[Weekender] Living without cash

Oh Jong-gyun, a 35-year-old in Seoul, had an awkward moment when he went to pay for valet service during a blind date last week. Not only was he feeling shy in front of a lady he had just met that evening, Oh also realized that he hadn‘t carried ”real money“ for months. “I risked losing face, on my first date, to ask her for 3,000 won. Well, she didn’t have it either,” he said. Oh is one of growing number South Koreans living without physical money as they

EconomyMay 8, 2021

[Weekender] The rise of curated fashion platforms

Having a lot of tabs open while browsing for clothes online? For a growing number of shoppers, those days are over. Similar to how going to a shopping mall with a wide range of brands seems more of a safe bet than having to travel between stores far apart from each other, more people in South Korea are turning to platforms like Musinsa and Zigzag -- algorithm-driven e-commerce fashion platforms where shoppers are presented with items from thousands of brands. Musinsa, which boasts some 6,000

ConsumerMay 1, 2021

[Weekender] Seoul faces tough road ahead to stop Fukushima wastewater release

Since the Japanese government announced plans to dispose of radioactive wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant by releasing it into the sea, Seoul is scrambling to stop it from happening. At the very least, it wants Tokyo to provide transparent information to the international community. South Korea, Japan’s closest neighbor, views the discharge of more than 1 million tons of contaminated water as a threat to its people and the surrounding marine environment. Even though

Foreign AffairsApril 24, 2021

[Weekender] Starting the day with a miracle morning

  Hong Ha-hyun, an ad designer in her 30s, has an important Zoom meeting to attend at 5 a.m. every day. The meetings are not about work, but about boosting positivity in her life, she said. With 35 people she met online, Hong reads books, meditates or drinks a cup of tea before dawn. Since September, the online community Dawning Designer has given her a chance to practice “miracle morning” rituals, leaving her feeling empowered and relaxed. “I believe the daily lives o

EconomyApril 10, 2021

[Weekender] New era opens for frozen mandu

Dumplings have long been one of the popular staples Koreans have in their daily meals. Served steamed, fried or boiled, the dish, called mandu here, would make for a good snack, or a tasty and filling meal. Yet there was also nothing spectacular about the humble dish of chopped meat, seafood or vegetables wrapped in dough. That is until food companies began to rediscover the potential of frozen mandu, propelling it into a new heyday with growing global recognition. According to data from Ni

ConsumerApril 3, 2021

[Weekender] A trip around unique bookstores in Seoul

While some head to mega bookstore chains like Kyobo Book Center and Aladdin Store to find books, others head to smaller neighborhood nooks or unique retailers in hopes of coming across interesting titles. Unique bookstores like Seoul Book Bogo, Arc N Book and Starfield Library have attracted both tourists and Koreans alike looking to both check out books and take lasting photos of the stores’ stunning interior. However, smaller independent bookstores are vastly different from those which

BooksMarch 20, 2021

[Weekender] Step closer to new economy -- shopping with crypto

Near Cheonggye Plaza, Seoul’s iconic recreational area along the Cheonggye Stream, top coffee brands from Starbucks to Blue Bottle Coffee compete toe-to-toe, luring coffee lovers with distinctive flavors, brand images and cozy sofas for a relaxing moment. While coffee giants engage in an invisible war, one lesser-known coffee franchise is taking a different tactic, with a signboard that reads, ”Get a free cup of coffee if paying with the cryptocurrency Paycoin.” A 40-somethi

MarketMarch 13, 2021

[Weekender] Cycling, a pandemic-perfect sport

From going out late at night to traveling abroad, the coronavirus pandemic has prevented us from doing many things we love -- except for cycling. On the weekend, serious cyclists with racing bicycles and more casual riders on Seoul Bikes mingle on the cycling lanes alongside the Han River in Seoul which cuts through the city and stretches nearly 500 kilometers. Kim Tae-gyun, a 37-year-old marketing director and a former PE teacher in Seoul, said cycling has become his go-to exercise as of lat

ConsumerMarch 6, 2021

[Weekender] North Korean defector runs in UK election to defend ‘voiceless’

Park Ji-hyun still remembers the feeling when she first arrived in the UK in 2008. Having fled repression and poverty in North Korea and human trafficking in China, she was glad to find a refuge, but also nervous to start a new life thousands of kilometers away from home.   　 “Many people welcomed me when I got here,” Park told The Korea Herald in a recent interview via Zoom. “Back then, I couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of the word ‘welcome,’ but just

North KoreaFeb. 27, 2021

[Weekender] 60 is the new 40, literally

Kang, a 65-year-old resident of Gyeonggi Province, had an eye lift surgery three years ago to restore her vision and to give herself a younger appearance before she got any older. “I am very satisfied with the surgery because it made me look younger and more lively. I strongly recommend that my friends get the operation if they want to,” Kang said. “I also have a friend who recently got a face lift surgery to look younger.” Kang and her friend are among the growing num

CultureFeb. 20, 2021

[Weekender] Something special to celebrate a pandemic Seollal

The fear of the pandemic has forced many to cancel plans for visiting families and friends during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday this year, but instead, has made Seollal gifts more special. Many gift sets are still practical ones, with popular and affordable choices being daily items such as canned tuna or Spam, cosmetics products and health supplements. But local retailers have rolled out a list of eye-catching items for customers wanting to lift up the holiday spirit and deliver their

CultureFeb. 6, 2021

[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