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Park Ung

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

I cover a wide range of stories about Korean society — one of the most dynamic places in the world. To me, journalism means being on the ground, uncovering untold stories and amplifying marginalized voices, especially in an era when AI is reshaping the media landscape. That’s why I’m always here to listen. Tips and stories are welcome — feel free to reach out via email. Before becoming a journalist, I traveled through 24 countries over 702 days, served two years as a military police officer in the Republic of Korea Air Force and later studied filmmaking at the Korea National University of Arts.

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Society

Busan releases 2026 dining guide to showcase city's culinary scene

Busan released this year's "Taste of Busan" guidebook, promoting the southeastern port city's food culture to an international audience. The Busan Metropolitan Government said Tuesday the guidebook covers 146 restaurants citywide in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, pairing each entry with regional stories and culinary context. Published annually, it serves as the city's flagship food culture guide, curating restaurants through its own selection process alongside broader coverage of local ingredients and dining trends. This year's edition moves beyond a restaurant directory, the city said, tracing the local food chain from farm to table through chef interviews, producer profiles and coverage of traditional cuisine and regional ingredients. The guidebook also aims to ease navigation for international visitors, including QR codes linking to foreign language menus at 50 restaurants in seven languages — English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Russian and Arabic. A digital version of the annual publication is available for download at visitbusan.net. Pri

Apr 7, 2026By Park Ung
Busan releases 2026 dining guide to showcase city's culinary scene
Society

Seoul expands free health screenings for marriage migrants

Seoul is broadening its health support program for marriage migrants, reaching more foreign residents with expanded services including post-screening interpretation services and wider access to prenatal and childbirth classes. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it will provide free comprehensive health screenings to 80 low-income marriage migrants in cooperation with Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital. Eligibility covers households earning at or below the median income level, set at about 5.36 million won per month for a family of three. Screenings will run from April through November, covering more than 23 medical screening items including gastroscopy, mammography and cervical cancer tests. Applications are accepted through referrals from local institutions including family support centers in the applicant's district of residence. Those requiring follow-up care or specialist consultations after screenings will be connected with medical interpreters if needed. To provide practical assistance and emotional support, immigrant women volunteers will provide interpre

Apr 7, 2026By Park Ung
Seoul expands free health screenings for marriage migrants
Society

Korea's new regulation allowing pets in restaurants backfires

Rob Nichols had rarely gone anywhere without his dog Luna — a companion for more than one-third of his 15 years in Korea. “I used to take my dog with me everywhere,” the 44-year-old Briton told The Korea Times. “I would visit perhaps three to five establishments every day with Luna.” Since last month, however, Nichols finds himself increasingly housebound. "I can no longer take her to any of the old establishments because the owners are worried about getting fined," he said. "I don't want to leave Luna alone at home while I go out, so I just stay home." The irony is hard to miss. Nichols' experience is a direct consequence of a new regulation that was meant to make things easier — one meant to formally legalize pet entry into dining and drinking establishments for the first time. Before the rules under the Food Sanitation Act took effect last month, pets were technically banned from such venues, yet many owners quietly looked the other way. Now, faced with formal compliance requirements and penalties of up to a 20-day operations suspension for repeat violations, many have sim

Apr 4, 2026By Park Ung
Korea's new regulation allowing pets in restaurants backfires
Society

UN finds Korea violated rights of Congolese asylum seeker held 14 months at airport

The UN Human Rights Committee ruled Thursday that Korea violated the rights of a Congolese asylum seeker who spent 14 months in an airport transit zone, concluding that Seoul's refusal to process his refugee claim left him in arbitrary detention and inhumane conditions. In 2020, the man, who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), arrived at Incheon International Airport as a transit passenger and requested refugee status after fleeing his home country, having been kidnapped by an armed rebel group and accused of membership in it. The authorities refused to process his claim, saying transit passengers who had not cleared immigration were ineligible under the Refugee Act. He remained in the transit area for 14 months until April 2021, enduring conditions the committee described as inhumane — with little privacy and inadequate access to basic necessities — during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Forcing transit passengers, especially those seeking asylum, to stay in a restricted space for an indefinite period, under inhumane conditions, struggling for food, medical

Apr 3, 2026By Park Ung
UN finds Korea violated rights of Congolese asylum seeker held 14 months at airport
Society

Korean prank videos using Kanye West masks go viral, sparking racism debate

In an Instagram reel that has garnered more than 8.9 million views, a middle-aged Korean woman grips the door to keep someone out while screaming, “Call the police!” The face staring back at her is U.S. rapper Kanye West's. Videos of Koreans wearing face masks — most often portraying Black celebrities such as West — to startle those around them have recently gone viral, with some posts drawing tens of millions of views. The trend has ignited a debate over race and the ethics of viral content. The format is consistent across videos: A creator conceals who they are with long sleeves, a hood or cap, and a mask depicting a Black person, then knocks on a door. When an elderly parent or grandparent answers, their shock, panic and screams become the content. Reactions have been divided. While many viewers engage with the videos as entertainment, Korean commenters have largely called the prank out of line for targeting elderly and vulnerable family members. Many foreign users have also condemned the trend as racist. “We as Black people already go through a lot of stereotyping and hate a

Apr 2, 2026By Park Ung
Korean prank videos using Kanye West masks go viral, sparking racism debate
Society

On April Fools' Day, false terror threats are no joke

Korean police are on alert ahead of April Fools' Day, which falls on Wednesday, keeping a close watch as false emergency reports and online bomb threats have surged in recent years. The growing concern over such threats and reports prompted the enactment of a public intimidation law in March 2025 that carries up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won ($13,041) for those who openly threaten the life or safety of an unspecified or large number of people. According to data submitted to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the Democratic Party of Korea by the National Police Agency last August, police dispatches in response to false reports increased from 4,235 to 5,432 between 2022 and 2024, up 28.3 percent. Last year, police logged 177 bomb threat reports targeting various places including department stores, offices, celebrity residences, subway restrooms, schools and aircraft. The threats have a tangible cost, often triggering large-scale mobilization of police resources. Last August, a bomb threat hoax forced the evacuation of roughly 4,000 customers from Shinsegae Department Store's m

Mar 31, 2026By Park Ung
On April Fools' Day, false terror threats are no joke
Society

Seoul tightens nighttime brightness limits on outdoor billboards

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has set stricter nighttime brightness limits on large LED billboards across the capital in response to concerns over visual fatigue among pedestrians and drivers. The move followed The Korea Times' Feb. 7 report that glare from large digital displays can interfere with nighttime driving, leading to an increasing number of complaints over light pollution. The city government said Tuesday it has come up with detailed regulations on brightness caps for outdoor LED billboards. In Korea, each local government is required to set its own regulations on outdoor advertising brightness and color. According to the rules, the daytime brightness cap — the first daytime limit among local governments — is set at 7,000 candelas per square meter. The 7,000-candela daytime threshold was drawn from field data and international standards after consulting with industry and experts, the city said, noting it still allows for adequate on-site visibility. For night, the limits are further tiered by display size and hour, ranging from 350 to 500 candelas — all well below th

Mar 31, 2026By Park Ung
Seoul tightens nighttime brightness limits on outdoor billboards
Society

Seoul expands outreach to foreign missions, honorary citizens

Seoul is intensifying efforts to build its global ties, bringing together foreign envoys and honorary citizens through new outreach events. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday it had hosted foreign mission officials at the Seoul Gallery — a cultural complex beneath Seoul City Hall — for a familiarization tour of the city's policies and urban vision earlier this month. The city also brought together its honorary citizens there for an inaugural gathering last week. The events are part of a broader push to formalize ties with the city's global contacts through the Seoul Gallery, which opened in February as a showcase for Seoul's policies and urban vision and is set to anchor the city's expanding international network. Twenty representatives from 13 countries — including Luxembourg, Norway, New Zealand, the Vatican, Bulgaria, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru and Guatemala — attended the first of four planned gallery tours for foreign mission staff on March 20. Three additional sessions are scheduled for April 3, 10 and 17, with 36 countries expected to participate in to

Mar 30, 2026By Park Ung
Seoul expands outreach to foreign missions, honorary citizens
Society

After crime, life goes on for victims at Smile Center

Under Korea's Constitution, only one provision stipulates the state's obligation to provide relief to crime victims: “Citizens who have suffered harm to their life or body due to the criminal acts of others may receive relief from the state as prescribed by law.” Since opening in 2010, Smile Center, the embodiment of that promise, has expanded to 16 centers nationwide as the country's only institution providing integrated support to victims across the full spectrum of violent crime. “Trauma is compounded especially for crime victims because most are navigating police investigations and court proceedings for the very first time,” Baik Myung-jae, director of the Ministry of Justice-affiliated Smile Center Support Headquarters, said in an interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday. “Many cannot return to school or work, falling into financial hardship and watching their daily lives unravel.” Smile Center also serves foreign nationals in Korea, though they account for about 1 percent of the approximately 2,000 annual users, most of them from Southeast Asian countries such as Viet

Mar 28, 2026By Park Ung
After crime, life goes on for victims at Smile Center
Society

As Middle East tensions escalate, Koreans turn to unlikely staple — plastic bags

On Thursday, Park Soon-ok, 67, tried to order 200 plastic bags for her stall selling tteokbokki (spicy simmered rice cakes) next to central Seoul's Cheonggye Stream. What she didn't expect was that Middle East tensions, which have been escalating since last month, would disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and leave her empty-handed. “My suppliers told me they couldn't get plastic bags,” Park told The Korea Times, Friday. “They said, even if the war ends today, it would take six weeks for stock to come in. I may run out of my stock in about two weeks. After that, I don't know [where to get the bags].” Park's story illustrates a growing concern among Korean consumers and businesses over potential essential goods shortages, mostly of garbage and plastic bags, amid fears that the Middle East conflict is choking shipping routes and disrupting supplies of naphtha — a key raw material for plastic production. Korea introduced its volume-based waste fee system in 1995, requiring households to buy government-issued bags for general waste disposal. The bags range from 2 to 100

Mar 27, 2026By Park Ung
As Middle East tensions escalate, Koreans turn to unlikely staple — plastic bags
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