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David A. Tizzard

Contributor

David Tizzard is a professor at Seoul Women’s University, holds a PhD in Korean Studies, and hosts the Korea Deconstructed podcast. He has lived and worked in Seoul for more than two decades. Reach him at datizzard@swu.ac.kr.

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Opinion

The noise between us: Nam June Paik, K-pop, and the politics of performance

Better to be the head of a dog than the ass of an ox. This was what Nam June Paik believed. And yet today, as Korean music, dramas, and movies gain international traction, many have seemingly strayed from such provocation. The Hallyu phenomenon, and K-pop in particular, is celebrated as Korea's great cultural export. And there is a genuine truth to that, obvious in the passionate concert attendances and outbursts of emotion from women who have finally found community, acceptance, and themselves. But beneath the glitz and the choreography of this product lies something more insidious: a tacit obedience to global norms and Western tastes. A bending of the knee to cultural hegemony. Where once Paik screamed at the television and tore it apart to ask, "Who is in control?", today far too many bow to the screen and ask it to love us. “Democracy is about talking back”, he said. It is not about repeating the ideas and words of others. The Past Creates the Future Nam June Paik (1932-2006) was a Korean artist — but he was never just that. He was a product of colonial trauma, a child of for

Apr 12, 2025By David A. Tizzard
The noise between us: Nam June Paik, K-pop, and the politics of performance
Opinion

History from below: Korea’s Minjung movement

In the telling of Korea’s modern history, it is often the powerful who speak loudest: generals, businessmen, and presidents — backed by foreign powers or dressed in the garb of economic success. Yet beneath these figures lies a different story, one written not in national assemblies or university lecture halls but rather in blood, sweat, and defiant chants from the streets. It comes us to in a language or form that is often uncomfortable. Not easily understood. That story is the story of the minjung. The term minjung is often translated as “the masses” or “the people,” but to leave it at that is to miss its moral, political, and spiritual power. The minjung are not simply the demographic majority. They are the oppressed, the overlooked, the ones denied authorship of their own history. They are those who have too often been treated as passive objects in Korea’s turbulent modern saga — moved around by empires, ideologies, and elites. But beginning in the 1970s and 80s, a new idea began to take root: What if the minjung were the true subject of Korean history? Modernizatio

Apr 5, 2025By David A. Tizzard
History from below: Korea’s Minjung movement
Opinion

Mud, grass and Choco Pies: A foreigner's football journey in Korea

There’s a place in Korea where politics doesn’t matter. Where no-one cares about K-pop. North Korea is largely inconsequential. And the economy recedes to the background. All that matters is your teammates. Whether you turn up or not. Do you duck out of challenges or do you remain committed? Can you take being abused when you mess up? Are you comfortable around other people?

Mar 8, 2025By David A. Tizzard
Mud, grass and Choco Pies: A foreigner's football journey in Korea
Opinion

Who is victim when everyone is criminal?

Korea is a country of revenge. A country of scars. Resentment. Hatred. Love. Resilience. Triumph and tragedy in equal measure. Never more has this idea been more evident to me than today: March 1st. One hundred and six years ago, the people of this land voiced their desire to be free from the oppressive rule of a foreign colonial force. They raised their flags. Shouted in unison. And demanded what was rightfully theirs. It was the voice of the oppressed. That history is still alive today, breathing, in the politics, the media, the art, and the soju-soaked conversations of dive bars from Cheongnyangni to Changwon. It’s a voice that should resonate with many around the world, from Gaza to Donetsk .

Mar 1, 2025By David A. Tizzard
Who is victim when everyone is criminal?
Opinion

Why (some) Koreans hate China, Japan

Jessie looks like a K-Pop star. Tall, thin. All sharp angles, softened only by the impossible length of her eyelashes. She wears crop tops, mini skirts, and fills her social media with photos of her in bikinis, lounging on far flung beaches. Heads turn as she enters a room. “They come up to me,” she says, eyes lowered. “In bars, in restaurants. Always in Korean.” A pause. “But when I answer in Chinese, when they realize where I’m from, they just walk away. No words. Just absence.” I feel sad for how this must make her feel. To be so openly ignored. Her solution? “Sometimes I tell people I’m from Singapore or Taiwan, just so they might be a bit nicer to me.”

Feb 22, 2025By David A. Tizzard
Why (some) Koreans hate China, Japan
Opinion

Korea's strength is its people, not its politicians

Recent headlines have been dominated by the impeachment and arrest of South Korea’s sitting president, a spectacle that has thrown the nation’s political class into disarray. There is a leadership vacuum, instability, and the country’s reputation has been dragged through the mud. For many, it has been tempting to conclude that the country is falling apart. Friends and colleagues from abroad ask with a worried look on their face, “What is happening over there?”

Jan 25, 2025By David A. Tizzard
Korea's strength is its people, not its politicians
Opinion

The neoliberalization of Korea and invisible labor

Incheon International Airport has received a lot of praise since it was established as the country’s major transit hub. And despite the relative absence of bars and decent food places open at reasonable hours, many have long admired the efficiency of this airport. Old people take the subway there to sit inside somewhere warm or cold as the seasons dictate. Hallyu fans arrive in their droves, ready to spend a fortune at Olive Young and beyond. But recent changes have left me questioning how much of the comfort and service the airport once had is now being sacrificed in the name of efficiency and profit maximization.

Jan 18, 2025By David A. Tizzard
The neoliberalization of Korea and invisible labor
Opinion

The authentic life: Li Ronghao and Li Bai

In Li Ronghao’s song "Li Bai," we are presented with a satirical portrayal of an artist. The one who believes themselves a misunderstood genius, harboring disdain for the common unrefined ways of the masses. The type of person you meet easily online. So while the song critiques modern pretentiousness and self-delusion, beneath the satire lies a broader reflection on the struggles of contemporary life, where societal expectations and personal identity often clash. This is the struggle of young people today, in China, in Korea, and many other parts of the world. That it can be expressed so wonderfully in a pop-rock song is testament to the continued importance of art, irrespective of how many views or commercial success it achieves.

Jan 11, 2025By David A. Tizzard
The authentic life: Li Ronghao and Li Bai
Opinion

Tarantino, Thanos, and Aliens in Squid Game 2

"Squid Game 2" is good fun. Get past episode 2, which just sucks, ignore all the stuff on the boats and the policemen, and you’ll enjoy the rest. Don’t expect Season 1. Don’t expect it to be the “best thing you’ve ever seen,” but if you want a transgender woman mowing down baddies with an assault rifle, Lee Byung-hyun breaking necks and looking hot, and more of those ridiculous M.C. Escher stairs as a backdrop, it ain’t bad entertainment.

Jan 4, 2025By David A. Tizzard
Tarantino, Thanos, and Aliens in Squid Game 2
Opinion

Korea's 'Naembi Geunseong' Society

Korea is often celebrated for its resilience and dynamism. It’s constantly changing, adapting, and redefining itself. While this might produce an existential crisis in terms of identity, it has also resulted in the country punching far above its weight on the global stage. The economic rise, the democratization and the cultural export juggernaut stands testament to Korea’s collective drive and ingenuity. What one misses when focusing on the globally admired achievements however is an oft-discussed societal trait: “naembi geunseong.” This idiom talks of a boiling pot. But it is not just about being quick to anger or to action, it’s more specifically about the tendency to heat up passionately before then cooling just as rapidly. It is inspiring and problematic. The source of great achievement and frustrating missed opportunities.

Dec 28, 2024By David A. Tizzard
Korea's 'Naembi Geunseong' Society
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