The Best K-News from Around the World
News Dynasty Korea
Here are some recent headlines featuring Koreans that are worth a read.
[Insider] Meet the typical South Korean millennial and the ‘kangaroo tribe’ that can’t afford to leave their parents’ homes
By Matthew Loh and Reena Koh, June 11, 2023
- Almost 70% of South Korea’s millennials have college degrees.
- But they’re overqualified for the labor market, resulting in a high unemployment rate.
- Known as the “kangaroo tribe,” many still live with their parents because of high housing costs.
Kwon graduated in 2022 from Yonsei University, a top college where he swam on the varsity team and earned a double degree in physical education and public administration. He lives in Gangnam — Seoul’s glitzy city center — in a four-room apartment that his family has owned for generations.
He works as a data analyst at a multinational tech firm in a country where stable, white-collar jobs are glorified as the key to a good life. On weekends, he competes in swimming competitions and is set to represent Seoul in under-30 tournaments. [Read full story in Insider]
[Variety] Korea Box Office: ‘The Roundup: No Way Out’ Hits $60 Million on Second Weekend, Thumps ‘Transformers’
By Patrick Frater, June 11, 2023
Korean-produced crime action film “The Roundup: No Way Out” dominated proceedings at the South Korean cinema box office for the second successive weekend. Its massive haul now totals $60 million. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” opened with a puny second place.
The Friday to Sunday period saw the film bring in $10.4 million from 1.32 million ticket sales and account for a 72% market share, according to data from Kobis, the data tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Including pre-release previews and strong midweek sales, the film has now rushed on to an aggregate of $59.6 million that has been earned from 7.78 million spectators. [Read full story in Variety]
[Gothamist] James Beard Award Foundation announces best chef in New York
By Kerry Shaw, June 6, 2023
Chef Junghyun Park of Atomix in Murray Hill took home the honor for best chef in the state, but the city’s culinary talent was iced out of national prizes at this year’s James Beard Awards, held Monday night in Chicago.
The awards, sometimes called the “Foodie Oscars,” are overseen by the James Beard Foundation and honor American food culture. [Read full story in Gothamist]
[The Korean Herald] 22-year-old Korean baritone Kim Tae-han wins Queen Elisabeth Competition
By Kim Da-sol. June 4, 2023
South Korean baritone Kim Tae-han won the Queen Elisabeth Competition on Sunday, becoming the first Asian to win since the competition’s singing category was established in 1988.
He will receive the award from Queen Mathilde of Belgium, along with prize money of 25,000 euros ($26,811). [Read full story in The Korean Herald]
[CNBC] Netflix’s $2.5 billion investment in Korean content appeals to audiences worldwide
By Audrey Wan, May 12, 2023
Netflix is spending $2.5 billion on Korean content and sees opportunities beyond the Asian region, said Don Kang, Netflix’s vice president of Korean content.
Over the next four years, Netflix will invest $2.5 billion in various types of Korean content spanning TV series, films and nonfiction shows, Kang told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” He said it will double the number of nonfiction shows it is producing, from about four in 2022 to at least eight this year, reflecting the Korean audience’s demand for variety shows. [Read full story in CNBC]
[BBC] Why Korea’s moon jar is so iconic
By Clare Dowdy, May 10, 2023
Centuries-old and steeped in cultural significance, the South Korean moon jar (dal-hang-ari in Korean) is still giving the country’s potters and artists pause for thought. In pottery terms, it’s a deceptively simple item: two big clay rice bowl shapes are put together rim to rim in the kiln, explains Lloyd Choi, curator of a new exhibition in London on moon jars, and “gravity does the rest”. Typically, the pale clay is glazed but left unadorned, looking rather like a full moon.
As well as being aesthetically pleasing, the moon jar sheds light on Korean identity. They were first made during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). At that time, Korea followed the neo-Confucian belief system. Propagated by Chinese philosopher Confucius in the 6th to 5th Century BCE, the meditative Confucian ideals of simplicity, humbleness, modesty, purity and austerity had spread beyond China to Korea, Japan and Vietnam. [Read full story in BBC]
[CNN Travel] Seoul: The city at the front line of modern culture
By Richard Quest and Joe Minihane, Mon May 8, 2023
It’s a city at the forefront of modern culture. At the center of the boom in all things K-Pop and K-Drama, which has seen the group BTS become the biggest-selling band in the world and movie “Parasite” pick up the Academy Award for best picture.
Through a heady mix of cutting-edge technology and a deep respect for traditions, Seoul has become one of the 21st century’s most tantalizing and important cities. [Read full story in CNN Travel]
[The New York Times] The South Korean chefs redefining the art of pastry
By Elyse Inamine, Published May 1, 2023, Updated May 2, 2023
At the Park Hyatt (https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/france/park-hyatt-paris-vendome/parph/dining) hotel in Paris, Narae Kim combines the Nashi pear she grew up eating in Dangjin, South Korea, and the Williams pear often used in eau de vie into an eye-catching dessert: a fan of Williams wedges, some marinated in jasmine tea and others cooked in bergamot oil, alongside quenelles of pear-and-cassava sorbet, all topped with tiny orbs of Nashi pear liqueur.
Ms. Kim had wanted to study pastry in France since she was young, taking pastry and baking classes in middle school and participating in grueling pastry competitions in college in South Korea. [Read full story in The New York Times]
[NPR] ‘Biting the Hand’: Korean American author calls for weaponizing invisibility
By Reena Advani, April 19, 2023
Julia Lee once had a mentor who told her, “You must bite the hand that feeds you.” That phrase informed how she saw the world, as she told NPR’s Michel Martin in an interview about her memoir, Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America.
The lesson Lee learned from that piece of advice was, “All the structures of power make those of us in marginalized positions feel like we can’t speak out, we can’t resist,” she said. “And one of our obligations is to bite back, to bite the hand that feeds us in order to speak up for justice — for social justice.” [Read full story in NPR]
[USA Today] Blackpink makes Coachella history as first K-Pop band to headline the event
By Brian Blueskye, April 16, 2023
INDIO, Calif. – Blackpink made history Saturday night at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as the first K-pop band to headline the event.
Comprised of members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé, the girl group debuted – after perfecting their craft for several years in a traditional K-pop trainee program – in 2016 with the songs “Whistle” and “Boombayah.” [Read full story in USA Today]
[People] ‘The White Lotus’ Star Will Sharpe to Direct ‘Crying in H Mart’ Film Adaptation
By Tommy McArdle, March 20, 2023
PEOPLE exclusively revealed that Sharpe, 36, is set to direct the upcoming film adaptation of Japanese Breakfast singer, songwriter and guitarist Michelle Zauner’s 2021 memoir Crying in H Mart for MGM’s Orion Pictures.
The memoir, which spent over 60 weeks on The New York Times‘ best-sellers list, is based on an original essay of the same title by Zauner, 33, first published in The New Yorker back in 2018. [Read full story in People]
[NBC News] East Asians more likely to develop stomach cancer because of lower alcohol tolerance, new study says
By Angela Yang, March 17, 2023
East Asian people are more likely to develop a more aggressive type of stomach cancer because of their higher likelihood of alcohol intolerance, according to a new study led by researchers in Japan.
The researchers’ findings, published this week in the scientific journal Nature Genetics, associate lower alcohol tolerance with higher risk of diffuse stomach cancer, a rarer type of gastric cancer that affects more than one area of the stomach. [Read full story on NBC News]
[NY Times] Seaweed Is Having Its Moment in the Sun
By Somini Sengupta, March 15, 2023
For centuries, it’s been treasured in kitchens in Asia and neglected almost everywhere else: Those glistening ribbons of seaweed that bend and bloom in cold ocean waves.
Today, seaweed is suddenly a hot global commodity. It’s attracting new money and new purpose in all kinds of new places because of its potential to help tame some of the hazards of the modern age, not least climate change.
And in South Korea, one of the most established seaweed growing countries in the world, farmers are struggling to keep up with growing export demand. [Read full story at NY Times]
[NBC News] Tteokbokki takeover: America’s next food obsession is the ultimate Korean comfort food
By Youyoung Lee, March 3, 2023
Demand for the Korean street-food staple has spiked in the U.S., with online sales increasing and new restaurants now offering varieties of the spicy dish.
Ask any Korean what their favorite street food is and, very likely, at the top of the list will be tteokbokki — the pillowy soft rice cakes doused in a sticky red pepper sauce. Now the dish is gaining traction in the U.S. thanks to a confluence of Korean popular culture and accessibility.
Pre-packaged versions of the food have started popping up at national wholesalers like Costco. [Read more on NBC News]
[Time Out] Move over Italian, the world has a new favourite cuisine
By Ed Cunningham, February 22, 2023
When it comes to the world’s most-loved cuisines, there are a few obvious favourites. There’s Italian, with its unbeatable pizza-pasta combo. Indian, with its dazzling and colourful sprawl. Mexican, with its spices and innovative presentations. French, with all its richness and refinement. And at the top of the pile comes, drum roll please… Korean! That’s right, not Italian. And from the fermented delights of kimchi to the sweet spiciness of gochujang, it’s difficult to argue with the fact that Korean cuisine is responsible for a wildly diverse – and wildly tasty – selection of dishes.
- Korean
- Italian
- Mexican
- Japanese
- Indian
- Chinese
- Thai
- Vietnamese
- Filipino
- Turkish
