Korea Deconstructed

David Kim is many things but is perhaps best known for his Korean content on Youtube. He has been a huge part of three popular programs over the last seven years: DKDKTV, Ramyun and Chill, and, now, Korean Pizza Club. His content has reached millions and is driven by his positive and generous outlook on life, something even more evident when meeting him in person. We spoke about how hallyu has cha...

Park Nohae emerged as a powerful literary voice in South Korea during the tumultuous 1980s, though at the time few knew who he actually was. He was the faceless poet. The voice of the many. Working various manual labor jobs which exposed him to the harsh realities faced by the working class, he became a champion of labor rights and social justice. His collection of poems "노동의 새벽( Dawn of Labo...

사랑받지 못하는 공화국 (2024) was written by Professor Bryan Myers, a professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan. Anyone familiar with North Korean studies will be keenly aware of Myers and his work as he has written some excellent books on that subject, including The Cleanest Race and North Korea's Juche Myth. His latest book reveals two firsts: It's his first written in Ko...

Park Chan-wook is a master of movie making. And he's seemingly getting better with age. Leaving the sex and violence of previous hits such as Oldboy, JSA, and The Handmaiden behind him, Decision to Leave / 헤어질 결심 (2022) explores the relationship between a Korean man and a Chinese woman, completely incompatible, seemingly madly in love, and destined to destroy each other. These two roles are p...

Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph. D. in philosophy and another Ph. D. in computer engineering. As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for CERN and Philips Research Laboratories. Bernardo's 11th book, coming in 2024, is 'Analytic Ideali...

William S. Gilbert is doing PhD research on Korean Taoism's syncretic qualities at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea. He completed his Master's in Korean Philosophy at Sungkyunkwan University in 2024 and was a graduate research assistant for the Korean Academic Expansion Project. This is a conversation about Taoism, "Eastern" religions and ways of thought, life, death, god, and the poetry of...

Cho Ye-won and Jeon Yunseo are students at Seoul Women's University while Park Kyung-hoon (Charlie) studies at Hanyang University. They discuss the best and worst things about living in Seoul, from the safety, the beauty standards, the gender differences, the economic challenges, and much more. They also talk about why some young Koreans want to move abroad.   Discussion Outline  0:00 Do Young Peo...

Jeanie Chang is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Jeanie is also the Founder and CEO of Noona's Noonchi, LLC, a global company offering social media platforms providing deep dives into K-Content from a mental health perspective. In Korea to promote her tours and her latest book (How K-Dramas Can Transform Your Life), we sat down with her to discus...

John DiMoia is Associate Professor of Korean History at Seoul National University, South Korea. He is the author of Reconstructing Bodies: Biomedicine, Health, and Nation-Building in South Korea since 1945 (2013)   Discussion Outline 0:00 What is History? 7:20 Korean Medicine 30:30 Plastic Surgery 39:30 Korea and the Pandemic 57:05 Korean Health 1:00:10 The Joseon Dynasty 1:27:30 Japanese Coloniza...

At the age of sixteen, Anton discovered Taekwondo in his native Germany. From there, he began exploring Buddhism only to be told by a visiting monk that if he wanted to truly understand it, he would have to visit Korea. Anton then embarked on a journey of practice and discovery in Korea in 1994, initially intending to stay for just a year. This conversation took place in 2024, thirty years later....

서늘한 여름밤 (Lee Seo-hyun) is a South Korean writer and psychological counseling planner. She received her Master's Degree from the Department of Psychology at Korea University in 2015, and then became a counselor at a large hospital. She soon began drawing and recording her thoughts before then uploading them on the internet. This led to her also starting a popular podcast and authoring 3 diffe...

In communicating with each other before this conversation, Robert asked me to explain certain aspects of Korean culture to him. If you find yourself frustrated that we sometimes hear more about Korea than his own work, I completely agree with you and apologize. Nevertheless, that was part of what was established. My sense is that he also might have wanted a break from explaining his latest book to...

Tanner Rogers is a 2023-24 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Winner. His research consists of the literary analysis of fictional texts produced during the Park Chung Hee era (1961-1979), particularly focusing on the development of "space" in its various physical and conceptual forms, and how texts engage with the rapid urbanization and industrialization of cities like Seoul and Incheon during this ti...

Can Korean people speak English? That was the question we explored in this discussion. Three young women studying at Seoul Women's University in South Korea talked about their own experiences of learning a foreign language and how it ultimately became something more than just education or study. Hyun Minjung is a second-year student in the Department of Child Studies Eo Gyeongin is a first-year st...

ID:Earth is a singer, songwriter, and music producer from Seoul, Korea. She sings about human civilization, existence, birth, and the Earth with her music providing a fantastic backdrop for these explorations. Her latest album Space Station was released on December 12, 2023. We sat down with her to learn more about her music, her life, and being an artist in South Korea. ID:Earth Instagram: https:...

Having just finished a semester teaching 9 different classes at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University, I thought I'd end the year sharing some of the theories and thoughts I've been exploring with my students. This includes David Matsumoto's work on culture, Han Byung Chul's explorations of modernity and psychology, and Mark Fisher's assertion that we are witnessing the slow cancellation...

Koryo Saram refers to the ethnic Koreans who migrated to the Russian Far East and Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The migration was mainly a result of economic opportunities and political instability in the Korean Peninsula during that period. But beyond the political and historical existence, there are people. Daniil and Yona are two of these...

Bart van Genugten is a Dutchman with a passion for people, history, stories, and 분위기 (atmosphere). His recent project, Welcome to my Dong, looks to explore all of Seoul's 467 dongs (neighborhoods) and it has proved incredibly successful online, with millions of views, countless stories, and a host of well wishers. Bart is keeping history alive amidst a rapidly changing urban culture and it is n...

Jasmyn Kim is doing a PhD at Yonsei University in the Department of Sport Industry Studies, she is a pole dance instructor at Tara Pole Dance in Jong-ro, and she also teaches a Yoga course at Yonsei University. Her academic research focuses on body image and the gendered nature of pole dance as a modern Korean fitness phenomenon, and the physical and psychological effects it can have on women. In...

Although this started as a conversation about Gwangju and Professor Don Baker's experiences there starting in 1971, including witnessing the aftermath of the massacre in 1980, we quickly understood there was much more for us to explore. This includes Don's impressions of Kim Dae-jung, gender and women in the Joseon Dynasty, Korea's historical relationship with China, Confucianism and ancestor wors...

Steve first came to Korea in 1975 and continues his life-long love of the land of the morning calm. He has been a missionary, pastor, and leadership development officer. He has years of experience in translations and editing, has several published books and dozens of scholarly papers to his credit, mostly in theology and the religious history of the United States. He is a life member of Royal Asia...

This episode contains a lot of explicit language. If you are interested, the YouTube video features hundreds of photos of the bands, venues, and people we talk about.  Trash is a musician, designer, and tattoo artist who has been part of the Korean punk scene for two decades. Here, she talks about how she discovered underground subculture in her late teens and then watched it develop over the year...

"People sleep peacefully in their beds because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell Park Kyung Hoon (박경훈), Park Inu (박인우), and Lee Seung-il (이승일) are three South Korean men who have all recently completed their mandatory military service. One served in the Navy on the south coast, one in an administrative office, and one as a sniper in the DMZ. In this conv...

Choi Isu is a young South Korean woman who has a vision of a better world. She believes in communication, community, and education. Measures that will stop the fragmentation of society and isolation experienced by some people today. Much of this worldview has been informed by her own educational experiences. Attending Ewoo High School, she received an alternative education focused on discussion an...

Dr. Kim Kyung-jin was born in 1936. He grew up in Manchuria speaking Japanese at school, Korean at home, and then Chinese in the street. Before class, all students had to face Tokyo, bow, and pledge their allegiance to the Japanese empire. He said he would see people dead on the streets on his way to school, overdosed on opium. He was also there when the last Chinese emperor, the boy Puyi, passed...