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SCMP
Asia

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Thu, March 23, 2023 | 10:10

North Korea outlives America

North Korea outlives America

Governments, nations, borders and cultures flow in and out of existence. They emerge and flourish amid waves of hope and triumph. They perish as bodies age and congregations decline. Some fade into irrelevance while others suffer unimaginable tragedies. Thus has it ever been: the stark inevitability of the human experience. The forever rise and fall of nations.

2021-10-23 09:06

Music and the lost future

Music and the lost future

No one is really bored anymore. We always have a phone. We are connected at all times. A digital world of our choosing at our fingertips. Now even 90 seconds waiting in a line has most people reaching for their pocket rather than suffer the crippling anxiety of existing next to someone. No one is bored, but everything is boring. Content is content-less. A 10 second TikTok. An...

2021-10-16 14:12

What is morality in 21st-century Korea?

What is morality in 21st-century Korea?

In many ways, we are the first real people to exist without any answer to the question of what we're doing here or, more importantly, what we're meant to do. Secularization and the increasing absence of religious authority have left many modern citizens grappling with existential questions. Worryingly, this situation leads some to conclude that the only answer must be a retur...

2021-10-03 12:51

'Squid Game': Linguistic realities

'Squid Game': Linguistic realities

For good reason, “Squid Game” is dominating headlines and streaming charts. It's an exquisitely made, claustrophobic thriller which brings to light the underlying economic struggles of Korean life in the 21st century, with echoes of “Battle Royale,” “The Hunger Games,” “Saw” and more. Lee Jung-jae rekindles the fabulous star power he demonstrated in 2019's “Chief of Staff,” a...

2021-09-25 09:29

Lost in translation? 'Squid Game' subtitles cause a stir

'Squid Game' tops global Netflix chart

Mental health not missiles

Mental health not missiles

This week we've seen North Korea launch missiles from a train and, not to be outdone, South Korea launch missiles from a submarine with the President looking on all authoritatively. Those vertical peninsula pushes have since been surpassed by an announcement from Biden, Boris and “that fella down under” that there will be an axis of Anglo-Saxonism with its own missiles combin...

2021-09-20 14:04

The death of Korean politics

The death of Korean politics

“He said this about this. Then she said that about that. Oh my god, have you heard their latest comments? Outrageous! Are they going to apologize? There's a petition on the Blue House website!” Quickly, choose one of the three old lads in their colored ties. That's the only solution.

2021-09-11 09:16

The Korean proletariat

The Korean proletariat

Thursday morning was spent discussing the plight of delivery drivers in Korea as part of a live radio show. “Not all heroes wear capes,” I exclaimed in an effort to draw even a small amount of attention away from the glitz and glamour of Marvel action figures and photoshopped gods and goddesses living an idolized curated existence.

2021-09-04 12:24

K-Afghanistan: Welcome to Korea

K-Afghanistan: Welcome to Korea

Welcome to Korea fellow people of the Earth. It is obviously heartbreaking to see the situation in which you have arrived: torn from your home, your land, and your loved ones amidst gunfire, explosions, and the click-clicking of global news cameras looking for stories. But once you eventually find a moment of privacy, we hope that you find sanctity, peace and freedom here in ...

2021-08-29 09:08

Masters of war

“You play with my world like it's your little toy. You lie and deceive; you want me to believe. Come you masters of war,” said Bob Dylan in 1963, addressing no-one and everyone at the same time. As we see people falling from the sky in Kabul and think about the women and children fearing for their lives this week, we have to ask ourselves how far we have really come since the...

2021-08-22 09:10

Should North Korean YouTube be banned?

Should North Korean YouTube be banned?

If people in Pyongyang could watch Polish student v-logs, check reaction videos to the latest Italian espresso machines, and listen to Senegalese lo-fi beats while they travel around the city, things would be very different for them. But rather than focusing on what those inside North Korea can or can't engage with, how about those of us in more open and democratic societies:...

2021-08-15 08:32

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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	Main opposition leader indicted, faces calls to resign

4	Consumers choose to travel abroad over purchasing luxury goods

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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