Korea Deconstructed

This is definitely a conversation in two parts. For the first hour, we talk about LGBTQ literature and poetry in South Korea, particularly the work of Kim Hyun. We ask what it means to write queer poetry, who the leading figures in South Korea are, and what this says about society changing over time with the rise of institutions like Ding Dong. There is also a focus on the newly-published English...

Recent shockwaves in the Korean crypto world have been caused by the crash of Luna and subsequent investigations into its founder Do Kwon. Hyun Joon (Andre) explains the Korean crypto world, the 'Kimchi Premium', Korean law and the reason foreigners are banned from the Korean crypto exchanges, the effects of the Luna crash, and the future of the industry. Hyun Joon (Andre) Lee is a Business Develo...

Dr. MinJung (MJ) Doh is a US-licensed psychologist and the CEO of You&Me Psychological and Consulting Services (YPCS) in Seoul, Korea. Her specialties include Depression, Anxiety, Relationship Issues, Trauma, Eating Disorders, Identity Difficulties, Bereavement, Adjustment, Alcohol Use, Transracial Adoption, and Military Families. This conversation is about counselling and mental health in Korea....

Lina Kwon is a TV/radio personality based in Seoul. She has hosted Arirang TV's "Showbiz Korea," EBS FM's "Morning Special" and currently hosts Arirang Radio's news magazine show "Good Morning Seoul." During her career she has interviewed and worked with some of Korea's biggest stars. We discussed the nature of fame and celebrity in South Korea. We also explored the media's role in all of this and...

Kyungyeon (Kay) Park is an 18-year-old Korean high school student. She has won competitions in the National Student Heritage Commentating Contest (전국학생문화유산외국어해설 텐츠대회) and been recognized by the National Council of Youth Organization in Korea (한국청소년단체협의회). She is also in the process of writing a book on aspects of Korean history. Alongside her studies, she works as a tour...

Sihoon Baek is a phenomenon. We spoke about Generation Z, their values, their interests, and fears as well how this plays out across technology. We also spoke about one of his great passions: politics and social issues. Despite the growing complexity of political discourse, Sihoon is able to explain and analyze what takes place in South Korea from a very real perspective and cognizant of the effec...

This is a conversation which explores the concept of "han" (한/恨) – something previously ubiquitous in Korean literature and western writing about the country but which Dr. Kang challenges. He argues that Koreans are being condemned to passive suffering and then manifesting that through a perceived essentialist concept which is believed unique to them. He points to its destructive nature as well...

Wooseok Ki is the author of K-POP: The Odyssey - Your Gateway to the Global K-Pop Phenomenon  and a NYC-based corporate lawyer focusing his practice on blockchain and technology. He is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania Law School and UC Berkeley, and has been featured in The Korea Times, Korea Daily, and NBCLX. If you are interested in K-pop or Korean hip-hop, this conversation takes a jour...

Beth is a writer and translator whose roots are in Seoul and Vancouver, Canada. She is currently a copy editor at The Korea Herald, where she also co-hosts a Korean books and culture podcast. This is a conversation about Korean literature and feminism as well as the interaction between the two. Beth describes the ways in which the lived experiences of Korean women has manifested in writing and how...

Yunjeong Hwang is an English-speaking lawyer and provides legal services in Korea. She runs Lawyer Hwang Law Office and legal services cover civil, criminal and family cases, and international divorce cases. We spoke about the culture and law of divorce in Korea. This includes issues related to adultery, compensation, custody, visas, and differences between judicial divorce and divorce by agreemen...

Dr. Bong Youngshik holds a Ph. D. and an M.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Yonsei University. He is a Research Fellow at the Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies   Dr. Bong is positive about Korea's democracy, the role of youth, and the possibilities for the future. He also interesting observations about human nature and political action....

Dr. Sojin Lim is a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Course Leader for both MA North Korean Studies and MA Asia Pacific Studies, and Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies (IKSU) at the University of Central Lancashire. She works as Co-Editor of the 'Routledge Research on Korea' series and is also one of the Editors-in-Chief at Asia Pacific Viewpoint (Wiley). She is the au...

Subin Kim is a writer, translator, and journalist. His work currently appears in Al Jazeera and he's previously been associated with the BBC and NK News. He's a self-described serf and a lover of pigs. Our conversation started with understanding what webtoons actually are and who reads them. We discussed the popular webtoon Miaseng (미생) and how a lot of content seems to be based on daily life an...

Seohyun Lee was born and raised in central Pyongyang, North Korea. She went to China to study when she was a sophomore at Kim Il Sung University and earned her bachelor's degree of Science in Finance from Dongbei University of Economics and Finance in 2014. She defected from North Korea in October 2014 during a heightened period of brutal purges by the Kim Jong Un regime. With her long- term visio...

Se-Woong Koo is founder of Korea Exposé. Before joining the media world, Koo earned his PhD from Stanford University for a dissertation examining the intersection of politics and religion in modern Korea. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, France, from 2012 to 2013; and he taught at the Asian University for Women and at Yale...

Regina Kim is a Culture and Trends Writer for Netflix. Her articles on the hallyu phenomenon and Korean content have appeared in  Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, ELLE, MTV News, Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, NBC News, and Teen Vogue . They also include an interview with Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk. We talked about what it feels like to be writing about Korean content whil...

Becky White is a model, a singer, a podcast host, a writer, and countless other things. She is also the daughter of a Korean mother and an American father. Drawing on her own experiences growing up and then living and working in Korea, she created The Halfie Project : a journey to discover the meaning of a mixed identity - an identity which inhabits two cultures. We talk about what it means to be...

Lee Taewoong is a producer for KBS, holding a position in the sports bureau since 2003. After his initial feature lengths explorations of ssiruem, football, and archery, he soon turned to more historic, social, and cultural work. His hugely successfully and acclaimed documentary 88/18 depicted the real life experiences of Korean people as they prepared for the Olympics, from the President, to midd...

Dr. Jungmin Kwon is an assistant professor of digital culture and film studies in the School of Film at Portland State University. Her research and teaching interests include digital culture, film and media, gender and sexuality, media industry, fans and audiences, media celebrity, and Korean/East Asian popular culture. She is the author of Straight Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Fantasies (2019...

Growing up, Sylvia rejected her Korean identity and it took her decades to come to terms with it. Her attitude changed when she began writing and researching the tragedy of sexual slavery, particularly that carried out by the Japanese in Korea. She discovered generational pain: something passed down, unresolved. Something, she says, that might be "han". A Long Road to Justice: Stories from the Fro...

If you've ever tried to learn Korean, there's a really strong chance you did so by listening to Hyunwoo. The founder of Talk To Me In Korean, he has become a leading figure in the language learning community thanks to his books, podcasts, and videos. He shared his thoughts on the Korean language and how hierarchy and democracy plays into all of this, particularly with age and honorific systems. Hy...

Hallyu is not a sudden phenomenon, Dr. Lee says. It's been an international culture since the 1990s. But from about the 2010s, enjoying Korean popular culture for non-Asians has become a new trend in cyberspace. This means Korean popularity is closely connected to technological changes in the media environment and industry. The two are interdependent. Despite the earlier popularity of Japanese cul...

Jinu sees himself as a humble musician who focuses on providing solidarity to those suffering from oppression, violence, and health problems. He describes having seen firsthand young hired thugs ('용역') and police carry out acts of violence against the workers of Noryangjin fish market in central Seoul, workers who are often elderly women. They are decent people, citizens of Seoul who enjoy trot...

Chan is an artist and a friend. She is 100% Korean in terms of nationality but has at times distanced herself from this identity. Her friends call her a 외국인 (foreigner) but she identifies as a TCK (third culture kid). She has often tried to look different from other people and loves standing out, avoiding clichés and stereotypes where possible. In Korea she has received lots of comments on her...

Jasmine Lee came to South Korea in the 1990s. Here she talks of her early experiences with South Korean culture, people, and language. This leads to ideas of multiculturalism, family, identity, and nationalism. Jasmine became a nationalized Korean but still found trouble in terms of acceptance despite speaking the language fluently and having a Korean passport. After a successful television and me...