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ExclusiveBuyeo county seeks reprieve for unregistered migrants to ease labor shortage

The county government of Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, with a population of 59,000, are preparing a proposal to urge the central government to allow undocumented migrants to remain in Korea under specific restrictions in order to address labor shortages, according to a high-ranking official familiar with the matter. The county office plans to raise the issue at the next meeting of the National Association of Mayors in Korea, an organization of local government leaders, before formally submitting a more detailed policy proposal to the Ministry of Justice, according to the official. “The point is to permit undocumented foreign nationals to stay and work here if they meet certain conditions,” the official told The Korea Times recently. “Without them, the labor shortage situation would be much worse.” One thing the county office plans to propose is the introduction of a self-reporting system, whereby immigration officers will not detain or deport undocumented migrants who provide information voluntarily about where they live and work. This proposal comes two weeks after Park Jun

Apr 28, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Buyeo county seeks reprieve for unregistered migrants to ease labor shortage

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Yene brings Ethiopian flavor, culture to Noryangjin

To most people, southwestern Seoul's Noryangjin is synonymous with seafood, once home to a beloved fisheries market that was demolished and replaced with one much less popular. But there's much more to the area — it is also the hub of Seoul's Ethiopian community. Sadly, large-scale urban renewal has led to their dispersal, but Ethiopians in Seoul keep returning to Noryangjin-dong. One place they gather is Yene Ethiopian Restaurant, an absolute gem of an eatery. In a bustling alleyway, music drifts up from the basement of the building housing Yene. It's definitely not Korean, and it gets even louder as you descend the stairs. Is this a nightclub or a restaurant? Either way, it's a good time. Yene's menu is helpful and well laid-out, with big color pictures of each item and written descriptions in English and Korean. There are separate pages for the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, as well as snacks and two pages of vegetarian options. Visiting on Easter Sunday, we were there for something not on the menu: kurt and kurt saga, two servings of raw beef typically enjoyed by Ethiopians on

Apr 28, 2025By Jon Dunbar

[RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK] Yene brings Ethiopian flavor, culture to Noryangjin

BWAHAHAHAHA 10 'Married in December, Still Childless in January'

“Bwahahahaha” is a weekly column that explores the roots of Korean humor through the joke book “Kkalkkal Useum,” originally published in 1916. One of my favorite movies is Charlie Chaplain’s “City Lights” (1931), but one scene is unwatchable: the one where the rich fop is roaring drunk, trying to drive himself home while careening all over the street. The timing is as clever as everywhere in Chaplain, but drunk driving feels like something that can’t be laughed at anymore. Humor is often amoral, or at least the protagonists of humor usually aren’t moral exemplars. So why does a moral taboo destroy humor so quickly? Within humor psychology, benign violation theory claims that something is funny if it violates some norm, but the violation ends up seeming harmless. From this perspective, if drunk driving can’t be considered ultimately harmless, then it can’t be funny. This punchline of the joke I’m translating today depicts — a trigger warning — domestic violence. It isn’t funny, but the reason I’m translating it is that as part of the collection “Kkalkkal

Apr 27, 2025By G.S. Hand

[BWAHAHAHAHA 10] 'Married in December, Still Childless in January'

Bill drafted to guarantee undocumented children’s right to education

A bill has been proposed to guarantee undocumented children’s right to education in Korea. Under the bill, foreign minors would receive the same level of education as Koreans at elementary, middle and high schools despite not having valid visas to stay here. It was drafted Thursday by Rep. Lee Hack-young and nine other legislators from the liberal Democratic Party of Korea. The bill identifies all foreign children, “including undocumented ones,” as subject to the basic rights enshrined in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In 1991, Korea joined the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty that affirms children’s right to education, including access to free, compulsory primary education. But many undocumented children in the country have not been able to fully enjoy the right, according to the lawmakers. “While there have been no major problems with enrollment for registered foreign children, there have been problems with enrollment for undocumented ones, preventing them from receiving even basic education,” they said in the proposal. “The enfor

Apr 26, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Bill drafted to guarantee undocumented children’s right to education

Canadian viral music sensation Yung Kai remixes hit with Minnie from (G)I-DLE

Rising Chinese Canadian artist Max Zhang, aka Yung Kai, has released a highly anticipated remix of his breakout song “Blue,” featuring vocals from Minnie, a Thai member of K-pop group (G)I-DLE. Kai found recognition and success on a global level when he released “Blue” last August. The song has since amassed over 300 million streams on Spotify, 100 million views on YouTube and is approaching 1 billion streams across platforms, cementing Kai’s status as one of the most compelling voices in indie pop. The remix of “Blue,” which came out on April 18, marks Kai's first crossover with the K-pop industry. The track weaves in Minnie's honey-toned vocals in the middle, adding a new dimension of softness and longing that goes well with Kai’s versatile vocals. The remix has had more than 250,000 views since it was uploaded on YouTube, with glowing comments from fans worldwide. “I just really wanted to get someone on a remix of 'Blue,'” Kai told The Korea Times, as he explained how the collaboration came about. “I used to watch (G)I-DLE a lot, like back in high school. They a

Apr 24, 2025By Alice Hong

Canadian viral music sensation Yung Kai remixes hit with Minnie from (G)I-DLE

Gov't confirms DeepSeek's unauthorized data transfer abroad

The Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek has been found to have unlawfully transferred Korean users' data to several companies in China and the U.S. during its operation, according to Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) Thursday. It even sent what the users entered into prompts to a subsidiary of ByteDance, the parent company of the Chinese social media platform TikTok. According to the commission, DeepSeek, which launched its service here on Jan. 15, transferred user data to four overseas companies — three in China and one in the U.S. — until new downloads of the app were suspended in Korea on Feb. 15 due to privacy concerns. The collected and transmitted data includes information on Korean users' devices, networks and apps. During the process, the Chinese AI company did not obtain consent from Korean users for the overseas transfer, nor did it disclose this information in its privacy policy. Both the Chinese and English versions of the policy also omitted key requirements mandated by personal data protection laws, such as procedures for data d

Apr 24, 2025By Anna J. Park

Gov't confirms DeepSeek's unauthorized data transfer abroad

'Banned Book Club' authors make major statement by canceling US tour

With a heavy heart, American illustrator Ryan Estrada canceled a four-month trip to his home country with his Korean wife and collaborator, writer Kim Hyun Sook. After years of planning, and Kim quitting her day job, they ultimately decided that the United States is no longer a safe place to travel. "All it'd take is for a border guard to even suspect Hyun Sook was attending a book conference to falsely accuse her of planning illegal work and have ICE drag her handcuffed to a concrete cell. Finding out she writes BANNED books might put them in a mood to make things worse," Estrada said in a social media post on March 13. "WHO KNOWS how much worse things will get by the summer when we planned to leave, or while we were there. She wrote her book about living under a dictator to warn us that it was possible. Time has proven that it is, and I don't plan to make her relive it." Estrada and Kim, both Busan residents, gained global recognition with the release of "Banned Book Club," their graphic novel published in 2020 based on Kim's experiences at university in the 1980s when Korea was under

Apr 24, 2025By Jon Dunbar

'Banned Book Club' authors make major statement by canceling US tour

South African artist Suné Horn explores narratives with house artwork

South African artist Suné Horn found inspiration when she began to see the archetypal shape of a house as a metaphor. “I was walking with people who at the time were having an argument, and I just pictured these clashing houses," said Horn, a resident of Daejeon. "I had this picture of this little invisible house around a person, this reality that we create, this comfortable space that we create, that we go through in life.” The most common visual vocabulary in her work is minimalist geometric white houses, ranging in size from a few centimeters tall to large enough for the viewer to enter. With a master's degree in architecture from the University of Cape Town, it is no wonder that living spaces feature prominently in Horn’s artwork. Her house images represent a kind of sheltered space for one’s worldview or myopic thinking. This idea is reflected in much of her work and her artistic interest in narratives. In a statement on her artist website, she states, “My work explores how individuals craft their life stories, delving into the interplay of memory, perspective, and bias.

Apr 24, 2025By Monica Nickolai

South African artist Suné Horn explores narratives with house artwork

DJ Utility Vest offers 'audio pilgrimage' of Korean afterlife rituals

There's a lot of Korean heritage on display in DJ Utility Vest's latest album. Translated into English as "Preparing for the Afterlife," it offers 13 electronic music tracks, as well as five spoken-word pieces taken from interviews, sermons and conversations that dive into spirituality with a distinctly Korean setting. "Over the last few years, I’ve been diving deep into Korean burial traditions, reading up on them, researching, watching documentaries and trying to understand the cultural and spiritual layers," he told The Korea Times. "While exploring all of this, I kept up a longtime habit of hunting for obscure albums, digging through flea markets around Seoul, mostly Dongmyo and Myeong-dong. I collected old cassette tapes, vinyl and Buddhist CDs, and I'm always trying to find sounds that feel dusty, aged and slightly out of tune with the present." DJ Utility Vest takes his privacy seriously, going so far as to not reveal what city he resides in or whether he's a Korean national or foreigner. He hides behind layers of alias and anonymity, the outermost two being his signature: He

Apr 23, 2025By Jon Dunbar

DJ Utility Vest offers 'audio pilgrimage' of Korean afterlife rituals

Acting president pays respects to Pope Francis at Myeongdong Cathedral

Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo paid his respects to Pope Francis Tuesday afternoon, visiting a special memorial altar set up at Myeongdong Cathedral, the historic Catholic church located in the heart of Seoul. The cathedral began accepting Koreans who wished to pay their respects to the pope from 3 p.m., and the acting president visited the altar at around 3:15 p.m. "Pope Francis, the 266th pope, left a profound spiritual legacy and teachings of faith for the Catholic Church and believers worldwide. I express my deep gratitude and condolences to Pope Francis, who always practiced love for the poor and socially vulnerable with his humble and simple demeanor," Han said, after paying his respects at the church. On Monday evening, Han also sent an official letter of condolence to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, following the news of the pope's death. "The government and people of the Republic of Korea share in the sorrow with Catholics around the world and extend our heartfelt condolences," the letter stated. The message expressed deep gratitude fo

Apr 22, 2025By Anna J. Park

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