Half a century ago, most South Koreans would never have imagined that in the 21st century, canned meat from the U.S. — not exactly seen as a culinary delicacy in its motherland — would be the most popular gift for Chuseok, the Korean holiday marking the harvest season. Back in the 1950s and 60s, holiday gifts were usually limited to crops, chicken, sugar and whatever else they could get their hands on.
I am from South Korea, but I make it a point not to write or speak in Korean about this country. That my Korean language skills have ossified from disuse is only one reason; it is more that my brushes with South Korean media are rarely uplifting. A case in
In 2014, pop star Park Bom, of the group 2NE1 made headlines with her alleged drug usage back in October 2010. The singer had ordered 82 amphetamine pills labelled ‘gummy bears’ from the U.S. and dispatched them to her grandmother’s address in the port city of Incheon
