[Korea Beyond Korea] Anthropologist stresses multidisciplinary approach for strong Korean studies

NEW YORK -- Portrayals of shaman rituals or shrines in Korean dramas often give off a spooky or menacing vibe. But 22-year-old Laurel Kendall felt none of that when she first encountered a shaman ritual, or “gut,” in the early 1970s in rural Korea. “I was struck by how vibrant, colorful and exciting it was. The place was packed, and it was of course very intense,” the adjunct professor of anthropology at Columbia University and curator of Asian ethnographic collections at

Nov. 7, 2023

[Korea Beyond Korea] Yale sociologist and BTS fan researches K-pop

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- Grace Kao got into BTS and K-pop by accident. In April 2019, the sociology professor at Yale University was deeply impressed when she saw the Korean boy band on Saturday Night Live, a TV show that she had watched since she was a child. “SNL was around from the ’70s. I always remembered the musical guests, and they never had Asians. I really enjoyed the performance by BTS, and Googled them a bit,” Kao said in an interview with The Korea Herald at her of

Nov. 7, 2023

From artisan to 'foreign laborer:' a French craftsman's take on Korea's construction scene

Lionel Mathieu, a roofing craftsman from France, is on a unique journey within South Korea's construction scene, quietly leaving his mark. Mathieu's path to learning the craft of roof construction began working with his hands at home at the age of 14, and at 15 led him to join Compagnons du Devoir, a combined work-study program educating over 30 types of artisans and craftsmen, dating back to the Middle Ages in France. Through the formative program, Mathieu was able to learn from fello

Nov. 3, 2023

‘It’s OK to put fried chicken, ramen on jesa table’

As an increasing number of Koreans are ditching traditional rituals to honor their ancestors, an authority on the rites on Thursday said it is OK to put fried chicken and ramen on the jesa table. A committee that settles ceremonial issues under the Confucian educational institute Sung Kyun Kwan reduced the minimum number of items on the jesa table from the previous 15 to eight in its latest set of guidelines meant to simplify the jesa menu. Following up on its recommendation last year that jeon

Nov. 2, 2023

Embracing setbacks: KAIST students vie for the inaugural 'worst failure' crown

DAEJEON – A final-term essay that contained four sentences only, due to the writer’s social distancing-induced depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. An accidental discovery of an abnormal blood swelling in one’s own brain at a cancer research lab. These are two of the entries of the “Failed Tasks Showdown Contest,” held Wednesday evening at the Daejeon-based Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, better known as the KAIST. Ten students from the natio

Nov. 2, 2023

[Korean History] Bodies of two infants discovered in freezer in Seoul's Seorae Village

In July 2006, a 40-year-old French national residing in Seoul made a macabre discovery at home in his freezer. Before he could store some fish inside, he found the bodies of two infant boys. Jean-Louis Courjault, an engineer working for a car parts company in Seoul, was home alone in Seorae Village, southern Seoul, after returning from a family holiday in France. His wife, Veronique Courjault, 39, was still on vacation in France with their two teen sons. He promptly reported the findings to

Nov. 1, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Lucrative MLB careers

Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Ryu Hyun-jin just wrapped up the last season of his four-year, $80 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, and is now slated for free agency that will realistically be the 36-year-old pitcher's last chance to make big money in Major League Baseball. Widely considered the best Korean pitcher of all time, Ryu has already made just a tad under $133.9 million in his 11-year stint in the MLB, which started in 2013 with the Los Angeles Dodgers

Nov. 1, 2023

Plush bag charms in high demand among young Korean women

It may seem somewhat ironic to call a fluffy doll ornament adorning a handbag a "key ring," as it seemingly serves no practical purpose and has no keys attached. Instead, it's all about the aesthetic for many young Koreans, who embellish their bags with these key rings, also known as bag charms. "I visited a cafe in Seoul's Yeonnam-dong with my friends and decided to get this fleecy bear for my bag," university student Park Ji-soo said after buying a white bear ba

Oct. 31, 2023

[Korea Beyond Korea] From history and K-pop to gender studies, Korea examined across diverse disciplines at UCLA

LOS ANGELES -- A Volvo Trucks commercial featuring actor Jean-Claude Van Damme doing the splits, stretching his legs between two reversing trucks with Enya’s “Only Time” playing in the background, is shown to a classroom full of nearly 100 undergraduates at UCLA. Professor Ju Hui Judy Han asks the students what are the first words that come to their minds as they watch the clip. Some say “masculinity” while others mention “physical ability,” “contr

Oct. 30, 2023

[Korea Beyond Korea] Historian looks back at life dedicated to Korean studies

LOS ANGELES -- John Duncan, a historian and former director of the UCLA Center for Korean Studies, is one of the most admired contributors to the growth of Korean studies in the US. Over the 30 years he taught at UCLA until 2019, he researched and wrote about mainly the Joseon era, trained a generation of Korean studies scholars and built bridges between academics in the US and Korea. In honor of his contributions to the study of Korea, he received the Korea Foundation Award in 2009 and the Yong

Oct. 30, 2023

[Subway Stories] Traditional medicine's healing legacy lives on at Jegi-dong

For centuries and continuing to present day, Koreans have utilized the medicinal properties of plants and animal-based natural sources in the field of medicine. One such example is "ssanghwa cha," a medicinal herb tea that remains popular among Koreans despite its bitter taste, thanks to its reputation as a natural remedy for a cold or fatigue. This herbal beverage with a brown hue includes a variety of ingredients such as plant roots, grass, leaves and tree bark, which are not commo

Oct. 29, 2023

[Korea Beyond Korea] Professor awarded for building Korean studies in US

HERALD INTERVIEW Clark Sorensen, who just retired as professor in June from the University of Washington, won this year’s Korea Foundation (KF) Award last month in recognition of his contributions to Korean studies over the past 25 years. As professor of international studies at the university’s Jackson School of International Studies since 1992, Sorensen has taught a number of courses on Korea such as “Task Force: Rethinking US Military Bases in Japan and Korea,” &ldqu

Oct. 29, 2023

[Weekender] The dedication of marrying oneself: Why some Koreans throw 'sologamy' weddings

Kim Seul-ki, a manager at Lush Korea, has publicly declared her commitment to singledom by holding a solo wedding. “Now that everyone knows I’ve declared sologamy, questions about my marital status just naturally dissipated. It’s very satisfying and I can’t think of any negative sides to it,” Kim, 39, said, recalling her marriage to herself last year. “It made me feel like my perspective on life and my values could be accepted as they are,” she added. Ki

Oct. 28, 2023

[Life In Korea] Delivering 'taste of life' via street art

Walking down the streets of Seoul, your senses are in for a treat. High-rises tower, K-pop spills out from nearby shops and the preserves of historical buildings sit proudly among Seoul’s busy traffic. Amid this modern symphony, your gaze may be drawn to a contrasting sight -- shanty houses with weathered shutter doors and neglected alleyways adorned with bold graffiti, a testament to the city’s harmony of old and new, and fusions of the popular and subculture. As South Korea has gro

Oct. 26, 2023

[Korean History] 'Yonsama' fans trailblaze Hallyu in Japan

About 20 years ago, a soft-spoken, bespectacled man with a scarf around his neck showed the world how spellbinding South Korean dramas can be. “Winter Sonata,” a television drama series starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo, dazzled countless Japanese women, some 6,000 of whom gathered at the Tokyo airport to catch a glimpse of Bae in November 2004. Some of them -- mostly aged 43 to 65 -- were even injured while pushing through the crowds to get a better view of the actor, whom they

Oct. 25, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Iconic goods at Seoul markets

Find the answer at the bottom. Although it is widely regarded as being one of the world's most technologically advanced cities, South Korea's capital has integrated traditional markets into its urban economy. Local street markets, primarily frequented by elderly citizens and wholesale merchants, have evolved into captivating attractions offering cultural and culinary experiences not easily found elsewhere in Seoul. While not all street markets are synonymous with specific products,

Oct. 25, 2023

[Korea Beyond Korea] Berlin, Europe's Korean Studies hub, nurtures next-gen experts, scholars

BERLIN -- Right before the winter semester was about to start in Germany, some 10 students gathered in a classroom in southwestern Berlin in September. The students, all top Korean Studies majors from across Europe, were selected by the Institute of Korean Studies at the Free University of Berlin to partake in the annual Korean Competence Week. The weeklong workshop was created to foster the region’s next generation of Korean experts, which is an area that lacks greatly in numbers, accord

Oct. 23, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] Love for Hangeul grows in corner of Sweden

GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- It’s 6 p.m. on a regular Thursday in Sweden’s second-largest city of Gothenburg. Seventeen students of various ages gathered in classrooms at a high school to learn a language that is spoken in a distant land: Korean. They are the enrollees of a Korean language course offered at a branch of the King Sejong Institute, the Korean government-run language education center. The KSI Gothenburg is one of the center’s 248 branches worldwide and the only one in Swe

Oct. 21, 2023

[Korean History] 2003, when Korean cinema was at its finest

“South Korea has had the most lively movie industry in the world for the past decade,” remarked French filmmaker Luc Besson during this year’s Busan International Film Festival that closed last week. Although it may appear as though Korean cinema’s meteoric rise to prominence occurred just over a decade ago or even more recently, its foundation runs deeper. For many, 2003 stands out as a pivotal year when Korean cinema made its mark on the global stage, with films from di

Oct. 19, 2023

Muaz Razaq on being Muslim in South Korea

Muaz Razaq, a representative of the Muslim community at Kyungpook National University, finds himself at the epicenter of a struggle that underscores the necessity for greater understanding and inclusivity in a city traditionally perceived as "unwelcoming" to Muslims. Arriving in South Korea with the aspiration of pursuing a doctorate in computer science, Razaq swiftly encountered the challenges associated with practicing Islam in a predominantly non-Muslim country. Initially, Razaq fo

Oct. 18, 2023