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Thu, June 1, 2023 | 11:10

Against K-Grief merchants

Against K-Grief merchants

Social media platforms and journalists love a Korean horror story. Sad Koreans, dead Koreans and single Koreans are of particular interest. Nothing is more valued than a Korean slighted, assaulted, or sacrificed. In such stories, Seoul is a dystopian nightmare characterized by violence and terror.

2023-03-04 12:40

Korean anxiety and psychological evolution

Korean anxiety and psychological evolution

Korean people (and humans more broadly) evolved to inhabit a certain environment. Our physical, psychological, cultural, and spiritual lives were shaped by, and for, an agricultural existence. The many myths, legends, and tales of yore spoke of seasons, weather, the waning of time, of heroes and villains. The people were well suited to such an environment and thus the languag...

2023-02-25 13:33

The little red books of North Korea

The little red books of North Korea

In the department stores of Pyongyang, you will find a whole host of items for sale. These places are, on the whole, relatively well-stocked - even carrying what looks like versions of IKEA furniture (though one would rightly question the legality of them being there). One of the more curious items for sale, however, is a little red book. Hardback and, at first glance, no dif...

2023-02-18 12:18

Being offended by Korea

Being offended by Korea

The internet can be a fabulous source of information. It can teach you a whole range of things you never once considered or even thought possible. At the same time, in can introduce you to ideas that might not be quite as useful or important. For example, this week I learnt that saying “Korea is a mystery” is seemingly an offensive term to some. One frequent contributor to a ...

2023-02-11 11:18

Korea as sublime, strange, and familiar

Korea as sublime, strange, and familiar

There is a worryingly wonderful ease with which both Koreans and non-Koreans slip so seamlessly into perspectives of (self) orientalism. Korea quickly becomes a place like no other - where secret nunchi determines one's happiness, a powerful feeling of han molds character, and Confucianism serves as a mystical deus ex machina explaining everything from noraebangs to New Jeans.

2023-02-04 11:37

To speak Korean

To speak Korean

Language is magic. It creates ideas, places, people and smells. With words we summon both the past and the future; we explore the oceans, the deserts, the cities, and the skies; we communicate the possible and conjure the impossible. Through language we birth worlds, write history, and give voice to those silent emotions. What would the human world be without the magic of lan...

2023-01-28 12:09

Do you understand Confucianism?

Do you understand Confucianism?

Read something in the mainstream press and Confucianism will likely be linked to any or all of the following situations: the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, the reason young Korean children study all night at hagwons, the overly puritan nature of some Korean dramas, workplace bullying and gapjil, BTS' phenomenal choreography, the Miracle on the Han River, why the English...

2023-01-21 11:55

Mass movements and individualism in Korea

Mass movements and individualism in Korea

It has been said that the strength of one's faith or devotion to a cause is not measured in moving mountains and achieving the impossible but conversely in not seeing mountains move when all evidence points to them doing so. Faith is, therefore, like love: blind. It is oblivious to a great many things that run counter to its worldview.

2023-01-07 12:37

Fear of the Korean black swan

Fear of the Korean black swan

Korean news in 2023 will be dominated by an improbable event, I just don't know what that event will be. It might be good, it might be bad. It might be an unprecedented cultural success. It might be a catastrophic national failure. It could be war.

2022-12-31 10:27

Lee Jung-jae's 'The Hunt' reveals Korean realities

Lee Jung-jae's 'The Hunt' reveals Korean realities

This is movie about Korea. Thus, it is about division. About violence. And death. About how visions of solidarity and collective action are dashed at every turn, often to the soundtrack of broken bones, bullets, and blood. We expect violence from Korean movies and The Hunt has lots of it. There must be at least 200 on-screen deaths during the movie. These are supplemented by ...

2022-12-24 13:43

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