Seoul

138040

Jieun Choi
Members Free to read

Best Meat-Free Buddhist Places to Eat in Seoul

Typically known for fried chicken and barbecued pork belly, Korean food may not seem very vegetarian/vegan-friendly. But off the beaten paths in Seoul (and sometimes smack in the middle of it) stand Buddhist temples that offer clean and modest meat-free meals — even free of charge at times. In

Ho Kyeong Jang
Members Free to read

Study: "Dating Violence Prevalent in Seoul"

88.5 percent of women living in Seoul have experienced dating violence, in some form or another, according to a report published on Jan. 30 by Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG). The report, titled “Dating Violence Leads to Domestic Violence After Marriage,” was based on an online survey of 2,000

Jieun Choi
Members Free to read

The Artist Painting Seoul's Streets

Meet the street artist painting her impressions of Seoul — on Seoul. She illustrates the walls and buildings of the city, filling them with vibrant colors and characters.

KOREA EXPOSÉ
Members Free to read

How Influential Is Islam in South Korea?

Islam has a very small presence in South Korea. As recently as 2005, the religion section in the country’s census did not offer “Muslim” as a category. Currently, the number of Muslims in South Korea reportedly stands at roughly 200,000, or about 0.4 percent of the population.

Youngjoo Lee
Members Free to read

Funerary Portraits for Those Who Can't Afford Them

Portraits are required at conventional South Korean funerals. But in a country where over half of the elderly population live below the poverty line, more Koreans can’t even afford that. Here’s a photographer who offered to take free portraits of the seniors in Jongno, Seoul.  

Youngjoo Lee
Members Free to read

The Palace's Painful Past

When it was built in 1909, the Grand Conservatory in Changgyeong Palace was the largest of its kind in Asia. After years of restoration, the conservatory has been opened to the public just last month. Is it a symbol of colonialists and capitalites tainting the royal legacy of the Joseon

Rachel Oh
Members Free to read

Nightmare Before Christmas: Battle of the Solos

Even the rain on Christmas Eve did not deter couples in South Korea from going out on dates. “I feel like we both took for granted that we would be spending Christmas together,” said Alice Son, a 22-year-old college student in Seoul, about her plans with her boyfriend. She said

Jieun Choi
Members Free to read

Female Bus Drivers in Seoul

There are some 20,000 bus drivers in Seoul. Only 2 percent of them are women. Korea Exposé spoke to a couple of them to find out more about their job experience.    Many jobs are still assumed to be “men’s/women’s jobs.”

Youngjoo Lee
Members Free to read

Sexist Books for Children

These books are for children, as young as three. How do they portray women and men in the workplace? Pretty conservatively.  We visited Kyobo Bookstore in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, the biggest bookstore in the country. The portrayals of women in its top-selling “learning books” for children were disappointing,

Youjin Do
Members Free to read

"Black Protests" Call End to Outdated Abortion Law

These “black protesters” want to put an end to South Korea’s outdated abortion law, which activists argue places most of the burden on women, who must not only bear the brunt of the pregnancy, but also face the social stigma and shame surrounding abortion.   Abortion

Youngjoo Lee
Members Free to read

Nostalgia: Music for the Old

“Adding Memories” is a cafe in Jongno, Seoul, catering mostly to the elderly crowd, who remember the days decades ago, when people crowded around the jukebox or vinyl records. “Their song requests have a different level of longing,” the DJ said. Read more about Jongno, a

Jihyun Kim
Members Free to read

The Old Man’s Harbor

Everyday for the past twenty years, 78-year-old Kim Yun-sik has been going to Jongno in central Seoul. Around noon, he eats free lunch at the cafeteria where a Buddhist temple used to stand until the 1500s; until 5 p.m., he whiles away the time in Tapgol Park, and in