[Weekender] Inside Korea’s interior design boom amid pandemic

From #OurHome #HomeDecorating to #OnlineHousewarming, Instagram lately is filled with hashtags and posts from users showcasing their homes and stylish interior design ideas. “May I know where you got the bookcase?” one comment read in response to a post showing a well-lit, nearly all-white room. Dambi, an author and blogger, who shared the original post on Instagram replied that it was from furniture company Basic Gagu. These types of interactions are fairly common in the online sp

ConsumerJan. 30, 2021

[Weekender] Korean gatherings go virtual on Minecraft amid pandemic

Over the Christmas holidays, seven Korean YouTubers gathered in a room to draw lots for a Secret Santa gift exchange. In another room, almost a hundred YouTubers posed together for a group picture. No one wore face masks. Or rather, their virtual, Lego-like avatars didn’t. Under South Korea’s strict social distancing guidelines because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the YouTube community took their gatherings online on Minecraft – the most popular video game of all time. Communiti

CultureJan. 16, 2021

[Weekender] Young and fearless: Startups enter global race for space, robotics and AI

While overseas global corporations such as Elon Musk‘s Space X, are leading to charge to turn the stuff of science fiction into reality, in South Korea, the brave companies eyeing the likes of space travel and humanoid robots are not its hardware giants, but small startups. Hybrid rocket engine maker Innospace is a prime example. The Sejong-based startup, led by a former Hanwha engineer, manufactures small “hybrid” rocket motors that use a combination of solid fuel and liquid

MarketJan. 9, 2021

[Weekender] What does the date on your milk mean?

No one wants to get sick from eating food gone bad. So it happens to be a common experience for Koreans to sniff and check the color of food to see if it is still edible, and to discard it when they find out a couple of days have passed from the “sell-by” date on the package. But just as the term indicates, it is not the deadline for the product’s consumption. It is the date by which the product must be sold. This confusion over the date labeling system is costing the soc

IndustryDec. 19, 2020

[Weekender] Zero waste movement grows amid pandemic

With the pandemic raging on for nearly a year, people are using more online delivery services for foods and daily necessities while staying at home. Although the new normal has brought a lot of convenience, more people have begun to feel uncomfortable about throwing away packaging and disposable plastic containers, and some have been pushing back against the deluge of disposables. “I bring my reusable containers for take-out food these days. It was sort of embarrassing at first to ask

CultureDec. 5, 2020

[Weekender] When the going gets tough, the tough deliver

In a year that has witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt lives and devastate economies around the world, Korea has sought innovations to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The following is the second article of a four-part series on how Korea is creating a new normal during the pandemic, produced in partnership with The Korea Foundation -- Ed. When asked about his diet during live streaming on VLive in June last year, pop sensation BTS member Jungkook said it was not easy

FoodNov. 26, 2020

[Weekender] Spending time by yourself? You are not alone

A streamer is broadcasting an online eating show, or mukbang. Fans get their snacks and drinks ready, take photographs and share them on the streamer’s web page with stories and comments. The streamer goes over the photographs and reads comments as if they are having a table talk. The streamer holds up his glass and offers a toast to tens of thousands of viewers. Though they are e-connected, it somehow creates a sense of togetherness. The increasing number of one-person households on

IndustryNov. 21, 2020

[Weekender] Yoga for women, lifting for men?

For women in South Korean society, where many struggle to fit rigid beauty standards, getting skinnier and looking feminine has been a lifelong mission and working out has been mainly for weight loss. 　 But more and more women are challenging the perception that muscles are only for men, turning to strength training and team sports for their health, pleasure and self-satisfaction. 　 On Tuesday evening at a popular franchise gym in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, the weights section was predominan

Social AffairsNov. 14, 2020

[Weekender] Millennials make hiking hip in COVID-19 times

As the foliage turns to different shades of color, those visiting the mountains for the first time this year will be surprised to see so many people, especially millennials, on the hiking trails at Seoul’s many mountains. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, hiking was seen as a leisure activity that not many millennials were excited about. Older bosses at work asking their younger colleagues to go hiking together on the weekend was one of the standard nightmares that millennials complained abou

CultureNov. 7, 2020

[Weekender] Red, white and rose chase coronavirus blues away

In South Korea, wine has long been largely considered a drink for the well-off, with Korean distilled alcohol soju and beer being more popular choices for dinner. But with the nationwide stay-at-home policies this year, combined with the coronavirus blues, more people are seeking the kind of excitement that the fruity alcoholic drinks can offer. With the growing popularity of imported wine -- mostly affordable wines from ever-diversifying regions, including Eastern Europe -- a major shift in K

FoodOct. 31, 2020

[Weekender] Korean bio taps Switzerland

An increasing number of South Korean pharmaceutical companies are catching on to Switzerland’s potential as a portal to the wider European market. Most Koreans know Switzerland for its chocolate, cheese, Army knives, watches and the Alps. But it is not these seemingly iconic items that are holding up the Swiss economy, whose gross domestic product per capita in 2019 ranked second only to Luxembourg in International Monetary Fund’s book — a ranking that demands appreciation giv

IndustryOct. 17, 2020

[Weekender] Bringing the theater experience to homes

People all over the world have been stuck at home for several months now due to COVID-19. More and more concerts and performances have moved online, and some movies have been released on Netflix or other online content platforms exclusively or prior to opening in theaters. With myriad offerings available in these quarantine times, some people are looking to enhance the online experience by setting up sound systems for their homes. The visual experience of an online performance can also be enha

PerformanceSept. 26, 2020

[Weekender] Chuseok traditions go contactless

For centuries, Chuseok has been one of the nation’s most cherished holidays -- a time for family gatherings, an occasion to share the joy of the harvest and honor the ancestors. This year, however, the holidays are expected to take a different turn with the coronavirus pandemic forcing families to follow strict social distancing guidelines. “I’m very worried about my grandparents contracting the virus,” Lee Min-kyu, 27, told The Korea Herald on Wednesday. Lee lives in

CultureSept. 19, 2020

[Weekender] No more high-status vs. low-status jobs?

Jin, a 41-year-old mother of two kindergartners, has always questioned whether she wanted to put her children through cram schools. As a well-paid salary worker who followed the conventional path of education, Jin believes she was part of a “luckier” generation. She worries constantly about what new competition and challenges her children will face when it’s their turn. “While I still unconsciously think that becoming a doctor would be splendid and honorable, if my chil

IndustrySept. 12, 2020

[Weekender] ‘No better time to quit’

If health warnings about smoking tobacco did not hit close to home before, they should now: Smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death from the novel coronavirus, according to top health authorities. “COVID-19 preys on lungs -- while the (the use of) tobacco makes them more vulnerable,” the World Health Organization said in a Facebook post. The international health organization said in a May 11 statement that smoking impaired lung function, making it harder f

TechnologySept. 5, 2020

[Weekender] Coronavirus and weddings: Tying the knot in virus times

Without a doubt, 2020 has not been a great year to hold events. Some events, however, cannot easily be canceled or postponed. Like most other countries, weddings are big business in Korea, and celebrations are typically planned out at least a year in advance. People often travel across the country to attend, and guests are tightly packed in during a ceremony, which is followed by a reception that often involves buffet stations. With the government imposing stringent health measures to cur

CultureAug. 29, 2020

[Weekender] The golden dream: What it takes to be ‘rich’ in South Korea

“Since I was a teenager, I have always dreamed of becoming rich. In my standard, having 10 billion won ($8.43 million) worth of assets could be considered rich but this goal is almost impossible to reach on an annual salary,” Park Jee-hye, a 33-year-old, said. Eager to save at least 100 million won before her 30s, Park chose to get a job at a big firm, where she has saved about 200 million won so far. The real problem is where to park this amount, besides investing in stocks and f

MarketAug. 22, 2020

[Weekender] Investing in stocks? Why not sneakers?

Even non-sneakerheads are realizing the lucrative nature of sneaker resale these days. O Jee-ye had never been much interested in expensive shoes. Shoes kissed ground-level microbes. They wore out much quicker than other items of clothing. What shoes are for, O thought, was for protection. They were good if breathable, durable, didn’t give her blisters and matched the day’s outfit. It was a shock for O when she learned through a close friend of hers that he easily makes 300,000 w

IndustryAug. 8, 2020

[Weekender] COVID-19: The people who didn’t have to die

Not all lives lost due to the pandemic are from the virus. Nearly half a year into the coronavirus crisis, statistics show an uptick in fatality rates that are not officially linked to the virus, but may have been part of its repercussions. According to data analyzed by preventive medicine professor Dr. Hong Yun-chul of Seoul National University, the number of excess deaths in Daegu -- the country’s former coronavirus epicenter -- was estimated to be 187 at the outbreak’s peak in M

Social AffairsAug. 1, 2020

[Weekender] Audiobook market expands in Korea, buoyed by COVID-19

“I used to checkout sets of Harry Potter audiobook tapes from the public library and listen to it with my brother when I was in elementary school. Now I listen to audiobooks while commuting to work by bus and sometimes it reminds me of my childhood,” Kim Jung-yeon, a 34-year-old office worker, said. For Kim, who spent most of her childhood in Canada, audiobooks are a familiar form of content that she has enjoyed since she was young, but for many Koreans, this is not the case. &ld

CultureJuly 25, 2020