Recently, discussions on policy and legislation regarding the privatization of public services have become the center of debate in South Korea. From railways, electricity, gas to even medical care, rising support for privatization in the public sector has raised concerns and worries. Such intense de
In the Shadow of Alcohol NormalizationWhile one’s first legal drink is often seen as a milestone marking the transition into adulthood, the societal implications of alcohol in Korea are more severe than just a celebratory coming of age. During the holiday season, especially at the end of the year, f
Numerical Challenges in KoreaSouth Korea has been breaking its own record for the world's lowest birth rate every year recently. The average number of children expected per woman was only 0.78 as of 2022, marking the first global record of the rate dipping below 0.8. Korea even witnessed more deaths
There is No Average BrainIs there any average in the way our brain functions? Neuroscientist Michael Miller at the University of California experimented on language memory in 2002. Sixteen participants were shown a series of words, given recess, then shown another array of words. The participants pr
Being Rich in My Fantasy“I inherited wealth, you inherited poverty,” is a line from the Korean drama Reborn Rich, which hit the end of 2022. It tells the story of a man who was born as a poor secretary but was resuscitated after an accidental death, inheriting a large company from a chaebol family.
This October 6, two days before the “World Hospice and Palliative Care Day,” Yun Young-ho, a professor from the Department of Family Medicine at Seoul National University, and a team of lawyers submitted a policy proposal to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Professor Yun’s team request
No Longer a “Drug Clean Nation?” How Korea Lost Its GloryT h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f d r u g offenders in Korea exceeded 10,000 for the first time in 1999. There were fluctuations afterwards, but the offender line managed to maintain a similar level. In 2019, it became easier to contact drug sup
In 2021, 4.88 million animals were used for animal testing, with an average of 13,000 animals per day - approximately 4 million animals are being used annually. Most of the experiments are implemented for safety or quality assessments of products, essentially required by law, and it is surely clear
What is Lookism? The quality of being physically attractive has been of interest to many not just in the present but for thousands of years. This can be seen through artwork created from prehistoric times, such as the carving, Venus of Willendork from “The Stone Age.” However, recently, the idea of
Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine a world without social media. Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic opening the Untact era, social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or Facebook are more active than ever. What are Algorithms?You may have experienced being overwhelmed by the flo
What is Luxury Today? Luxury has generally been for the upper class, representing a life of great comfort and extravagance. However, as our world continues to move forward, the main targets and consumers of luxury brands have changed from just a small group of people to an entire generation: Generat
When the Korean actor, Jisoo, admitted his fault over school violence during his school years, it sparked an unprecedented situation where a lead actor had to resign from his role in a drama being broadcasted. Over 7,000 people signed a petition asking Jisoo to step down from the drama as the contro
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in November 1989 at the UN General Assembly as a convention specifying the fundamental rights for civil, political, social and cultural rights of every child. Korea, as one of countries that has ratified it, is obligated to seize the situation
People have realized the importance of public health through the COVID-19 pandemic. Unexpected infectious diseases began to spread everywhere. People raised questions on whether the state had the basic medical system required to cope with emergencies properly. As the need for public health care incr
Digital Sex Crimes Still Continue in South KoreaFrom spy cam to revenge pornography, there has been a wide range of sex trafficking videos that are taken and circulating online without the consent of those who appear in them. These videos that are widely recognized by society as pornography are far
The Ministry of Education announced that 2020 will mark the start of a significant reversal in Korean education: the college-age population, for the first time, has fallen short of the total university enrollment quota and will continue to decline. This trend, based on future population projections
It is commonly thought that South Korea is one of the greatest Information Technology (IT) powerhouses in the world: a country with over 95 percent of internet penetration rate, the fastest mobile speeds and the third fastest broadband speeds. However, there is a serious social problem of cyberbully
South Korea and Japan, two neighboring East- Asian countries with heavy historical baggage, have been at each other’s throats in endless political, economic, and cultural disputes for years. In July 2019, nationalist fervor erupted again in the form of a boycott, encouraged by online posters with “N
As fierce criticism of celebrities who have been charged with committing sex crimes including famous singers, Lee Seung-hyun (Seungri) and Jung Joon-young, dominated the headlines, the ‘Burning Sun Scandal’ brought several different issues to the surface of the Korean society. These crimes include b
On December 17, 2018, a short-track national athlete Shim Suk-hee filed a sexual assault complaint against Cho Jae-beom, her former coach. He was accused of sexually harassing Shim from 2014 to 2017. This has been a big issue within the society, fuelling discussion of the #MeToo incidents once again