South Korea
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Review: Test-driving the Hyundai Ioniq Electric
Last week, I finally gave in to Seoul’s nasty fine dust pollution. I found a second-hand air purifier for sale in Ilsan, a nearby satellite city, and arranged to pick it up the next morning. That’s how I ended up test-driving my first all-electric car, the Hyundai Ioniq,
South Korea's Online Piracy Paradise
South Korea has an online piracy problem. Multiple internet sites offer bootleg movies, music, software and more for bargain-basement prices, seemingly unpoliced by authorities. A 2017 report on copyright protection published by Korea Copyright Protection Agency (KCOPA) found that losses across the music, film, broadcasting, publishing, and game industries from
Pojangmacha: Tent Nostalgia
In Seoul’s central Jongno District lies one of the city’s last pojangmacha alleys. Every day around late afternoon, hired workers take apart around two dozen wheeled carts lining both sides of the alley. Tents are thrown over steel frames; five-gallon oil containers filled to the brim with
Dark Tour: Jeju Island Beyond Teddy Bear Museums
Jeju Island is where South Koreans love to get away from it all. Hundreds of flights a day deposit mainlanders hungry for escape, relaxation and selfies. With its sea-locked isolation, black soil and relentless wind, Jeju feels almost like a different country altogether. So it’s hard to believe that
North Korea Summit 101
For those of you who haven’t been following the news, Kim Jong-un has been coming out of the Peninsula. Recently he met China’s Xi Jinping. Next on his platter are the presidents of South Korea and the U.S. Here is our introduction about the basics
South Korea Investigates Social Media over Phone Records
South Korean authorities have begun investigating several of the country’s leading social media and internet firms amid allegations of collecting user data without consent. On Mar. 30, Korea Communications Commission (KCC) announced an investigation into four major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Kakao Talk, and Band. The commission will
What’s in a Label: Obesity in One of the World's Thinnest Countries
I am 174 centimeters (5 feet 8 inches) tall and weigh 76 kilograms (167 lbs). That means my body mass index (BMI) is 25.1. The international standard for obesity is 30. To be labeled obese, I need to gain 15 more kilograms — roughly the weight of a large Welsh
South Korea's Plus-Size Women: Break the 48kg Myth
“Don’t girls normally weigh less than 50kg?” “If you weigh over 50, how can talk openly about your weight?” “ARE YOU CRAZY?” Meet the women giving the middle finger to South Korea’s pervasive culture of fat-shaming.
CJ CGV's "Be a Foreigner": Funny April Fool's Event or Cultural Appropriation?
Are these images offensive? A blond-haired Asian man with facial hair wearing a blue turban and a red bindi dot on his forehead ready to eat a bowl of Chinese noodles A group of people from different ethnic backgrounds in traditional clothing: people in the Korean hanbok, the
The Ocean Between Jeju’s Island Natives and Mainland Newcomers
Lee Hwan-jung wavers in his small boat, harpoon in hand. Looking back to shore, black rocks and dark waves sway under a granite sky. On this early February morning on the Jeju coast, cold water sloshes over his shoes. Lee is a self-taught fisherman from Seoul. Still robust at 43,
Foreign Media in South Korea: Arbiters of Truth, and Players in Their Own Right
On the evening of Mar. 18 the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Seoul correspondent Laura Bicker sent out a tweet that reverberated through South Korean cyberspace. Dear Korean press, please translate my articles fairly. My piece on the political gamble of talks with North Korea does not say President Moon is
KÉ Interview: If South Korea Wants to Change, Transform Seoul
On Jun. 13, South Korea is holding nationwide local elections. For the first time since its foundation in 2012, Green Party Korea candidates will appear on ballot papers across the country. The Green Party is a massive underdog in an electoral system that favors the two largest parties, the