What's in an Olympics Medal?
What can show a fundamentally Korean DNA while resonating with a global audience? Industrial designer Lee Suk-woo designed the medals for the Pyeongchang Olympics, which starts next week. Korea Exposé spoke to him about his thought process.
ID Photos That Break the Mould
South Korea is known for its culture of conformity (and ID photos to match). But meet Sihyun, a photographer who’s made a name for herself by taking ID pictures that show every subject as a unique individual. Cover image: A collection of Sihyun’s ID photos (courtesy
Funerary Portraits for Those Who Can't Afford Them
Portraits are required at conventional South Korean funerals. But in a country where over half of the elderly population live below the poverty line, more Koreans can’t even afford that. Here’s a photographer who offered to take free portraits of the seniors in Jongno, Seoul.
The Palace's Painful Past
When it was built in 1909, the Grand Conservatory in Changgyeong Palace was the largest of its kind in Asia. After years of restoration, the conservatory has been opened to the public just last month. Is it a symbol of colonialists and capitalites tainting the royal legacy of the Joseon
Sexist Books for Children
These books are for children, as young as three. How do they portray women and men in the workplace? Pretty conservatively. We visited Kyobo Bookstore in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, the biggest bookstore in the country. The portrayals of women in its top-selling “learning books” for children were disappointing,
Suneung: The Judgment Day
This year’s Suneung took place on Nov. 23, delayed a week after the earthquakes in Pohang. The test results are coming out today, on Dec. 12. A Twitter user wrote, displaying a dramatic mixture of different emotions, “F***~~~ The report cards are coming out~~~~~ F*** Suneung~
Nostalgia: Music for the Old
“Adding Memories” is a cafe in Jongno, Seoul, catering mostly to the elderly crowd, who remember the days decades ago, when people crowded around the jukebox or vinyl records. “Their song requests have a different level of longing,” the DJ said. Read more about Jongno, a
The Crazy World of Call Bells in S. Korea
The history of call bells in South Korea can be traced back to the beginning of the 1990s. Daily newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun introduced the call bell in its “New Technology, New Product” column on May 14, 1990. As described by Kyunghyang, it was a wireless device developed by a company