MATEO VALLES QUINTANA WRITES — Since the early 2000’s South Korean female professional golfers have been a dominant force on the LPGA tour and are repeatedly found at the top of the money list. In 2017, South Korean nationals Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu were first and second…
Category: South Korea
US-SOUTH KOREA RELATIONS: BUILD BACK BETTER
KATHLEEN STEPHENS WRITES — It was only a couple of Saturdays ago that I was walking, masked of course, on a gorgeous autumn day along a Washington street lined with gingko trees aflame in gold, four days after the Nov. 3 general election, when I heard the news that Joe…
SOUTH KOREA: POLITICAL WINDS HAVE SHIFTED ON CLIMATE CHANGE
MONICA KELLY WRITES — President Moon Jae-in announced last Wednesday that South Korea will be carbon neutral by 2050. This will be achieved through the Green New Deal – a multi-billion- dollar plan that will invest in energy technologies to create jobs and help curb greenhouse emissions. The hallmark plan…
SOUTH KOREA: CAN THE FLU VACCINE KILL YOU?
SARA ALTUWAIJRI WRITES — The flu season is fast approaching. The South Korean medical establishment took steps to prevent a severe epidemic by giving out flu vaccines, but this took a tragic turn when more than 1500 elderly people died seven days after receiving it last year. This year there have been…
SOUTH KOREA: LOCK ‘EM UP…FOR 14 DAYS OF COVID QUARANTINE
MALCOLM KAM WRITES — With the COVID-19 crisis, South Korea remains open to most incoming travelers as long as they participate in a 14-day quarantine. So if you are planning to visit South Korea, it is recommended that you check online for official information regarding the quarantine process (short-term foreign…
KOREA: ARE WOMEN’S RIGHTS, NORTH AND SOUTH, AN OPEN BOOK ON THE LITERARY LANDSCAPE?
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — This year, the best-selling North Korean novel Friend was translated into English and approved for publication in the US by the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea – a first in that nation’s history. Immanuel Kim, 42, professor of Korean Literature and Culture Studies at George…
TOP PROF ADVISOR GRILLED OVER N. KOREA OUTRAGE
COURTESY OF THE PACIFIC CENTURY INSTITUTE — We are pleased to share PCI board member Dr. Chung-in Moon’s recent interview in a South Korean TV news special on “North Korean Killing of a South Korean Government Worker at Sea: Getting to the Bottom of the Truth with Moon Chung-in” that…
SOUTH KOREA: THE ACCIDENTAL TRANSLATOR
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Lizzie Buehler, 25, raised in Texas, is the translator of The Disaster Tourist, South Korean author Yun Ko-eun’s first novel to be translated into English and published in the US recently. This truly original book is about international tourists who thrive on visiting world-famous tragic sites…
CHINA DEBATE: IS THE PROFESSOR A PANDA HUGGER?
ROBERT SONG WRITES (courtesy the Korea Times, Seoul) — As the world grapples with the virus originated in China, an ominous dark cloud of worsening U.S.-China relations looms over the global arena. From human rights abuses, to unfair trade practices, to unlawful militarization of the South China Sea to thousands of…
SOUTH KOREA: FORGET ABOUT SILENCING THAT ANNOYING BABYSHARK TUNE
JOSEPH LITTAUA WRITES — Most popular songs have a lot of things in common. For example, whether it’s a soloist or band song, most songs will have a short, catchy melody that gets stuck in your head, like Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” or One Direction’s “What Makes…
SOUTH KOREA: THE LAW OF LINES – THEY’RE MADE TO BE CROSSED
(This is the sixth in an original series about new wave feminist writers in Korea whose work has started to reach English language readers via superb translations.) ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Imagine this book as a movie: “Silence of the Lambs” meets “Thelma and Louise.” The Law of Lines (Arcade…
BEIJING AND SEOUL: OPENING UP SCHOOLS DURING A PANDEMIC
WILLIAM LIGHTHART WRITES — For almost every elementary school, secondary school, and institution of higher learning around the world, the last 4 months have been comprised of exclusively online instruction. Schools at all levels of education are attempting to create systems so that students can return for at least partial…
CHINA: UNCERTAIN COMMITMENT TO COVID-19 STIMULUS PACKAGE
SARA SHARPE WRITES — Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, countries have been scrambling to create effective and realistic economic stimulus packages. China has promised a year-long fiscal stimulus package amounting to 3.6 trillion yuan ($500 billion USD) in an attempt to continue its strong rate of economic growth,…
KOREA: NEW WAVE LITERATURE AS WOMEN’S LIBERATION (PART TWO)
(This is the second in an original series about new wave feminist writers in Korea) ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Is this the face of modern-day feminism in Seoul? If I Had Your Face, Frances Cha’s debut novel (Ballantine Books), tells the story of four young women struggling to succeed in…
REFLECTIONS ON BEING KOREAN-AMERICAN: A MASTERCLASS
Project Bridge was established in 1993 after the Los Angeles Riots (SAIGU) took place by the Los Angeles based Pacific Century Institute in conjunction with New York based the Korea Society. The cross-cultural program selects 16 students (eight from Los Angeles and eight from New York) each year to participate…
KOREA: NEW WAVE LITERATURE AS WOMEN’S LIBERATION
ANDREA PLATE WRITES – (This is the first in an original series about new wave feminist writers in Korea). It was big news in 2016 when the novel Kim Ji-young, 1982, by author Cho Nam-Joo, awakened a semi-somnolent women’s movement in South Korea. The book sold one million copies—only the second novel in the…