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Poems From South Korea: Halmeonis Learn Hangul for the First Time
My halmeoni — “grandmother” in Korean as she is affectionately called — never studied beyond elementary school. In her family, education was reserved for the eldest male child; she helped out with farming and domestic duties. For most of my life, I didn’t even know she was
Top Five Sightings from the Anti-Park Geun-hye Protests
In the sixth straight weekend of rallies in South Korea, a record number of protesters gathered in Seoul and across the nation Saturday, calling for the ouster of president Park Geun-hye. According to the progressive newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun, it marked the republic’s largest rally in history with an estimated
Haebangchon's Forgotten Past: A Stairway, A Shrine and The War Dead
There’s a stairway on the outskirts of the hip Haebangchon area in Seoul — one that doesn’t really merit a second look. No impressive characteristics beyond its steepness, nothing spectacular in its surroundings. No chic bars, no hipster coffee shops. There’s no reason to remember, much less
Choi Soon-sil Gate Parodies: Let the Fun Times Roll
There’s a lot of rage, disappointment, and feelings of betrayal over president Park Geun-hye’s alleged relationship with Choi Soon-sil. We say ‘alleged’, because much remains to be credibly confirmed in this dramatic, unfolding saga. (For an in-depth discussion of the Choi Soon-sil scandal, check
The Choi Soon-sil Gate: The Saddest Political Drama Ever Told
I am quite fond of South Korean costume dramas, though my friends are skeptical of the genre’s value. Plotting royals and devious courtiers aren’t their thing, and they are even less enamored with the endless power struggles over who gets to be master of the realm. “But it’
Megalia: South Korean Feminism Marshals the Power of the Internet
Founded on August 6th, 2015, independent website Megalian.com embodies a new type of feminism – one that uses the country’s world-class information and communications technology infrastructure to promote gender equality and to humorously bash misogyny on the South Korean web. The name, currently filed for trademark registration&
One Nation Divided under the Chaebol
Recently I came across an intriguing post on the Global Voices website: In 2014, a piece of legislation was introduced in the National Assembly for the purpose of punishing South Korean consumers who shop on foreign websites. Those unacquainted with shopping in South Korea may be puzzled to learn that
The "Comfort Women Deal" between South Korea and Japan: Six Alternative Views
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Gaejeossi Must Die
Ajeossi (n.) a form of address for a male relative from one’s parents’ generation, excluding brothers of one’s father a form of address for an unmarried younger brother of one’s father a form of address for an adult male stranger the title of a 2010
A South Korean in Paris, as a Refugee
“Diego” could easily pass for one of many South Korean tourists who flock to Paris for food, shopping, and that legendary ‘je ne sais quoi’ appeal of the French capital. He is actually among a rare few: South Korean asylum seekers who demand protection from foreign governments because
A Song for Ssireum: Traditional Wrestling Dies a Slow Death in South Korea
The Uiseong Middle School ssireum team at practice. (Credit: Karl Schutz) UISEONG, South Korea — Ssireum, a style of Korean wrestling some say is as old as Korea itself, has been seeing a slow and silent death in South Korea in recent decades. The sport, which feature two plus-sized competitors wrestling
Korea, Thy Name is Hell Joseon
One of the biggest scandals of 2010 involved Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, whose own daughter was found to have mysteriously qualified for a plum job inside the ministry, presumably with the father’s backing. This itself would not have been ordinarily such big news in South Korea, but the timing