A Seoul Taxi Story: It's Just Not Fare
A 61-year-old taxi driver surnamed Kim was booked without detention on Wednesday, after he allegedly rejected a drunk customer in northern Seoul. CCTV footage shows a man, reportedly surnamed Lee, grabbing onto the cab’s door handle, then Kim accelerating to get away from him. Lee is dragged several
The Potent Force of S Korea's Regionalism
Regionalism remains a potent force in South Korea. “If the U.S. has racism, South Korea has regionalism,” said a 2008 article by wire agency Yonhap. There’s even a special word for regional rivalry: jiyeok gamjeong, which literally means “regional enmity.” The most historical and emotionally charged regional rivalry
Ahn Cheol-soo: Not So Fresh Anymore
At the press conference, Ahn Cheol-soo’s voice nearly broke with emotion. He took long pauses between sentences before saying, “I declare my candidacy for the 18th presidential election.” A chorus of cheers rose, and a group of Ahn’s supporters broke into delirious chants of his name. That was
Don't Just Say It, Sing It: South Korea's Election Songs
Another election in South Korea means another season of trucks blaring out deafening campaign songs. Korea Exposé took a look at some of the funniest tunes each candidate is using to seduce voters. Moon Jae-in, The Minjoo Party Front-runner Moon has a support rate of 44.8 percent,
Prospects for Human Rights: Amnesty International Korea Compares Presidential Candidates
On Apr. 19, Amnesty International Korea (AIK) released the results of a survey assessing the human rights-related manifesto pledges of South Korea’s five leading presidential candidates. The veteran international NGO’s local office grilled the camps of Moon Jae-in of the Minjoo Party, Ahn Cheol-soo of the
What Happened to "Safe Korea"?
A few weeks ago, I was walking through my small town in North Jeolla Province when I saw a building under construction. Two floors up, a sign proclaimed, “There is no exception to safety, no premonition of accidents.” Five stories above that, directly in line with the sign, a worker
Glass Zoo: Tales of Veteran Women Journalists
Recently, the Korea Exposé team was looking at presidential candidates’ lists of pledges. “Woman” was the name given to one of the categories. A colleague asked me, “How do you feel about being a policy category?” I didn’t really know what
Singing for National Glory? Meet S Korea's Noisy Concertgoers
I went to see Coldplay last Sunday. It was the band’s first ever visit to South Korea, so competition for tickets was insane. The venue, a massive stadium that holds up to 100,000 people, had sold out in just five minutes. The audience contained some serious Coldplay
The Election Lottery: Cast Your Ballot, Win a Prize?
What’s the best way to lure voters back to the ballot box? Some South Koreans think holding a lottery, with monetary prizes, may do the trick. Recently, 30-year-old software developer Yoo Byeong-joon launched the “National Voter Lottery” with six like-minded friends. The idea sparked interest last April, when politician
Hong Joon-pyo and Pig Stimulant: "Which S Korean Man Doesn't Have a Story Like That?"
Just about every South Korean probably knows by now the story of the pig stimulant, even those who haven’t been following the South Korean presidential election. It’s the story of the Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo’s youth, which first appeared in his 2005
Less Than an Hour After We Met, She Told Me She Was Committing Suicide
Upon first glimpsing her, my immediate thought was that her attire was not what I’d expected to see at an Anglican cathedral on a Sunday morning. She strode confidently out of the church, wearing black leather shorts and a black tank top, carrying a black leather handbag. I’d
"You Didn't Even Have Oral Sex?": S Korean Military's Gay Witch-hunt in Depth
“You didn’t even have oral sex?” “I didn’t even get to see his thing.” In an audio recording, a senior military officer grills a young soldier with questions about his “gay friends.” The officer says: “We have all the information about you and your relationship with YYY on