The Korea Times

Busan rock band Daisy Gun wants you to put down the phone

When you go to a concert these days, it seems like everyone around you has their cellphone out — capturing what everyone else is recording, messaging friends or maybe just doomscrolling on social media. With the new single "Square Eyes," the Busan-based rock band Daisy Gun takes aim at this culture that is consumed through smart devices. "It's a bit of a political number, and is basically about how people spend too much time on their phones making them susceptible to a whole lot of nonsense," Louis Cilliers, the band's South African guitarist and vocalist, told The Korea Times. "After a few heated arguments about not trusting everything you read online, I started writing the lyrics with the idea of disinformation spreading through social media. People are very comfortable in their echo chambers and are naive enough to believe anyone with a strong enough rhetoric." He added that the lyrics also touch on our overreliance on phones. "There's a phrase in the chorus, 'with square eyes, and a turtleneck,' that references the posture that develops from the overuse of phones," he said. But he wa

Jun 17, 2026By Jon Dunbar

Busan rock band Daisy Gun wants you to put down the phone

Global Community

Indie music festival answers Busan's calling

Five music venues across Busan will unite to host over 30 live music acts for the first-ever Busan Calling Music Festival on Friday and Saturday. Although seemingly only in its first year, the festival is actually a rebrand of last year's Debaser Fest, run by Jamie Finn, editor of Debaser Magazine. "I was never super keen on the name Debaser Fest. It was a decision made with deadlines approaching. So, to keep things simple, I named it after the mag," Finn admitted. "We've called it Busan Calling to reflect the aims of the fest, which is to build a bridge between the really underrated Busan music community and other musical places." Finn has been heavily active for years supporting the local music scene across Korea, publishing his own magazine, running a massive English-language Kakao group chat and organizing music festivals. As well as Busan Calling and Debaser Fest, he's also been running Block Party, a similar multivenue event in Seoul, for the last four years. Finn added that planning has already begun for Block Party's return to central Seoul's Haebangchon and Gyeongnidan in Septemb

Jun 15, 2026By Jon Dunbar

Indie music festival answers Busan's calling

Global Community

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Namsan Deli keeps reinventing itself

Something is different with the menu at Namsan Deli every time I come back. It's been a wild ride since its soft opening last October. It's always been in flux and ready to reinvent itself, and I'm starting to get the impression that that's its permanent identity: a work in progress. I was cautious at first about this deli-slash-bakery-slash-cafe, because sandwich places in Korea can be extremely hit-or-miss. But the more I've explored the menu, the more Namsan Deli has grown on me. Located at the top of a steep road leading up from the Seoul Station area into central Seoul's cozy, quiet Huam-dong neighborhood, with N Seoul Tower looming above, Namsan Deli is in a strange spot. I've had many chances while waiting for orders to observe the foot traffic passing by, and it's certainly much less lively than similar places over the hill, like Haebangchon or Itaewon. This isn't a place where many people walk — it's more of an intersection where cars race by, only stopping if they have to at a red light. The owner, who suitably goes by the English name Sandi, assures me that business is bri

Jun 9, 2026By Jon Dunbar

[RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK] Namsan Deli keeps reinventing itself

Global Community

Gongneung-dong, where Nowon has fun

Sick of a long commute out to Hongdae, Itaewon or Gangnam? Are you coming down from the northern parts of the city? You might not have to make a long trip in search of social activities after all, as Gongneung-dong transforms into a hotspot in Seoul's northeastern corner. Located in Nowon District, this low-rise neighborhood is pushed up against the edge of the city, stretching from Jungnang Stream to up the slope of Mount Buram. Gongneung-dong gets its name from the royal tombs in the area, but the area is not nearly as quiet as a tomb. Housing three universities, a military academy, a training complex for Korean Olympians and two UNESCO-listed royal tombs that give the neighborhood its name, the area has had a reputation for being low-key and suburban, yet also well-connected and not overly quiet. Its local businesses are frequently overrun with university students. Gongneung-dong Dokkaebi Market in the area bustles with pedestrians, comparable to some of Seoul's better preserved traditional markets, like Mangwon Market. Three Seoul Metro stations fall within its boundaries: Gongneung

May 23, 2026By Jon Dunbar

Global Community

Coffee roastery brings live music to northeastern Seoul

Seoul's live music scene has mostly been clustered in the west, which is quite a pain for people living in other parts of the city. For those in the northeast, a small cafe in Nowon District's Gongneung-dong has been working to make live music more accessible. Hoi Polloi is not the kind of cafe you'd want to go for quiet time or to study. "We’ve ended up developing the interior space of the shop to be a bit uncomfortable for students to study in — only a couple outlets, the music can get kinda loud, the baking and general barista operations are often loud, our team is all friendly and talkative and we more or less welcome a lively crowd as opposed to a quiet workspace," Chris Rettig, co-owner of the cafe, told The Korea Times. Hoi Polloi, which has been around for about seven years, including under a couple other names earlier on, got its current name after Rettig was listening to one of his favorite bands, The Most Serene Republic, and the song "Anhoi Polloi" came on. "At the time, I actually didn’t know what 'hoi polloi' meant," he admitted. "After some digging, I realized that '

May 14, 2026By Jon Dunbar

Coffee roastery brings live music to northeastern Seoul

Global Community

dbBOOKS holds spring warehouse sale for English titles

The dbBOOKS Welcome to Our Warehouse (WOW) Family Sale has become a twice-yearly highlight for the reading community in Seoul and beyond. Opening its doors to the book buying public for two days, dbBOOKS offers hundreds of thousands of books in English for sale. There are also activities planned, including a panel discussion about Korean literature translation, and a book swap. The expert panel, titled "The Art, Science, and Outlook of K-Lit in Translation," will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday. It features Literature Translation Institute of Korea Managing Director Park Chan-woo, author Lee Suhyeon, author and translator Anton Hur, translator Sean Lin Halbert, Honford Star co-founder Taylor Bradley and book content creator (and Korea Times reviewer) Faye Leung. "To thank our customers for coming to WOW, we like to organize sideline events on the rooftop to make the visit more than just a shopping opportunity," said Katch Hahm, managing director of dbBOOKS, who will serve as moderator. "While we all love K-Lit as readers, we could enhance that appreciation by considering the many things that

May 11, 2026By Jon Dunbar

dbBOOKS holds spring warehouse sale for English titles

Global Community

Multicultural entrepreneurs need support as they help build communities

Beginning Bread Bakery Cafe in northeastern Seoul's Gongneung-dong neighborhood, is not your average cafe. Run by a multicultural family, it is helping expand the neighborhood's multicultural character — not through offering rare foreign delicacies on menu or decorating the shop with knickknacks from distant countries, but by being actively present in the local community. "We operate with the mindset of being a neighborhood anchor rather than just a business," said Ronald Munkoah, a Cameroonian resident of the area whose Korean wife, Baek Su-min, owns the business. "Each day, we bake fresh bread and pastries for local residents, students and office workers, and we provide part of our production to the city council’s food bank so that homeless people and low‑income neighbors can eat with dignity," Munkoah said. "This means that even on difficult days, the oven at Beginning Bread Bakery Cafe is on not only for sales but also for social responsibility, because we see ourselves as part of the local safety net, not just the local market." He added that the bakery employs local residents

May 7, 2026By Jon Dunbar

Multicultural entrepreneurs need support as they help build communities

Global Community

'Witnessing Gwangju' author compares 5.18 to Yoon's martial law

Paul Courtright is back in Korea, and although he has revisited the country many times since his first time here as a Peace Corps Volunteer 45 years ago, there have been some significant developments since the last time he was here in October 2024. A couple months after that visit, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law. "My first reaction to hearing about Yoon’s martial law declaration was of shock," Courtright told The Korea Times. "Was this going to be a reenactment of 1980?" Courtright is no stranger to such crises, as he received more than his fair share of experience while living in South Jeolla Province from 1979 to 1981. In his first year, the strongman leader of the country, Park Chung-hee, was assassinated on Oct. 26, 1979. A short time after, on Dec. 12, Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan seized control of the military in a violent coup and spent the next few months amassing power. Students protested across the nation, but it was in Gwangju, then the capital of South Jeolla Province, where the situation became especially violent on May 18, 1980. Courtright arrived by bus in Gwangju

May 6, 2026By Jon Dunbar

'Witnessing Gwangju' author compares 5.18 to Yoon's martial law

Global Community

Union wants foreign language teachers to know their rights

She broke her foot, and still had to go to work. While her students were busy taking a test, she had the audacity to sit down, just to take pressure off her broken foot for a moment. Her boss was watching over CCTV, and came in to berate her for this infraction in front of the class. The teacher, who wished to be identified only as Day, said this experience pushed her to take action. She joined the Native Teachers' Branch of the Korean General Labor Union (KGLU), which is affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). Originally named "Native English Teachers' Branch" in 2024, the word "English" was removed as the organization grew. "Now that we've grown, we have native teachers of other languages, such as Chinese and Japanese, that face the issues we face," said Day, who is now chair of the Seoul branch. "We changed the name to reflect that diversity and to be more welcoming to those teachers who need assistance and aid." She also added that some of the members are Korean nationals, and some aren't even currently teachers. This includes those who are studying for furthe

May 1, 2026By Jon Dunbar

Union wants foreign language teachers to know their rights

Global Community

RAS Korea to introduce 'K-dragons' in lecture

Dragons in Korean folklore are different from their cousins in European tradition. Here, they are often associated with mercy, sympathy, empathy and love. The mythical creature is explored in a new book by David A. Mason, a recently retired professor of tourism with expertise in the religious characteristics of Korean mountains. He will introduce the book, "K-Dragons: DaeHanYong — Korea’s Dragon Traditions and their Yong-wang Monarchs," at an upcoming lecture for Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea. Mason will give a lecture based on a chapter from the book, focusing on the mythical Dragon King. He will focus on the Dragon King's appearance in Korean Buddhist artwork, often paired with the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who is sometimes depicted riding the dragon. An online introduction to the lecture says Mason will "explain the complex relationship at work here, in a way that deepens our understanding of how Korean Buddhist iconography developed as an integration of Shamanic/Daoist folk-deities into it, and will attempt to enhance our spiritual inspiration that can be derived from viewin

Apr 21, 2026By Jon Dunbar

Jon Dunbar

Read more

Busan rock band Daisy Gun wants you to put down the phone

Indie music festival answers Busan's calling

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Namsan Deli keeps reinventing itself

Gongneung-dong, where Nowon has fun

Coffee roastery brings live music to northeastern Seoul

dbBOOKS holds spring warehouse sale for English titles

Multicultural entrepreneurs need support as they help build communities

'Witnessing Gwangju' author compares 5.18 to Yoon's martial law

Union wants foreign language teachers to know their rights

RAS Korea to introduce 'K-dragons' in lecture

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