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SCMP
Asia

The Korea Times

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Thu, March 23, 2023 | 11:44

I'm a feminist

I grew up in the U.K. with Elizabeth II as queen and Margaret Thatcher as prime minister. My family was also matriarchal as our grandmother presided over a large collection of cousins, aunties, and relatives. Therefore, throughout my years of development, it was second nature for me to see women in positions of power and influence. In that sense, I was very lucky.

2022-03-12 16:57

The pandemic's psychological effects on Korean youth

The pandemic's psychological effects on Korean youth

Try explaining Confucianism to someone. Or how Korean people will often instinctively become aware of the hierarchy in a room and know where to position themselves, what language to use, and who to defer to. Try conveying the feeling carried by the scars and trauma of Japanese colonization and the anti-Chinese sentiment that gets whipped up sporadically.

2022-03-05 14:39

Jang Gi-ha's 'Levitating': Experiments in minimalism

Jang Gi-ha's 'Levitating': Experiments in minimalism

I've been listening to music for 40 years. Once you get that long in the tooth, you start realizing that you've heard most of the ways people can get from A to B over a chord progression. The next big thing dominating the headlines immediately reminds you of that group that was kind of popular 20 twenty years ago. The big summer hit leans heavily on a melody from an 80s rock ...

2022-02-26 13:13

If Ahn were king?

If Ahn were king?

Many Koreans will laugh at you if you bring up the subject of Ahn Cheol-soo in the current presidential election. For all the rational arguments that might be made or the evidence that could be produced, there is simply no getting past that initial sense of ridicule with which one is greeted. Ahn carries a reputation and regardless of how he might have changed over the years,...

2022-02-19 13:31

Smear campaigns reach fever pitch

When is 'anti-Chinese sentiment' racism?

When is 'anti-Chinese sentiment' racism?

What's happening in Korea at the moment is real. Statistics and figures will never quite capture the incredibly visceral feeling sweeping through the country as the population directs its anger at China. It's something you see on the news, read on social media, smell on campus and catch at the coffee tables around you. You notice it most when your Chinese friends and colleagu...

2022-02-12 18:15

K-zombies: Violence, success and culture

K-zombies: Violence, success and culture

I have written before about Korean content and K-content and the differences between them, as well as their reception in different parts of the world. Domestic television here still loves a historical drama and romance story.

2022-02-05 13:59

Metaverses, shamanism and Christianity

Metaverses, shamanism and Christianity

The contradictions in South Korea run deep. It's one of the world's most technologically advanced societies: hyper connected, Bluetooth for days, metaverses proclaimed everywhere, and yet it still has loads of people who are hooked up to Internet Explorer and using HWP files.

2022-01-29 09:32

Planned polarization and the Korean proletariat

Planned polarization and the Korean proletariat

A great deal of Korean politics over the past few years has revolved around party psychodrama, rumors of shamans, commentary on hand gestures in advertisements, placating communists, attacking communists, and various allegations of corruption and sexual misconduct.

2022-01-22 16:17

Korean civilization: Birth and death

Korean civilization: Birth and death

You can't read about the development of Korea without coming across the names of Park Chung-hee, Chung Ju-yung and Lee Byung-chull. For better and for worse, these three men have imprinted their personalities on the country, at times bending it to their will.

2022-01-15 09:38

Grief tourism and the laptop class

Grief tourism and the laptop class

Modern education and meetings involve being sat at a computer, staring at a filtered version of yourself, listening to people talk, and trying hard not to look at your phone or open another browser. We are provided a slew of new words to describe this bum-numbing phenomenon: “untact,” hybrid, meta. It's a fourth industrial revolution of which we should all be proud.

2022-01-08 14:18

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Top 10 Stories

1	Korean firms balk at donating to fund compensating victims of Japan's forced labor

2	Sexual assaults by Korean diplomats continue despite zero-tolerance policy

3	Consumers choose to travel abroad over purchasing luxury goods

4	Main opposition leader indicted, faces calls to resign

5	World water day

6	Outback Steakhouse sees sales soar as it opens stores in large shopping malls

7	Samsung, SK avoid worst-case scenario as US 'guardrails' are less stringent than feared

8	Korean pension fund hit by overseas banking crisis

9	INTERVIEWRetired FSC chief finds inspiration exploring Koreans' ancestral roots

10	Campaign launched to promote equal treatment for multicultural families

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