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Plant Shutdown Puts Nuclear Industry Back in Spotlight
By 2020, South Korea will be home to the largest cluster of nuclear reactors in the world, just a short drive away from Busan. But in a country where fears about Japanese seafood still linger after the Fukushima disaster of 2011, the booming nuclear industry — which produces roughly 30
Time to Stop Skirting the Issue: Sexualization of School Uniforms in South Korea
“3D bodyline.” “A tulip body-line to turn men’s heads.” “A skirt that really brings out those lines.” “Freely adjustable length.” Guess what kind of product this ad is promoting. It’s an ad for girls’ school uniforms. One Twitter user recently uploaded a photo
The Price of Democracy
Demonstrations calling for the ouster of then-president Park Geun-hye began in late October. Huge “candlelight rallies” continued almost every Saturday for the next 21 weeks, with fireworks, rock concerts on professionally built stages, banners and, of course, candles (both wax and LED). Portable toilets
Battle's Not Over for Samsung Leukemia Victims
Earlier this month, a group of activists sued the Ministry of Employment and Labor for information they hoped might explain the deaths of people who worked in Samsung semiconductor and LCD factories, the latest phase in a legal battle that goes back a decade. On Thursday, Suwon District Court handed
Remember South Korea's Artist Blacklist? There's a "Whitelist," Too
Remember South Korea’s blacklist? The recently ousted Park Geun-hye allegedly kept a blacklist of nearly 10,000 artists and cultural figures who were critical of the administration. Now, investigators found out, there’s a “whitelist” to accompany the blacklist. The whitelist was first discovered by&
Granddaughter’s Love Makes Grandma a Youtube Sensation
Alzheimer’s runs in Park Mak-rye’s family. Three of her older sisters were afflicted by the neuro-degenerative disease. So Park’s 26-year-old granddaughter, Kim Yoo-ra, came up with an ingenious way to prevent her grandmother from suffering the same fate: Making the 70-year-old star of her own&
South Korean Comedy's Misogyny Machine
“Ugly and fat” is one of her most marketable characteristics. She talks openly about her weight and invites guffaws for saying that even her tongue is fat. She makes passes at sexy male celebrities, which people think is funny, because — duh — it’s a fat
Public Wedding Ad Angers Young South Koreans
A beaming young bride and groom step through a door into a sunlit future, accompanied by the strings of Wagner’s Wedding March… only to be confronted by a daunting row of hurdles. So begins a public-service advertisement from Kobaco (Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation) released on
"Becoming Prettier": K-pop MV Chronicles Girl Group's Plastic Surgery
Four girls in skintight pink bodysuits march into a surgery room. One of them lies down and closes her eyes, as blinding white light gleams from the surgical headlights above her. Then, a long beep and brief silence, followed by a catchy beat with these lines: “I’m
A-maizing Ambition: "Dr. Corn" Runs for South Korean Presidency
It’s not uncommon for seemingly random figures to run for power in a democracy. South Korea is no different: On Friday, a man dubbed “Dr. Corn” will announce his bid for the presidency in a press conference at the International Corn Foundation in Pohang. His name is
China Travel Clampdown Empties South Korea's Myeongdong
Myeongdong, a downtown Seoul shopping district typically packed with tourists, was unusually quiet on Wednesday. For the last few years, the area has drawn an unending torrent of Chinese tourists. Most street signs and signboards are written in Korean and Chinese — sometimes only
153 Forgotten Days at Seoul National University
The student sit-in at Seoul National University lasted 153 days, before being disbanded just a day after president Park Geun-hye was ousted from office. Their long-drawn protest, like many news stories, has been subsumed by the Park Geun-hye scandal. What’s going on in the country’s