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Korea Times

Korea Times
Korea Times
News and features from the Korea Times, South Korea's oldest English-language newspaper.
Jethro Compton attends the 2025 Laurence Olivier Awards after winning the best new musical award for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The playwright says his new role, as a dramaturge on Korean zombie play The Last Man, is about “having new experiences and working with interesting people”. Photo: Getty Images
World of performing arts

This award-winning playwright rejected Hollywood… for a Korean zombie musical

Jethro Compton shares why his choice to adapt musical The Last Man for UK viewers is about ‘experiences’ rather than advancing his career.

K-drama news

Why Blackpink’s Jisoo is jealous of her Boyfriend on Demand character

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South Korea

#SEAbling: the hashtag uniting Southeast Asia against South Korea

South Korea

‘Smaller than a closet’: the tiny Seoul flats going viral on YouTube

YouTuber Drew Binsky tours Seoul’s US$250-a-month micro-flats, sparking conversation on urban housing and South Korea’s hidden pressures.

Drew Binsky inside a Seoul gosiwon on February 1, his outstretched arms nearly spanning the narrow room. Photo: YouTube/Drew Binsky
South Korea

Seoul tightens migrant language screening over safety concerns

A rise in worksite accidents involving poor comprehension of safety instructions is driving the shift as South Korea increasingly relies on foreign labour.

TV shows and streaming video

When K-drama meets J-drama, sparks fly on screen

From Netflix’s Romantics Anonymous to Disney+’s Merry Berry Love, Korean-Japanese collaborations are on the rise.

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K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

K-pop-loving business expert breaks down the systems that drive the industry

Choi Jung-kiu’s new book analyses K-pop’s working parts using examples drawn from active idol groups, recent releases and everyday practices.

South Korean K-pop group Stray Kids perform in Seoul, South Korea, in 2022. In his new book, “Almost Everything You Need to Know About K-pop”, Choi Jung-kiu gives a primer on how Korea’s music industry has evolved beyond catchy melodies to become “a meticulously designed value chain”. Photo: AFP
South Korea

South Korea urged to ease inheritance tax as wealthy exit at record rate

Rigid inheritance laws blamed as 2,400 wealthy residents leave the country. Business group seeks reforms including tax payment via stocks.

South Korea

Why South Korea’s Gen Z steer towards bus driving as job market shifts

Bus driver licenses for people in their 20s and 30s rose 43 per cent in three years, driven by better pay, job security, and changing attitudes.

Art

Remembering Korean artist Chung Sang-hwa, master of monochrome

Korean modern art icon Chung Sang-hwa was known for his ‘dansaekhwa’ paintings, which demanded ‘foolishly endless repetition’.

Artist Chung Sang-hwa in his studio in Yeoju, Gyeonggi province, South Korea, in 2023. The artist died on January 28, 2026, after a prolonged illness. Photo: courtesy of Gallery Hyundai
Tourism

How Seoul became the world’s esports capital and attracts fans from across Asia

Tickets at venues like LCK Arena sell out fast as fans travel to South Korea’s capital to see the best play games such as League of Legends.

People get ready to watch a League of Legends match at LCK Arena at LoL Park in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: visitkorea.or.kr
South Korea

South Korea banned dog meat. Now what happens to 500,000 animals?

As South Korea moves to end dog meat consumption by 2027, the government lacks a clear survival plan for nearly half a million caged dogs.

TV shows and streaming video

‘Age of barbarism’: how Made in Korea shows country’s dark 1970s underbelly

Director Woo Min-ho explains why he chose 1970s South Korea to explore themes of power, corruption and ambition for his first TV series.

South Korea

How Project 2025 is reshaping immigration for Korean-Americans

Activist Kim Dong-seok warns lack of White House restraint has blurred immigration lines, leaving Korean-American residents in constant fear.

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ICE federal agents conducting an enforcement operation at a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia, on September 4, 2025. Photo: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement/AFP
Tourism

What’s fuelling South Korea’s running boom? A look at the fitness obsession

From office workers to ultra-marathoners, South Korea’s running boom is reshaping streets, travel and retail as millions hit the pavement.

Runners set off during the DMZ International Peace Marathon, in the Demilitarized Zone in Gangwon province, in South Korea, on September 21, 2025. Some 10 million South Koreans now identify as runners, according to industry and tourism data, roughly double the figure from 2015. Photo: The Korea Times
Art

Damien Hirst and Do-ho Suh among top artists showing in Seoul in 2026

Seoul’s 2026 art scene will also see the opening of the Centre Pompidou Hanwha Seoul and the return of the Gwangju and Busan biennales.

South Korea

South Koreans see joy in parenthood but fear economic strain

While 74 per cent see joy in children, 92 per cent say economic burdens impact family planning – a factor in South Korea’s record-low birth rate.

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TV shows and streaming video

Netflix Japanese drama Gimbap and Onigiri serves up romance one meal at a time

Starring Eiji Akaso and Kang Hye-won, Netflix’s Gimbap and Onigiri explores romance and cultural connection through food.

Eiji Akaso (left) and Kang Hye-won in a still from Gimbap and Onigiri. The new Japanese drama on Netflix explores culture, connection and quiet romance. Photo: courtesy of TV Tokyo
South Korea

South Korea’s proposed foreign crime bill sparks xenophobia fears

Critics say a bill to publish crime stats on foreign nationals stigmatises immigrants and ignores data showing their lower crime rates.

South Korea

Novo breaks through K League barrier as first foreign goalkeeper in 28 years

Korea has lifted the ban on its clubs signing foreign shot-stoppers, and Yongin FC have taken full advantage, signing 33-year-old Emanuel Novo.

South Korea

South Korea’s record low birth rate leads to mass school closures

With student counts half of 1980 levels, South Korea confronts a crisis of empty classrooms and abandoned sites, raising worry over wasted assets.

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An empty classroom in a South Korean high school, with rows of desks and a blackboard. Photo: Shutterstock
South Korea

In South Korea, vouchers to curb county’s falling population draw new residents

Officials in Okcheon, however, are looking to identify fake residents who change addresses without moving in.

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An angler fishing with the background of Sangchunjeong pavilion in Okcheon in North Chungcheong province, South Korea. Photo: Shutterstock
South Korea

US to grant Seoul exception on nuclear submarine fuel supply

Seoul to formalise right to build nuclear-powered submarines via Aukus-style waiver requiring approval from Trump and US Congress.

World of performing arts

Meet the Korean viral ‘dancing conductor’ who says he’s not actually dancing

Some conductors are visibly moved by the music, but Korean maestro Baek Yoon-hak takes that concept a step or two further.

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South Korea

‘Widespread cheating’ scandal hits South Korean universities amid AI concerns

Seoul National and Yonsei universities face new cheating scandals despite tighter controls, signalling need for stronger online exam and AI rules.

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Yonsei University uncovered a mass cheating case during the October midterm exam. Photo: Instagram/yonsei_official
South Korea

South Korea reopens debate on lifting ban on North Korean media

Lawmakers move to ease North Korean web access. Supporters cite freedom of information, but critics fear propaganda risks.

North Korean students read coverage of Kim Jong-un’s Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, in Pyongyang, in February 2019. Photo: AFP
South Korea

Chinese tourists pivot to South Korea, Thailand amid Japan travel ban

Spat began when Japan’s PM Sanae Takaichi suggested potential military intervention in Taiwan Strait, leading Beijing to issue a travel warning.

Blackpink

How K-pop idols are helping Korea’s ‘kimjang vest’ make a comeback

The iconic vest, long associated with older women making kimchi in the countryside, is being revived by young consumers embracing the ‘grandma-chic’ aesthetic.

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