South Korea
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One of South Korea's Most Famous Paintings, but by Whom?
A single painting dominates a dimly lit corner in one of South Korea’s most famous museums. It’s about the size of a magazine. It doesn’t deserve any superlatives — it’s not the grandest, most beautiful, nor the most radical among all the paintings on display. It
Moon Jae-in Vows to Dismantle Police Conscript Force
When young college students in Seoul went out to march through the streets calling for Park Geun-hye’s impeachment in a long streak of demonstrations that started last October, it wasn’t difficult to bump into an acquaintance blocking you — dressed in a navy military drab armed in a
Guess Who Is Bizzack? It's Chung Yoo-ra!
Chung Yoo-ra, the former competitive equestrian and heir to the dubious fortunes of her mother Choi Soon-sil, arrived back in South Korea on Wednesday, and picked a surprising word to describe her fate. She said her situation after having been extradited from Denmark for questioning in the political scandal that
I'm Not Mad: Involuntary Psychiatric Hospitalization in S Korea
“I’m not mad,” a woman pleads. “Somebody locked me up.” The protagonist of the 2016 movie “Insane” is mysteriously kidnapped and put in a mental hospital, later waking up to find out that her family members and a psychiatrist have conspired to have her locked up there. This
Alternative Retreat Destination: Prison
Dressed in jade clothing with plain design and coarse texture, with an ID number on her chest, a woman sits in solitary confinement, cross-legged, gazing out the window. The room is less than five square meters, and has basic facilities like a toilet, washbowl and a table. A food tray
A New Trend in South Korea: Sleep
South Korea is often called the “ppali ppali” — or quickly, quickly — nation. Speed is of the essence, whether rushing to get things done at work, drinking (think of all the soju bombs for getting drunk faster) or simply walking from A to B. But after rapid economic development
Dear Customer, I Love You: Emotional Labor at South Korean Call Centers
One call center is bringing back its old greeting: “Dear customer, I love you.” The needlessly romantic phrase appeared in mid 2006, but was put to an end in little more than two years after accusations that forcing call center workers to address callers “with love” constituted “emotional
Honbap: Eating Alone Is a New Norm
Upon entering any restaurant in South Korea, after saying hello, the staff inevitably ask the same question: How many in your party? Not at this restaurant. The staff here assume you’re all alone. When I walked into Dokgojin, a barbecue eatery in Bucheon, a suburb west of Seoul, the
Gwanghwamun Democracy 2.0: Air Pollution Roundtables
Jongno, where Gwanghwamun Square is located, is one of Seoul’s most polluted and heavily congested districts. So when I heard that a huge outdoor event on air pollution was taking place on the square, I raised my eyebrows. “Isn’t it sad that we’re
What the Puck? South Korea Sells Nationality for Winter Olympic Glory
On Tuesday, South Korean footballer Lee Seung-woo scored a stunning goal to help his national team defeat Argentina 2-1 in a FIFA U-20 World Cup match. Lee is in his first year playing for FC Barcelona Juvenil A, and has even caught the attention of Argentinian legend Diego Maradona, who
A Eulogy for Another Radical Centrist
So this upstart politician — the son of a doctor, the renegade, and a center-liberal candidate who claims to be neither right nor left — appeared to some voters in the recent presidential election to be the only hope (or the lesser evil) to prevent the worst case scenario from taking place.
Islamophobia Erupts in South Korea after UK Terror Attack
Terror struck Manchester on Monday. The suicide bomb killed 22 people, while the 22-year-old bomber, Salman Abedi, reportedly had connections to al-Qaeda and ISIS. Many South Korean netizens offered condolences to families of the victims of the appalling incident, but these were soon overshadowed by a tide of Islamophobia.