South Korea

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Jieun Choi
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The K-beauty Nation Begins to Question Its Obsession With Beauty

After months of deliberation, Shim Jung-hyun, a 26-year-old South Korean YouTuber known for her beauty tips, announced to her subscribers that she would stop filming makeup tutorials, skincare routines and cosmetics unboxing videos. “I’m no longer happy with making myself up beyond the point of gaining self-satisfaction,” Shim said

KOREA EXPOSÉ
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ké cast S2 E3: Is There Room For Conscientious Objectors in Korea?

Is there room for freedom of conscience in the South Korean military? Amnesty International says that there are more than 230 conscientious objectors currently incarcerated in the country. But a Constitutional Court ruling this summer, a ruling that states that the government must provide alternative civilian roles for those who

Jieun Choi
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Koryo Saram: 4th Generation Redefines Korean 'Roots'

His mother tongue is Russian. His ancestors left Korea to settle in Uzbekistan. Now, a fourth generation Koryo Saram is ‘back’ in the land of his great grandparents. Check out the Koryo Saram video series from Korea Exposé: Between the Former USSR and Korea Korean Noodles from Kazakhstan

Jieun Choi
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Koryo Saram: Korean Noodle from Kazakhstan

Oksana is a chef from Kazakhstan who makes the noodles of her ancestors. Her sense of history stays alive through her food. Check out the Koryo Saram video series from Korea Exposé: Between the Former USSR and Korea Korean Noodles from Kazakhstan 4th Generation Redefines Korean ‘Roots’ For early video

Youjin Do
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Plus Power: South Korea's Plus-Size Runway

These girls are changing the face of K-beauty. On September 7, 2018, the annual Jstyle Muse Contest held its third competition between plus-size models in South Korea. Check out an in-depth interview with some of Korea’s most prominent plus-size models:

Jieun Choi
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Koryo Saram: Between the Former USSR and Korea

This is the story of a people that are still in search of an illusive homeland. Their predecessors left Korea to escape Japanese colonialism, only to face Stalin’s harsh immigration policies in the former USSR. Who are the Koryo Saram? Check out the Koryo Saram series from Korea

KOREA EXPOSÉ
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ké cast S2 E2: Jeju's Yemeni Asylum Seekers

South Korean society has long been intolerant of outsiders, but the outrage sparked this summer by a thousand Yemeni asylum seekers on Jeju Island illustrates the depth of the country’s xenophobia. On this episode of ké cast, Korea Exposé publisher Se-Woong Koo joins host André Goulet to discuss why,

Jieun Choi
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Painting a World in Two Square Meters

Nearly half of all senior households in South Korea live under the poverty line. Hong Gu-hyeon, a 66-year-old artist who has been living in a jjokbang for over 20 years, is one of them. Those earning less than 50 percent of the median income qualify to receive government subsidies

KOREA EXPOSÉ
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Interview: The Organizers of S. Korea's Spycam Rallies

There is now a huge library of articles discussing the historic anti-spycam rallies in South Korea (the fourth one just took place on Saturday, Aug. 4). But the organizers behind the movement remain largely faceless and nameless. There are around 200 of them, all women, all volunteers. Most of them

KOREA EXPOSÉ
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ké cast S2 E1: Reporter's Notebook of Spycam Rallies

This summer, South Korea’s spycam ‘molka’ culture is bringing tens of thousands of women together in Seoul’s Daehakro neighborhood for the largest recorded women’s protests in South Korean history.    On the first episode of a new season of ké cast, Korea

Minhye Park
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Behind South Korean Football Star Son Heung-min, There Is His Father

On neatly cut green, artificial turf, 25 teenagers were hard at practice. “Faster, faster!” yelled their coach, Son Woong-jung, while forcing his charge to count out loud the number of times they dribbled their balls. The kids, breathing heavy, alternated dribbling with push-ups and lunges throughout the session. Sometimes, Son

KOREA EXPOSÉ
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2018 Seoul Queer Culture Festival

Despite the 33-degree celsius weather, boisterous counter-protests by Evangelical Christians and a petition to the government with nearly 220,000 signatures against the event, South Korea’s persecuted LGBT community came together today in downtown Seoul to celebrate diversity. Some foreign embassies sent staff to show support for LGBT