[Hello Hangeul] A case study: The Solomon Islands project 10 years ago

Javin Rukia, a 49-year-old English teacher at a middle school in the Solomon Islands, used to teach Hangeul, the writing system for the Korean language, about a decade ago. It was when two provinces in the island country -- Guadalcanal and Malaita -- chose Hangeul as their official alphabet for transcribing their indigenous languages which had been passed down orally but did not have a writing system. The southwestern Pacific archipelago, made up of 992 islands, is one of the most linguistically

April 9, 2023

High-profile lawyer goes AWOL, after losing school bullying case due to no-shows

High-profile lawyer Kwon Gyeong-ae, whose repeated failures to show up to hearings led to her losing a yearslong legal battle over a teen’s death from school bullying, appears to have gone into hiding after promising financial compensation for her blunders to the bereaved family. According to lawyer Yang Seung-cheol, currently representing the bereaved family, it has not been possible to contact 58-year-old Kwon since their phone conversation on Monday. He also said that Kwon gave a writte

April 7, 2023

[Herald Interview] 'Music is everything to me,' Gong Min-bae, violinist with autism, says

The story of 18-year-old violinist Gong Min-bae, who was diagnosed with high-functioning autism at the age of 5, is one of overcoming adversity, as he has managed to turn his diagnosis into an opportunity to excel in music. “Music is everything to me,” Gong told reporters during a press conference held Thursday. "I feel good and comfortable (when playing the violin)," he said, adding that he finds nothing difficult when he is playing his instrument. He spends four to five

April 6, 2023

NK journalists summoned to Pyongyang, urged to become ‘loyal spokespersons’

North Korea held a rare conference of the national union of journalists earlier this week for the first time in 22 years to discuss ways to strengthen state-controlled media’s role as a propaganda tool to “maximize the effectiveness of indoctrination and ideological penetration,” state media reported Wednesday. The purpose of the Kim Jong-un regime summoning its journalists to Pyongyang was clear. Journalists in the country with the worst press freedom in the world were urged t

April 5, 2023

Why school bullying hits a raw nerve

In South Korea today, school bullies are public enemy No. 1. On TV screens nationwide, viewers are enthralled by the meticulously plotted revenge of a high school bullying victim. In real-life politics, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s initial pick for the head of the National Office of Investigation, former senior prosecutor Chung Sun-sin, has been under scrutiny for weeks following revelations his son verbally abused a classmate years ago. It has been some time already since the TV and sports i

April 4, 2023

Koreans unite in support of Busan's World Expo 2030 bid

Kim Young-man, in his 80s, remembers when he visited Yeosu Expo in 2012 with his son, and hopes to be in good health for another trip to Busan to see the World Expo 2030. It could be one last international event to attend in his lifetime, he said. “I do believe Busan will win the bid for the World Expo,” he said as he was visiting a festival at Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul. "Southern port cities of Korea, including both Yeosu and Busan, are nice tourist attractions with su

April 3, 2023

[Out of the Shadows] Chun Woo-won, superrich Koreans in US, and drugs

The Korea Herald is running a series of feature stories and interviews on the evolution and rise of drug crimes, insufficient support systems and young addicts’ stories in South Korea. This is the fifth installment. -- Ed.   When reading news reports on Chun Woo-won, the grandson of former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, and his claims of drug use by several NYU Stern School of Business graduates, Kim Haram, a 21-year-old in New York felt a sense of relief. Kim said Chun was exp

April 2, 2023

Ex-military dictator’s grandson apologizes to victims in Gwangju

Chun Woo-won, a grandson of the late former military dictator President Chun Doo-hwan, officially apologized to the bereaved families of the victims of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and to the citizens of Gwangju. At around 10 a.m. on Friday, Chun Woo-won, the second son of the ex-dictator’s son, Chun Jae-yong, along with organizations related to the victims, held a meeting with the bereaved families and victims at the reception hall on the first floor of the May 18th Memorial Cul

March 31, 2023

Donald Trump indicted; first ex-president charged with crime

NEW YORK — Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, prosecutors and defense lawyers said Thursday, making him the first former US president to face a criminal charge and jolting his bid to retake the White House next year. The charges remained under seal late Thursday, but the investigation centered on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. Prosecutors said they were working to coordinate Trump's

March 31, 2023

Whistleblower to overnight celebrity: Nation fixated on ex-dictator’s grandson

Chun Woo-won is slated to meet with the bereaved families of those killed in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising on Friday morning, as South Koreans keenly follow the man’s self-proclaimed quest to atone for the legacy of his late grandfather, a military dictator widely blamed for the massacre. According to officials of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, the 27-year-old will hold a press conference in which he will officially apologize on behalf of his grandfather, ex-President Chun Doo-hwan, for his r

March 30, 2023

Civic group calls for probe on Chun's family

A civic group on Wednesday staged a rally in front of a police station in Seoul where Chun Woo-won -- the grandson of former President Chun Doo-hwan -- is being investigated for drug crimes, calling for a greater focus on the junior Chun's other claims. The National Action to Judge Chun Doo-hwan said that rather than the junior Chun's drug crimes, investigators should prioritize his apology and reflection on the massacre that happened during the Gwangju Democratic Uprising in May 1980,

March 29, 2023

Shamans, curses and superstitions in contemporary South Korea

In episode 15 of Netflix's "The Glory," the shaman character, who is involved in the antagonist Park Yeon-jin's shady family business, suddenly drops dead in the middle of performing a ritual, leaving viewers bewildered by the sudden plot twist involving a supernatural scene. Shamanism may appear out of place in a modern-day revenge thriller, but superstitions and shamanistic practices are not far removed from the daily lives of many Koreans, even in their tech-savvy and fast

March 28, 2023

Schoolyard nightmares extend their reach in digital age

"R-r-r-ring! R-r-r-ring!" Picking up the phone, I was greeted by a barrage of harsh words. “Why won’t you check your f---ing messages? You that eager to die? See what happens next,” Minji, my supposed “friend,” spat before hanging up. An alarm on my phone notifies me of an invitation to a chat room, the members of which seem to be in a competition to see who could be crueler to me.   The above is content from “Cyberbullying Vaccine,” a mob

March 27, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] Upgrade needed for teaching 'advanced' Korean

The soaring popularity of South Korean pop culture has fueled a boom in Korean language learning using songs and dramas in recent years. With the help of the media and internet, foreign learners are putting their best foot forward to get a better grasp of Korean colloquial expressions, new words and slang used by younger Koreans. Some learners also improve their linguistic knowledge by taking Korean language classes. Teachers often find introductory Korean courses easier to teach, but they often

March 26, 2023

Two troubling trends in Korean med school admissions

A look at the recent-year admissions data of Korean medical schools has revealed two disturbing trends: Applicants try year after year to get into the program and those who succeed are mostly from Seoul and major cities. Three out of 4 students admitted into medical schools across the country in the past four years had taken entrance exams multiple times before they succeeded, an analysis by the office of Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of 5,144 students enrolled showed. Repeat taker

March 24, 2023

[KH Explains] Will grandson help locate Chun Doo-hwan’s slush funds?

The mystery of what happened to the bribes taken by late President Chun Doo-hwan have re-entered the spotlight after his grandson, Chun Woo-won, an accountant based in New York, made headlines last week by alleging that his family was living off the illicit funds. Chun was an Army general who seized power in a coup and led Korea as a dictator from 1980 to 1988. He was responsible for authorizing a massacre of demonstrators during the Gwangju Democratic Uprising before making himself president. Y

March 23, 2023

Prosecution starts looking into 'black money’ confession of ex-president's grandson

South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday said they are reviewing allegations of illicit funds surrounding late ex-President Chun Doo-hwan’s family, sparked by Chun’s grandson’s recent confession on social media that his family was “living off black money.” According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, the case has been allocated to the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department to see if the disclosure made last week by Chun Woo-won -- the grandson in q

March 22, 2023

[Korean Dilemma] Swearing on TV: How sensitive, or sensible, should we be?

Last week, a home shopping channel host blurted out an expletive on air. Upon mounting complaints from viewers, the nation’s broadcast media watchdog demanded an explanation from the channel before it decides on disciplinary action. The wealthy villains of the Korean revenge drama “The Glory,” which became one of Netflix’s most-viewed shows of all time less than a week after its season 2 release, hurl the most offensive swearwords almost every time they speak. Upon hearin

March 21, 2023

Where does Korea stand on same-sex marriage?

A ruling last month by a high court in Seoul has resurrected the debate on same-sex marriages, which, unlike in many other countries, is a topic rarely-discussed in South Korea. The judgement acknowledged people in same-sex partnerships as eligible dependents for national health insurance coverage under a partner’s subscription, a decision which was hailed by sexual minorities and their advocates, and denounced by naysayers, including conservative Christian groups. “Common-law marria

March 20, 2023

Korea's luxury fever nurtures label-loving kids

In Netflix's hit drama “The Glory,” the mother-in-law of the main villain, Yeon-jin who led the bullying against protagonist Dong-eun in high school, dressed her newborn granddaughter in a red Gucci onesie. Even though the baby would grow out of the clothes in a matter of weeks, she swaddled her grandkid with luxury clothes, saying, “You need to stand at a different starting line to get ahead of others.” While not to the extreme of the fictional character, the same b

March 19, 2023