Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Defense chiefs of US, Australia, Japan decry NK-Russia military cooperation
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"Land of Squid Game” author to hold live chat with readers
Min Byoung-chul, an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University and a multicultural educator, will hold an author event in Seoul next month. In the lecture, Min will talk about his recent book “Land of Squid Game,” which highlights some deep-rooted aspects of Korea’s unique culture and traditional games. The first 100 participants will receive a copy of the book for free. A live chat with the author is limited to 50 guests on a first-come, first-served basis. The event wi
Oct. 28, 2022
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[Korea Quiz] (26) Birthplace of black noodles
Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Incheon, a port city west of Seoul, has long served as South Korea’s gateway to the outside world. Located on the western tip of the country and facing China across the sea, it is where the largest numbers of Chinese merchants settled following the opening of the port in the late 19th century. For this reason, the city boasts the lar
Oct. 26, 2022
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'No tattoos allowed here'
Tattoos were once considered a badge for gangsters in Korea, but they have become a medium of self-expression or a fashion statement among younger generations. Many are not reluctant to show off their inked skin in public or on social media, but there still persists a societal stigma surrounding the body art. A sports center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, has recently put up a notice that restricts entry of tattooed members. The no-tattoo policy was introduced after complaints from nontattooed member
Oct. 25, 2022
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[Land of Squid Game] Coordinating hiking outfits
With 70 percent of its land covered in mountains, many Koreans enjoy hiking as a part of their weekend leisure activity. Mountains are a place where Koreans feel a great sense of community and togetherness. And when it comes to dressing, most Koreans wear proper hiking outfits and carry their hiking sticks along with all the necessary gear for a hike. Sometimes you will see a group of middle-aged hikers wearing coordinated outfits to express their affinity as one group. Min Byoung-chul is an
Oct. 25, 2022
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[Subway Stories] Art meets rusty factories in Seoul’s Mullae-dong
The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories, a Korea Herald series exploring the subway stations and surrounding areas across the city. -- Ed. A roughly five-minute walk from Exit No. 7 of Mullae Station on Seoul subway leads you to a village with two faces. Greeting visitors first are the boisterous sounds of machinery and workers cutting and welding iron bars and slabs inside small factories and metal workshops. But soon, one can hear jazz and classical music being played somew
Oct. 23, 2022
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[Korea Quiz] (25) Love and hate over a tree
Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Ginkgo trees are one of the most prevalent kinds of roadside trees in Korea, along with cherry blossom trees. There are about 114,000 gingko trees in Seoul alone, accounting for nearly one-third of the city’s street trees. They are easy to grow, require virtually no maintenance once established and are tolerant of pollution. The seeds
Oct. 19, 2022
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[Land of Squid Game] Sarcasm? What's that?
Among Westerners, especially friends, sarcasm is commonly used in conversation, often taking the form of a humorous, ironic statement (e.g. saying “Oh, that's great” to imply that a situation is not good). Koreans hardly, if ever, use sarcasm. Foreigners should avoid using sarcasm too often when interacting with Koreans as it will most likely not be understood, or worse, it may be taken literally. Min Byoung-chul is an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University who is w
Oct. 18, 2022
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Ministry backs proposed ban on use of drug references in food advertisements
Alarmed by a rapid rise in drug offenses, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Tuesday it supports a legislative proposal to ban references to narcotics in food advertisements as something irresistibly good. “Using drug references to promote food can have a negative effect on children or adolescents,” a ministry official said. “Once the proposed bill gets passed by the National Assembly, the ministry will take measures, including drawing up an enforcement ordinance to curb
Oct. 18, 2022
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[Newsmaker] Kakao Outage: What happens when a country heavily relies on one super app?
Tech giant Kakao has said most of its services have been restored following an extended outage that began Saturday. But as the country suffered a digital blackout for many hours, the dominance of its "super app" has been called into question. Launched in 2010 as a messaging app, KakaoTalk grew in popularity exponentially over the years and branched out to other areas such as shopping and banking. Kakao also launched in-house apps that work in connection with KakaoTalk, such as ride-hai
Oct. 17, 2022
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Seoul opens space dedicated to K-pop dance covers
Dance cover videos, created by fans to imitate idols’ moves on stage and in music videos, have been an essential part of global K-pop fandom culture. On platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, one can easily find short clips where amateur dancers from both here and abroad replicate the choreography with incredible attention to details. These videos are often shot in places such as on the street or in a public park. Recently, one particular locale in Seoul has risen a
Oct. 14, 2022
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[Korea Quiz] (24) The Samsung brand
Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of this page. You may know of Samsung just as a TV or phone brand. But on its home turf of South Korea, it is a household name for many more things -- almost too many. Here, a person can be living in a Samsung apartment, wear Samsung suits to work, eat lunch at a Samsung-run cafeteria at work, check stock prices via Samsung’s securities app, get
Oct. 12, 2022
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[Land of Squid Game] Never stick silverware straight up in a bowl of rice while eating
Koreans do not stick their spoons or chopsticks vertically into their rice. This behavior is reserved for funeral ceremonies or for a jesa, a memorial service where food is offered in memory of the deceased. This is why foreigners should refrain from doing this; it would be considered rude and offensive. By Min Byoung-chul Min Byoung-chul is an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University who is widely known as a multicultural educator and for his practical English teaching. This conten
Oct. 11, 2022
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Blind: App that has everyone in the workplace talking
Blind, a workplace community app, has been a source of some of the biggest company news stories and viral social media posts globally. They range from the Korean Air “nut rage” incident and the 2017 sexual harassment allegations at Uber to the controversy at US food delivery platform DoorDash over an initiative that requires all employees to make one food delivery every month, to name a few. One of the latest corporate news stories to come out of the anonymous user-based platform for
Oct. 11, 2022
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[Newsmaker] 30% of international schools in Korea teach 'Sea of Japan'
Over 30 percent of international schools in South Korea have been using textbooks that refer to the East Sea, a body of water between South Korea and Japan, only as the Sea of Japan, a lawmaker said Tuesday. As of August 2020, 12 of 38 international schools were using textbooks that solely use the Japanese name. The number of those textbooks with the Sea of Japan reference marked 24, according to the office of Rep. Ahn Min-seok of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea. The office refer
Oct. 11, 2022
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[Subway Stories] Heritage and trends mix fashionably in Seongsu
The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories -- a Korea Herald series exploring subway stations and their surrounding areas across the city. – Ed. Strolling through the vicinity of Seongsu Station, one can get an idea of what is considered hip in Korea these days: It has to be artsy, independent and youthful, with stories, preferably of heritage and history, to tell. Seongsu-dong’s status as a mecca of hipness in Seoul can be seen through millions of Instagram posts in
Oct. 11, 2022
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Korea urged to join race for foreign talent: report
South Korea needs to bring in more professional foreign workers to cope with a continuous decline in the working-age population, a think tank said Friday. According to a report published by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, educators, researchers, engineers, artists and highly-skilled workers accounted for a mere 10 percent of last year’s total 406,669 foreign nationals with employment visas. The rest were mostly low-skilled workers in agriculture, construction and
Oct. 7, 2022
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Response to teenagers cartoon leads to 'Streisand effect'
On Sept. 18, a teenager’s cartoon satirizing President Yoon Suk-yeol won a top prize at a local cartoon contest. No major news outlets gave it major coverage. The work was displayed for three days until Monday at the Bucheon International Comics Festival. It drew some attention, and mixed comments, on social media. Then on Tuesday, a day after the exhibition’s end, the work was thrust into the national spotlight when the Culture Ministry issued a “strong warning” against
Oct. 7, 2022
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A journey through Seoul in honor of Hangeul and its famed creator
King Sejong of the Joseon era, or simply Sejong the Great, is arguably the Korean who has left the biggest mark on the nation’s history. Every single day, people across the country use the monarch’s creation --- Hangeul, the Korean writing system. How highly Koreans think of him can be seen in numerous instances. Among the many things named after him are a Seoul street, a city, a university, a performing arts center, a naval Aegis destroyer, a satellite and the country’s Antarc
Oct. 7, 2022
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Films about King Sejong and Hangeul
From a ruler to an academic, a musician and a linguist, King Sejong wore many hats. And the 15th-century monarch who invented Korea’s writing system Hangeul has also been an inspiration for Korean filmmakers and TV drama producers. The most recent of the big-screen attempts to convincingly depict Sejong was 2019's “The King’s Letters,” directed by Jo Chul-hyun and starring none other than “Parasite” star Song Kang-ho as King Sejong. The film follows the t
Oct. 7, 2022
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[Korea Quiz] (23) Hangeul, the Korean alphabet
Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of the page. October 9 is a public holiday in Korea marking the birthday of Hangeul, the country’s native writing system. Hangeul was invented and introduced by King Sejong, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, in the 15th century, which makes it one of the youngest scripts in the world. It is also unique in that its inventor is known. King Sej
Oct. 5, 2022