interview
KÉ Interview: Growing up Gay and Korean
On Saturday, Jul. 14, the 19th Seoul Queer Parade will take place, drawing thousands of people from South Korea’s vibrant queer community, as well as supporters and opponents of LGBT rights. Just before last year’s event, Korea Exposé contributor Chris P sat down with Choi Han-min (not
Ediya Coffee: South Korea's Answer to Starbucks?
For a country that cannot grow coffee beans, South Korea is certainly infatuated with coffee. According to the Korea Customs Service, South Korea imported more than 159 thousand metric tons of coffee beans in 2016, and 40 thousand tons for the first quarter of 2017 alone. One cup of coffee
KÉ Interview: Bookoob, the Book Sharing Service that Delivers
In South Korea, an unlikely type of startup has been slowly cementing its place in the peer economy: book sharing. Korea Exposé met Chang Woong, founder and CEO of “Bookshelf, the Social Library, (Bookoob in English)” to find out how he created what may be the world’s first sustainable
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
KÉ Interview: From West Yorkshire to Buddhist Martial Art
To get to Golgulsa from Seoul, it takes a roughly two-hour train journey to Gyeongju, the nearest city, and from there, a 90-minute ride on two separate buses through the countryside. On reaching the designated bus stop, it’s another twenty-minute walk along a stream lined with wild flowers before
Education Blues Pt. 3: A Deported English Teacher
English education is arguably the holy grail of South Korea’s infamous education craze. The private sector market for English education, rife with private cram schools called hagwon, amounted to 61 trillion won (about 55 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014. Among these hagwon is a group of
KÉ Interview: Singing Against Homophobia
In the middle of Unnie Choir’s last number, Enan Ahn started to cry. She was one of the fifteen women singing “Into the New World,” a 2007 single by K-pop group Girls’ Generation. The lyrics were admittedly corny — “there’s no use in waiting for a miracle, it’