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Thu, November 30, 2023 | 01:21

About the past - Robert Neff

Silla, when giants ruled the peninsula

According to legends, long before tigers smoked pipes, Korea was ruled by giants.

Cornerstone of Korea's independence

On Nov. 21, 1896, a large crowd gathered to witness the laying of the cornerstone of the Independence Arch, a symbol of Korean independence. According to the English version of The Independent - a newspaper published in Seoul:

Joseon taffy’s sweet history

For many Koreans, Nov. 11 is Pepero Day, a fairly recent unofficial celebration that Wikipedia claims is similar to Valentine’s Day. On this day, friends and family exchange Pepero (long, thin cookie sticks covered with chocolate) as a show of affection.

Korea: deConstructed - David Tizzard

An Englishman in Seoul

“Miguk-in onda,” the Korean kids used to shout at me as I walked past the convenience store. The mere sight of a white guy on the streets of Seoul causing them to break out in cheers and shouts, proclaiming that an American guy was coming. I didn’t really have the heart to tell...

'Gatsaeng' explained

We all know that Korean people work hard. It’s something like a national motto. We study hard, practice hard, sing hard. The delivery drivers work hard. The pop stars work hard. The students work hard. Everything in the country appears to be the result of intense personal and c...

The paradoxes of youth

The world many of us inhabited growing up is not the world that young people experience today. We should also probably say that there never was ‘one’ world, but rather my world and your world. Similarly, today the new generation of young adults face a great diversity of experie...

Parchment Made of Sheepskins - Scott Shepherd

Let's ban smoking

Earlier this month the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced proposals to ban anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 from ever legally buying a cigarette in England. The proposal mirrors a similar law passed in New Zealand by then-Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s governmen...

Korea's summer of hell

This summer I went to the land of my birth, the United States, for the first time in almost a decade. I only had sporadic access to the internet, and I didn't really keep up with the news. But throughout the trip I extolled the virtues of Korea at any chance I got. “What delici...

Yoon's Real Suneung Problem

The details about the hullabaloo are almost boring in their predictable uniformity: a politician's statement, the outraged response, the government's hasty clarifications, meetings, more statements. Someone gets fired, but not the person who made the initial statement.

Workable Words - Casey Lartigue Jr.

Direct and indirect human rights abuses in forced repatriation

The issue garnering the greatest attention in the news these days seems to be the war between Israel and Hamas. While it is important, I hope more people will pay attention to the 600 North Korean defectors who were just forcibly repatriated from China to North Korea. There ar...

The lives of North Korea’s 'strongest soldier?s?'

“We have the greatest general and the strongest army! That’s why we will defeat the enemy!” This is what I heard every day when I was a soldier in the North Korean military. I saw and experienced hunger, tragic accidents and corrupt officers everywhere.

North Korea is slave state

Until last year, I was one of the modern slaves of Kim Jong-un. I was born and raised in North Korea. I worked in a North Korean building company in Russia for more than 5 years. I came here to tell the story of 21st-century slaves that exist in North Korea.

Dialogues with adoptees

Can Korea confront its legacy of exporting children?

My research focuses on the movement of children across borders, specifically migration matters related to intercountry adoption laws and policies. During my exploration of these issues, a question that has always lingered in the depths of my mind is whether Korea can ever recko...

A pilgrimage home: adoptees' journey to 'homeland' in search of meaning of origin and identity

An adoptee once told me that the journey of an adoptee to their homeland, Korea, is like a pilgrimage. We may interpret this comment in several ways because a pilgrimage has different meanings. Common definitions refer to it as a spiritual journey to a special spiritual site or...

Cherishing of mothers

When I was first pregnant, someone told me that I was once a tiny egg in my mother’s ovaries when my grandmother was carrying my mother inside her womb. I remember imagining it like a Russian nesting doll, and I was inside my mother who was inside her mother, and now my child i...

Imbricated Chaos - Emanuel Pastreich

In defense of Donald John Trump

The lawyers employed by Donald Trump have amassed an impressive pile of arguments to defend him against charges that he incited a mob of his supporters to stage an armed insurrection in the Capitol and to murder people in an effort to stop the selection of his democratically el...

The nightmare born when technology took the place of science

Even small children are starting to sense that we live in an age when literally none of the information provided is reliable or believable. Information on a global scale is subject increasingly to Gresham's Law: low-quality information spreads everywhere and the truth is hoarde...

'Silhak' tradition as a solution to the current geopolitical crisis

South Koreans are having tremendous trouble grasping how familiar political and academic institutions in the United States have ceased to function as they once did. Koreans are confused to see Harvard professors promote nonsensical arguments about COVID-19 or to see politicians...

Top 10 Stories

1	Busan eyes Expo 2035 after losing to Riyadh

2	US, S. Korea cast doubt over NK's satellite photos

3	SPECIAL REPORTKorea should embrace cultural diversity in integrating immigrants

4	Saudi Expo win puts Korean firms in line for contracts

5	Busan citizens disappointed but ready for World Expo 2035 bid

6	Journey into Tomorrow: Commemorating 140 years of Korean-German diplomatic relations

7	Birthrate might fall below 0.7 in Q4

8	Chanel, Hermes, Nike rectify customer policies after FTC warning

9	Air Force awards 2 warrant officers as top air defense weapons controllers

10	Retailers, food firms rush to reduce workforce amid economic downturn

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