South Korea
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Pleasures of Seoul
Demonstrations are a routine occurrence in downtown Seoul, but I don’t mind it in the least. Angry chanting is a familiar soundtrack to life in South Korea; when slogans reverberate at the capital’s most symbolic locations, you know the country is well. Democracy lives. I am fortunate to
Entering Korea as a Foreigner During COVID-19 Crisis
The first sign that my visit to Seoul would be different this time came at the Frankfurt airport check-in counter. After seeing my passport and ensuring that I had a valid visa, the Asiana Airlines employee showed me a laminated sheet of paper with two QR codes: one for android
South Korea Needs More Immigrants
South Koreans are infamously impatient. The country zipped through a spectacular makeover from a dirt-poor, post-war agrarian society into a manufacturing superstar. True to its national temperament, it is now aging faster than any other country thanks to one of the world’s lowest birth rates. From the economy to
End of 2019, End of Candlelight Revolution's Hope
As 2020 begins, the optimism that permeated South Korea in late 2016 and early 2017 seems but a distant memory. Three years ago, hundreds of thousands were holding peaceful weekly demonstrations—popularly dubbed the “Candlelight Revolution” for the candle-carrying participants—against corruption on the part of then-president Park Geun-hye and
Revisiting: My Political Coming of Age
Almost every Saturday for the last twenty weeks or so, my friends and I took a stroll down to Gwanghwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul to join the protesters. We were young, awkward, and clueless. It didn’t take us long to realize that it was the first time, too, for
Is China the Cause of South Korea's Waste Problem?
In July 2017, China threw the global recycling industry into disarray by announcing the “National Sword Policy.” In effect since January 2018, the policy banned import of 24 types of waste (now expanded to 32) and strengthened quality control, rejecting plastic scrap that wasn’t at least 99.5 percent
The Seungri Scandal and South Korea's Gender Disparity
Over the last few weeks Seungri, former member of K-pop super group Big Bang, transformed from a beloved star into a toxic example of issues festering in South Korean society. The change began when a customer at the popular nightclub Burning Sun in Gangnam, Seoul, was assaulted in November 2018—
The Humanities Is the Next Frontier for South Korea's Chaebol
Designed with a Ghibliesque imagination and backed by ample funding in every step of its construction, Starfield Library in Gangnam, Seoul, instantly became a requisite tourist attraction when it opened to great fanfare in 2017. It may well also be the most instagrammed library in South Korea. The 2,800-square
BTS: Generational Icons or Misogynists?
On Sep. 24, South Korean boy group BTS gave a speech on empowerment and love at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The event marked the launch of “Generation Unlimited”—a partnership between the UN and UNICEF that aims to promote education and empowerment for young people.
Child Inmates of South Korea's Immigration Jail
Helene* had a challenge that no mother would want. She, with her husband, was a refugee in a foreign land with a foreign language, trying despite all odds to raise her children as best she could. If this weren’t enough of a challenge, Helene was in jail, locked up
A Match Made by the Gods
Have you encountered the 卍 symbol gracing what looks like not a Buddhist temple but a shop or private home while wandering down an alley? It marks the house of a Korean shaman. Not everyone believes media accounts that there are one million shamans in contemporary South Korea, but shamanism
ké cast S2 E5: The Mixed Legacy of the U.S. Military Base in Seoul
The American military is gradually leaving Yongsan, a major garrison located in the heart of Seoul. How are the dynamics of military spatial reorganization playing out beyond the metropolis? In this conversation, Bridget Martin, a contributor to Korea Exposé and a researcher at the University of California at Berkley joins