Seoul
138040
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
Former Spy Claims NIS Spied on Constitutional Court
An unnamed former agent claimed that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) secretly interviewed officials from the Constitutional Court, reported the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS). These claims come as the Constitutional Court prepares to deliver its final verdict on Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, most likely
Pro-Japanese Roots Haunt South Korean Actor Kang Dong-won
Popular South Korean actor Kang Dong-won is under fire for an ancestor he has never met, about whom he talked about in passing in an interview ten years ago. In a 2007 interview with Chosun Ilbo, Kang boasted that his maternal great-grandfather, Lee Jong-man, had been a
Living Cheap in South Korea
Between all the designer handbags and luxury cars in the streets of Seoul, it’s easy to think that South Koreans love and are willing to pay for bling. But echoing what Japan has gone through after their economic bubble burst twenty years ago, South Korea wrestles with worsening
When A Watch Tells More Than Time
The word “watch” is a double, perhaps triple, entendre when it comes to South Korea’s prime minister and acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn. It’s not just a time-telling device. It’s a symbol of his authority over time — specifically, his power to extend or kill the
The Strangest Taxi in Seoul
Welcome to the world of Mr. Kim Kyo-chul and his “Tin Taxi.” From the outside, the taxi is an inconspicuous white, like many other taxis in Seoul. Inside, it’s an explosion of silver. Thousands of cans cover the surface: Can bottoms line the ceiling and walls,
Safety Not Guaranteed: A Woman's Experience on The Seoul Subway
Editor’s Note: Last week, we published an open letter from a university professor with her permission. In it, she detailed her experience of being sexually harassed as a “white female foreigner” in a public space. The ensuing debates from our readers were contentious, often empathetic, and
"Step Down, Park": Anti-Government Protestors Occupy Downtown Seoul
Masses of South Korean protesters took to downtown Seoul Saturday for a candlelight vigil and a march, demanding that President Park Geun-hye step down – with no barricades nor scuffle, in what has been praised as a surprisingly peaceful demonstration. Police estimated the size of the crowd at 45,000. The
Surreal Exposure: Scenes from Seoul Fashion Week
Picture this: hundreds of young South Koreans milling around a courtyard, dressed in costumes you will probably never see anywhere else in Seoul, or all of South Korea for that matter. Sheer tops, sequined trousers and outerwear so generous in fabric allotment that collectively it could clothe the residents of
Changes at Famed Noryangjin Fish Market Ignite Struggle
These days any tourists or shoppers passing through Seoul’s Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market will see a lot of red. Not just the red of the plastic slotted bins for sorting fish, the rubber gloves used for handing them or the deep flush of stacked sea pineapple. In Noryangjin today
"Jae-gaebal": Resisting Seoul's Brutal Apart-ization
Seemingly endless rows of concrete towers awe foreigners who come to Seoul for the first time. Seoul may have become the capital city more than six centuries ago, but few things survive from that time to convince visitors of this history. Colonial rule (1910-45) and the brutal Korean War (1950-53)
Bukchon: Seoul's Destruction of Heritage
Gahoe-dong — “the place where beauty gathers” — was the last district in Seoul with whole streets of wood-and-tile houses, preserving the ambiance of the city a century ago. But after six hundred years at the heart of Korean cultural and social life, it has been relentlessly destroyed. Gahoe-dong is part of