Gay Jongno: Hidden in Plain Sight
The central district of Jongno is synonymous with high-rise office buildings, language academies, the bustle of Insadong, street barbecues, and end-of-week drinks. But a closer look will reveal another world unfamiliar to even veteran Jongno-goers, tourists, and residents alike: gay Jongno. Many are unaware that the streets of Jongno
Preponderance of Workers
When I’m in South Korea what always surprises me is the number of employees in department store food corners, usually women middle-aged or older. They welcome customers, let them taste dumplings, tofu and so on. It almost seems there is one person for each shelf of goods. I don’
Gaejeossi Must Die
Ajeossi (n.) a form of address for a male relative from one’s parents’ generation, excluding brothers of one’s father a form of address for an unmarried younger brother of one’s father a form of address for an adult male stranger the title of a 2010
Halmeoni
During my recent research visit to Seoul, I had a long conversation with my halmeoni. No, it was more like a story time, much like the ones we shared years ago when she raised me. I named certain events in her life and she would promptly supply her memories. “
South Korea's History Textbook Whitewash
Half my life was spent outside South Korea, but I still cannot forget certain history lessons from childhood in Seoul. Dokdo, rocky islets claimed by both South Korea and Japan, is an inalienable Korean territory. Hangul, the writing system credited to a 15th-century king and used by the two Koreas,
War of Words over the State of South Korea
We live in an interesting time. Some of you may know I published an opinion piece in the New York Times last month condemning the South Korean government’s move to overhaul history textbooks. I didn’t know but apparently the foreign ministry “lodged a protest against
Seoul Train Station
This morning, a middle aged man in tattered clothes sat down in the road at the Seoul Station bus stop. The buses went around him. I asked a woman at the bus stop to call emergency services; the police told her to call welfare. While she did, he got up
A South Korean in Paris, as a Refugee
“Diego” could easily pass for one of many South Korean tourists who flock to Paris for food, shopping, and that legendary ‘je ne sais quoi’ appeal of the French capital. He is actually among a rare few: South Korean asylum seekers who demand protection from foreign governments because
A Song for Ssireum: Traditional Wrestling Dies a Slow Death in South Korea
The Uiseong Middle School ssireum team at practice. (Credit: Karl Schutz) UISEONG, South Korea — Ssireum, a style of Korean wrestling some say is as old as Korea itself, has been seeing a slow and silent death in South Korea in recent decades. The sport, which feature two plus-sized competitors wrestling
When the Foreign Husband Is a Nepalese Labor Activist
Udaya Rai is a Nepalese citizen and president of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU), one of the most visible organizations to fight for the rights of migrant workers in South Korea. I recently profiled him for Equal Times, a publication of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). But our
Hagwon Hierarchy
IKR for Korea Exposé Typical hierarchy at South Korea’s myriad English cram schools, better known as hagwon. Of course, there should be an even bigger guy labelled “fear of watching your child fall behind in a hyper-capitalist economy” standing behind the dad, but I ran out of space.
Korea, Thy Name is Hell Joseon
One of the biggest scandals of 2010 involved Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, whose own daughter was found to have mysteriously qualified for a plum job inside the ministry, presumably with the father’s backing. This itself would not have been ordinarily such big news in South Korea, but the timing