DANICA CREAHAN WRITES– To the nearly half a million people who follow @studiobysol on instagram, the fact that most tattooing is illegal in South Korea might come as a shock. Located in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, Studio by Sol is comprised of 29 tattoo artists, each with individual follower counts…
Full Article SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: FEWER TABOOS FOR TATTOOS?
DANIELLE ZHI JIAO GOH WRITES – China began rolling out 5G (fifth generation wireless technology) services in 50 cities at the end of 2019, so people assumed that information could be spread rapidly and that people would be more connected. The current Coronavirus outbreak proves otherwise. Technology certainly has been…
Full Article CHINA CORONAVIRUS: ‘AN ARMY PUFFED UP WITH PRIDE IS BOUND TO LOSE’
(The following is the most recent analysis of the North Korean impasse by the special advisor on this issue to the president of South Korea) MOON CHUNG-IN WRITES — A Dec. 31 deadline passed without Pyongyang delivering to the United States its threatened “Christmas gift” if Washington didn’t alter its…
Full Article North Korea: WHY CHAIRMAN KIM THINKS THE WAY HE DOES
WEI WU WRITES — The South Korean movie “Parasite”, 2019 Golden Palm Award winner and recently released in East Asia after its 2018 debut, has re-ignited popular discussion of important issues about Korea. The movie was directed by Bong Joon-Hyun who has directed “Memories of Murder” and “Snowpiercer”. Bong focuses…
Full Article MOVIE REVIEW: ‘PARASITE’ OUT OF SOUTH KOREA OFFERS A JARRING BUT MOVING VISION OF THE PENINSULA UNIFICATION ILLUSION
SENAY EMMANUEL WRITES – On June 30th, 2019, US President Donald Trump met with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas. With that, Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the isolated country. This symbolic gesture made for an incredible photo…
Full Article TRUMP DIPLOMACY: HOW UNREAL IS THIS LATEST ‘DIPLOMATIC’ REALITY SHOW?
[Editor’s Note] – The rise of a new global power has often led to hegemonic wars. In the following essay, Prof. Graham Allison discusses how the rise of China might affect the Korean Peninsula and offers his insights on the possibility of a second Korea war. An earlier version of…
Full Article SHADOWS OF WAR: ARE THE TWO KOREAS THE CORINTH AND KORCYA OF OUR TIME?
ABDULMOHSEN Al JUMA WRITES– South Korea is undergoing a measure of major social upheaval with regard to how women are treated in the country. Change has been catalyzed mainly by a myriad of scandals that rocked the country over the past year. Despite having the 11th largest economy in the…
Full Article South Korea: Another Battleground for the Feminist Movement
KOREA TIMES’ KIM HYUN-BIN WRITES – Public calls are growing for the closure of an entertainment media outlet for violating entertainers’ privacy rights. The negative sentiment toward Dispatch, notorious for revealing celebrity dating stories by constantly following them, came after the tabloid broke the news that popular boy band EXO’s…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: SHOULD CELEBRITIES ENJOY PRIVACY RIGHTS?
TABITHA THEARD WRITES — Rice, water bottles, and bicycle tubes are not usually seen as political statements, but in South Korea, activists are using these items to inspire hope and encourage more North Koreans to become defectors and flee their country. According to Fars Ghani from Aljazeera, approximately 31,000 North…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Defector Using Rice-Filled Water Bottles to Assist Future Defectors
FASSA SAR WRITES – “Black Panther” tops box offices, at this point running ahead of “Avatar,” the Star Wars franchise, “Jumanji” and countless other titles in sales. There is an old standing conception that mass audiences do not want to see black narratives with a majority black cast. In order…
Full Article FILM: BLACK PANTHER GRASPS HEARTS IN ASIA
EMILY CARMAN WRITES – North Korea withdrew its participation from a pre-Olympic intercultural event set to take place on Monday, February 4. The event would have combined popular artists from the North and South, and was set to take place at the Mt. Kumgang Resort in North Korea, a location…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: BACKS OUT OF PRE-OLYMPIC EVENT
DIANA JABLONSKI WRITES – Malaysia’s high-profile trial on the murder of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has resumed. Two women, 25-year-old Indonesian Siti Aisyah and 29-year-old Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, were charged with the alleged murder, caused by a chemical substance known as the…
Full Article MALAYSIA: MAHB CLEARED FROM LEAKING ALLEGED ATTACK ON KIM JONG NAM
BOBBY FRETZ WRITES – Several weeks ago, the Australian Open came to an end with an emotional Roger Federer hoisting his 20th grand slam trophy. While Federer’s greatness is not an unfamiliar story to sport fanatics, a new headline made waves throughout the two-week long tournament. 21 year old, Hyeon…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: HYEON CHUNG, NEW BRAND OF INTERNATIONAL TENNIS SUPERSTAR
NICOLAS SWAYA WRITES – Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have become a global phenomenon over the last two years, the price of bitcoin skyrocketing 1100% in the last year alone. It has been called the greatest transfer of wealth in human history, and people are quickly taking notice. While cryptocurrency originally…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: THE CRYPTIC FUTURE FOR CRYPTOCURRENCY
TRUMAN DALY WRITES — The last time the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea appeared at the Olympics was after the end of the Korean War. Fast forward 54 years, the DPRK and the Republic of Korea have put forth a unified women’s ice hockey team for the 2018 Winter Olympics…
Full Article KOREA: North and South Korea Announce Joint Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey