KE Radar
S Korea's Election Season: You've Got Mail
With just over a week left until South Korea’s presidential election, candidates are making last-ditch efforts to win voter support. The National Election Commission (NEC) recently mailed out packages containing pamphlets put together by each candidate. Last week, one of the packages arrived at my family’s home
Woo Byung-woo: One Who Must Not Be Forgotten
Some of the most powerful figures in South Korean society were arrested as a result of Park Geun-hye’s corruption scandal: Lee Jae-yong, the de facto chief of Samsung, former ministers of culture and health, former Blue House aides who yielded significant power, and of course, former president Park Geun-hye
Expect More Fake News This Election Season
Last week, weekly magazine Sisa Journal reported that a group supportive of former president Park Geun-hye, the People’s Rally Movement for Rejection of President Park Geun-hye’s Impeachment, is funding far-right media outlets frequently accused of spreading fake news. Four conservative newspapers — Future Korea, Nocut Ilbe,
A Seoul Taxi Story: It's Just Not Fare
A 61-year-old taxi driver surnamed Kim was booked without detention on Wednesday, after he allegedly rejected a drunk customer in northern Seoul. CCTV footage shows a man, reportedly surnamed Lee, grabbing onto the cab’s door handle, then Kim accelerating to get away from him. Lee is dragged several
Don't Just Say It, Sing It: South Korea's Election Songs
Another election in South Korea means another season of trucks blaring out deafening campaign songs. Korea Exposé took a look at some of the funniest tunes each candidate is using to seduce voters. Moon Jae-in, The Minjoo Party Front-runner Moon has a support rate of 44.8 percent,
Hong Joon-pyo and Pig Stimulant: "Which S Korean Man Doesn't Have a Story Like That?"
Just about every South Korean probably knows by now the story of the pig stimulant, even those who haven’t been following the South Korean presidential election. It’s the story of the Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo’s youth, which first appeared in his 2005
TV Producer's Death Casts Light on Dark Side of K-Drama Industry
On Oct. 26, a man was found dead in a hotel near Gangnam, two days after finishing a project at work. His name was Lee Han-bit, and he worked as an assistant producer for the cable channel tvN, where he had just wrapped up production of “Drinking Solo,” a popular
Is the World's First Newspaper...Korean?
Is the world’s oldest-known newspaper Korean? A Buddhist temple in South Korea recently claimed that it possessed the world’s “first” daily newspaper, called the Jobo. If the claim is true, the Jobo would be almost a century older than the Einkommende Zeitungen, one of the world’
An Orphan Painting: Back In the Open After 26 Years
It’s incredible how a painting slightly bigger than an A4-sized sheet of paper could aggravate so many people for so long. 26 years ago, a painting was at the center of one of South Korea’s biggest art scandals. It was part of an ambitious government-sponsored
Allegation of "Gay Blacklist" Surfaces In S Korean Army
The South Korean military is currently accused of systematically tracking down homosexual soldiers. According to the Military Human Rights Center for Korea (MHRCK), Jang Jun-kyu, Chief of Staff for the South Korean army, had ordered a probe to track down gay men in the military (not just the army). The
Politics of the Yellow "Sewol" Ribbon
Yellow ribbon is the symbol of the Sewol incident, a ferry disaster that killed 304 passengers three years ago today. All over South Korea, tiny yellow ribbons dangle from people’s backpacks, wallets, bicycles, and on the windowsills of small cafés. Politicians — mostly from the
Multicultural South Korea: Congolese Refugee Receives Death Threats
“How are you?” I asked him. “I’m very fine!” Yiombi Thona answered. “Don’t worry too much about that. I’m used to it.” On the other end of the phone, Thona was referring to the multiple death threats he