Korean-Dutch Marrit Kim van der Staaij teared up as she read a long-awaited email confirming that there were records of her mother’s adoption that she had never seen. South Korean adoption agency Korea Social Service disclosed that they had verified her mother’s birth date and Korean name, and had even uncovered information about her biological grandfather. “All her life, my mother thought that her name and birth date were made up by the adoption agency, and that bothered her

Social Affairs July 7, 2024

As South Korea’s dark past of international adoptions continues to unravel, an unexpected second storm has emerged. Intergenerational trauma -- a concept from the field of counseling psychology that has come into wider use in recent years -- is connecting a generation of adoptees' children feeling the effects of their parents’ adoption experiences. With their newfound collective voice, adoptees' children are raising awareness for their community and the need for clarity on

Hashtag Korea May 12, 2024

Bouldering has become a trendy sport for those in their 20s and 30s. The hashtag "#okeulwan" -- a portmanteau of the Korean words meaning "today's climb completed" and a variation of the massively popular "today's workout completed" -- has been spreading on Instagram with more than 40,000 posts. Bouldering is a style of climbing involving free climbing without a rope and usually only 2-3 meters off the ground. Walk into a bouldering gym, and you will fin

Social Affairs Jan. 27, 2024

A court in Daegu has sentenced a 49-year old man to three years in prison on charges of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter, Friday. The man claimed that he had confused the stepdaughter for his wife. The incident took place in July last year, when the victim, a student in her twenties, had come home from college overseas for the summer to help her mother and stepfather run their restaurant. The prosecution originally asked for a seven-year prison term, but the defendant appealed for leniency.

Social Affairs Jan. 19, 2024

Nearly 60 percent of Korean nationals in their twenties skip breakfast, while 34 percent of the entire population skip the first meal of the day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The group with the highest portion of people who did not eat breakfast was women in their twenties at 63.3 percent. However, when comparing men and women across all age groups, slightly more men skipped the meal by a difference of 2.4 percentage points. The survey was one component of the KD

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2024

A 5-meter-tall, bloodthirsty, gelatinous cube is slowly edging nearer and attempting to engulf you whole -- what do you do? Such a strange scenario might be familiar to those engaging in tabletop role-playing games, or TRPGs. As the name suggests, TRPGs are usually played around a table in a small group. In contrast to other board games, role-playing games can be played with a set of peculiar dice or figurines similar to those one might encounter on a movie set for "The Lord of the Rings

Hashtag Korea Jan. 13, 2024

Whether you have a pessimistic or optimistic attitude in life might affect your risk of dementia, new research shows. In a study published by the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, researchers at the University of California, Davis investigated the link between personality traits and the prevalence of Alzheimer’s diagnoses based on 44,531 participants. Results of the study suggest that specific personality traits such as sociability, goal-oriented behavior and positive emotional

Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2023

More than half of Korean company employees report for office duty on less than seven hours of sleep, a recent report showed. According to a survey conducted on 880 participants by the online job portal Incruit, 56.3 percent of office workers get only four to six hours of slumber daily. In second place, 41.6 percent of participants listed an average of seven to nine hours. The Korean Society of Sleep Medicine recommends at least six to eight hours of sleep, warning that sleeping less than six hou

Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2023

Chanel Korea has been ordered to pay a fine of 3.6 million won ($2,750) for demanding excessive personal data of its customers. The French luxury fashion house was reported to have denied visitors entry to the store unless they provided their phone number, date of birth date and place of residence. The Personal Information Protection Commission deemed the actions to be in violation of the Personal Information Protection Act. The commission added that denying service to those refusing to comply w

Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2023

In labyrinthine Seoul, a multitude of hidden places often go unnoticed by both Seoulites and visitors. Social media has recently become a cornucopia of travel content, and Dutch YouTuber Bart van Genugten, also known as "iGoBart," has leveraged that to the best of his ability to offer a fresh perspective on Seoul’s layers beneath its shiny surface. In his daring new project, "Welcome To My Dong (WTMD)," iGoBart embarks on a journey to visit all of Seoul's 467 neigh

Hashtag Korea Nov. 18, 2023

Samsung Medical Center has carried out the first successful uterus transplantation in South Korea. During the surgery in January this year, the multidisciplinary team were able to transfer the uterus to a 35-year-old woman with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome. MRKH is a rare disorder, which affects about 1 in 5,000 females at birth, characterized by an underdeveloped or absent uterus. A uterus transplant gives women without functioning wombs -- such as those with MRKH -- the opportunity

Social Affairs Nov. 17, 2023

The Busan District Court on Friday has sentenced a woman in her 20s who left her dead newborn in a shopping mall restroom in October of last year to six years in prison. The mother is accused of giving birth in the bathroom of her home on Oct. 4 last year and not making any attempts to save the baby from falling into the toilet water, with the newborn suffocating as a consequence. Prosecutors believe there were no actions taken such as the mother to save her child. The following day, the woman d

Social Affairs Oct. 27, 2023

As the wind gets chillier and coats get thicker, the smell of baked “bungeoppang” -- a fish-shaped pastry -- filling the streets is a warm welcome for many South Koreans. However, the price of this popular winter snack has been rising steadily over the years, as the cost of its ingredients grow. While three pieces of bungeoppang could be enjoyed for 1,000 won in 2021, this year the price has doubled, Street vendors are selling three at an average of 2,000 won. The winter bestseller i

Social Affairs Oct. 27, 2023

The police have taken custody of a man who killed one person and injured another in a knife attack Wednesday. According to the police station in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, the suspect, a man in his 50s, confessed that he attacked the victims when they reprimanded him for not repaying his debts and told him to “stop borrowing money from people around him”. The initial altercation took place at a nearby billiard room. Subsequent CCTV footage captured the victims arriving at a bus stop i

Social Affairs Oct. 20, 2023

  From performing at Yonsei University’s Akaraka festival and teaching English on Jeju Island, to making content as a full-time creator, TikTok influencer Max Not Beer has been enjoying a variety of experiences in South Korea. Max -- whose real name is Max Abrams -- moved to Korea last February from the US to pursue his career as a full-time content creator, having garnered a significant following of over 1.2 million followers on TikTok. His content mainly consists of personal storie

People July 25, 2023