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Fri, July 1, 2022 | 01:02
About the past - Robert Neff
Baseball in Joseon: Part 1
On a beautiful fall afternoon in late October 1894, baseball made its appearance in Seoul. It isn't clear if this was the first baseball game to be played in Korea, but it is the earliest account I could find and clearly predates the popular belief that baseball began in Korea ...
The Royal English School's Sports Day
In her diary, on June 16, 1897, Elizabeth Greathouse duly noted that it was a cloudy day but it promised to be a good day for the Royal English School's annual athletic sports day. She wasn't quite sure what the students were going to do - some type of gymnastics, she guessed -...
The assassination attempt of Heungson Daewon'gun
On the morning of June 15, 1892, the residents of Seoul awoke to the booming of thunder. It was a very welcomed sound. One elderly American wrote in her diary, the sky had “every appearance of rain, we all hope it may come.” Indeed, many of the farmers were probably praying fer...
Imbricated Chaos - Emanuel Pastreich
In defense of Donald John Trump
The lawyers employed by Donald Trump have amassed an impressive pile of arguments to defend him against charges that he incited a mob of his supporters to stage an armed insurrection in the Capitol and to murder people in an effort to stop the selection of his democratically el...
The nightmare born when technology took the place of science
Even small children are starting to sense that we live in an age when literally none of the information provided is reliable or believable. Information on a global scale is subject increasingly to Gresham's Law: low-quality information spreads everywhere and the truth is hoarde...
'Silhak' tradition as a solution to the current geopolitical crisis
South Koreans are having tremendous trouble grasping how familiar political and academic institutions in the United States have ceased to function as they once did. Koreans are confused to see Harvard professors promote nonsensical arguments about COVID-19 or to see politicians...
Voices from the North - Casey Lartigue Jr.
My 'Greenlight to Freedom'
Growing up in North Korea, I was a tomboy who wanted to play, run and wrestle. I was so active, I had so much energy, and I was constantly in motion as a child.
North Korean artist pursues her dream
I was destined to be an artist. My father was an artist in North Korea and when I was there, I became interested in art from a young age. I was 14 years old when I started learning painting in earnest.
Blackmailing from China
Sometimes it is difficult for North Korean women to tell their stories because people may judge the situation without understanding how desperate some North Koreans are in China.
Korea: deConstructed - David Tizzard
Forget K-pop, real Korean activism is underground
Some people access Korea through its literature, others through its movies, its beauty products, its webtoons, or its history. The pathways into the country and its culture are endless. And once in, for many people, a vice-like grip keeps you enthralled. South Korea is addictiv...
My Liberation Notes: A remarkable depiction of an unremarkable life
I wasn't necessarily expecting to like ”My Liberation Notes.” Most of the domestic Korean media had been talking about “Our Blues” and the controversial issues of teenage pregnancy, actors with disabilities and Lee Byung-hun's capacity for swearing and violence. Meanwhile, west...
Capitalist discontent and the kimchi premium
The Korean economic system is creaking. The middle-class that, in part, gave birth to this nation's proud democracy is shrinking. The collective ethos that drove the country from poverty to the world stage has been replaced by a hyper-individualism, promoted by social media, ma...
Parchment Made of Sheepskins - Scott Shepherd
Phone-free Fridays
On my way to work this morning I peered around in a quasi-somnolent state at my fellow commuters, probably over a hundred of them, all crammed into a carriage of the Seoul Subway, and I pondered. How did people cope with long commutes before we all had mobile phones? With the e...
566 Days Later
It's been a little over two weeks since the requirement to wear masks outdoors was lifted, but a visitor to Seoul would be forgiven for thinking that the rule is still in place. The majority of the population still seems keen to keep their noses and mouths firmly covered by the...
Self-help?
Once when I was walking out of the British Library, I saw a woman outside on the floor having some kind of fit or seizure. It was a wintery evening - it may even have been snowy if I remember correctly - and the library was just closing, so there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, ...
Dialogues with adoptees
Dutch Korean artist's project: The Mother Mountain Institute of Sara Sejin Chang
Korean adoptee artists have garnered attention in the western countries where they live, but their works remain relatively unfamiliar to people in their country of origin. This obscurity isn't due to a lack of effort on the part of the adoptees. Despite their attempts to engage...
Adoptee's journey tracing her mother, origin and heritage
I feel the weight of knowing that I represent one out of hundreds of thousands of Koreans who were sent overseas through international adoption. I'm an independent film director and I have spent most of my adult life trying to find my way back to Korea to look for profound answ...
Today's inter-country adoption system is not fit for purpose
I will first comment on where we are today in terms of inter-country adoption (ICA) practice at the global level, then consider our experience of the outcomes of a suspension of ICAs, and finally - in all modesty as an outsider - offer some thoughts on what the path forward for...


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