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Legalizing same-sex marriage is still unpopular in South Korea. But does it need to be popular?
South Korea made a quiet but meaningful policy change in October. For the first time, the national census now allows same-sex couples living together to identify each other as “spouse” in official records. While this adjustment does not confer any legal rights, it marks a symbolic step in recognizing LGBTQ+ households in the state’s demographic data. But as same-sex couples slowly appear in national statistics, legal marriage still remains out of reach. And public support for it is not growing.
Nov. 22, 2025 -
True Crime (6) Marrying to kill
A marriage is meant to be the ultimate expression of love, a sacred vow between two people, blessed and celebrated by family and friends. A promise of loyalty, trust and lifelong partnership. But what if that bond is tainted from the very beginning? What happens when one walks down the aisle with love in their heart, while the other sees only images of money? Such was the marriage of Lee Eun-hae and Yoon Sang-yeop. In this episode, we dive into a 2019 case known as the Gapyeong valley murder, wh
Nov. 20, 2025 -
Students by the number: Old tradition dies hard in Korea’s classrooms
In the 1970s and '80s, when as many as 60 to 70 students were packed into a single classroom at school, students’ height served as a key barometer of order. At the start of each semester, students were given numbers for checking attendance based on their height and seated accordingly, from the front to the back of the classroom. Records from the Seoul Archives show that in some schools, seating arrangements were adjusted midsemester to reflect growth spurts. For teachers, it was more than a seat
Nov. 15, 2025 -
Dining after midnight in Korea
Seoul has earned a reputation as a city that never sleeps, and its overnight workers, students and partygoers alike need sustenance to make it through. South Korea's capital and most populous city offers plenty of ways to eat close to midnight or in the wee hours, but in other regions, too, there are ways to get a late bite, albeit with more limited options. Considered the country's main gateway, Incheon Airport has a number of restaurants, cafes and fast food joints on its premises. Most operat
Nov. 12, 2025 -
Meet the man making recycling less ugly in Korea
You had a fun night out. But the next morning, the hangover hits hard. Your sister orders delivery, but after all that drinking, you can barely take a bite. Soon, leftovers, crumpled napkins and takeout containers start to pile up. And like any older sister would, she tells you to clean it up. How would you feel? That was four years ago for Seo Ho-seong, founder of Uglee Lab, the startup behind Oneul Sugeo, a service that picks up your trash from your doorstep and takes care of Korea’s notorious
Nov. 12, 2025 -
Koreans brush teeth openly and together from childhood. Why?
Even after two years of teaching English at an elementary school in Seoul, Clare Mitchell from Canada still finds herself surprised by her students’ after-lunch ritual of brushing their teeth together in the restroom. “When you brush your teeth, you spit and sometimes bits of food come out. It’s not exactly something you want to show others. Watching kids do it so casually, even from such a young age, was a bit of a shock,” she told The Korea Herald. Back in her country, personal grooming ritual
Nov. 8, 2025 -
Korea can't live without dawn delivery. Can it still protect the workers behind it?
“Every night, I place my order after putting my kids to bed. By the time we wake up, the groceries are at the door,” said Seo Min-jung, a 37-year-old working mother in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. “I don’t know how I would manage mornings without it.” For tens of millions of South Koreans like Seo, ultra-fast overnight delivery is not just a convenience. It’s almost a lifeline. Whether it’s diapers, rice or last-minute school supplies, services like Coupang’s “Rocket Wow Delivery” have made it no
Nov. 6, 2025 -
Tips on using public transportation in Korea
South Korea boasts one of the most advanced public transportation systems in the world, and passengers can save a substantial amount of money using the transfer system, particularly when traveling long distances within the greater Seoul area. But navigating the extensive networks of multiple subway lines, city buses and intercity trains and buses can be challenging, particularly for those unfamiliar with the system. Transit expenditures can be settled at the end of the month using some credit ca
Nov. 6, 2025 -
'Korean Vegan' whose recipes deliver flavors of life
Over a basin of salted napa cabbage, a woman throws in a handful of spicy red seasoning and mixes it with gloved hands. The sound of leaves rubbing and sauce squelching soon fills the kitchen. Her hands never stop, even as she begins to speak — not about cooking, but about friendship. “You’re gonna get dumped. Not by your boyfriend. Not by your girlfriend or your fiance or your spouse,” she says. The red seeps deeper into the cabbage as she makes kimchi, Korea’s traditional fermented vegetable d
Nov. 5, 2025 -
S. Korea's generational labels keep failing — so why do we keep using them?
In Korea, it doesn’t matter if generational labels make sense. They just need to go viral. "They all started as marketing terms. But as social descriptors that actually reflect reality? 'MZ' was too broad and vague. 'Young Forty' is politically charged. But in a crowded culture, lazy categories always win, I guess," Chun Young-woo, 43, a marketing executive at Seoul-based Metric Studio, told The Korea Herald. "MZ Generation" is a blurry hybrid of Millennials and Generation Z that landed in Korea
Nov. 2, 2025 -
In Korea, new mothers enter luxury boot camps
Postpartum care centers, where new mothers rest and recover after childbirth, are a uniquely Korean creation found nowhere else in the world. While some countries have similar facilities, Korea remains the only nation where such care centers, known as sanhujoriwon or just joriwon, have become an integral part of postnatal care. A 2023 survey of 3,221 new mothers by the Health Ministry found that 8 to 9 out of 10 new mothers used the service that year. In traditional Korean culture, the initial t
Nov. 1, 2025