: Involuntary Psychiatric Hospitalization in S Korea
“I’m not mad,” a woman pleads. “Somebody locked me up.” The protagonist of the 2016 movie “Insane” is mysteriously kidnapped and put in a mental hospital, later waking up to find out that her family members and a psychiatrist have conspired to have her locked up there. This
Dear Customer, I Love You: Emotional Labor at South Korean Call Centers
One call center is bringing back its old greeting: “Dear customer, I love you.” The needlessly romantic phrase appeared in mid 2006, but was put to an end in little more than two years after accusations that forcing call center workers to address callers “with love” constituted “emotional
What the Puck? South Korea Sells Nationality for Winter Olympic Glory
On Tuesday, South Korean footballer Lee Seung-woo scored a stunning goal to help his national team defeat Argentina 2-1 in a FIFA U-20 World Cup match. Lee is in his first year playing for FC Barcelona Juvenil A, and has even caught the attention of Argentinian legend Diego Maradona, who
Islamophobia Erupts in South Korea after UK Terror Attack
Terror struck Manchester on Monday. The suicide bomb killed 22 people, while the 22-year-old bomber, Salman Abedi, reportedly had connections to al-Qaeda and ISIS. Many South Korean netizens offered condolences to families of the victims of the appalling incident, but these were soon overshadowed by a tide of Islamophobia.