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VIDEO A man who saved more than 2,000 babies with a single box

An elderly couple in Korea has saved the lives of more than 2,000 abandoned infants with a specially designed metal box. The ‘Baby Box’: A private safety net In Korea, the "Baby Box" serves as a crucial emergency rescue system for single mothers and infants. When struggling mothers find themselves unable to raise their newborn, they bring the baby to this facility and place their child inside the climate-controlled box. The moment a child is placed inside, an alarm triggers, and staff on the other side immediately open the inner door to bring the infant to safety. This system, launched in 2009, was created not by the government, but by a single individual. To date, Pastor Lee Jong-rak, now in his 70s, has rescued over 2,000 babies — and, in many ways, their parents — through this box, which continues to receive vulnerable children to this day. Eun-man’s lasting legacy The inspiration behind the Baby Box stems from Pastor Lee’s late biological son, Lee Eun-man, who was born with a severe, congenital disability. As Eun-man required prolonged hospitalizations, Pastor Lee spent ye

By Lee Yun-seovideo
[VIDEO] A man who saved more than 2,000 babies with a single box

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VIDEO The silent witness: Chasing secrets behind Korea’s tinted windows

If you walk through one of the sprawling Korean apartment complexes or a quiet riverside parking lot, you might notice a white SUV with windows tinted so dark, they look like ink. To a casual passerby, it is just a parked car. But inside, it is the mobile office of a private investigator, a modern-day shadow operating in the legal and emotional gaps of Korean society. Until 2015, adultery was a criminal offense in Korea, meaning the police could raid hotel rooms to catch cheating spouses in the act. However, since the abolition of the anti-adultery law, infidelity has moved from the criminal courts to the civil ones. Today, the state no longer intervenes in private betrayals; the burden of proof rests solely on the victim. "The state won't help you anymore, so you have to catch them yourself," says Woo Min-ho, a private investigator. "Suspicions hold no weight in court. Without concrete evidence, a spouse who confronts their partner risks being sued for defamation or dismissed as 'paranoid.'" The investigator’s work often leads to the outskirts of the city, specifically places like t

Mar 18, 2026By Ha Ilvideo
[VIDEO] The silent witness: Chasing secrets behind Korea’s tinted windows
Howdy Korea

VIDEO A day spent with a Korean taekwondo master who looks after 200 kids

If you have ever lived in Korea, you have likely witnessed groups of children gathered at school gates and apartment complexes to be ushered into waiting vans. But this is no attempted abduction — the vehicles are a cheerful yellow, and the adults are masters of the Korean martial art taekwondo. These yellow vans are a ubiquitous part of the Korean landscape, prepped to coordinate moving young children from school to studies to home for busy parents. They belong to the local cram school, or hagwons, and a significant majority are operated by taekwondo dojangs, or training halls. This daily ritual exists because of a cultural and economic shift that began decades ago. As women entered the formal workforce in greater numbers and families came to rely on two incomes, it became necessary for parents to find a safe, structured environment for their children during the long afternoon gap between the end of school and the end of the workday. The "dual-income dilemma" is a defining characteristic of contemporary Korean society. According to Statistics Korea, approximately 48 percent of all mar

Feb 27, 2026By Yu Seung-eun
[VIDEO] A day spent with a Korean taekwondo master who looks after 200 kids
Howdy Korea

VIDEO Beyond skin care, Korean doctor treats idol trainee daughter’s dreams

In the heart of Seoul's Gangnam District, Dr. Min is a renowned dermatologist who takes care of her patients' skin with precision. However, once she sheds her white coat, she becomes a mother navigating a complex relationship with her daughter, a K-pop idol trainee. For Dr. Min, professional success doesn't make parenting any easier; she admits with a bittersweet smile that her teenage children have likely blocked her on social media. Despite the grueling nature of the idol industry, Dr. Min remains a steady pillar of support. She views her daughter’s intense training not as a gamble, but as a vital process of growth. Just as she heals skin, she sees these challenges as a way for her daughter to build resilience. Part of her "prescription" for her daughter is to wait with dedication outside the dance studio at night to provide a safe ride home. Though her suffocating schedule leads to occasional burnout, Dr. Min believes in leading by example. "Showing my children how I live with passion is the best education I can give," she says. As the city lights fade at the end of a long day, sh

Feb 9, 2026By Ha Ilvideo
[VIDEO] Beyond skin care, Korean doctor treats idol trainee daughter’s dreams
Howdy Korea

VIDEO Spirit mothers: Inside the resilient sisterhood of Korean shamanism

In the neon-lit alleys of modern Seoul, beneath the surface of one of the world’s most tech-savvy societies, an ancient rhythm persists. It is the beat of the janggu (drum) and the bells of the mudang — the shamans who have served as the spiritual intermediaries of the Korean peninsula for more than 5,000 years. Tracing their lineage back to the foundational Dangun myth, shamanism remains a resilient thread in the Korean cultural fabric. A new short documentary by Howdy Korea featuring the "Snowflake Witch" offers a rare glimpse into how this tradition is preserved through a unique, matriarchal apprenticeship that mirrors family bonds. In Korean shamanism, the transmission of knowledge is rarely academic; it is familial. Because the majority of shamans are women, they organize themselves into a hierarchy of "Spirit Mothers" and "Spirit Daughters." This is not a bond of blood, but of destiny. The relationship begins with shinbyeong — a "spirit sickness" that can only be cured when the afflicted individual accepts their calling through an initiation rite. The presiding shaman become

Jan 19, 2026By Yu Seung-eun
[VIDEO] Spirit mothers: Inside the resilient sisterhood of Korean shamanism
Howdy Korea

VIDEO Even potluck parties turn competitive in Korea

A potluck party held in Hongdae to celebrate YouTube channel Howdy Korea reaching 100,000 subscribers turned out to be much more than a simple gathering. Former guests and crew reunited for the event, creating a festive atmosphere where food, fashion and enthusiasm came together in a friendly showdown. The guest list included a face reader with 35 years of experience, a Korean shaman known as the “Snowflake Witch” and former Howdy Korea host Kady. Each arrived with dishes they had personally prepared: a seafood hangover soup loaded with abalone, shrimp, crab, mussels and clams; steaming braised short ribs; and even North Korean-style coriander kimchi made by host Joel himself. The table quickly became a vibrant display of Korean cuisine. But the excitement extended far beyond the food. With votes held for “Best Foodie” and “Best Dresser,” the evening evolved into a playful competition. The shaman, dressed in a white outfit, claimed the Best Dresser title. Meanwhile, the face reader, whose seafood stew captivated attendees, was named Best Foodie. She boosted the excitement f

Dec 2, 2025By Ha Ilvideo
[VIDEO] Even potluck parties turn competitive in Korea
Howdy Korea

VIDEO We tested Asia’s best models with diet food. Were they fooled?

In a fascinating culinary experiment, three of Asia's top models were stumped by a phenomenon now sweeping the nation: South Korea’s ‘zero food’ trend. It is not merely a diet fad, but a major cultural and commercial movement. Fueled by rising health consciousness and a desire to enjoy traditional tastes guilt-free, the zero food market — which primarily focuses on replacing sugar with non-nutritive sweeteners and lowering overall calories — has exploded. Products like zero-sugar sodas, bread and snacks are now a staple in convenience stores and supermarkets, with consumers actively seeking ways to balance indulgence with their fitness goals. The challenge, hosted by Joel Jay Lane for The Korea Times’s "Foodie Korea" series, leveraged this trend, asking stunning contestants from the Asia Model Festival to blind-taste classic Korean dishes against newly developed, zero-calorie counterparts. Gathered from the prestigious Asia Model Festival at High1 Resort, the panel included Nina from Hong Kong, Bilric from Myanmar and the newly crowned Face of Asia winner, 19-year-old Ryu f

Nov 12, 2025By Yu Seung-eun
[VIDEO] We tested Asia’s best models with diet food. Were they fooled?
Howdy Korea

4 dishes, 2 worlds: How food explains my journey to K-Pop industry

What if the most honest memoir you could write wasn't in a book, but plated on a dish? In his latest video for Howdy Korea, host Joel Jay Lane conducts a novel experiment in vulnerability, using four iconic Korean meals to navigate the winding path of his life — a journey marked by cultural duality, the Korean entertainment industry and a reckoning with his past. Joel begins his confessional with a bowl of tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and sundae (blood sausage), a food his family bought at grocery store H Mart while growing up in the United States. He recalls the isolation of growing up half-Korean before K-pop’s ascent, when connections to his heritage were sparse. "That was my go-to comfort food, and I used to eat it with my hands in the backseat of my mom's car," he notes, underscoring how this simple street snack bridged a complex cultural gap. This duality is further highlighted by budaejjigae, or army stew, a dish intrinsically tied to his background as a military kid. With a father in the Army, the Spam and hot dog stew was a frequent family staple. The memory sharpens, how

Nov 3, 2025By Yu Seung-eun
4 dishes, 2 worlds: How food explains my journey to K-Pop industry
Howdy Korea

VIDEO Korean royal cuisine master reacts to 'Bon Appetit, Your Majesty'

“Bon Appetit, Your Majesty,” a Korean drama that follows a chef who time-travels to the past, has taken the world by storm. The drama not only focuses on the romance between the chef and the king she cooks for, but also introduces traditional Korean food that people from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), especially the royals, ate back in the day. But how similar are the dishes shown in the drama to what people ate hundreds of years ago? To find out, Howdy Korea consulted a master in Korean Royal Cuisine. Lim Seung-jeong, designated practitioner of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage: Royal Court Cuisine of the Joseon Dynasty, watched Episode 4 of the drama with Joel Jay Lane, the host of Howdy Korea. In the episode, the chef participates in a competition where she has to make a dish that embodies the spirit of filial piety out of soybean paste and tofu, for the royals. Each contestant made a different dish: eomandu (fish dumpling), yeonpotang (tofu soup) and spinach soybean paste soup. However, according to Lim, soybean paste was not the most-used ingredient in the royal cuisi

Oct 10, 2025By Lee Yun-seovideo
[VIDEO] Korean royal cuisine master reacts to 'Bon Appetit, Your Majesty'
Howdy Korea

VIDEO What happens if you 'dine and dash' at a Korean unmanned ramyeon shop?

What happens when you eat at a restaurant with no staff, no cashier and no one watching the door? Howdy Korea host Joel Jay Lane decided to find out, flirting with the idea of a “dine and dash” inside one of Korea’s increasingly popular unmanned ramyeon shops. These self-service eateries are part of a growing trend in Korea, where automation meets dining. Instead of waiters and chefs, customers choose their ramyeon (instant noodles) from shelves lined with dozens of varieties and then cook them on built-in hot plates. Toppings, side dishes and drinks are available in refrigerators, turning the space into something more like a ramyeon playground than a convenience store. Joel walks viewers through the process of building his bowl, showing how a basic instant noodle transforms into a filling, personalized meal. From rice cakes to bean sprouts, the shop’s offerings highlight how simple ingredients can elevate a humble snack. But the real question and the playful twist of the episode comes after the meal: In a place with no staff to watch over the counter, what prevents someone from

Sep 23, 2025By Ro Eun-chanvideo
[VIDEO] What happens if you 'dine and dash' at a Korean unmanned ramyeon shop?
Howdy Korea

VIDEO Cheongnyangni & Gyeongdong merchants pick my dinner

Cheongnyangni and Gyeongdong offer a glimpse of the city’s everyday life, from seafood and produce to herbal medicine traditions. Near the market, the air is thick with the scent of ginseng and the briny freshness of seafood. Cheongnyangni and Gyeongdong markets have thrived side by side for decades in this part of eastern Seoul. Generations of merchants have built a community here, trading everything from everyday groceries to centuries-old remedies. Though beloved by locals, these markets remain overshadowed by tourist magnets like Namdaemun and Gwangjang; they offer a different kind of Seoul experience, rooted in daily life rather than sightseeing. Both markets trace their origins to the 1960s. Cheongnyangni began when farmers started selling produce near the bustling train station, which still serves as a key hub for domestic travel. Over time, it grew into a maze of stalls offering fruits, vegetables, seafood and household goods. Gyeongdong, just steps away, evolved along a different path, becoming Korea’s largest center for herbal medicine. Today, its shops brim with dried ro

Sep 12, 2025By Yu Seung-eunvideo
[VIDEO] Cheongnyangni & Gyeongdong merchants pick my dinner
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