Society, work, and modern Korean life
For one Thursday every November, a country of 51 million rearranges itself around a single exam — planes grounded, the stock market opened late, police sirens carrying stragglers to their desks. Here's what the Suneung is, why the hagwon machine turns a school day into a 16-hour one, and what all that pressure costs.
From The Glory to a webtoon that beats bullies bloody, school violence has become one of Korea's defining cultural fixations — a story about power, records that never quite fade, and reckonings that arrive a decade late. Here's the system behind the headlines, the scandals that changed it, and why 학폭 resonates the way it does.
For years, South Korea has been the world's cautionary tale: the lowest fertility rate on Earth, a nation supposedly headed for extinction. Then something odd happened. Births have risen for 22 straight months, the fertility rate ticked up two years running, and the doom narrative suddenly needs an asterisk. Here's what actually changed — and why a country can make more babies and still shrink.
In Korea, a stationery shop isn't an errand — it's a destination. Multi-floor temples of cute pens, planners, stickers and character goods, all built on a decades-deep obsession with 문구 (munggu) and a living hobby called 다꾸. Here's what the shops actually are, why Koreans love them this much, and what's genuinely worth buying — for yourself or as the best cheap souvenir you'll bring home.
From an heiress who turned a plane around over a bag of macadamia nuts to a young firefighter's death over forced work dinners — 갑질 is the one Korean word that explains how power gets abused here, and why the country keeps erupting over it.
A parent wrote the teacher's exam for her. Another demanded she kneel for refusing to fetch coffee. Sixty percent of Seoul's elementary schools quietly killed the sports-day podium. Behind the absurd is something far darker — a complaint culture that has hounded Korean teachers out of the profession, and in the worst cases to their deaths. Here's how the classroom broke.
For decades Korea drank like almost nowhere else on earth, and the all-night company dinner — 회식 — was the engine that fueled it. Now the numbers are falling fast, a whole generation barely drinks, and the after-work hours are filling up with gyms, cafés, and running crews instead. Here's what's actually changing, why, and what it means if you visit or work here.
Sing, game, sweat, sleep, study, or break out of a locked room — in Korea you rent the space by the hour. Walk any city street and the neon is stacked with 방 (bang, 'room') signs. Here's the tour, the prices, and the genuinely interesting reason a whole country built its leisure around renting rooms.
The 31-day rainy season is just the warmup. Here's when 장마 arrives this year, why August is worse, and how Koreans actually get through it.
Most Korea articles were written by people who flew in for a week. We live here. Twelve corrections, sorted into the four categories that trip up tourists most: food, money, etiquette, and places.
For a decade, Shuttle Delivery was the only app foreigners could actually use in Korea. Then Baemin launched English support in February 2026. Here's the honest landscape now — when each app wins, and who should use what.
Toilet paper, VT toner, pet snacks, and mask packs — all under ₩5,000. Welcome to Korea's favorite store.
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