Labor Abuse: A Different Kind of High School Senior Year
On Nov. 19, just four days shy of his 18th birthday, Lee Min-ho’s heart stopped. He had been lying unconscious in a hospital in Jeju Island since the fatal accident on Nov. 9. Lee was working alone in a beverage factory as part of his high school occupational training.
“I’m Young, I’m Fast, I’m Pretty”: S. Korea’s Dogged Young Conservatives
After Korea Post scrapped plans to print stamps honoring former military dictator Park Chung-hee this July, the youth of today picked up the slack. University Students’ Forum of Korea, a conservative youth group, launched a crowdfunding project in September to print stamps commemorating Park’s centenary (Nov. 14). This was
Baseballer Learns That on Social Media, It’s One Strike and You’re Out
Everyone occasionally gripes about their bosses or the politicians that run their country, right? But in 2017, such airing of frustrations is likely to take place on social media, with the risk of damning comments ending up being shared publicly for anyone to see. South Korean baseball player Kim Won-seok
Potentially Problematic Probes Prompt Protestant Protests
In South Korea, Buddhist monks and Protestant pastors aren’t required to pay a dime of tax on their incomes. This exemption is set to end in 2018 — against vehement objections from Protestant churches. There has not been actual legal tax exemption for the income that religious
A Complex Issue: The Apart-ization of South Korea
Itaewon has a reputation as Seoul’s ‘foreign’ area. Standing next to U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, it has long catered to the off-base needs and urges of military personnel, gaining a sleazy reputation in the process. Many South Koreans were afraid to set foot there until a few years
CCPI 2018: South Korea's Climate Change Response Sucks
South Korea has been ranked 58th out of 60 countries worldwide in Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2018, an instrument that assesses action taken on climate protection. The index, compiled by European NGO Germanwatch, aggregates performance in terms of 14 indicators within four categories: greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy
KÉ Interview: A Disabled Person’s Day Is 12 Hours Long, Not 24
Hong Yunhui’s 12-year-old daughter has never been able to walk on her own, having in infancy suffered spinal cancer that left her permanently disabled. Her lack of mobility has made every day a challenge for mother and daughter. Once, while transferring through Wangsimni, a labyrinthine mega-station in Seoul with
Is South Korea Prepared For Earthquakes?
“Students felt weak tremors then came out into the hallways for evacuation. But the teachers stuffed us back in the classrooms, saying that this was not an earthquake,” tweeted the below user, whose identity could not be confirmed beyond the fact that she attends an all-girls high school in Pohang.
Gordon Ramsay Swears by Korean Beer, but Are Koreans Buying It?
“Before you learn to cook you need to learn how to taste,” British chef Gordon Ramsay told late night host Jimmy Kimmel before using a blind taste test to evaluate Kimmel’s ability to figure out what he was eating without seeing it. While he is best known for his
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
Face-Eating 'Zombie' Probably Not on Drugs
It’s Monday morning, you’re back at work, tired and bored already and… what?! The top-trending news term on portal site Naver is “Zombie drug.” Irresistible. Click. Cue a string of headlines reporting a story originally run by broadcaster SBS, the gist of which is this: A Southeast Asian
Do Convenience Stores With No Staff Signal a Future with Fewer Jobs?
Inside, the convenience store looks like any of the countless shops one finds on almost every street in South Korea. Under bright fluorescent lights there are shelves of instant noodles and snacks, refrigerators stocked with iced coffee and soft drinks, racks of mobile phone chargers and cables. But unlike other