South Korea - The Korea Times

K-LIT REVIEW How Korean novels are helping a generation find calm amid competition

If you’ve spent time on Seoul’s subway recently, or indeed public transport in Korea in general, you may have noticed that paper books are back in fashion. Many of these books have a recognizable style of cover — warm, inviting colors and a Jimmy Corrigan-like traditional hanok or otherwise cosy-looking freestanding building on the cover. This is a result of the Korean healing fiction trend, which is slowly taking the nation by storm. Apart from those instantly recognizable covers, Korean healing fiction has several distinct traits. The novels are short and written in a highly readable style, which makes them ideal for commuters. Korean healing novels tell of people, burned out by the stresses of hypercompetitive life in the big city, who find new energy and personal growth through joining a community or learning a skill — running a bookshop, learning to cook or some other endeavor that allows for creative expression. A likely antecedent to this genre is James R Doty’s "Into The Magic Shop," which shot up the bestseller list in Korea in 2018 as a result of BTS’ reference to

Oct 1, 2024By John A. Riley

[K-LIT REVIEW] How Korean novels are helping a generation find calm amid competition

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Maple House helps HBC start its day

Whenever a new business is coming in along Sinheung-ro in central Seoul's Haebangchon, there's a lot of speculation as to what it'll be. Another burger or pizza place, or a café or bar? An unmanned photo booth?

Oct 1, 2024By Jon Dunbar

[RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK] Maple House helps HBC start its day

Korea's Ethiopian community celebrates Meskel in Chuncheon

CHUNCHEON, Gangwon Province — Ethiopia-gil, a road near to the Memorial Hall for Ethiopian Veterans of the Korean War in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, hosted a Meskel celebration for the 14th consecutive year on Sept. 29.

Sep 30, 2024By Bereket Alemayehu

Korea's Ethiopian community celebrates Meskel in Chuncheon

Labor minister confirms no separate minimum wage for foreign workers

Introducing a separate minimum wage system for foreign workers is de facto infeasible and such a plan won’t materialize in Korea, Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo said Monday.

Sep 30, 2024By Jung Min-ho

Labor minister confirms no separate minimum wage for foreign workers

Seoul Drag Parade brings queer culture out of nightclubs, into daylight

Gojoseon was founded over 4,000 years ago, after a bear in a cave ate garlic and mugwort until she transformed into a human. Although this legend gives us a statutory holiday in Korea, there aren't that many street celebrations held for this fabled story. Instead, people around central Seoul's Haebangchon and Itaewon will be treated to a different kind of celebration: the return of Seoul Drag Parade.

Sep 30, 2024By Jon Dunbar

Seoul Drag Parade brings queer culture out of nightclubs, into daylight

Singaporean punk band KrankyDoodle to tour 4 Korean cities

What's the most ridiculous band name you've ever heard, and did you only learn about it just now in the headline of this article?

Sep 29, 2024By Jon Dunbar

Singaporean punk band KrankyDoodle to tour 4 Korean cities

Seoul hosts Homeless World Cup 2024

Mexico swept both the men's and women's competitions in an action-packed final day of the Seoul Homeless World Cup, Saturday. The women's team beat Romania 5-2, and the men beat England in a close, tense game, scoring the winning goal in the final seconds for a final score of 6-5.

Sep 27, 2024By Bereket Alemayehu

Seoul City faces growing calls to scrap Filipino nanny program

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon faces growing calls from labor activists to scrap the city’s Filipino nanny program, one of the key policies he introduced to help alleviate Korea’s fertility crisis.

Sep 25, 2024By Jung Min-ho

Seoul City faces growing calls to scrap Filipino nanny program

Hechyeomoyeo prepares to wrap up Busan exhibition

Situated on the third floor of an aging brick building in Busan’s old textile district, Aither gallery has a raw look that feels spontaneously industrial and warm. The space is only accessible via a narrow set of steep stairs. Once an urban apartment, the dwelling has since been gutted and the residents replaced by works of art. Paintings, photographs, drawings, sketches and digital works now grace the walls in abundance. There are hundreds of them taking up all available space, acting as a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, with a name and story behind each individual piece. Welcome to Hechyeomoyeo. “The more the merrier,” organizer Neil Wheelock Deforest Smith told The Korea Times at the opening of Hechyeomoyeo’s first Busan exhibition on Sept. 14. “We gather a bunch of artists, throw them in a room and see what happens. I just put out an open call, and anyone who wants to can participate.” This ethos of maximum inclusivity is what sets Hechyeomoyeo apart from more selectively curated projects, while also adding to the excitement. After all, there’s power in numbers, and

Sep 25, 2024By Chris Tharp

Hechyeomoyeo prepares to wrap up Busan exhibition

Camarata offers mix of 23 musicals in 'Page to Stage' showcase

The members of Camarata Music had so many musicals to choose from for their next production, that they decided to choose a couple dozen of them.

Sep 24, 2024By Jon Dunbar

Global Community