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’t know if they are department store employees or employees of food companies whose products are on sale. But it’s very convenient when you need help.
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
