South Korea’s Real Culture of Shame
One remarkable thing about South Korea is the focus on shame, when things for which one ought to be ashamed are on display, quite uninhibitedly.
South Korea - page 47
When the Elite Don’t Care
Less than three percent of South Korean university students trust politicians. Recent confirmation hearings for a prime minister-designate show why.
History Guides the Future in South Korea’s Latest Blockbuster
A historian's commentary on the recent South Korean blockbuster "Ode to My Father" and its relevance to the modern-day Korea.
A Nation as Beautiful as a Rolex Knockoff
Physical appearance rules supreme in South Korea. But beneath this fixation on beauty is an uncomfortable truth that we are not what we appear to be.
Say You Love Kimchi, And Nothing Else If You Want in
When ‘political’ and ‘active’ in manners that the South Korean state approves, foreigners are encouraged to speak. But doing the opposite may exact a price.
Chaebol Nutcase: Welcome to a Feudal Aristocracy of the Orient
The Korean Air heiress is in jail, but convicted chaebol CEOs hope for freedom as the government proposes pardon "as a way of overcoming the economic crisis."
The Republic of Korea: No Democracy as We Know
South Korea dissolves a political party for the first time since 1958. Debate rages on as to what this implies for the country's democracy.
Thank God for LGBT Rights
Evangelicals may have succeeded in blocking the adoption of Seoul's human rights charter, but their tainted reputation will ultimately help the LGBT cause.
Inside the Noraebang: Power Ballads and Neoliberal Capitalist South Korea
The popularity of a power ballad - "She's Gone" - speaks to South Korea obsessed with effort and traumatised by a neoliberal capitalist order.
Disposable Workers of Hyper-Capitalist Korea
Extreme. Intense. Extraordinary. There are not enough adjectives to describe the mistreatment of workers at the bottom of the South Korean employment hierarchy.
Gender Equality in South Korea: A Long Way to Go
South Korea has made much headway in women’s rights, but more needs to be done despite the election two years ago of its first female president, Park Geun-hye.
The Leaflet War
Two sides of South Korea clashed near the DMZ over the impending launch of anti-North Korea leaflets using balloons. Total chaos ensued.