South Korea
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Führer Causes Furor: Absurd "Mein Kampf" Edition Irks Expats
Earlier in August, British expatriate author Michael Breen was wandering around a branch of Kyobo Book Centre, one of the capital’s largest bookstores, in downtown Seoul. Amid the hundreds of rows of books, something odd caught his eye: On a shelf of recommended reads, next to Deborah Lipstadt’s
When Your Child Goes Missing For 18 Years
What would you do if your child went out one day and never came home? In South Korea, when a child goes missing, over 99 percent of them are found in the first two days. But the families of the remaining 1 percent may suffer for as long as
50,000 Won for Loose Dogs, Public Smoking, and Death Threats
On Aug. 10, a South Korean broadcast jockey (BJ) live-streamed his quest to track down and “kill” a female YouTuber. But he’s not the only one being criticized online — netizens are just as angry and taken aback by the police who handled the case, by fining the jockey a
While Politics Swings Left, MBC Reporters Feel Pushed Further Right
One of South Korea’s biggest public broadcasters, MBC, is being criticized by its own reporters for biased reporting on the Moon administration. Last week, on Aug. 7, the economics desk at MBC News released a statement about reporting practices and hierarchical structures within the outlet. It claimed that since
Sleep Forever: The Morbid Road Signs in S. Korea
I love driving through the Gyeongbu Highway, cruising the five or so hours from Seoul down to Busan. There are plenty of rest stops, gas stations and stretches of rice fields encased by the mountains. At this time of the year, the rice fields are emerald green, with spots of
Meet the S. Korean Companies Destroying Indonesia's Virgin Rainforest
In the 1850s, travelling British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described New Guinea as “a country which contained more strange and new and beautiful natural objects than any other part of the globe.” Almost 150 years later, American ornithologist Bruce Beehler echoed Wallace’s sense of awe, calling part of the
Dongdaemun Postcard: From Stall to Tower, Merchant to Tourist
The stalls are set up like tiny stores; an air-conditioned box designated for each merchant. Most hide behind their goods like hermit crabs in their shells, recoiling at the sight of the hot summer sun. Others yell out prices and wave signs on the sidewalk, trying to catch the attention
Those Texts Between Samsung and S. Korean Journalists
“Dear respected Mr. Chang Choong-ki! …. I have finally mustered the courage to send you this text message, after hesitating again and again. My son XXX applied to the XXX department of Samsung Electronics…. His application number is 1XXXXXXX, and he graduated from XXX University with a degree
Haeryun Kang: On N. Korea in the Guardian
“In South Korea we’re scared but we’ve normalised the fear,” published on the Guardian on Aug. 9, 2017. Are S. Koreans indifferent to N. Korean provocations? When North Korea news gets hot, like now, thanks to its recent missile test and Guam, many outlets
Alpabet or Alphabet? The Case for a New Hangeul
“I heard from the horse’s mouth it’s the most scientific alphabet in the world,” I once overheard a South Korean student say as he showed a Westerner a display on Hangeul, Korea’s indigenous alphabet, at the National Museum of Korea. Get over it, I thought, annoyed at
Fried Chicken Tests Take Wing in South Korea
South Koreans love their fried chicken. So much so, in fact, that they’ve used it (cheekily) as a determinant of political party affiliation, labeled the country chimaek (chicken and maekju, or beer) republic, and consume 800 million chickens annually, in a country of 51 million people. Now, they’ve
Heat Shelters Are So Hot Right Now
On its website, Seoul’s Gwangjin District has a map scattered with a total of 99 red pins that make the landscape look like it has broken out in heat rash. But contrary to its heated appearance, the red shapes denote air conditioned oases where people without other options can