SAMANTHA GERBASI WRITES — Two months before Master Sergeant Lee took her own life, she was sexually assaulted by her male colleague, Master Sergeant Chang. Lee was sexually assaulted in March and committed suicide in May of 2021. It is no secret that South Korea’s hypermasculine military culture often turns…
Category: South Korea
SOUTH KOREA: NETFLIX’S ‘SQUID GAME’ WILL MAKE YOU SQUIRM
HEIDI SCHUBERT WRITES — A new Netflix series called “Squid Game” is a popular, ultraviolent drama in which people take part in a fatal game derived from traditional children’s activities. In doing so, it provides a window into how South Korean people might behave towards one another and what they’ll…
NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE: ONLY KOREANS THEMSELVES CAN FIND A WAY OUT OF THE IMPASSE
TOM PLATE WRITES — Frustrations come with any occupation, and writing columns about Asia and America, as I have without stop for 25 years, is no exception. Asia is powerful and dynamic, and one size does not fit all. But, for me, no one subject has proven more elusive and…
JAPAN, KOREA, AMERICA: CAN YOUNG SUPERSTARS THE WORLD OVER EVER BE HAPPY?
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Forget about Naomi Osaka, for a moment. For all the whining-and-dining out by the press on the tennis superstar’s mental health struggles, and her difficulty facing their not-so-friendly post-game fire, she is, after all, just one international superstar. One. Forget, too, about Britney Spears, if you…
BOOK REVIEW: TO THE WARM HORIZON BY CHOI JIN-YOUNG
BRIANNA HIRAMI WRITES — Choi Jin-Young’s To The Warm Horizon (2021) captivates its readers by revealing the dark and difficult truth surrounding human nature. However, we come to understand that there is often love and glimpses of hope throughout periods of complete chaos. This page-turning novel starts off by briskly and…
BOOK REVIEW: KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982 (2021) BY CHO NAM-JOO
BRIANNA HIRAMI WRITES — Cho Nam-Joo’s eye opening novel, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, displays how South Korea’s demoralizing rules and societal norms negatively affect the lives of Korean women. This straightforward novel wastes no time by jumping right into Kim Jiyoung’s, the protagonist’s, story about how sexism casually dictates the lives…
VIDEO: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND A NEW APPROACH TO DENUCLEARIZATION OF KOREAN PENINSULA
EVENT — The Loyola Marymount University Center for Asian Business, in collaboration with the Center for International Business Education, presented a special webinar on April 22th 2021 with Victor Cha, Senior Vice President and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Dr. Cha holds…
SOUTH KOREA: ‘SPACE SWEEPERS’ IS AN OUT-OF-THIS WORLD BLOCKBUSTER
YOLANDA NOSAKHARE WRITES — Imagine your favorite “Star Wars” film mating with the “Wizard of Oz” in the year 2092- quite an interesting concept, right? Director Jo Sung-Hee seamlessly accomplishes this with his new sci-fi-thriller “Space Sweepers.” While the Korean film came out February 5th of this year, it is…
SOUTH KOREA: WILL TECH START UPS SMACK DOWN SILICON VALLEY?
AUDIE LAYARDA WRITES — Seoul will invest $1.7 billion through 2022 to become one of the world’s top five technology start-up hubs. Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon said, “I will improve the structure of Seoul economy and make a “miracle of startup.” Seoul, now one of the top 20 startup…
SOUTH KOREA: WHERE THE COVID BUST HAS CREATED A GOLF BOOM
CRISTINA PEDLER WRITES — The pandemic has forced South Koreans to look within the country for their golf fix. South Koreans are avid sports and outdoors enthusiasts. Their golfing population has continually been on the rise, despite declines in other golfing countries like the United States. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has strained the…
INTERVIEW: MADAM VIOLET, A STORY OF SURVIVAL AND TRIUMPH OVER SOUTH KOREA’S SEX TRAFFICKING EPIDEMIC
*For the protection of all parties involved (as well as a request from the interviewee herself), all names and identifiable information have been redacted. The interview was conducted virtually via FaceTime to comply with CDC and CDPH Health Guidelines for COVID-19. **Trigger Warning: This article recounts the interviewee’s experiences of…
SOUTH KOREA: ‘MINARI’, THE MOVIE THAT SHOWS GRANDMA KNOWS BEST
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — “Everyone needs to have access both to grandparents and grandchildren in order to be a full human being.” So wrote cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, at least a half-century prior to the release of “Minari,” awarded “Best Foreign Film” by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the…
SOUTH KOREA: ‘SEOUL-SEARCHING’ MEETS ‘THE BREAKFAST CLUB’
YOLANDA NOSAKHARE WRITES — Have you ever wondered what your favorite John Hughes film would look like if it took place at a summer camp in South Korea? This is just what Korean-American filmmaker and writer Benson Lee channeled when he melded John Hughes’ “The Breakfast Club” to his 2015…
KOREAN PENINSULA: HOPES AND FEARS ABOUT BIDEN’S NORTH KOREAN POLICY
MOON CHUNG-IN WRITES — While it doesn’t appear that the Joe Biden administration has completed its review of North Korea policy yet, the outlines of that policy seem to be slowly taking shape. Ned Price, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said on Feb. 12 that the North Korean…
SOUTH KOREA: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS MUSIC TO OUR EARS
RYAN FRAZEE WRITES — South Korea is on a path to revolutionize artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry. Supertone, a company based in Seoul, recently developed a cutting edge hologram concert of a Korean folk artist who died in 1996 from an apparent suicide. Despite his tragic and untimely…
SOUTH KOREA: HOW GOLF BECOMES A PRESSURE COOKER — PART II
MATEO VALLES QUINTANA WRITES — In the previous article SOUTH KOREA: WHY KOREAN WOMEN DOMINATE THE LPGA, I explained how the cultural and structural aspects of South Korean society have created a national junior golf system that produces professional players (gets results). However, their golf system is not perfect and…