Society

Korea – The Antifragile Kingdom

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by Matthew Jackson on 10 July, 2017

in Historical, Interviews and features, Society

Editor’s note: every now and then Matthew Jackson submits a cracking article from out of nowhere. Here’s one such article which, if I may paraphrase, wonders whether maybe han is healthy. I hope it’s not too long before the next one! The author and philosopher Nicholas Nassim Taleb (of ‘Black Swan’ fame) developed a concept […]

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Event news: King’s College London Contemporary Korea Speaker Series

by Events Editor 10 October 2016
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The London Asia Pacific Centre will be hosting the Contemporary Korea Speaker Series in October-November 2016. Thanks to funding provided by The Academy of Korean Studies, the series will bring to London four top Korean professors to discuss contemporary Korean economics, politics and society. The talks are as follows: 13 October 2016 – Prof Kim […]

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Looking back at 2015: Domestic news

by Philip Gowman 8 January 2016
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Our final look back at 2015: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea. In the news After 62 years of adultery being a criminal offence in the ROK, the constitutional court decided to decriminalise it by a vote of 7 to 2.  Four out of ten married Korean males heaved a sigh of relief  and shares […]

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Adultery law – why was it ever a criminal offence in the first place?

by Philip Gowman 14 March 2015
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The recent news item that the adultery was to be decriminalised in South Korea, 62 years after it was written into the criminal code, got me wondering as to why, when a country is rebuilding itself after a devastating war, would it be considered a priority to add adultery to the list of criminal offences. […]

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Looking back at 2014: Domestic news

by Philip Gowman 15 February 2015
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Our final look back at 2014: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea: The Sewol and safety culture The MV Sewol capsized on 16 April, causing the death of 304 passengers. A number of factors contributed to the disaster, including lax safety inspections, unsafe modifications, unsecured cargo, overloading, and an inexperienced crew hired on temporary […]

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Busan will be extinct before Seoul, apparently

by Philip Gowman 26 August 2014
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The report doesn’t seem to have been translated into English yet, and I can’t find it in Korean on the website of the National Assembly Research Service, but it has certainly provided some eye-catching headlines, the general gist being that “South Koreans will be ‘extinct’ by 2750 if nothing is done to halt the nation’s […]

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Looking back at 2013: Domestic news

by Philip Gowman 5 February 2014
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Our final look back at 2013, including a random collection of news stories, mainly domestic, that caught our attention. In the news Asiana Airlines flight 214 from Incheon crashed on landing at San Francisco airport on 6 July. The Boeing 777 had approached the runway too low and too slow. An American local TV station […]

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Looking back at 2012: Domestic news

by Philip Gowman 26 January 2013
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In our final round-up of Korea-related stories which caught our eye in 2012, we look at domestic and business news. Modern Life and how to escape it. Korea came 24th out of 34 leading countries in an OECD quality of life index, coming bottom of the class in job security and gender income inequality and […]

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Seven shots of soju is “excessive”? It’s hardly even a warm-up

by Philip Gowman 6 August 2012
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“The World Health Organization defines excessive drinking as the equivalent of seven shot-sized cups (1 fluid ounce per cup) of soju for men and five for women” says the Joongang Ilbo. If you define it like that, it’s hardly suprising if 42.5% of Korean men find themselves drinking “excessively” at least once a week.

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Gangnam is worth more than the whole of Busan

by Philip Gowman 8 October 2011
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3 districts in southern Seoul account for just 0.1% of the total land area of Korea, but 10% of the total real estate value. Gangnam alone is worth more than the whole of Busan. I know which I prefer… http://t.co/X37tBkB2

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Korea’s metrosexuals lead the world

by Philip Gowman 26 September 2011
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Korea is the metrosexual capital of the world, accounting for 18% of global sales of male beauty products and potions http://t.co/mrcSq7PJ

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Cosmetic surgery not the most common surgery

by Philip Gowman 17 December 2010
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So you thought cosmetic surgery was the most common form of surgery in Korea? Wrong. It’s piles. http://bit.ly/eI4W1L #. The Korea National Health Insurance Corp gives the statistics in the Korea Times.

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The search for beauty through cosmetics

by Philip Gowman 29 October 2010
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According to L'Oréal, Korean women apply more potions and cosmetics to their faces than anyone else – 25 at any 1 time, compared with 20-25 in Japan and more than double the amount used by American or European women. http://bit.ly/cWD4XA #

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A sunny day in Busan

by Philip Gowman 2 August 2010
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Haeundae Beach, Busan, 1 August 2010. Now that's what I call crowded, and supports the contention that Koreans like to go on holiday in crowds. But why are all the rubber rings yellow? http://bit.ly/c701UB #

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SNSD at an East Coast resort – a Korean man’s favourite holiday

by Philip Gowman 24 July 2010
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Korean men want to go on holiday with Girls’ Generation, according to a KBS survey. Now that’s being greedy. http://bit.ly/a4zZ4O # And while on the subject of holidays: doing the arithmetic, does this mean around 6-7 million Koreans will be heading to the East Coast at the end of July? http://bit.ly/9HYiuk #. (47% of a […]

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Dating a Korean American woman…

by Philip Gowman 27 February 2010
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Korean-American girls are tough to date, says You Offend Me You Offend My Family in a great article entitled How To Survive A Date with A Korean American Woman, from August last year. Maybe because Koreans most materialistic people in the world, according to a survey reported in the Chosun Ilbo

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Korea Ranked 8th ‘Most Sinful Country’

by Philip Gowman 3 February 2010
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"Korea spends more money on pornography than any other country" according to BBC Focus magazine, and is the world’s eighth most sinful country. http://bit.ly/aonQhv #

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