The Korea Times

Hallyu meets heritage

The world's biggest pop group could have chosen virtually any backdrop for its latest teaser. Instead, BTS stood beneath the graceful eaves of Seonhyewon, a centuries-old hanok, a traditional wooden courtyard house, in Seoul, where polished floors, paper doors and quiet open space carried as much visual weight as the seven members themselves. It was a setting built not for spectacle but for reflection — an unlikely stage for one of the world's most recognizable entertainment acts. Built for reflection, contemplation and the slow rhythm of daily life, these traditional structures are increasingly serving as stages for global pop culture — broadcasting carefully crafted performances to millions around the world. That evolution hints at the next chapter of hallyu, the Korean wave that has propelled Korea's popular culture onto the global stage. For more than two decades, Korea's cultural success was measured largely by export metrics — streaming figures, overseas box-office receipts and positions on global music charts. Traditional culture often appeared as visual decoration, featured

Jul 22, 2026By Samuel Len

Desk Columns

A century of loving silence

Manhae Han Yong-un (1879-1944) was a remarkable man. He was a Buddhist monk, a thinker, a radical reformer of Korean Buddhism, a poet, a novelist and a major figure in the struggle for Korean independence. He cared passionately about younger generations growing up in a rapidly changing land, deprived of its true identity. He was born on Aug. 29, 1879. On Aug. 29, 1910, Korea was officially annexed by Japan. On Aug. 29, 1926, Manhae published the collection of poems for which he is best remembered, "Nimui Chinmuk." His birth name was Han Yu-cheon. In 1905, when he became a Buddhist monk, his meditation master gave him the name Yong-un (Dragon Cloud). Manhae (Ten thousand seas) was his pen-name. "Nimui Chinmuk" was published just 100 ago this year. Celebrations have been organized, but we might wonder how many Koreans today spend much time reading its 88 poems, written in a language which is far removed from the Korean spoken or written today. But those who grew up reading it in Korean language textbooks in school never quite forget the resonance the poem of same title evoked. On the cen

Jul 15, 2026By Brother Anthony

Desk Columns

Learning for the love of it

There is something striking about how learning is approached in Korea. Whether it’s sports, art or even casual reading, the question is not “do you enjoy it” but rather “how good are you at it?” Take tennis for example. When my daughter was looking for tennis lessons, it was surprisingly difficult to find a “normal” instructor. For someone picking up a racket for the very first time, the idea was to try it out, experiment and improve gradually. Yet in Korea, there is often immediate expectation to learn “properly” — from a certified coach, a former national-level player or someone with formal credentials. The idea of casual, imperfect learning can feel almost insufficient. At first glance, this emphasis on quality and expertise seems admirable. After all, Korea is known globally for its high standards and discipline. Yet, somewhere along the way, something important got lost: the joy of learning itself. Learning is inherently a process. It’s messy, inefficient and deeply personal. But in environments that prioritize “elite” standards from the very beginning, le

Jul 9, 2026

Desk Columns

Stock market gains will ultimately flow into housing

President Lee Jae Myung’s high-profile pledge to divert liquidity from Seoul’s overheated housing market to the stock market seems to have worked as the main benchmark KOSPI has soared past 9,000 points in recent weeks, driven largely by massive retail buying. On top of several policy changes over the past year aimed at mitigating the “Korea discount,” the local equity market has received a much-needed boost from the semiconductor boom, fueled by the unprecedented memory chip demand from global tech firms for artificial intelligence. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which now account for nearly 60 percent of the country’s market capitalization, have soared to all-time highs since the beginning of the year. But some investors have become increasingly uneasy as to whether the semiconductor cycle may have peaked despite the rosy market outlook, while others have become nervous due to sharp market swings following the debut of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to the two memory chip giants on May 27. Against such growing market volatility, many investors

Jul 8, 2026By Lee Hyo-sik

Stock market gains will ultimately flow into housing

Desk Columns

Time to rein in youth social media use

Smartphones and social media have become inseparable from young people's daily lives, serving as primary gateways to learning, entertainment and social interaction. But their benefits come with growing costs: addiction, anxiety, declining academic performance, cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content. Korea can no longer afford to ignore these risks. It is time to begin a serious discussion about introducing reasonable safeguards for minors' use of social media. Recent developments in the education sector underscore the growing urgency of the issue. Newly elected superintendents across the country have embraced "smartphone-free schools" as a key policy. Gyeonggi Province plans to restrict mobile phone use not only during classes but also throughout breaks and lunchtime, while Gangwon and North Jeolla provinces are rolling out smartphone-free school initiatives and digital detox programs. These are more than educational experiments. Schools have increasingly reported that excessive smartphone use disrupts learning, fuels conflicts among students and facilitates cyberbullying. Altho

Jul 1, 2026By Kang Seung-woo

Desk Columns

Korea's long wait for equality law

June is Pride Month and in much of the developed world, the rainbow flag is hard to miss — draped across public buildings as well as corporate storefronts. In Korea, it is harder to find. Beyond the Seoul Queer Culture Festival and its parade, the rainbows symbolizing the LGBTQ+ community are largely absent. Even Korean companies that create Pride campaigns for their overseas markets tend to stay quiet at home, wary of the backlash that such public support can invite. That reticence reflects a deeper gap. Korea remains one of only two OECD members, alongside Japan, without a comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Rep. Son Sol of the Progressive Party introduced a bill in January, followed by Rep. Chung Choon-saeng of the Rebuilding Korea Party in February. Gender Equality Minister Won Min-kyong also pledged her support. Yet the law remains unrealized, deferred once again on the familiar grounds that society has not reached a consensus. The comparison with Korea's neighbors makes the lag sharper. Japan, the other OECD holdout, has no national equality statute either, but municipal par

Jun 24, 2026By Kwon Mee-yoo

Desk Columns

ON FAKE NEWS The fine line between policing facts and silencing critics

New revisions to the Information and Communications Network Act, which will take effect in July, will hand Korea one of the most decisive legal tools yet devised against online falsehoods. For a country that has watched deepfakes and manipulated clips spread faster than fact-checkers can debunk them, this is surely a step worth welcoming. But it also deserves to be implemented with care, so that a sound principle does not curdle into overreach. The revision targets influential online information producers, such as YouTubers with more than 100,000 subscribers or creators averaging over 100,000 monthly views. If such creators knowingly spread false or fabricated information and cause harm, they now face punitive financial damages of up to five times the loss incurred. Large platforms, defined as those with over a million daily users on average, must also establish formal reporting and response systems for disinformation. The case for action is persuasive. The Hyundai Research Institute has estimated that fake news costs the Korean economy roughly 30 trillion won annually, about 1.9 perce

Jun 22, 2026By Park Jin-wan

[ON FAKE NEWS] The fine line between policing facts and silencing critics

Desk Columns

Olympic Park rallies: Peace is more powerful than violence

Korea’s younger generations have demonstrated how collective action can unite a community rather than divide it. Their creative, caring rallies offer a glimpse of hope in an increasingly fragmented world. While protesting what they view as violations of citizens’ voting rights in the June 3 local elections, they have organized rallies that are interactive and engaging. At Olympic Park in Seoul’s southern Songpa District, tens of thousands of citizens — many in their 20s and 30s — have gathered daily since June 4, the day after local elections were held nationwide. They chant slogans urging politicians to overhaul the National Election Commission (NEC) and demanding that local elections be redone. Instead of carrying professionally printed banners, many participants hold handwritten signs. When the rallies conclude, volunteers collect trash and clean the venue, helping to keep the area safe and welcoming. Olympic Park has evolved into a caring community. A man who introduced himself as having a science Ph.D. offers free math tutoring to school-age children accompanying their par

Jun 17, 2026By Kang Hyun-kyung

Olympic Park rallies: Peace is more powerful than violence

Desk Columns

Second female PM

Timing is often an unruly thing. Many pundits have stressed the importance of timing in life. What I mean to say is, it is high time that Korea usher in another woman into a higher government office. The nation produced its first female president, Park Geun-hye, who served from 2013 until her disgraceful removal from office in 2017, and its first female prime minister, Han Myeong-sook, who served in the Roh Moo-hyun administration from 2006-07. Han Seong-sook, the current minister of SMEs and startups, has been tapped to become the next prime minister by President Lee Jae Myung. If she passes muster at the parliamentary hearings — which she did once before assuming the small and medium-sized enterprises ministership by promising, among other things, to sell off some of her real estate — she will become the second woman to become prime minister in Korean history. As Korea shifts gears to go headlong into the era of artificial intelligence (AI), Han's earlier career at IT company Naver is key. Her business background is different from the two women, Park and Han Myeong-sook who were

Jun 10, 2026By Kim Ji-soo

Desk Columns

When nobody wants a piano anymore

I was in the fourth grade when my parents bought me a piano. I had been taking lessons for two years and wanted one desperately. When it arrived in the room I shared with my brother, I felt as if I had the whole world. Part of the excitement came from the sense of privilege. Few children in my class had a piano at home, and I suddenly became one of them. The instrument my parents bought was not new. It was a secondhand upright piano. Yet that hardly mattered to me. What mattered was that I finally had a piano to practice on — and, to be honest, to show off to friends who visited me at home. That sense of pride stayed with me for years. In fact, the piano remained in my childhood room longer than I did. When I left home for college, it stayed. When I graduated from graduate school and started working, it was still there. In 2008, when I was 28, the piano moved to my aunt's apartment in Seoul, where it served her two children, then ages 7 and 10, who were learning to play. Years later, she passed it on to an acquaintance. Three years ago, another piano entered my life. An acquaintance of

Jun 3, 2026By Kim Se-jeong

Desk Columns

Hallyu meets heritage

A century of loving silence

Learning for the love of it

Stock market gains will ultimately flow into housing

Time to rein in youth social media use

Korea's long wait for equality law

ON FAKE NEWS The fine line between policing facts and silencing critics

Olympic Park rallies: Peace is more powerful than violence

Second female PM

When nobody wants a piano anymore

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