Seeing a doctor for an ordinary illness in Korea often begins with a neighborhood clinic rather than a large hospital. In many commercial areas, it is common to find several independent clinics in the same building, sometimes with a pharmacy on the ground floor or nearby. This is a familiar part of everyday life for … Read more
Bamseom is a small island in the Han River, almost directly beneath Seogang Bridge in Seoul. Today it is uninhabited and protected as an important urban wetland, but to me it has never been just one of the islands in the river. My father was born on Bamseom, and generations of my family lived there … Read more
When foreign friends see news about North Korean missile launches or military tensions, they sometimes ask me, “Is South Korea okay?” From abroad, the Korean border is often introduced as one of the most dangerous places in the world, and a DMZ tour can sound like an unusually tense kind of travel experience. What I … Read more
It is surprisingly difficult to describe jeon as a single Korean dish. Kimchi mixed into flour batter and pan-fried into a large kimchijeon is called jeon, but so is a slice of zucchini lightly coated with flour and egg. Pajeon may be made with long green onions spread across the pan, while fish, meat, perilla … Read more
One of the things I have always found convenient about healthcare in South Korea is how easy it can be to see a doctor for an everyday illness. If I have a cold, stomach trouble, or muscle pain, I can usually visit a nearby clinic, receive treatment the same day, take the prescription to a … Read more
Moving in South Korea today often means hiring a pojang isa company. The workers arrive with their own boxes and packing materials, pack most of the household belongings, transport them, and then unpack and arrange the larger items in the new home. Moving day was very different when I was young. Families did much more … Read more
When I was growing up in South Korea, mandu was not just something we bought in a bag from the frozen-food aisle. During winter, my family would gather together and make a large batch of dumplings at home. We prepared the filling in a big daeya (대야), a large metal or plastic basin commonly used … Read more
Some time ago, I watched a foreign travel YouTuber who had visited Japan and was now traveling in South Korea. At one point, he asked a simple question: “Is there a rivalry between Korea and Japan?” My answer would be yes. When South Korea and Japan meet in football or baseball, many Koreans care about … Read more
Summer in South Korea has always been hot and humid, but in recent years the heat has become increasingly difficult to treat as an ordinary seasonal inconvenience. Air conditioning now feels less like an optional comfort and more like part of the basic infrastructure of everyday summer life. July 2026 was another reminder of that … Read more
Every year on July 17, South Korea marks Constitution Day, or Jeheonjeol (제헌절), commemorating the promulgation of the country’s first Constitution in 1948. In recent years, however, I have found myself thinking about this day somewhat differently. On the night of December 3, 2024, then-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law. Military and police … Read more