Inside the North Korean Military: The Plight of Women
Just over 10 years ago, North Korean defector Lee Da-eun would not have imagined munching on fried chicken topped with gooey cheese, at a faux-military restaurant surrounded by ammunition and gas masks. Back then, she was more familiar with slaughtering a chicken or holding a real gun, working for the
Crime and Punishment of Juvenile Delinquency
When a gory photo of a kneeling 14-year-old girl covered in blood appeared on Facebook, it immediately went viral. The photo, posted on a page that receives anonymous submissions on issues regarding Busan, was reportedly taken by a girl of the same age, one of the two teens that had
The Mosquito Trucks of Childhood Past: Where Are They Now?
Opaque, white steam trailing behind loud trucks were a routine sight in many a childhood around the world. In South Korea, too, trucks would wail out siren sounds while emitting disinfectants and children would chase after the trucks through narrow alleyways, breathing in the foul-smelling gas. Used as a pesticide
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
Moon Jae-in May Not Live Up to His Promise in "Oxy Affair"
Victims of South Korea’s deadly humidifier disinfectant scandal, which has killed dozens of consumers and left hundreds more injured for life, had pinned their hopes on the new Moon Jae-in administration to provide compensation. But the signals now coming from the government are mixed. Humidifiers are widely used in
Führer Causes Furor: Absurd "Mein Kampf" Edition Irks Expats
Earlier in August, British expatriate author Michael Breen was wandering around a branch of Kyobo Book Centre, one of the capital’s largest bookstores, in downtown Seoul. Amid the hundreds of rows of books, something odd caught his eye: On a shelf of recommended reads, next to Deborah Lipstadt’s
When Your Child Goes Missing For 18 Years
What would you do if your child went out one day and never came home? In South Korea, when a child goes missing, over 99 percent of them are found in the first two days. But the families of the remaining 1 percent may suffer for as long as
50,000 Won for Loose Dogs, Public Smoking, and Death Threats
On Aug. 10, a South Korean broadcast jockey (BJ) live-streamed his quest to track down and “kill” a female YouTuber. But he’s not the only one being criticized online — netizens are just as angry and taken aback by the police who handled the case, by fining the jockey a
Haeryun Kang: On S. Korean "indifference" to N. Korea in Vox
Last week, managing editor Haeryun Kang talked to the Guardian about the complexity behind S. Koreans’ indifference toward N. Korean threats. Read her in-depth interview with Vox, with detailed follow-up questions regarding the Guardian analysis: “…in South Korea, [North Korea] is deeply personal, and it’s
While Politics Swings Left, MBC Reporters Feel Pushed Further Right
One of South Korea’s biggest public broadcasters, MBC, is being criticized by its own reporters for biased reporting on the Moon administration. Last week, on Aug. 7, the economics desk at MBC News released a statement about reporting practices and hierarchical structures within the outlet. It claimed that since
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
Meet the S. Korean Companies Destroying Indonesia's Virgin Rainforest
In the 1850s, travelling British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described New Guinea as “a country which contained more strange and new and beautiful natural objects than any other part of the globe.” Almost 150 years later, American ornithologist Bruce Beehler echoed Wallace’s sense of awe, calling part of the