[Survive & Thrive] Reasons to forgo cash for bus fare

The sight of a bus passenger paying their fare with cash is dying out in South Korea nowadays. There are several reasons for this. Cashless payments, via Tmoney cards, credit cards or mobile payment options, are not just more convenient but safer, as the conductor can focus only on driving, which can help improve the safety of everyone on the bus. Also, cashless payments save you money -- quite a lot, in fact, if you transfer between buses and/or subways. The country’s free transfer benefi

May 16, 2023

Hidden lives of terminal dwellers in South Korea

In February 2020, an African man landed at Incheon Airport in South Korea, seeking asylum. He had fled his homeland, where a civil war had killed many of his family members and relatives. The South Korean immigration office, however, refused to accept his application for refugee status, on the grounds that he was a transfer passenger. His eligibility as a refugee was not even reviewed. For months that followed, the man lived in the transit zone. He slept on chairs near the terminal gates, ate fr

May 15, 2023

American couple who sheltered Korean tourists in blizzard visit Korea

On Dec. 23 last year, a group of South Korean tourists became stranded in Buffalo, New York, during a heavy blizzard on their way to Niagara Falls. Their van got stuck in the snow, so two of them knocked on the door of a nearby house to ask for shovels to dig the vehicle out of a ditch. That was the home of Alexander Campagna and his wife Andrea, who had planned for a quiet Christmas weekend indoors, with a stocked fridge to wait out the snowstorm. The couple invited the nine travelers plus the

May 14, 2023

[Subway Stories] From relic of 2002 World Cup to new sports and culture mecca

Despite its name, World Cup Stadium (Seongsan) Station can get crowded for a number of reasons outside of just sports, such as couples going for a night out at the movies, families shopping at the supermarket, or even K-pop fans flocking to a concert. The station on Seoul Subway Line No. 6 opened in 2000 as the gateway to Seoul World Cup Stadium, which hosted the opening ceremony and games of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan. Its beginnings, however, were humble

May 14, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] Korean proficiency highly sought after for jobs in Vietnam

HAI PHONG, Vietnam -- In this coastal city in northern Vietnam, it's said that having English skills can double your salary, while having Korean skills can triple it. Although the saying may be somewhat exaggerated, it certainly captures the high value placed on proficiency in the Korean language. Korean companies and institutions are prominent employers in the city, running immense factories, leading a variety of business projects, and they attract top-quality manpower with solid compe

May 13, 2023

[Korean History] Revisiting the 1983 Rangoon Bombing

The mid-80s were a harrowing time for South Koreans, marked by traumatic events that shook the entire nation. The shock of the Korean Air Flight 007's shot down by a Soviet missile on Sept. 1, 1983, which killed all of its passengers and crew, was compounded by another horror, just a month later, at the hands of communist forces in the northern part of the peninsula. On Oct. 9, in Myanmar’s capital of Yangon, a bomb went off, killing key members of South Korea’s economic team le

May 10, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Blackpink in your area

Find the answer at the bottom of the page. South Korean girl group Blackpink made history last month when they performed as headliners of this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. They are the first K-pop group and Asian act to headline the largest music festival in North America. This year marked their second time performing at Coachella. Their first performance was in 2019 at the sub-main stage. At the time, they were the first K-pop girl group to perform at the event. Blac

May 10, 2023

Livestreamed teen suicides: Nation struggles to block spread

In the country with the highest suicide rates in the world, a disturbing new trend may be emerging: the live broadcasting of suicides on social media. On April 16, a teenager livestreamed her death by suicide on Instagram. Such content has been of international concern for some time, but the girl’s death marked the first known case of its kind in South Korea. Further jolting the nation, two teenage girls were stopped by the police from taking their own lives while livestreaming last Friday

May 9, 2023

Korea in the eyes of 19th-century Westerners

Sometimes, an outsider’s view of a society and its people can be telling or, at the very least, worth noting, even if the view itself comes from the 19th century. Compared to its neighbors China and Japan, Korea was secluded and relatively unknown to the Western world for a long time. While the Portuguese and the Dutch sailed to and traded with China from the 16th century and Japan from the 17th century, with Jesuit missionaries such as Matteo Ricci introducing China to the West in the lat

May 9, 2023

[Survive & Thrive] Transportation (1): Free transfers within 30 minutes

Getting around in any of South Korea's major cities is easy and convenient, thanks to the cheap and extensive public transportation system. As the first segment in a four-part series on South Korea's mass transit systems, this article will review how to transfer between buses, the subway and other forms of transportation. The transfer system allows passengers to switch between different types of public transport without paying an additional fee. To avoid paying any extra charges, one

May 9, 2023

5 most popular Korean universities for international students

Of all colleges and universities in South Korea, Hanyang University had the highest number of international students last year, with a total of 6,999 enrolled -- 4,816 at its main campus in Seoul and 2,183 at its branch campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province -- according to data on Monday. Kyung Hee University came next with 6,912 students, followed by Sungkyunkwan University with 6,676, according to the data compiled by the Korean Educational Development Institute. These colleges were followed by Y

May 8, 2023

Lopsided doctor supply and demand clouds future of health care

Early this year, a 45-year-old former office worker became well known for enrolling at a provincial university’s medical college to learn with classmates less than half his age. He quit SK, his employer of 17 years, and took the annual college entrance exam called Suneung three times to become a medical student. A YouTube video of him sharing how he studied for the test garnered millions of hits. Appearing on a television show, the man surnamed Kwak said he started thinking about pursuing

May 8, 2023

[Weekender] Laser skin treatments, full course meals: luxury life of pets in Korea

Treating oneself to a full course meal and a laser skin treatment at a high-end dermatologist sounds like something out of the life of the superrich. In South Korea, it’s a reality for some of the country's luckiest pets. Luxury laser treatments La Peau Claire, a skin clinic located in Seoul’s affluent Cheongdam-dong, provides laser treatment services for cats and dogs. The clinic, which opened last month, is a trailblazer in Korea’s pet dermatology industry. It’

May 6, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Happy holidays

You can find the correct answer(s) at the bottom of the page. Unlike in a number of other countries, where fathers and mothers are honored on separate days, South Korea has a special day that celebrates both, Parents' Day, on May 8 every year. A week later, on May 15, the country honors teachers, which is fitting as teachers have often been compared to parents in Korean traditional culture. Neither of these days are national public holidays, although Children's Day on May 5 is. It

May 3, 2023

ADHD pills, caffeine tabs and glucose candies: Daechi students' study aids

Seoul's ritzy southern neighborhood of Daechi-dong is the hub of Korea's private education, where hundreds of private cram schools cater to students vying to enter the country’s prominent universities. On April 3, an appalling scam targeting unsuspecting students on the streets of this neighborhood sent shockwaves across the nation. Over 100 bottles of drinks laced with methamphetamines and ecstasy were distributed, falsely marketed as study aids to enhance concentration and me

May 2, 2023

How S. Korea-US alliance became more than a military treaty

The South Korea-US alliance, formed 70 years ago in the wake of the Korean War, has evolved to be more than a military pact. It is a cornerstone for all aspects of the Seoul-Washington ties, encompassing the economy, culture and shared values. The alliance’s beginning dates back to Oct. 1, 1953 when two sides signed the Korea-US Mutual Defense Treaty. It was in the aftermath of the 1950-53 war on the Korean Peninsula, during which some 37,000 Americans died alongside South Koreans. When th

April 27, 2023

[Korean History] Families separated by war reunite on live TV

"History through The Korea Herald” revisits significant events and issues over seven decades through articles, photos and editorial pieces published in the Herald and retells them from a contemporary perspective. – Ed. In the summer of 1983, Seoul’s Yeouido Park and the nearby area surrounding a TV station building turned into a sea of people, each clutching signboards covered with the details of someone they were searching for. Thousands had gone there to post a poster fo

April 26, 2023

[Survive & Thrive] Renting a home: Jeonse, wolse and everything in between

Navigating the rental market in South Korea requires understanding two key terms and their concepts: "Wolse" and "jeonse." Wolse, which means monthly rent, is self-explanatory: Tenants pay a deposit and the monthly rent to live in the residence. But the deposit is usually much higher than most other countries, conventionally equal to or more than 10-months' rent. A quick scope of the Cheongpa-dong area near Seoul Station showed that a studio of 22 square-meters cost 500,

April 26, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Meal in a box

A typical Korean meal consists of bap (rice), guk (soup) and banchan (side dishes). A portable meal packed in a box for school, work or a picnic is called "dosirak." While records of dosirak go back to the Silla Kingdom (57 BC-AD 935), they became more popular during the period of rapid economic growth beginning in the 1960s. Before school and office cafeterias were widespread, homemade dosirak packed in metal or plastic containers with compartments were a must. A typical lunch dosirak

April 26, 2023

[Subway Stories] Subway music gains newfound interest

As the train rolls toward the platform, a familiar tune begins to play. An announcement, first in Korean and then in English, follows soon after. It's a simple melody, yet one that is instantly recognizable to not just Seoulites but anyone who has spent some time in the city. It is the sound of the Seoul subway. Recently, it seems there has been a newfound appreciation for the subway platform music. Jonah Aki, an American choreographer who has lived in Seoul for a decade, owes much of his r

April 22, 2023