South Korea
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Potentially Problematic Probes Prompt Protestant Protests
In South Korea, Buddhist monks and Protestant pastors aren’t required to pay a dime of tax on their incomes. This exemption is set to end in 2018 — against vehement objections from Protestant churches. There has not been actual legal tax exemption for the income that religious
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
Is South Korea Prepared For Earthquakes?
“Students felt weak tremors then came out into the hallways for evacuation. But the teachers stuffed us back in the classrooms, saying that this was not an earthquake,” tweeted the below user, whose identity could not be confirmed beyond the fact that she attends an all-girls high school in Pohang.
Gordon Ramsay Swears by Korean Beer, but Are Koreans Buying It?
“Before you learn to cook you need to learn how to taste,” British chef Gordon Ramsay told late night host Jimmy Kimmel before using a blind taste test to evaluate Kimmel’s ability to figure out what he was eating without seeing it. While he is best known for his
KÉ Interview: 10 Years in the Life of an Unregistered Laborer
He came here to “fulfill his Korean dream,” I was told. But I wasn’t talking to a teenage boy looking to become the next K-Pop star. He is an ordinary, working-class person from Vietnam, coming to South Korea to work long hours in physically gruelling jobs. Despite
Do Convenience Stores With No Staff Signal a Future with Fewer Jobs?
Inside, the convenience store looks like any of the countless shops one finds on almost every street in South Korea. Under bright fluorescent lights there are shelves of instant noodles and snacks, refrigerators stocked with iced coffee and soft drinks, racks of mobile phone chargers and cables. But unlike other
Former Spy Chief Could Be Next On Chopping Block for Park Geun-hye Saga
Appearing at the prosecutors’ office in Seoul on Monday morning, former National Intelligence Service Director Lee Byung-kee told reporters, “I regret having disappointed the people of this country over the question of having National Intelligence Agency funds funneled to the Blue House.” Lee, 70, is being questioned in relation to
Donald Trump: A Merchant of Death
So it all comes down to arms sales. First, Donald Trump threatened “fire and fury,” prompting concerns that war was imminent on the Korean Peninsula. Then he said no one “should underestimate American resolve” and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to its allies. At last, Trump’s 11-day Asia tour began
Naver Goes 'Water Demon' in Escalating Beef with Google
If you looked up “Naver” on Naver, South Korea’s main web portal, on Friday afternoon, the top news result was a headline about the company receiving an innovation award. If you typed the same terms into Google, you’d get an op-ed from the Kyunghyang newspaper titled, “Naver and
Itaewon Bar Apologizes to Indian Student for Foreigner Ban
In June, a video of Kislay Kumar, a student from India, being turned away from a bar in Seoul briefly went viral due to the brazenness of the discrimination he faced on the basis of his nationality. In a video of the incident, a bouncer can be heard saying, “No
Is She a Murderess or a Victim?
At the funeral, the deceased’s wife stood calmly. She didn’t cry or make any other overt show of emotion. Her demeanor contrasted sharply with her late husband’s parents and siblings, who cried and wailed, doubled over with grief. The difference in these reactions was highlighted by Lee
Dear President Trump: Postcards From Seoul
Dear President Trump… What would South Koreans say if they could talk to you, one-on-one? A few hours before Donald Trump, with First Lady Melania and his presidential entourage, landed in South Korea on Tuesday, I was talking to a group of middle school students in Seoul, huddled in