K-Culture with Jae-Ha Kim

"Teach You a Lesson" Questions Whether Violence Against Teens is Ever Justified

Jae-Ha Kim — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 03:19:45 GMT

Kim Mu-yeol stars as former Special Forces aptain Na Hwa-jin, who’s working to keep schools safe.

☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
By Jae-Ha Kim

Na Hwa-jin (played by Kim Mu-yeol)
Choi Gang-seok (played by Lee Sung-min)
Im Han-rim (played by Jin Ki-joo)
Bong Geun-dae (played by Pyo Ji-hoon aka P.O.)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

The premise of “Teach You a Lesson” (참교육) becomes clear within the first eight minutes of the K-drama. As a high school bully goads a flinching classmate to “hit me back, you fucking retard!”1 a hand smacks the teenager’s face so hard that he goes flying across the hallway.2

But whereas the protagonist in school-bullying shows (like Weak Hero) tend to be other students who’re standing up for their friends, the hero here is Na Hwa-jin (Kim Mu-yeol), a strapping 30something former Special Forces captain who — as the head inspector of the newly-formed Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB) — literally has permission to enforce an eye-for-an-eye code of justice that adults usually don’t mete out on children.

During this scene, it becomes obvious that the children’s behavior is the product of entitlement, bad parenting, and pencil pushers at schools who do next to nothing to protect the actual victims.

For instance, in this situation, the principal and his minions respond to the commotion by demanding to know why a grown man is hitting a child. But where were these administrators when the teenage thugs beat the weaker students in their own classrooms? Why were they not concerned that kids walked into school fine, but left visibly bleeding, bruised, and often times cowering in fear? Did they view violence in school as acceptable if it was peer-on-peer altercations?

There is a contingent of people who do not approve of adults hitting children. I am one of those people.

But I also recognize that in a fictional setting like this, it can be incredibly cathartic to watch morally reprehensible youngsters getting their comeuppance3 — especially for real-life victims of school violence whose lives were treated as dispensable by those who were supposed to protect them. Also, the fact that many of these bullies look like they’re 30-year-old salarymen rather than middle school or high school students makes it easier to justify their beatings.

How Do Kids Get This Way?

When youth with aggressive conduct disorder watch an individual intentionally hurting another (like closing a piano lead), regions of the brain that process painful information are activated, as well as the amygdala and ventral striatum (part of the neural circuit involved in reward processing. These adolescents seem to enjoy seeing people in pain. [Source: the University of Chicago]

The series doesn’t tackle the issue as to why these fictional students are sociopaths (or maybe even psychopaths). It’s not necessarily low self esteem or even exposure to home violence that’s the root cause. Rather, a study4 by the University of Chicago notes that some aggressive children with conduct disorder essentially enjoy inflicting pain on others.

In the study, researchers compared two groups of 16- to 18-year-old boys (exactly matched on age, sex, and race-ethnicity) with aggressive conduct disorder to a control group of adolescent boys with no unusual signs of aggression. The boys with the conduct disorder had exhibited disruptive behavior such as starting a fight, using a weapon and stealing after confronting a victim.
The youth were tested with fMRI5 while looking at video clips in which people endured pain accidentally, such as when a heavy bowl was dropped on their hands, and intentionally, such as when a person stepped on another’s foot.
“The aggressive youth activated the neural circuits underpinning pain processing to the same extent, and in some cases, even more so than the control participants without conduct disorder” —Jean Decety, Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Chicago

Lee Sung-min portrays Choi Gang-seok, the Minister of Education.

Which leads to the question, might it not be worthwhile to invest in mental health treatments for all students as part of their school curriculum? Why not try to deal with issues before they spiral out of control? And it’s not just the visibly disturbed children who need help. Almost all of us could benefit from talking to a trained professional to address the things we won’t (or can’t) discuss with family, friends, or peers — for whatever reason. While this won’t rid schools of all bullies, mental health iniatitives seem like they could help foster benefits for society as a whole.

It follows that if addressing our mental health became the norm, people would be less likely to be singled out as 미쳤어/crazy just because they are seeing a therapist. And for what it’s worth, I’m talking about a worldwide initiative because — waves hands around — look at the hot mess we’re living through right now. It’s a lot to deal with.

The Cast

Lee Sung-min portrays Choi Gang-seok, the Minister of Education, who spent two years putting together the ERPB after his daughter was killed by one of her high school students. She was also engaged to be married to Na Hwa-jin, which explains why the two are so invested in creating a safer environment in schools.

Jin Ki-joo portrays Im Han-rin, a former Special Forces sergeant.

Their team is rounded out by Na’s underling, Im Han-rin (Jin Ki-joo) — whose fighting skills match that of her mentor’s — and scaredy cat (but tech savvy) Bong Geun-dae (played by Block B rapper P.O.) While I loved the push-pull relationship between these two and that Im is the badass enforcer second only to Na, I wish that her character had been given more nuance. (The flashback the depicted what led her to fight for justice was one of my favorite scenes of the entire series.)

Yes, Im can literally jump out of a window like a flying squirrel, knock out two thugs, and walk away without any broken bones.6 Clearly, she is a tough operative who can beat up men twice her size and make them beg. So why did director Hong Jong-chan make her emit high-pitched (and annoying) screams whenever she becomes frustrated (which is often) or angry (ditto)? Surely a trained former Special Forces sergeant like her would be able to handle her emotions better during even the most trying of circumstances.

But this is Kim Mu-yeol’s show from start to finish. As Na, he is debonair, puckish, incredibly capable, empathetic, and — as an elder Millennial — still young enough to make fun of his own outdated kkondae/꼰대7 tendencies (compared to Im’s and Bong’s 21st century sensibilities). He also is a kickass fighter who comes up with something a little different in each beatdown. In the quieter moments, though, his eyes convey sadness and helplessness, because all he really wanted was to get married to his fiancée and grow old together.

One of the elements that I appreciated in this show was that time was given to show him grieving. He hasn’t moved on from her death. He wears black clothing every day for a reason. The showrunners didn’t dim her memory by pairing him up with the female lead.

P.O.’s Bong Geun-dae uses his devices to fight the bad guys. (Courtesy: Netflix)

There is a lot going on within these fast-paced 10 episodes. While student bullying is at the core of the series, the story arcs also delve into teachers who are in cahoots with overbearing parents intent on getting their kids into the top universities, whether they have to cheat or bribe their way in.

Many of the episodes are based on real-life tragedies that occured in South Korea, most notably the suicide of a 23-year-old first grade teacher. After the police attempted to push the narrative that she died because she was depressed about a breakup with her boyfriend, her cousin unearthed her work logs, journal entries, and texts, which revealed a different story. They were filled with non-stop complaints from parents about the way she taught, how she disciplined the altercations between the children, how she should change the curriculum … They essentially nagged her to her death.

In an interview with the BBC, Professor Kim Bong-he — who teaches future educators at the Seoul National University of Education — attributed these acts of emotional (and physical) violence to a rise of inequality between parents and teachers.

Traditionally, Korea had a very strong culture of respecting teachers, he explained, but because of the country's rapid economic growth, many parents are now highly educated. "This means they often look down on teachers," he said. "They think they have paid for them with their taxes. This creates a strong sense of entitlement."

In another episode, high school students befriend and then bully a shy boy by stealing his Wi-Fi, identity, and bank account. They commit crimes using his name, run up thousands of dollars in debt, and then wash their hands of him. This storyline is based on the recollections of a student who said he was forced to be the Wi-Fi Shuttle at school, and would be beaten if the bullies couldn’t access the internet.

If you’re inadvertently reading this on a content-scraping plagiarism site (e.g. europesays(dot)com etc.), please know that they stole my copyrighted work. These clickbait sites are illegally using my writing to generate traffic to their ads. —Jae-Ha Kim

The most insidious theme that runs throughout the series, though, involves a student who supposedly was in love with Na Hwa-Jin’s fiancée, Choi Ga-yoon (Ha Young), and stabbed her to death. (See more in the Spoiler Alert below.)

So the question is, does juvenile justice actually work?8 Oh, you’ll find out in Episode 10 , and it’ll be worth it. I promise.

@soondubuedits Those pushups though 🔥🔥🔥 #kimmuyeol #kdrama #kdramaedit #edit #fyp

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A Different Kind of Juvenile Justice for Kim Mu-yeol

The 44-year-old actor is enjoying a wave of popularity due to the worldwide success of “Teach You a Lesson” — which has been on Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows in the U.S. list since its debut. The recirculated clip of Kim training for his role in the 2015 K-drama “My Beautiful Bride”9 has also helped.

In 2022, Kim was the male lead in “Juvenile Justice,”10 which also featured his “Teach You a Lesson” co-star Lee Sung-min. In that K-drama, they both played judges dealing with underage children who committed aggregious crimes and knew they were too young to be sent prison. Lee’s character had a son who got caught up in a high school cheating scandal. Kim portrayed a judge who had committed petty crimes in his youth and believed underage offenders like him could be rehabilitated. While watching “Teach You a Lesson,” I often wondered how his “Juvenile Justice” character would deal with the students from his current series. (I doubt his judge character would smack them!)

Kim Mu-yeol is Not the ‘Korean Mark Wahlberg’

I have been cringeing at all the comparisons people have been making, saying that Kim is the Korean Wahlberg.11 😬 I personally don’t think they look remotely alike. Kim is much taller, younger, and is subjectively more handsome. Americans comparing him to a white actor as a compliment — as if he doesn’t have his own decades-long career — is western-centric and condescending.

The most egregious part, though, is that these fans who are just now discovering Kim are literally comparing a Korean actor to a mumbling man who has a felony assault conviction for racially-motivated attacks against Asians and African Americans. His crimes were serious enough that the then teenage Wahlberg was arrested and tried as an adult. And when this is pointed out to people who weren’t aware of Wahlberg’s history, most of these commenters simply do not care because they think Marky Mark is still hot.

Ew. Just stop it. Even if for the sake of argument you believe that Wahlberg is a fine human being now, why would you think it’s a compliment to compare a Korean actor to, well, him?

Airdates

Ten hour-long episodes dropped on Netflix on June 5, 2026. Since this is a Netflix series and an international hit, “Teach You a Lesson” will surely get a second season.12

Spoiler Alert

Cho Gyu-cheol (portrayed by 31-year-old actor Lee Bong-jun) claimed that he had killed Na’s fiancée because he was in love with her, but she was getting married to Na. But that wasn’t the case at all. When she learned that he was running a massive drug ring at their high school, she asked him to turn himself in to the police. He killed her to keep his illegal operation alive.

Sentenced to two years in a youth detention center, Cho manipulates a politician into getting him released early and back into his former school. Playing the part of a misunderstood boy who has been rehabiliated, he wins over some classmates, while setting up others who are trying to intimidate him.

Lee portrays his role chillingly well.

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He says 병신, which literally means sick body, but is commonly used as an offensive slur. It would be like a westerner referring to someone as a “retard.”

That slap is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever seen. Whereas viewers felt some sympathy for the victims of Gong Yoo’s slap-happy character in “Squid Game,” the students that Na Hwa-jin hit had it coming (because of their own excessive cruelty to other children).

Kind of like a revenge series à la “Taxi Driver” for the teenage set.

“Atypical Empathic Responses in Adolescents with Aggressive Conduct Disorder: A Functional MRI investigation” by Jean Decety, Kalina J Michalska, Yuko Akitsuki, Benjamin B Lahey [2008]

Functional MRI (fMRI) is a brain-imaging technique that measures brain activity by capturing the changes in blood flow.

She did temporarily lose her memory and ability to fight.

꼰대 refers to older people who are often out-of-touch with modern-day vernacular and customs.

It does. While the K-Drama takes a bleak stance on bullies, it also shows a few who have literally been scared straight and willlingly support the ERPB team as needed.

You’re welcome!

Hong Jong-chan directed both “Juvenile Justice” and “Teach You a Lesson.”

John Cena posted a photo of Kim Mu-yeol on his Instagram grid. Cena also likes BTS and has a history of being culturally aware about Korean culture and entertainment. Some people wrote in the comments that Kim was the “Korean Mark Wahlberg.” They won’t let it go, I suppose.

I have no official confirmation about this. But I can bet it will happen and I would most likely be correct.

Oreos, BTS, and Me

Jae-Ha Kim — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 01:22:58 GMT

Courtesy: Oreo

BTS’ collaboration with Oreo cookies has been released! I must admit that I wasn’t expecting much from them. I say this as someone who ate Oreos as a child, but never loved them like I did (and do) chocolate chip cookies. Frankly, I was expecting these limited-edition hotteok1-flavored cookies to taste like, well, regular Oreos.

But au contraire! While they do not taste like hotteok at all to me, they are seriously good.

Photo: Jae-Ha Kim

So what does it taste like then?

When I opened the package of cookies2, I noticed a strong whiff of kinda-sorta burnt sugar. And I mean that in the best possible way, because it reminded me of the snacks I had as a child. Do you remember how the hapless contestants in “Squid Game” had to meticulously carve out shapes in a cookie3? That’s what the smell reminded me of more than anything else. I still remember my sister melting sugar and baking soda in a spoon, directly over our stovetop. And I remember patiently waiting until the sweet treat cooled down so that I wouldn’t burn my tongue eating it.

My own nuclear household agreed that these cookies are delicious, and not cloyingly sweet like store-bought desserts often are. I have squirreled the rest of the cookies away in a hidden area of our pantry so that we can savor them for at least a few more days. Because to be honest, I could’ve eaten a whole sleeve by myself with my morning cup of coffee.

While promoting this cookie collaboration, BTS said, “For Oreo to be the first snacking brand we’ve collaborated with globally is a huge honor. We ate them as kids, we eat them in the studio, and now Oreo is helping us share a taste of home with the world. We’re just so proud to add our own chapter to Oreo’s amazing story.”

I have a childhood history with Oreos, too.

When my family emigrated from South Korea to the United States, there weren’t a lot of Asians in my neighborhood. Or at school. So it was not surprising that when I entered kindergarten as a four year old, my classmates weren’t sure what to make of me — this little girl who looked nothing like them and spoke with a strong, foreign accent that may or may not have been English as they knew it.

A few wanted to know how I got my hair so straight. Since I wasn’t Caucasian, they assumed that I must have been African American.4

To help me make friends, my mother sent me off to school with bags of Oreo cookies (and M&M’s) to share with my classmates. Many years later, she told me that she used to watch from a distance as I passed treats out at recess, hoping somebody would play with me.

It must’ve broken her heart to see them accept the sweets, but not me.

This didn’t last forever, though! When we moved and I switched to a different kindergarten, I met the little girl who would become my best and longest-lasting friend. At first, we just followed each other around like puppies, because I wasn’t fluent in English yet and she spoke no Korean. But we found each other to be amusing and just clicked, even at that age.

When I would go to her house, her mother would give us Hostess Ho Hos to snack on before a dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread. (Her mom made the best homemade spaghetti sauce that I still dream about.) And when my BFF would come over to my house, my mom would serve us Oreo cookies and milk. My friend had immediately taken a liking to kimchi, so my mother always made sure she had a jar to take home after eating dinner with us.

Today, my father and my best friend’s mother are buried in the same cemetery, not too far from each other. When one of us visits, we leave flowers for both.

It may sound odd that a box of Oreo cookies brought back all these memories. But that’s how the mind works, right?

I’d like to think that BTS wanted to do this collab because this American snack brought back fond memories of when they were children, during an era when they couldn’t have imagined who they would one day become.5

I don’t know. All I can say is that even though this collab has absolutely nothing to do with me, the fact that it exists makes me feel 정6 (jeong/jung) for this amazing group of Korean artists. They helped create a cookie that evokes all these memories of home for those of us who are no longer there.

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Hotteok is a popular Korean street food snack that looks like a puffy small pancake that’s filled with a brown-sugar syrup. Sometimes there will be other ingredients, like cinnamon or walnuts (or pecans).

Oreo sent packages of the hotteok-inspired cookies to journalists, and I received one of them.

The treats in “Squid Game” were dalgona — 달고나 — also known as poppgi (뽑기).

Naysayers have questioned this, saying I couldn’t possibly have been mistaken for a Black girl. Believe me or not, but I have witnesses.

Of course for naysayers like James Eppler, this collab is little more than a ‘joke.’ For whatever reason, he made the unhinged and defamatory comment on-air that BTS’ Oreo cookies contained the message, “Death to America.”

정 or jeong/jung is a word used to express an emotion that isn’t necessarily love or friendship (though they could be part of it), but rather a deeper bond that Koreans have for one another. 정 grows over time.

K-DRAMA INDEX

Jae-Ha Kim — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Crash Landing on You co-stars Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin on their real-life wedding day. (Photo provided by VAST Entertainment.)

These are some of my reviews and essays about K-Dramas (and also Korean films and other Korean-centric projects). You may also read more about my take on Korean pop culture in outlets such as Rolling Stone, Mashable, Victoria & Albert Museum, TODAY, Teen Vogue, Variety, Salon and MTV News.

If you’d like to support my work, subscribe to my free Substack. My reviews and essays will be delivered straight to your in-box weekly-ish.

The reviews are listed below alphabetically (and I’m adding more every few days). Please note that the titles are listed by the first significant word and not the nonsignificant words (e.g. A, An, The) at the beginning. (i.e. “A Time Called You” is alphabetized under T.)

NOTE: My rating may change as I progress through a show. What starts off as ☆☆ may end up as ☆☆☆ (or vice versa) by the finale. If there is no live link to a title, it means that I watched the series, but I haven’t reviewed it yet.

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☆ to ☆☆☆☆

Zombie Detective (좀비탐정) | Choi Jin-hyuk, Park Ju-hyun | ☆½

U.S. News Anchor 'Jokes' That BTS-Themed Cookies Spell Out "Death to America"

Jae-Ha Kim — Sun, 31 May 2026 02:20:54 GMT

Courtesy: OREO

By Jae-Ha Kim
May 30, 2026

Earlier this week, a Texas news outlet joined a slew of others in announcing the limited-edition OREO cookies, which were designed to taste like hotteok/호떡 — a sweet Korean pancake filled with warm brown sugar. OREO collaborated with BTS on this treat, which will be in stores on June 8.

What should’ve been a cute and/or innocuous soundbite about this cookie collab proved to be yet another example on why some white journalists, especially men, shouldn’t be allowed to speak about minorities. Ever. I give you James Eppler, a news anchor and managing editor at Fox 34 in Lubbock, who is also an adjunct1 instructor at Texas Tech University. Remember this last part, because this man is teaching the next generation of journalists.

Instead of just reading what was written for him on the teleprompter, he made a wildly inappropriate ad lib that he found amusing:

“The cookie’s wafer is BTS’ signature colour, purple. The wafers are also engraved with one of 13 designs, which spell out a message to fans when put together. And that is: ‘Death to America’, which I think is really strange.” —James Eppler

What I think is really strange is that a man who is supposed to be relaying the news to viewers made this defamatory comment, laughed about it, and then said he was just joking.2 As if spreading the 21st century version of the Yellow Peril3 was something to pat himself on the back for.

There isn’t enough information about him for me to know his age, but I’m guessing he’s at least in his 40s or 50s. How does one get to be that old without having any awareness at all about the anti-Asian hate and violence that was fucking rampant throughout the COVID-19 pandemic? Surely the outlet he works for even covered it.

Anti-Asian Hysteria Didn’t Start with the Pandemic

There has been a long and egregious history of it that has filtered down to today.

° In 1882, U.S. President Chester A. Arthur passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which placed a 10-year ban on Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. This was the first time that the U.S. placed any kind of restriction on immigrants.

° President Franklin Delano Roosevelt put Japanese Americans in concentration camps. He signed the Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which made it legal to move suspicious people into ‘internment camps.’ Some Italian and German Americans were also sent to these camps, but the majority were of Japanese ethnicity.

° On June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin and his friends were enjoying his bachelor party at a suburban Detroit club. Two white men — who assumed Chin was Japanese and therefore responsible for taking away real Americans’ auto jobs — murdered him. Witnesses (including off-duty police officers) heard the two say, “It's because of you little motherfuckers that we're out of work!" before they bashed in Chin’s head. Guess what their punishment was for killing Chin? A $3,000 fine and not one day in prison.

° In September 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted an immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG battery facility in Ellabell, Georgia. The U.S. government handcuffed, shackled, and locked away about 475 South Koreans who had valid visas. They were in the U.S. not to take away American jobs, but to teach locals how to do the work that South Korea had created for them.

Courtesy: OREO

Westerners Directing Racism at BTS is Nothing New

° In 2020, Sal Governale commented on The Howard Stern Show that there’s no way BTS didn’t have coronavirus. “I walked into the lobby and it was like Chinatown, out of control, there were so many Asian people,” he remembered. “These people are traveling, they’re not locals, they’re going from country to country to country.” Chinatown. Asian people. These people. He was describing a South Korean band whose country had immaculate screening protocols for COVID-19, while he was living in a country that didn’t seem to know how to control the disease and dealt with it by ignoring its existence for much too long.

° A year later, German radio personality Matthias Matuschik said on-air, “These pussies bragged about covering ‘Fix You’ from Coldplay. This is sacrilege! They should be sent to North Korea for the next 20 years! … You can’t accuse me of xenophobia just because of this boy band. I have a car from South Korea.”

All of this leads to my question about Eppler. How does this long-in-the-tooth man — who teaches the ethics of journalism to college students — lack the basic understanding of what ‘Death to America’ even represents? Does he not realize that South Korea is a U.S. ally? Or does he, but still think it’s funny to mock people who look like BTS (and me)?

And, yeah, I’ll say it. We all know that if he was announcing a cookie collab between OREO and Taylor Swift or the Jonas Brothers, he would not have said anything negative about the messages they wanted to share with their fans.

But It’s Just a Joke …

Whenever I write about racism, there is a loud well-ackshually contingent who will tell me that my own lived experience (as well as others who I’ve written about) isn’t racism.

So taking emotion and anecdotes out of the equation, let’s define racism.

In a study of racism and its effects on children, Dr. David R Williams defined it as “an institutional system in which the dominant group uses its power to devalue, disempower, and differentially allocate valued societal resources and opportunities to groups defined as inferior.”4

And then there’s the sticks-and-stones5 crowd that refuse to believe that microaggressions and taunting jokes have anything to do with Asian men and women being beaten and killed.

“Both violent racism and non-violent racism are harmful to individuals and societies,” Peter H. Huang wrote in his 2022 study for the University of Colorado Law School. “Importantly, the proportion of racism that is violent racism tends to grow over time and across locations if and when the occurrence of non-violent racism becomes more accepted and normalized as the baseline in society.”6

And another study by Brigham Young University noted that “Asian American people are often the target of unchecked racist jokes levelled by fellow Americans. Because of the model minority myth, racism towards Asian Americans has received less attention than that of other minority groups. Stereotypes furthered by racist jokes may seem innocuous, but they lead to mental, emotional, and potentially physical harm. Victim blaming is a common response to objections levied by Asian American people and this process leads to further psychological damage for the offended.”7

It has now been five full days since Eppler made his remark. Neither he or his network has bothered to address his defamatory words.8 Perhaps they are thinking that an apology is unwarranted because we’re the ones who can’t take a joke.

To paraphrase what I wrote in a 2021 article addressing anti-Asian hate, “Make no mistake. This isn’t a witchhunt and Eppler is not the victim. If a grown man — whose job it is to report on the news on TV — can’t get across his true intent, does he even belong there?”

If I have any facts incorrect, please do reach out and I will fix them (and attribute the correction to you, unless you don’t want to be mentioned). But if you simply disagree with what I’ve written, I can live with that and hope that you can, too. Cheers!

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Adjunct means he’s hired part-time and isn’t on the tenure track to become a full-time professor. You don’t have to have a PhD to be an adjunct instrutor.

I used to be on-air live doing both TV news and radio reports. While most of my work was fine, there were a few instances where I fumbled with words. However, what I said was correct. I just said it in an awkward manner.

I’ll sum it up with Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition of Yellow Peril: a danger to Western civilization held to arise expansion of the power and influence of eastern Asian peoples.

Williams DR, Lawrence JA, & Davis BA (2019). Racism and health: Evidence and needed research. Annual Review of Public Health, 40, 105–125. 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-043750 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

For those of you who grew up without hearing this children’s rhyme, the chant goes: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Which is 100 percent untrue.

Peter H. Huang, Univeristy of Colorado Law School, “Anti-Asian American Racism, COVID-19, Racism Contested, Humor, and Empathy” (page 725). Note: I bolded part of the sentence for emphasis.

Researched by Sedric Jacobsen in “When Racist Jokes Go Unchecked: The Plight of Asian Americans at the Hands of Fellow Americans” (2024)

Honestly, I’m suprised that OREO hasn’t made a statement by now deriding Eppler’s comment.

In the K-drama “Anna,” A Lie Begets More Lies

Jae-Ha Kim — Thu, 28 May 2026 03:10:29 GMT

☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
By Jae-Ha Kim
Lee Yu-mi (played by Bae Suzy)
Lee Hyeon-ju (played by Jung Eun-chae)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

A lie begets lies. That’s how I would describe the K-drama “Anna” (안나).

Yu-mi (Bae Suzy) is smart and talented. Unfortunately for the overly-proud young woman, she hails from a working class family. Her parents own a small tailor shop. At a young age, she learned sign language to communicate with her mother, who is unable to speak. Although none of this is shameful, the class-conscious little child does feel shame throughout her life because of her family’s difficult circumstances. Of course, it doesn’t help that the girls at her school and dance class point out that her family — and therefore she — is insufficient.

Still, Yu-mi is confident and does well at school. She even has a secret boyfriend, who’s a music teacher at her high school. He buys her lunch, which they eat together in a secluded area hidden away from other students and faculty. He even drives her home. They are clearly dating. But when they are caught, the teacher says she approached him and he was too weak to say no.

Even if that had been the case, the person in the wrong is the adult manipulating the child. He apologizes and receives a slap-on-the-wrist suspension, while she is forced to transfer high schools four months before the excruciating testing period to enter South Korean universities.

Expected to be accepted at a prestigious university, but rejected, she tells her parents what she thinks is a small white lie. Yes, she was accepted. She goes so far as to live in a boarding house with coeds and continues to passively perpetuate the lie by not correcting others’ assumptions about her life. At a school mixer that her friend invites her to, her beauty makes her immensely popular and draws the attention of a rich boy who falls in love with her.

But as the two are about to move together to New York to attend school — he to attend a real university for him, and her to pretend she’s attending college — his mother learns that everything Yu-mi has said is a lie.

From here, the plot moves quickly. Yu-mi is hired to work for a rich family as an assistant for their daughter, Hyeon-ju (Jung Eun-chae). Unable to take any more of their abuse, Yu-mi quits and reinvents herself as Hyeon-ju, thanks to the latter’s passport and college diplomas that she borrowed. With her fake credentials, Yu-mi gets a job as a college professor, lands a rich husband (who may or may not be a sociopath) and essentially fools everyone into believing that she is who she says she is: Anna, the name Hyeon-ju went by in the United States.

So how did a high school-educated woman fool academics (and students) into believing that she was a qualified professor? Yu-mi was always bright and studied before tackling any role. But this is where perception also comes in play. Because she dressed the part… because she behaved like she was born into the upper class… people wanted to believe she was who she claimed to be. Yu-mi faked it until she made it.

But her success also proves that higher education doesn’t necessarily mean you’re smarter than those who didn’t attend college. It just means that you were able to enjoy a benefit that’s not a given for everyone else.

In some ways, Anna reminded me of the real-life German-Russian con artist Anna Sorokin, who convinced the New York elite that she was socialite Anna Delvey.

Though “Anna” isn’t a perfect series, it’s very good with a taut storyline that is unbelievably believable. Suzy’s portrayal of the titular character is meaningful and nuanced, giving depth to a liar who knows she can’t continue to live her life this way.

Controversy: The series was originally supposed to be eight episodes, but director Lee Zoo-young alleged that Coupang Play made changes to the final version without her consent. She and six other staff members demanded that their names be removed from the credit, because the product that aired isn’t what they had signed off on. The streaming site ultimately apologized and agreed to release the original Director’s Cut.

Airdates: Six episodes, ranging from 45- to 61-minutes each, aired on Coupang Play from June 24 to July 8, 2022. (It’s currently airing in the U.S. on Prime Video.)

Spoiler Alert: Though it’s not spelled out, the fourth episode implies that the high school music teacher impregnated Yu-mi. She is seen in a flashback crying to one of her former teachers, saying they had only been together two or three times. (If I got this part wrong, please comment and let me know!)

When Anna agrees to go on a blind date with Ji-hoon (Kim Jun-han), he seems nervously charming. He’s a businessman with his eye on politics and seems like the perfect husband material. But he’s also a power-hungry man who physically abuses his employees for being slightly tardy. Watching him repeatedly kick his much older driver in the shins was excruciating.

But all of that is in character. As skeletons are revealed, we learn he killed the mother of his autistic son, who he keeps hidden away. And when the real-life Hyeon-ju contacts him to say she knows that Anna is a fake, he has Hyeon-ju killed, because revealing that secret will ruin the perfect couple image that the two have.

When they were younger, Hyeon-ju had magnanimously gifted Yu-mi with a watch that she implied was expensive and rare. But in reality, the watch was a knockoff worth less than $100. Hyeon-ju was a bitch, but she didn’t deserve to die.

The longer that Anna lives her lie, the more she begins to recognize that she has become someone she despises. When a housekeeper meekly asks for permission to take two days off to care for her child after surgery, Anna shrieks at her. Though Anna had previously been in the same position, and denied, she screams at the apologetic woman. How dare the servant put her in such a predicament. Eventually, she come to her senses, apologizes and grants the days off. But the damage has been done.

The finale was kind of glorious. Her husband, Ji-hoon, takes her to the United States under the pretense of bringing home his young son. And while he’s at it, he takes away her passport. His plan is to lock her away in a mental institution. Just as he’s about to (accidentally) hit a deer, Anna pulls the emergency brake, which sends the car careening into a utility pole. As she starts to walk away, she realizes Ji-hoon is still alive and ordering — rather than begging — her to save him. She lights her scarf and purse and sets the car on fire.

The difference between Ji-hoon and Anna, though, is that while both are murderers now, she has empathy for her part in his death. She cries knowing what she has done.

The final scenes show her running a modest guest lodge somewhere in an English-speaking country.

Finally, she is alone and content — perhaps the truest version of herself.

It has been a busy few months, but I am going to work on scheduling another Zoom meet-up in the upcoming weeks. This will be open to all paid subscribers.
(I’ll try to work it around everyone’s concerts this summer.)

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"BEEF" Tackles Korean Identity in Season 2

Jae-Ha Kim — Sat, 23 May 2026 04:03:21 GMT

Cailee Spaeny, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton. (Courtesy: Netflix)

☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
By Jae-Ha Kim

In the second season of the Netflix series “BEEF,” showrunner Lee Sung-jin1 stacks the cast with Korean superstars like Youn Yuh-jung and Song Kang-ho, as well as Korean American rapper Matthew Kim (aka BM of Kard) and British Korean actress Seoyeon Jang. But oddly enough, this current season has a less Korean feel to it than its 2023 predecessor, where Korean American actors Steven Yeun, Young Mazino, and David Choe depicted what it was like for “good” Asians when they don’t live up to the model-minority stereotype.

This second season centers on a white couple, with the Korean cast members acting as secondary characters rather than the main event. But what the show does incredibly well is how it handles a character’s Korean identity when they’re surrounded by people who claim they don’t see color, or that they think of biracial Koreans as being white — as if that’s some kind of compliment of acceptance, rather than an erasure of heritage.

The series stars Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac as Lindsay and Joshua, an unhappily married couple whose hoity toity country club jobs are on the line when a Korean chaebol takes over. Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) are their younger, poorer counterpoints at the country club. When the latter couple accidentally catch Joshua and Lindsay having a violent fight, Ashley films the altercation with the intention of showing it to the police — but then decides they can use the footage as leverage to secure better positions for themselves at the country club.

Once Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung) takes over the country club, the American staff fear for their jobs. But for Austin — who like Melton is Wasian2 — this means that for the first time in his life, his Korean roots are an advantage he can use to bond with Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung) and her personal assistant Eunice (Seoyeon Jang).

Seoyeon Jang, Charles Melton. (Courtesy: Netflix)

Eunice is a worldly counterpart to Ashley, whose education ended with high school. Meanwhile, Eunice has a masters degree, is multi-lingual and incredibly well traveled. She’s also gorgeous. Austin is drawn to her because of her looks. But by this, I mean he’s attracted to more than her pretty face. In her, he recognizes his own Korean features that were never spoken of or addressed, because everyone wanted him to just be white.

“BEEF” is set in a wealthy California city. And surely Austin must have seen other Koreans and Asians, even if they weren’t in his inner circle. But what this series does so well is make it clear that treating minorities as white still doesn’t make it easier for them to fit in with the majority.

As the son of a Korean mother and a white father, neither of whom raised him to know much about his ethnic culture, Austin understands enough of his mother’s Korean to respond to her, but he does so in English. This linguistic acculturation isn’t unusual for children growing up in a dual-language household where the dominant language is almost always English.

All of this whirls around in Austin’s head when he verbalizes to Eunice what he hadn’t spoken of before — because who was there to listen? His own white girlfriend says she never thought of them as an interracial couple because she doesn’t see color and she views him as white. But he has felt that sting of racism. And as he and Eunice have the kind of conversation about microaggressions and prejudice that Ashley can’t possibly relate to, the latter becomes jealous of their shared connection.

Cailee Spaeny, Charles Melton (Courtesy: Netflix)

All of this is confusing for Austin. Asked point blank if he’s ever dated an Asian woman, Austin sounds disgusted, and actually says ew, before telling Ashley that it would be like dating his own mother.3

Yet later, he admits, “Am I attracted to Eunice? Yes. Am I drawn to our common heritage? Absolutely. But am I into her? Look, my perspective is I’ve never been around this many Koreans before, okay? My body is like reacting to everything. It’s like epigenetics, you know? Because in the long run, I do need Korean presence in my life, but at the same time, I want us to be together forever. Nevertheless, I do find Eunice attractive, so it’s just all really confusing.”

There is a story arc that stems from Ashley’s jealousy that lands her in the hospital, that is both deeply sad and inadvertently funny. Not understanding what a medical deductible is — and why would she? She’s never had health insurance before — Ashley is at first delighted that she won’t have to pay for her surgery, before she realizes how much she has to cover before her deductible kicks in.

Meanwhile, Austin wants her to get the best care, and asks, “Where the Filipino nurses at?” Asian diaspora will understand this question. We have 정4 with other Asians, even if they’re outside of our own ethnicity.

Youn Yuh-jung (right) in The Bacchus Lady. (Courtesy: Korean Academy of Film Arts)

META MOMENT: In Episode 3, Ashley asks Austin if she should put Bacchus drinks in a gift basket for Eunice. He tells her that the only person he’s ever seen drink it is his grandmother. That scene is a sly nod to Youn Yuh-jung’s 2016 film, The Bacchus Lady.² In the titular role, Youn starred as an elderly sex worker who sold Bacchus drinks to men. This transaction was a known precursor to sex. While this is a fictional film, it’s based on the plight of poverty-stricken elderly women who have no other way to make a living.

UNDERSTANDING KOREAN CULTURE: People magazine linked a lovely video of Melton greeting Youn with deep bows, with a caption that read, “Chivalry was alive and well on the #Beef season 2 red carpet!” What People didn’t understand is that Melton was showing respect to his Academy Award-winning co-star. The deeper the bow, the more respect. Melton’s bow was at almost 90 degrees.

YOUN YUH-JUNG: Read my interview with the Academy Award winner here.

AIRDATES: Eight episodes — ranging from 31 to 49 minutes each — dropped on Netflix on April 16, 2026. (I initially watched screeners of this season.)

Check the Spoiler Alerts below for more about “BEEF” season 2.

SPOILER ALERTS:

Song Kang-ho, Youn Yuh-jung (Courtesy: Netflix)

° Song Kang-ho portrays Dr. Kim, the Chairwoman’s plastic surgeon husband. Though famous for his skills, his hand tremors and reticence to stop practicing have made him a liability. After he accidentally kills one of his patients, the Chairwoman springs into action to save his reputation and her wealth.

° After Ashley is released from the hospital, she breaks into Lindsay and Joshua’s house with revenge on her mind. She blames him for withholding access to a skilled surgeon. She reaches into her underpants and takes a handful of bloody discharge and stirs it into a pitcher of their juice. As she leaves, she accidentally leaves the door open, allowing the couple’s dog, Burberry, to leave the house. Burberry is later killed by a coyote. Joshua and Lindsay blame each other, before deciding they should divorce.

° In one of the most disgusting depictions I’ve seen recently, Lindsay gets revenge on Ashley by wiping fecal matter from an airplane toilet and adding it to Ashley’s drink. Actress Carey Mulligan said she had dry heaves while filming that scene.

Matthew Kim, Youm Yuh-jung (Courtesy: Netflix)

° Matthew Kim makes his acting debut as Woosh, a hot tennis coach at the country club. In a surprise reveal near the end of the series, viewers learn that Woosh is the son of the Chairwoman’s first husband. When he blackmails her for a higher position in her organization, she tenderly kisses him on the forehead and agrees. He is now a vice president. But shortly afterwards, a truck runs over him, killing him instantly. The only thing that would’ve made Woosh’s final scene better is if it had been the infamous white-truck-of-death (that is prominent in K-dramas).

Kim is handsome, and is a very talented musician. But he was miscast in this role. Holding your own against heavy hitters like Youn and Mulligan is a difficult feat for even seasoned actors. “BEEF” isn’t “XO, Kitty,” where nuance and skill are secondary to good looks.

DON’T BELIEVE ALL KOREANS: Finally, I read something that another Korean American writer had published in her recent newsletter. It is oddly incorrect:

Until 1977, inheritances were almost always distributed to the eldest son, regardless of whether there was a will. But that hasn’t been the case in some 50 years. If there is no will, the estate will most likely be divided between the surviving children.

It’s tempting to believe anything that a Korean says about South Korea. But I advise you to use common sense and caution (even if I’m the one who’s spouting off). Laws and customs change. What was true decades ago isn’t necessarily factual today. And while most of us do our best to be as accurate as possible, errors will get through.

Which is why I end many of my posts with the following:

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Lee Sung-jin was born in South Korea. But from sixth grade onwards, he attended school in the United States and eventually became a U.S. citizen. (He also goes by the name Sonny Lee.) I’m not sure if he went by Sung-jin Lee or Lee Sung-jin in school. But I find it interesting that in his profesisonal life, he chooses to bill himself Korean style (i.e. surname first). To be clear, it is his choice, but it can also cause confusion in an international cast like this.

Charles Melton’s mother is Korean and his father is a white man of European descent.

This is such an odd thing to say, because Asians in Asia don’t think that dating another Asian is like incest. Has Austin been taught to embrace his white self more than his Korean?

The 정 BTS Have For Each Other is a Compelling Part of Who They Are

Jae-Ha Kim — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:12:33 GMT

☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
By Jae-Ha Kim
May 20, 2026

“I don’t know why we get so much love and support. But we feel a great sense of responsibility.” –Jimin

Having your music cut out mid-song can be a living nightmare for most musicians. But if you have the wherewithal to go with the flow with the good and the bad, those moments also can become a highlight of the evening.

During a 2017 concert in Osaka, J-hope was faced with exactly this dilemma. He describes it as the worst thing that can happen at a show. But he handled it with aplomb. When the instrumentals cut out, he kept on singing acapella and sounded good. The audience did its part, singing along with him. It was actually a lovely moment, highlighting the symbiotic relationship the band has with its fans.

It also proved that the group sings live.

Perfection is never something I look for when I review concerts. Yes, it’s interesting to hear songs performed exactly the way it sounds on recordings. But it’s more engaging as an attendee to hear some of the blemishes that distinguish it from a pristine recording.

“It was a little embarrassing,” J- hope said. “But I love the thrill of singing on stage. … [The way I handled it] made me proud that I’m a singer.”

BTS performed 13 shows on the Japanese leg of their tour, culminating at the Kyocera Dome Osaka. The group described it as seating 30,000 to 40,000 fans. But the arena’s website cites its capacity as closer to 51,000.

I thought about these huge crowds when Suga said he feels anxious performing in front of large audiences.

I thought about how teenage Suga must’ve feared not making the cut at his Big Hit audition.

“When what you expect doesn’t happen, it’s difficult to take,” Suga says.

But he also must’ve worried about what could happen if he ever became famous.

Every band I’ve interviewed that has toured in Japan has told me the same thing that BTS says in this docu-series: The Japanese fans love music, but they are comparatively calm and respectful. That’s their style.

“It’s entirely upon us to get the fans out of their seats to dance,” Suga says.

He says he remembers when they played for 2,000 fans and that in some ways, it was more of a thrill to do that than to play for tens of thousands of concertgoers. Does he find less meaning in what they do now? No.

I understand what he is saying. What you miss may be different from what you have … but different isn’t bad.

Watching them prep for live shows, I was drawn to how they train like athletes. J-hope’s legs were taped up like NBA players’ before a big basketball game. He makes his movements look so effortless that we forget the strain it must put on his body to perform like that every night.

Near the end of this seventh episode, the interviewer asked the members what they wanted to do once the tour was over. V wanted to travel and take photos, while Jin wanted to go fishing with his father. RM simply wanted to organize all the collectibles he had in his studio. (Yes! I love nothing more than organizing when I’m stressed out.)

But it was J-hope and Suga who made me laugh out loud. Asked if they would hang out, J-hope joked that they already spend too much time together. Suga moved his seat away from him and said, “Let’s have some time apart.”

I think back to a professional video we had made of my son’s life. (At the time, he was almost four years old.) I had so much footage of him that I didn’t know how to pare it down, because I felt emotionally invested in every. single. minute. of those videos. Once I handed the footage over to a talented editor, who condensed the raw footage down to 7-1/2 minutes of pure joy, I felt liberated not only in what I was willing to let go of, but with what I wanted to remember.

Around the same time as this episode first aired, one of our relatives had died. I had to travel for work and was separated from my family for a few days. Knowing that I was sad and alone, my son left a message for me that touched my heart. He told me that the Chicago Cubs had won. And he told me to watch our favorite episode of “Run BTS,” so I could be happy and laugh.

That little boy will be heading off to college soon. But to this day, we share core memories of enjoying BTS together.

Because I already am so familiar with BTS’ music and stage shows, the segments that tend to hold my interest the most are of the group members sitting around the dining table enjoying a meal, joking and relaxing. For me, that camaraderie — the 정1 that they have for each other — is one of the most enjoyable (if not the most enjoyable) parts of this series.

It is now 2026, eight years after this episode premiered. These young men in BTS have moved onto the next phase of their lives, several times over actually. But that friendship of theirs is burned into my memory when I hear their music.

I know that no matter how old I am or where I am, there will always be a part of me that will be thinking, “보고 싶다”2 when I hear a BTS song. And it won’t be just them that I’m thinking about. It’ll take me back to who I was during that era as well.

Airdates: The eight-episode series premiered on March 28, with the finale airing on May 9, 2018 on YouTube Red. (It’s currently airing on BTS’ BangtanTV YouTube channel.)

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보고 싶다 translates to I want to see you, meaning I miss you. You’ll hear that phrase often in BTS’ “Spring Day”:

Will Viewers Figure Out Whodunit in “Beyond Evil”?

Jae-Ha Kim — Sun, 17 May 2026 13:56:00 GMT

I’ve been talking about how great “The Scarecrow”1 has been. (New episodes will air on Monday and Tuesday.) While 2026 isn’t even half over, I can’t imagine that there will be a better K-drama this year. Loosely based on the real-life Hwaseong2 murders, the series centers on a detective and his frenemy prosecutor who attempt to catch a serial killer.

While “Beyond Evil”3 isn’t as well executed as “The Scarecrow,” there are some similarities. The premise is intriguing, the acting is superb, and the script keeps viewers guessing until the very end.

“Beyond Evil”

Actors Yeon Jin-goo, Shin Ha-kyun

☆☆½
Lee Dong-sik (played by Shin Ha-kyun)
Han Joo-won (played by Yeo Jin-goo)
Yoo Jae-yi (played by Choi Sun-eun)
Nam Yoon-su (played by Oh Ji-hoon)

“Beyond Evil” is one weird (in an interesting way) Korean series that centers on the search for a serial killer who murdered multiple women — including the protagonist’s twin sister, Yu-yeon. Virtually all the major characters are suspects at one point or another, with damning evidence that has been carefully weaved into the storyline.

Dong-sik’s younger sister was one of the success stories in the small town they lived in. She was headed for Seoul National University and, after receiving a text to meet someone, disappeared. Assumed dead, her grieving family couldn’t cope. Her father died of shock, her mother couldn’t function, and her brother lived his entire life as a suspect, even though he was a police officer who had been cleared.

When hot-shot cop Joo-won transfers in from Seoul, he is partnered with Dong-sik and tells him right away: He believes Dong-sik is guilty and he will prove it.

This series could’ve turned into a hackneyed buddy series. Instead, it’s an intriguing crime drama, but one that is sometimes marred by a slow-moving plot that makes the episodes needlessly drag on. As curious as I was about the serial killer’s identity, the best parts of the series occurred after the serial killer was revealed. When the mind games ramp up, the series excels.

Shin Ha-kyun is a scene stealer whose sly mannerisms never reveal his character’s intentions until the perfect moment. As his disapproving partner who begrudgingly grows to trust and respect him, Yeo Jin-goo has the less showy role, but one that is necessary in many ways to balance Shin’s.

Airdates: Sixteen hour-long episodes aired on JTBC from February 19 to April 10, 2021. (I recently rewatched this on Netflix.)

Spoiler Alert: I was suspicious of just about everyone, to be honest. But I knew Dong-sik was innocent, because the writers made it too obvious that he was the prime suspect. In many ways, everyone in town was guilty because they kept so many secrets and hid so many wrongdoings — thinking they were protecting their own loved ones — that things got worse.

The serial killer was the town resident who has an intellectual disability. Except he doesn’t. That simple-minded guise sheltered him from being considered as a murderer. He later kills his own daughter, when it becomes clear she’s not his biological child.

A local political bigwig committed all kinds of crimes to protect her son, who’s not only Dong-sik’s best friend, but was secretly dating Yu-yeon. He didn’t kill her, but due to protective memory loss, he is never quite sure of his innocence. He lives wracked with guilt over her death.

Yu-yeon was killed by Joo-won’s high-ranking father, who had been driving drunk and ran over her. Not wanting to mar his stainless record by admitting to what he had done, he covered it up and willingly let innocent people be punished for the crime he committed.

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I’m watching “The Scarecrow” on Viki in the U.S.

Between 1986 and 1994, Lee Choon-jae killed 15 girls and women. He sexually assaulted most of them before strangling them with their own clothes (including pantyhose). The 2003 film Memories of Murder is loosely based on Lee’s crimes.

The Korean title for “Beyond Evil” is 괴물, which translates to monster.

The K-drama "Yumi’s Cells" Stresses That We Are the Most Important Component of Our Happiness

Jae-Ha Kim — Fri, 08 May 2026 16:27:21 GMT

Ahn Bo-hyun and Kim Go-eun

☆☆☆ (of ☆☆☆☆)
Yumi (played by Kim Go-eun)
Goo Woong (played by Ahn Bo-hyun)
Woo-gi (played by Choi Min-ho)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

I really really enjoyed the “Yumi’s Cells” trilogy (that concluded earlier this year). This charming K-drama series tackles insecurities, love, pride, heartbreak and work dynamics in a clever and resilient way.

Yumi is a woman in her early thirties, who had spent most of her twenties with a man who used her financially, cheated on her and then left her without any sense of closure after seven years together. She viewed those as wasted years and, in some ways, is correct. Doting on a partner who doesn’t value you is exhausting.

But, there’s also something to be said for learning from negative experiences.

When a colleague tells Yumi he’d like to set her up on a blind date with his good friend, Woong, she is disappointed. She had developed a small crush on her would-be matchmaker, Woo-gi. (Read the SPOILER ALERT below for more intel about Woo-gi.)

Being alone is preferable to being with the wrong person. Yumi’s cells are learning that the most important requirement to Yumi’s happiness is … Yumi.

A game developer at his small start-up company, Woong shows up for their first meeting in shorts and a flip flop, sloppy hair and a chin-strap beard that does little to accentuate his attractiveness. But through a series of unexpected events, Woong shows her all the important qualities she wants in a man. However, because her heart has already been broken, she nitpicks and find reasons to sever their relationship.

Like the 2015 American film Inside Out, this K-drama’s co-stars include a couple dozen animated cells that do their best to maintain a good life for Yumi. Hunger makes sure she is well fed. Reason does his best to help her navigate wise decisions. And then there’s Naughty, who is — well — horny 24/7. (Later, Woong’s cells will be introduced as well.)

Second lead syndrome comes in the form of Sae-i (Park Ji-hyun, who was so good as an assassin in “My Secret, Terrius”), who hates Yumi on sight (and the feeling is mutual). Sae-i doesn’t want Woong for herself until she realizes that Yumi is interested in him. Honestly? Both women fighting over him is a little embarrassing.

If you’re reading this on a content-scraping plagiarism site (e.g. europesays(dot)com), please understand that they stole my copyrighted work. They have no legal right to present my writing as their own. —Jae-Ha Kim

Many people complain that they dislike K-drama endings, because more often than not, there is no happily ever after finale. But what I liked about this series is that it didn’t fabricate an easy ending. You can be heartbroken, but you can also thrive without a partner. In fact, being alone is preferable to being with the wrong person. And in its own way, Yumi’s cells are learning that the most important requirement to Yumi’s happiness is … Yumi.

Airdates: Fourteen hour-long episodes aired from September 17 to October 30, 2021 on tvN. (I watched this on Viki.)

Spoiler Alert: All the women in the office have a crush on Woo-gi, who’s smart, kind, calm and exceptionally good looking. But he confides in Yumi that he is gay. His sexuality wasn’t sensationalized or made fun of. It was just presented as fact. (Woo-gi is portrayed by Choi Min-ho of Shinee.)

The last two episodes are sad. Yumi and Woong break up. Though it’s evident that they both still love each other, they are not compatible at this point in their lives. Woong’s business isn’t going well and he’s not the type of man who wants his girlfriend to support him. He also knows she would like to get married, and marriage isn’t something he has ever wanted … although he is more amenable to the idea than ever before, after having met Yumi.

I know that some people would say that love will conquer all and that they can make it work. But I believe this couple made the right decision. Their relationship at this point is too difficult and wouldn’t survive without each making major compromises that they would most likely grow to resent.

It’s no secret that Season 2 is all about Yumi and Ba-bi (played by GOT7’s Jinyoung). And while Ba-bi is the epitome of the perfect man in so many ways, there are many viewers who wanted Yumi and Woong to wind up together. I won’t spoil that season’s ending for you (until I post the Season 2 review later).

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

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Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung is in Her Renaissance Era, and She's Nowhere Near Done

Jae-Ha Kim — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 23:20:36 GMT

Youn Yuh-jung as Chairwoman Park in the second season of “Beef.” (Courtesy: Netflix)

Youn Yuh-jung is six decades into an illustrious acting career that few thespians of any nationality have matched. After making her K-drama debut in the 1967 series “Mister Gom,” the actress landed her breakthrough role in Kim Ki-young’s 1971 film Woman of Fire.

International fans probably know Youn best for her work in U.S. productions like the series “Pachinko,” and the films The Wedding Banquet and Minari. In the latter, Youn portrayed the doting grandmother of an immigrant family that was struggling to make a home for themselves in rural Arkansas. When she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her transcendent performance in Minari, Youn made history as the first Korean actor to be honored with an Oscar.

If you’re reading this on a content-scraping plagiarism site (e.g. europesays(dot)com), please understand that they stole my copyrighted work. They have no legal right to present my writing as their own. —Jae-Ha Kim

In her latest role in the second season of “Beef,” Youn, 78, portrays the powerful billionaire of a South Korean chaebol conglomerate, who buys an expensive California country club as an investment property. A ruthless businesswoman, her one weakness is her much-younger and inept plastic-surgeon husband (played by Song Kang-ho), who she dotes on.

A day before the new season of “Beef” premiered on Netflix, Youn and I did a video interview over Zoom. Calling from her New York hotel room, the veteran actress was gracious with her time as we discussed the show, her career, and what it felt like living as a minority in the U.S.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

There is a scene where the young protagonist, Ashley (portrayed by Cailee Spaeny), is making a gift basket for your character’s personal assistant, Eunice (portrayed by Seoyeon Jang). And she wonders if she should throw in some Bacchus1 bottles, because she heard Koreans like them. The first thing I thought of was your film, The Bacchus Lady2, where you portray a powerless character — the complete opposite of Chairwoman Park. Did you know that line was included?
No, I didn’t have any idea. [For my scenes], Lee Sung Jin told me everything [to do], but I haven’t seen the show yet. You know, I did [this series a] year ago, I think. And then at my age, you forget about everything.

Oh no, maybe I spoiled it for you!
It’s okay.

You filmed Minari in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the film got across perfectly what it felt like for Korean immigrants trying to assimilate into a country that was completely different. I know that you lived in Florida for 10 years3. Did you feel any culture shock or a sense of isolation when you were new to the U.S.? Or did you just kind of fit right in?
Back in those days, the middle part of the 1970s, there were no Koreans at all there. I went to a Southern Baptist church. Of course, we were the only Koreans. Some became friends and came to my house and they tried to open the refrigerator to see what I am eating. They were very curious because they had never seen Oriental4 people, I think, at the time. So I was like a monkey in the zoo.

Was that uncomfortable for you?
At first it was kind of uncomfortable. Then I got used to it. They were very curious about [Koreans]. Some people only remembered Korea from the Korean War, so they kept asking about it. A very conservative old lady asked me, “Do you have the same sky as in America? Is it the same blue.” That was a very interesting question. She was a very old lady at the time — maybe she was 80something.

Song Kang-ho portrays Youn Yuh-jung’s problematic husband. (Courtesy: Netflix)

You moved back to Korea quite a while ago, but both your sons live in the U.S., right?
Yes, one is living in Los Angeles and one is living in New York.

So my friends who are in L.A. have joked that when they know you’re in town, they hope they can see you out and about in stores, but never have.
[Laughs] When I was younger, I was always running around. I was curious about everything. But not anymore. Mostly, I’m here for the work, doing press or some shooting. So I try to save my energy. I just mostly stay in my bed to try to memorize the lines. That’s all I do. My work schedule is busy. Yesterday, I think I finished working in Washington, D.C., at about 2:30 in the morning. It was a very hectic schedule.

KARD’s BM (né Matthew Kim) makes his acting debut opposite Youn Yuh-jung. (Courtesy: Netflix)

Have you ever been to Chicago?
I went to Chicago a long, long time ago when I first arrived in America. O’hare was my first stop. We didn’t have a direct flight at the time. All I remember about Chicago is that it was so cold and so windy.

Yes, when we immigrated to the U.S., we flew to Anchorage first and then to Chicago. Anyhow, I know our interview time is over, so thank you so much for this!
Thank you for having me. And, did you watch “Beef”?

I watched both seasons and really enjoyed your season.
Really? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Watch out for the Bacchus drink scene that I mentioned!
I’ll check it out. Thank you. Bye.

If you’re interested in reading an article delving into the Korean elements of this season’s “Beef,” let me know in the comments!

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Bacchus-F is a South Korean energy drink.

The Bacchus Lady is a 2016 film that starred Youn as an elderly sex worker. She sold Bacchus drinks to men. This transaction was a known precursor to sex. While this is a fictional film, it’s based on the plight of poverty-stricken elderly women who have no other way to make a living.

In 1974, Youn retired from acting and married singer Jo Young-nam. They moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. In 1984, she moved back to Korea and resumed her acting career. The couple divorced in 1987.

Keep in mind that when Youn temporarily lived in the U.S. during the 1970s, “Oriental” was the word used to describe Asians. It was not an offensive word in that era.

BTS' Suga Co-Wrote a Music-Based Book About Autism Therapy

Jae-Ha Kim — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 22:02:18 GMT

BTS rapper Suga co-wrote The MIND Program with medical experts.

Every day, there seems to be news about the Korean supergroup BTS. They released their much awaited post-military album Arirang. The septet starred in their own Netflix documentary, BTS: The Return. And they’ve already kicked off their world tour, which is slated to end on March 14, 2027 in the Philippines.

But something that didn’t get enough attention (in my opinion) is Suga co-authoring the book, MIND Program1, with experts from the Yonsei Severance Hospital2. The MIND in question stands for Music, Interaction, Network, and Diversity, and the book offers a music-based approach to developing social skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). (Suga’s fans may recall that the music star donated $3.5 million to that same hospital in 2025 to establish the Min Yoongi Treatment Center3.)

HOW DID THIS BOOK COME ABOUT?

Due to a pre-existing injury, Suga was assigned alternative military service (from 2023 to 2025) rather than active combat duty like his bandmates. While employed as a public service worker, he began planning ideas for MIND with Cheon Keun-ah, who specializes in child and adolescent psychiatry. Around the same time, Suga quietly volunteered to work with children with ASD.

While some naysayers have said he only did this to get back in the public’s good graces after his much publicized scooter incident, I’d argue that celebrities don’t usually put in this much time, effort, or money when making public mea culpas. They issue apologies, disappear for a while, and then pretend it never happened.

But this book wasn’t written to make a lot of money or top the world’s bestseller lists. It’s an academic book aimed at a specific market.

WHAT IS AUTISM?

According to the World Population Review, “autism is a neurological and developmental condition related to brain development. Autism impacts the way individuals perceive and socialize with others and interact with their surroundings. Signs of autism can usually be observed in the early childhood years. Autism is defined by a specific set of behaviors that affect a person’s ability to interact and communicate with others. There are different degrees of autism, but some common behaviors associated with this disability include poor motor skills, repetitive behaviors, delayed speech, difficulties with reasoning, very narrow interests, and impairments in social interactions and communications (such as a diminished ability to detect social cues).”

ANDREW WAKEFIELD SPEARHEADED THE ANTI-VAX MOVEMENT

Andrew Wakefield was a British gastroenterologist and surgeon who, as of 2010, was stripped of his medical license. Why? For professional misconduct. In 1998, he presented a research paper based on a small sample group of 12 children, and claimed that the MMR vaccine — for measles, mumps, and rubella — led to increased rates of autism. Though scientists conducted epidemiological studies and disavowed his research as flawed, and though his publisher retracted Wakefield’s paper, his initial claim became the kindling that sparked the anti-vax movement.

“There were lots of problems later found with what [Wakefield] published,” Dr. Josh Sharfstein said on the Public Health On Call podcast. “They were cherry-picked cases. And we know that, given that the age when children receive the MMR is also the age when some children regress into autism, there will be a temporal relationship; by chance alone, some children would develop autism after vaccination. So, from a scientific perspective, the paper didn’t show much. But you had a very well-credentialed, very charismatic person coming from an outstanding institution publishing this paper in a very prestigious journal, and he really ran with it.”

Source: World Population Review

As of today, no peer-reviewed research confirmed any links between vaccines and autism. Sharfstein, who’s also a professor at Johns Hopkins University professor, concluded, “[As of 2025], we have 16 well-conducted, large population-based studies, carefully designed, done by different investigators in different countries, using different but strong methods. And all have found no relationship between the MMR vaccine, thimerosal in vaccines, or the number of vaccines given and autism. The evidence is compelling.”

Courtesy: Council on Foreign Relations

HAVE THE MEASLES BEEN ELIMINATED?

Yes, but then no. In 2000, the measles had been eliminated in the United States. But by 2025, the U.S. cited more than 2,200 measles cases that year alone. We’re not even halfway through 2026, but at least 1,600 cases of measles have been confirmed so far.

The U.S. has become one of those shithole countries4 that our president shook his finger at. And now the U.S. is at risk of losing its measles-elimination status from the Pan American Health Organization.

I bring all of this up because it is true that South Korea culturally does not view those with disabilities favorably — and it’s an important issue that is being addressed by South Koreans who are nowhere near as famous as Suga.

But let’s not pretend that this isn’t also the case where most of us (all of us?) live. This isn’t whataboutism5. It’s fact. Yet there is a certain contingent of westerners6 who have had a field day using this as an indictment against South Korea. As if the U.S. isn’t experiencing a major measles epidemic right now because some parents believe the possibility of autism is a worse fate than death itself.

I have nothing but kudos for Suga, who could have let the academics7 and scientists handle this project. But he chose to use his celebrity to bring attention to an important cause that he knows will get more coverage because of who he is.

This is how change happens. Not the only way, for certain, but a definitive way for sure.

Suga alongside Severance Hospital president, Keum Ki-chang (Courtesy: Severance Hospital)

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The MIND Program is only available in Korean. As of now, they are not planning on adapting the book into English or any other languages.

Yonsei Severance Hospital is a teaching hospital affiliated with Yonsei University — the Y in the prestigious SKY schools in South Korea. (S stands for Seoul National University and K stands for Korea University).

Min Yoon-gi is Suga’s legal name.

In a closed-door meeting in January 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to African countries, El Salvador, and Haiti as “shithole countries.”

Just a reminder that while I appreciate all of my subscribers, I am not a gumball machine that will spit out what you want me to say if you put a quarter in the coin slot. Unfortunately, people like Jennifer below didn’t read my work or — if they did — chose to be deliberately obtuse about what was actually written.

The whataboutism she referred to was when I started asking commenters, “What country do you live in?” after they insisted that strange/illegal things don’t happen where they’re from. 😬 Excuse me, sirs and ma’ams, but you live in India, the Philippines, Indonesia, England, Nigeria, the United States etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! I don’t even have to look up all the attrocities that happened there, but I do know that the people who commited those crimes are NOT representative of the average citizen in any of those nations. Yet these same entited whingers insist that the actions of some truly unhinged K-pop fans are indicative of all 51.7 million people living in South Korea. Just say you’re xenophobic and call it a day, OK?

Speaking of people who hate non-idol Koreans… This woman is one of many K-pop “fans” who love their oppars, but hate Koreans and South Korea in general. Want to know why most Korean celebrities don’t want to move away from their homeland? Because they love it there. And most of them realize that in just about any other country, they will be treated as less than simply for existing. Which. Is. Why. They. Choose. To. Live. In. South Korea.

Her account no longer exists, so there’s no need to block out her name.

ETA: I didn’t think this needed to be spelled out, but some readers on social media are annoyed that Suga isn’t referred to as an academic and are spreading strange lies. Suga is brilliant, but he isn’t an academic. The book’s lead author, Cheon Keun-ah — who’s is a professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital — is. This distinction doesn’t make one person better than the other. But there is a distinction about academics in academia. An academic is “a member (such as a professor) of an institution of learning (such as a university),” according to Merriam-Webster.

° Having graduated from college doesn’t qualify you as an academic in the scientific world. I have a post-graduate degree. I am not an academic.
° My husband is a scientist who has co-written multiple research papers. Even he doesn’t consider himself an academic, because he is not teaching or doing research at a university.
° My teenage son’s conservation research data will be published in the upcoming months, with him being credited as one of the co-authors. Clearly, he is not an academic. He hasn’t even graduated from high school yet.

To be clear, you could have a PhD. And while that may qualify you for an academic job, the degree itself doesn’t mean you’re an academic. There is nothing wrong with not being an academic. Most of us aren’t.

Jung Kook Putting a Chunk of Chocolate in Jin's Ramen is Peak BTS

Jae-Ha Kim — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:09:25 GMT

☆☆☆☆

One of the most bittersweet things I’ve experienced as an adult is that time goes by much too quickly. I blinked, and I went from being a college student to a middle-aged married woman with a child. I am now much older than my parents were when they left everything and everyone — but us — behind in South Korea to start a new life in the United States.

In many ways, what I have accomplished with my life is the culmination of their hopes and dreams. Before my father passed away, he was able to see me earn a master’s degree, win journalism awards, and write a book that sold more than half a million copies (and another that was a New York Times Bestseller). He also was able to walk me down the aisle when I got married.

The men in BTS are still relatively young. But I get the impression that they are not oblivious to the passage of time, especially now that all but one of them is in their 30s. They know the half life of a musician’s career isn’t forever. Far from it. And while a part of me feels sad that they had to grow up so quickly in the music business, the other part is grateful that they appear to be making plans for the future, even as they are enjoying what they have today.

Rewatching this sixth episode of “Burn the Stage” made me verklempt. In the eight years since then and now, they’ve grown so much as artists and, just as importantly, as men who’ve fulfilled their country’s mandatory military duty. It’s honestly pointless at this juncture to list all the records they’ve broken. Suffice it to say, whether you love them or not, BTS is the most famous group to come out of Korea and are a brand name that represents excellence.

So here, as eight-years younger Bangtan discuss their roles in the group, we are flies on the wall quietly watching them. Which of the things that they wished for then have come true? What elements are still being worked on as they navigate their future? And what were their expectations then of who they would be in 2026?

V says that he used to be envious of RM, J-Hope and Suga, because they were singing the songs that they wrote. When he got to perform “4 O’Clock” — a song he collaborated on with RM — he felt a true sense of accomplishment. The song works well with V’s deep, throaty voice. But just as important as the quality of the song, I appreciated that V visualized something he wanted and made it happen.

One of the recurring themes in the past few episodes has been Jimin questioning how good of a singer he is. Honestly, it surprised me, because he comes across so sure of himself in their stage productions. But then I remembered something that RM had said elsewhere — that of all the members, Jimin’s stage persona is the most different from who he is in real life.

Meanwhile, RM is grappling with the duality of being a regular guy and a superstar. He knows that K-Pop idols — heck, celebrities in general — are supposed to have a mysterious aura that separates themselves from the public. But that makes him uncomfortable. He refers to himself as stupid for not being able to do this, but honesty and transparency is of utmost importance to him.

“People keep telling me that in the end, giving people room for controversy and interpretation is what makes a star,” RM says. “Many people have told me so. If I were clever and smarter, I’d do that. But I can’t be someone I’m not.”

He acknowledges that with all the wonderful aspects of his life with BTS, he misses the simple things that men his age do, like going out to meet friends for drinks or taking a walk by himself without being chased.

“I didn’t have enough time to live that life,” he says.

I interviewed RM when they were breaking through in the U.S. He told me then that he often took walks by the Han River in Seoul. Most celebrities don’t share their private haunts, because they don’t want to be hounded while they’re out and about. Heck, even my friends don’t like it when I write about their favorite restaurants, because they don’t want their local mom ‘n’ pop eatery to be ruined by tourists and looky-loos.

Before publishing my article, I asked him if he felt comfortable acknowledging this, because surely fans would go there seeking him out. He assured me it was fine to run in print. [I wonder if he’d say the same thing today.]

This told me something important about RM: He trusted that his fans would not ruin a place that meant so much to him. But that if they did — and he could no longer go there due to personal safety — he would be OK knowing that people were enjoying the beautiful scenery because of his recommendation.

My favorite moment in this episode was near the end, during their trip to Hong Kong. J-hope and Jin are excitedly talking about how delicious the food is there. Backstage, Jin is touched when Jungkook makes him the ramen he had requested. Jin is delighted that there’s a big mushroom with his noodles, until he realizes that it’s a chocolate ball that Jungkook put in as a joke. They cut to Jin eating ... but was it the chocolate ramen? You tell me! (It reminded me of Rachel’s beef trifle in an episode of “Friends.”)

The most-talked about segment, though, surrounded RM and his injury. With two songs left to go, RM clearly is having difficulty walking and asks staff members for help. BTS could finish the show without him, but he says he’s fine.

Was I surprised by his decision? No. I think he would have had to have been unconscious to not finish the concert. Professionalism aside, he knows that this era of their lives won’t last forever. And when he transitions to life outside of BTS — whenever that is — it will be on his terms, with zero regrets.

Airdates: The eight-episode series premiered on March 28. The finale aired on May 9, 2018, on YouTube Red. Read more of my reviews of “BTS: Burn the Stage” here.

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“Maybe If I was Just Lightly Grazed By a Bus, I Could Stay Home From Work.”

Jae-Ha Kim — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 01:11:35 GMT

☆☆☆☆
Yoo Mi-ji / Yoo Mi-rae (played by Park Bo-young)
Lee Ho-soo (played by Park Jin-young)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

“Our Unwritten Seoul” was one of two K-dramas that I awarded a perfect rating in 2025. The other was “When Life Gives You Tangerines.”

Mi-ji works odd jobs in the sleepy town where she grew up. Her twin sister, Mi-rae, has a respectable office job at a Seoul company that her mother brags about to anyone who’ll listen. But after Mi-rae supports another female worker who was sexually harassed, she becomes the office pariah. Mi-rae is bullied to the point that she wishes she could be “lightly grazed by a bus” and stay home from work for a couple days. Worried about her sister’s mental health, Mi-ji convinces her twin to swap places.
Park Bo-young beautifully captures the nuances of both sisters and the struggles that each deals with daily. Our Unwritten Seoul presents everyday choices that may seem too much to bear, but also offers the kind of realistic hope that’s better than a pat, happy ending. (This blurb ran in Teen Vogue’s round-up of the Best K-dramas of 2025)

As always, there was a lot I couldn’t fit into that Best Of column. But I’ve been reflecting about some of the topics and wanted to touch on them a bit. Maybe we can even start a dialogue about some of these subjects.

Please note that there are spoilers below.

° Interestingly enough, the direct translation of the Korean title — “미지의 서울” — is “Mi-ji’s Seoul.” The Korean title offers a more accurate indication of where this K-drama’s focus lies than the what-are-you-talking-about “Our Unwritten Seoul.”

° One of the most profound moments in the K-drama that still stands out, almost a year after the show’s premiere, is when Mi-ji, who’s pretending to be Mi-rae, finds herself facing undue pressures at work that she is unprepared for. Mi-ji says the same thing her twin had told her earlier: “Maybe if I was just lightly grazed by a bus, I could stay home from work.” No one should have to wish for an injury to get the time off they need.

° In Episode 5, the sisters’ mother tells Mi-ji (who is actually Mi-rae) not to get married just because she doesn’t think she has a future as a single woman. She warns her daughter that putting all her hopes and dreams onto one man isn’t the way to live a good life1. It was so refreshing to hear this, because so many shows (both Korean and western) are focused on marriage being the be-all end-all.

° Park Jin-young is one of the finest idol-actors working today. His scenes with Kim Sun-young, who portrays his stepmother, stand out in a show that is filled with strong performances. For her, there was no question that he is her son. But for him, he is laden with guilt that she has been stuck taking care of him after his father (her husband) died. When he breaks down weeping, she makes it clear that they are a real family and that nothing will ever change that for her. (Much of his guilt stems from overhearing her relatives at his father’s funeral, telling her that he is no longer her responsibility and that she should send him away to an orphanage — as if he’s a used sweater she can easily discard.)

Because he knows the feeling of not wanting to burden his stepmother, Ho-soo relates to Mi-ji (as Mi-rae) not wanting to burden him with her problems. He shows his support by not pushing her into accepting anything from him. “If you open the door,” he says, “I’ll be right outside.” He gives her time to process what she needs from him. That’s the kind of affirmation so many of us need to hear.

° “Our Unwritten Seoul” also reflects on what it is like to live apart from your family, and how the choices we make impact our loved ones’ lives. Do we move away, earning money to take care of family members back home, but also not being there as our loved ones get sick or die? Or do we stay closer to them, working with the limited opportunities of a smaller environment? Those are the choices that Mi-rae and Mi-ji made, respectively.

It wasn’t until they switched roles that they understood that the childhood expectations each had didn’t have to be a lifelong punishment for either.

Airdates: Twelve episodes, running about 70- to 80-minutes each, aired on tvN from May 24 through June 29, 2025. (I watched this on Netflix.)

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Current Korean(ish) Content That I Recommend:

— “Phantom Lawyer”: Yoo Yeon-sook sees dead people, and I’m loving it! One of my favorite character actors, the delightful Jeon Seok-ho, stars opposite Yoo as his older brother-in-law. Both this series — as well as season three of 2025’s “Taxi Driver” — devote a couple episodes each to compelling arcs that center on the manipulation and abuse of K-pop trainees. (And not that this series is on par with “Phantom Lawyer,” but this third season of the U.S. production, “XO, Kitty,” deals with the hardships of being a K-pop idol.)

— “The Art of Sarah”: Shin Hye-sun is superb leading a cast that leaves viewers guessing about the protagonist’s true identity.

— “Beef” (Season 2): This U.S. series will premiere on April 16. Reviews are embargoed until then, so I can’t say much. But based on the screeners I’ve watched, I can say that it is strangely good, and features many well-known Korean actors who add panache to this franchise.

— BTS: The Return: The septet is back! And in this Netflix documentary film, they give insight into how they made their album Arirang.

— “Bloodhounds” (Season 2): Continuing one of the best bromances in the K-drama universe, the photogenic (and buff) crime-fighting boxing duo is back at it! Be forewarned, though, that there is a lot of bone-cracking violence !

The Korean word for life is 인생.

“What Kind of Asian" is Stella Choe? The Kind Who Dances at the 2026 Academy Awards.

Jae-Ha Kim — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:42:01 GMT

It wasn’t surprising that EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami sang “Golden” live onstage at this year’s Academy Awards. After all, KPop Demon Hunters was nominated for and won two major awards that evening for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (for “Golden”).

But in the prologue to the song, some eagle-eyed viewers (including myself!) noticed that one of the dancers looked familiar. Dressed in a resplendent Joseon-era yellow hanbok, Stella Choe — well known for her viral “What Kind of Asian Are You?” YouTube video — was on center stage performing a traditional Korean dance.

Stella Choe on the right. [Courtesy: Academy Awards]

When I saw Choe, my first thought was, “Wait, Stella can dance?”

“The Oscar's appearance was an absolute dream come true,” she told K-Culture with Jae-Ha Kim. “I started dancing when I was about six, and when I was 16, I had a teacher who helped me get a dance agent. So I trained in jazz, tap, ballet and was what you would call a commercial dancer.”

But, wait, I had so many more questions for her. How did all of this come together?

Though she was leaving on a family vacation the following day, the Korean American actress and dancer graciously agreed to an interview to satiate my curiosity about the intersection of her work and her ethnicity, how her viral YouTube video landed her a role in one of South Korea’s most successful films, and — well — Keanu Reeves. (More on that later.)

Stella Choe [Courtesy: Theo and Juliet]

How did you end up on stage at the Oscars this year for the KPop Demon Hunters “Golden” performance?
My agent reached out about three weeks prior to the Oscars and said they were checking my availability for a top secret job [for the] second week of [March], culminating on the 15th. Then I was officially booked on it a week later, told what it was for, and also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The entire experience was truly a homecoming for me. As a dancer, the Oscars are a job you always dream of doing. At this stage and age, I just did not think it would even be a possibility. And then for it to be for “Golden” was just another surreal level of surprise.

What was it like for you to work with the Emmy-winning choreographer, Mandy Moore,1 for this Oscars performance?
I had come up as a dancer with her. She is one of the most in-demand choreographers right now, and to be reunited on this project was special.

As a Korean American, what did it mean for you to perform a Korean dance set to a song written by Korean diaspora that’s featured in a film set in South Korea?
When we started rehearsals and I knew that I was part of that opening prologue where we were doing traditional Korean dancing, I was both overjoyed and quite nervous. They hired an amazing Korean folk dancer, DaEun Jung, who is a professor at the University of California, Riverside. The creative team collaborated with her to set that opening moment. She was very patient and we did our best to get it down as authentically as possible. And then Oscar night came. We were all so emotional and proud to do our thing. As cheesy as this sounds, I felt like I was channeling my ancestors.

According to your imdb page, you toured with Sir Paul McCartney. I have so many questions for you! When was this?
Yes, I toured with Paul McCartney back in 2002-2003. I was part of the pre-show that opened up the concert. That was another dream job! We toured all over the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Japan, and all over Europe.

Who’s your favorite Beatle?
Obviously, Paul!

What’s your favorite Beatles or solo McCartney song?
One of my favorite songs that he played was “Band on the Run” from his Wings [era]. And a song I fell in love with that he also played during the tour was “Here Today,” which is a tribute song to John Lennon. Oh, and I loved hearing “Blackbird” every night.

Share some stories about touring with him, please!
On our first day of rehearsals, he had us come onto the sound stage where he and the band were starting to rehearse. We basically got a private concert. In fact, every night was a private concert. During my time touring with him, we did some huge history-making shows in the Red Square in Moscow, as well as in front of the Colosseum in Rome. Just an incredible experience.

Besides the Oscars footage, where else can we see you dancing?
As a dancer, I have worked on a lot of TV shows. I was in the movie, The Replacements, and I’ve done commercials where I’m dancing. I always loved taking class, and still take classes even now. That’s where the real dancing for the soul happens.

Wait, what? You were in the Keanu Reeves film, The Replacements?
Yes, I was one of the cheerleaders. Credited as “Asian Cheerleader.” [Laughs] And it was so long ago, but yes, he was very nice. We didn’t have a ton of direct engagement with him. Overall, that movie was a crazy experience — big budget, big stars. It was exciting and fun.

Stella Choe and Brooke Langton in The Replacements.

Many people know of you from your viral “What Kind of Asian Are You?” video. How did that production come about?
“What Kind of Asian Are You?” was inspired by a real-life moment. At the time, my boyfriend, David Ury — who is now my husband — had access to the YouTube studio that had just opened in Playa del Rey [California]. So he was making a lot of videos at the time. I was at his family’s for the weekend and [one of his] distant relatives and I were chatting. While it wasn’t exactly like the video, it was a funny and awkward conversation of him trying to connect with me by telling me about his Korean co-worker and how he really enjoyed Korean food, and asking if I ate kimchi, etc.

Every Asian American I know has said they’ve experienced something like this, but are usually dismissed and told to lighten up by the majority. In real life, how do you handle these moments?
The funny thing about that video is that before we released it, we had shown it to some non-Asian friends who thought it was funny, but weren’t exceptionally excited about it. So we kinda thought maybe it was too inside. But then it popped off and even 12 years later, I get recognized from it. It really took on a life of its own. The video is what I wish and wished I could do when that question has come up, but most of the time I’m just in shock and so annoyed [that] I don’t know what to say. The video version of myself is a lot more witty and sassy. I wish I was that quick to clap back!

I don’t know if this meme is based on reality or is simply something that was made up for social media. But I really hope it’s true.

When I was reviewing the film Ode to My Father, I was so pleasantly surprised when you popped up at the end playing the daughter who was adopted by an American family. It was a small but integral role, and you played it beautifully.
Oh, I love that you saw Ode to My Father. That came about as a direct result of the [“What Kind of Asian Are You?”] video. The assistant director from the movie had seen the video and asked me to audition. That was another incredible and emotional experience. I filmed it in Korea. After it came out, it was such a huge success they flew me out to do a bit of press. The movie felt like my own tribute to my dad and mom as well.

Many Asian Americans have spoken about how they wished they could've blended in more, especially in elementary school. They weren't necessarily saying that they wished they were white, but that being white would've prevented them from sticking out so much and being bullied. What was your experience growing up?
I was born in the U.S. and grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, which is a small beach town community in Southern California. And while I would say it was generally a nice growing-up experience, I’m realizing as an adult how much I tried to just fit in and suck it up. There was like two other Korean families. I was friends with [the other Korean kids] at school, but I was very aware that we were the odd ones out. I didn’t want to be clumped together with them. I carried so much shame in the sense of wanting to hide certain things about myself, like not wanting kids to come to my house because it smelled like Korean food. And I never understood why every older white man would want to tell me that he fought in the Korean War.2 It would make me so uncomfortable, but I’m sure I just smiled. As an adult, I think it trained me to feel less than, or that I should walk around with my head down or something. It’s a lot to unpack sometimes.

What are you concentrating on these days?
I’m focusing mostly on acting, and I have some small TV roles that are coming out. I am auditioning and like most of us out there, lookin’ for the next job! And hopefully a big break! I’m a dreamer at heart. I love to hear everyone’s origin story, and I’m figuring mine out daily.

What would be your dream project to work on next?
A movie about the Korean American experience — kind of like Minari, but with the thrill and suspense of Parasite. And I would love to be on “XO, Kitty.” Seriously, I have really been so inspired by the representation of Asians and Koreans in film and TV these past few years that I really can see myself in these types of projects.

For more information on Stella, check out her social media posts on Instagram, X , YouTube, and TikTok.

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ICYMI:

→ “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters Won an Oscar and a Grammy, But is It K-pop? (Substack)
→ ‘BTS: The Return’: Six Things We Learned From the Revealing New Documentary (Rolling Stone)
→ In The Latest Edition of ‘You’re Not Korean Enough,’ the Internet Attacks a Transnational Adoptee (Substack)
→ Future 25: TWS Have Retro Vibes, a Feel-Good Pop Sound — and a Megahit (Rolling Stone)

Not to be confused with the singer-actress, Mandy Moore.

For the record, non-Asian men have told me that I should be grateful they fought in the [checks notes] Vietnam War. What in the delusion is even going on here? 😬 And what a weird thing to tell a child, no?

"Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" Won an Oscar and a Grammy, But is It K-pop?

Jae-Ha Kim — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 22:59:58 GMT

EJAE after winning an Academy Award for “Golden.” Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images [ Courtesy: The Guardian]

On Sunday, KPop Demon Hunters won two major awards at the Oscars: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Golden.” Last month, “Golden” won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. [It also had been nominated for Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Best Remixed Recording.]

“Golden” was not performed by a K-pop group, but rather a fictional trio called HUNTR/X, which featured the singing voices of former K-pop trainee, EJAE, and fellow Korean Americans Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami.

The movie’s phenomenal success was an unexpected surprise. KPop Demon Hunters premiered on Netflix on June 20, 2025. And by August 26, the film became the streaming platform’s most-viewed movie ever. That same month, the film’s soundtrack produced four songs on the Billboard 100, including HUNTR/X’s “Golden” (No. 1) and “How It’s Done” (No. 10), and their fictional male counterparts, the Saja Boys’, “Your Idol” (No. 4)1 and “Soda Pop (No. 5).”

Around that same time, some K-pop fans bristled at the fact that “Golden” bypassed the Grammys’ niche K-pop category to be nominated in more prestigious categories like Song of the Year. How could this be? HUNTR/X is a cartoon group! The vocalists are Korean American, rather than Korean nationals! Neither HUNTR/X or the Saja Boys hailed from the rigorous K-pop system! So why was HUNTR/X getting all this award attention that had evaded real-life Korean groups?

[Note: EJAE trained for 10 years in Korea, hoping to debut in an idol group, before essentially aging out and returning to the U.S. to carve out a career as a songwriter and producer for other vocalists. And Kevin Woo — the singing voice for Mystery Saja — was a real-life idol during his U-KISS days.]

All of this reminded me of a question I was asked at the University of Southern California’s “Behind the Scenes of K-pop” — an all-day symposium that featured insiders and experts who fostered conversations about the art, culture, business, and the future of K-pop. A student asked me what made K-pop, well, K-pop. The gist of what I said was that K-pop has to maintain a Korean element.

Do I think “Golden” would’ve gotten all this attention if it hadn’t been in a hit film? No. Does that take away from any of the song’s brilliance? Absolutely not. Do I think “Golden” is a K-pop song? Yes.2 Korean culture is reflected in the lyrics. The artists singing the song are Korean diaspora. The primary creatives behind KPop Demon Hunters and the music are ethnically Korean. Living outside of South Korea doesn’t negate their Korean identity.

[I discuss this question of identity further in my newsletter about Korean adoptee , who was accused of not being a real Korean because she didn’t pronounce “Arirang” in a manner that her detractors found suitable. Yes, you read that correctly.]

Interestingly enough, while some fans bickered about the film’s soundtrack, real-life K-pop idols lavished praise on both the movie and its music. Cha Eun-woo covered “Free” [with Arden Cho, who is the voice actor for HUNTR/X’s Rumi]. Wonho created an eye-popping video of “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol.” And Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Chaeyoung from the real-life Korean supergroup TWICE contributed “Takedown” to the film’s soundtrack and appeared as their non-animated selves at the end of the film.

“I’m actually really awestruck … Whenever I read articles or see that the songs from the movie are topping the Billboard chart, I am really grateful we had this opportunity,” Chaeyoung told me when I interviewed her for Rolling Stone. “We never imagined that KPop Demon Hunters was going to become an international sensation. We didn’t accept this because we knew it would be such a huge success. It just sounded like a lot of fun. The soundtrack itself is very different from our style, so it was an opportunity to challenge ourselves.”

Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung of TWICE.

With all of this in mind, I interviewed Cornell University’s Heeyon Kim, about what makes K-pop K-pop. “I just taught a class on global expansion using the example of K-pop and BTS,” the assistant professor told me. “Our discussion ended with the topic of K-pop becoming increasingly hybrid — incorporating foreign artists, production studios, and distribution — and how we draw the boundaries of the genre.”

There has been a lot of discussion about whether “Golden” is truly a K-pop song. What is your take on this?
I’m not surprised people are debating what is and what is not K-pop. The boundaries of K-pop are getting increasingly blurry now that the industry is so global. “Golden” was written and produced by people who work in the K-pop system, but it was created for a global animated film rather than released by a typical Korean entertainment company. So I would probably think of it as something like K-pop–influenced pop. More generally, as K-pop has become more successful globally … defining K-pop becomes more difficult.

If a Korean group sings the song in English, is it still K-pop?
Language alone doesn’t really determine whether something is K-pop. Even early K-pop songs often had English lyrics, and many songs were written by foreign composers. Groups also frequently had members who grew up abroad or had international backgrounds. To me, what defines K-pop more is the unique production system, like the entertainment companies, the training system, the synchronized choreography, etc. Now that the industry has global recognition, groups are targeting international audiences more directly. That’s why you see more English-language songs, collaborations with foreign artists, and partnerships with international labels and production companies.

Is it still K-pop if none of the singers are ethnically Korean?
I don’t think ethnicity has ever been a strict requirement. Many K-pop groups have had members from China, Japan, Thailand, and other countries for quite a long time — though the majority has been Korean. The industry itself has always been influenced by global music, especially American pop, hip-hop, and R&B. More recently, we’re even seeing groups like Katseye with only one member [being] Korean, but the group is still often discussed in the context of K-pop because it was formed through a Korean entertainment company and follows many of the same training and production practices. This shows how the industry is evolving and becoming more global. Again, I think what matters more is whether the artist or song is connected to the K-pop’s typical production system and performance style rather than the ethnicity of the members.

HUNTR/X ready to battle demons posing as flight attendants.

Would “Golden” have been nominated if it hadn’t been in a hit film? Was it the song or the film that it sprang from that was being honored?
It’s probably difficult to separate the two. In categories like Best Song Written for Visual Media, the song and the film work together. The film for sure made the song resonate more strongly with audiences. The song itself is strong, but the success of the film helped amplify its visibility, as with any song from a film soundtrack. So the recognition probably reflects both the quality of the song and the broader success of the film.

“Golden” is the only K-pop, or K-pop adjacent song to win a Grammy — something that has eluded even the biggest names in K-pop. What, if anything, does this say about the acceptance of K-pop in the U.S.?
I should note that BTS did receive Grammy nominations3, which in itself was already a sign that K-pop reached a new level of recognition in American pop culture. I think “Golden” winning reflects the continued growth of that recognition. At the same time, whenever a new category/genre enters an established industry like the Grammys/Oscars, full acceptance usually takes time. So this feels like another step in that broader process.

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I talked about this on NPR. I favored “Your Idol” over the more popular “Golden.”

But you cannot deny that “Golden” is also a song that’s very American, because Korean Americans are both Korean and American.

BTS received 5 Grammy nominations.

"Study Group" Reflects On the Importance of Education in South Korea

Jae-Ha Kim — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:33:23 GMT

☆☆☆½ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
Yoon Ga-min (played by Hwang Min-hyun)
Kim Se-hyeon (played by Lee Jong-hyun)
Lee Han-kyung (played by Han Ji-eun)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

“Study Group” was one of my favorite K-dramas of last year, which is why I included it in my annual roundup of the Best K-dramas of 2025 list for Teen Vogue:

Ga-min’s love for academics is as strong as his grades are weak. Even as a middle school student, none of his classmates would cram with him. They feared they might do worse on exams just by being in his proximity. In high school, the studious but grade-challenged teen (played by Hwang Min-hyun) hopes to better his chances to get into a good university by transferring to a less prestigious and academically easier high school, but his grades are still at the bottom.
So he puts that effort into forming a study group and finding classmates who will join him, in a testament to his determination to better himself. “Study Group” also is a fast-moving action series where teenagers fight nonstop and rank each other by who can beat up everyone else. Like Clark Kent, who turns into Superman when he removes his glasses, Ga-min proves to be a skilled martial artist who can take down anyone when he removes his. Shout out to Ga-min’s mother, who doesn’t push academic excellence above all else. “Who cares if you don’t do well on tests,” she tells him. “That’s not the important thing.” (Viki)

In that short blurb, I wasn’t able to get across all the pertinent points that I wanted to include, so I’m doing a deeper dive here.

In South Korea, students attend hagwons1 — or cram schools — after their regular school day has finished. Technically, hagwons are optional. But realistically, if your child isn’t enrolled in one by the time they’re in kindergarten, their classmates will have a jump on them academically. I’ve written about this previously in reviews of K-dramas like “SKY Castle” and “Crash Course in Romance.” In fact, in Episode 2 of “Study Group,” they reference the names of highly sought-after tutors. One of them is Choi Chi-yeol, the fictional character portrayed by Jung Kyung-ho, in “Crash Course in Romance.”

The end goal for all of this is that in their final year of high school, the students will excel on the College Scholastic Ability Test (대학수학능력시험) — known in Korean as Suneung (수능) — and be admitted to one of the three most prestigious schools in the country: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. During the nine-hour exam, students will be tested on subjects like math, history, Korean, and … fluency in English.

On the day of the national test, flights, military training and construction — anything that causes excessive noise — are often canceled. Is that all a bit over-the-top? Maybe? But it also acknowledges the years of work that students have devoted to intensive studying. According to the Korean Ministry of Education, universities report that while 27 percent of students are admitted to college based solely on their Suneung scores, the majority of admissions are based on holistic factors2. I am side-eyeing this, which is why I included a footnote with more details.

So with this information in mind, where does our “Study Group” protagonist Ga-min (Hwang Min-hyun of “Alchemy of Souls”) fit on the academic ladder? He knows he will never be at the top, but he also refuses to resign himself to being on the bottom rung. In a refreshing change of pace, no one is pushing him to excel academically. It’s something he wants for himself. And as I stated in my Teen Vogue blurb, he has his mother’s full support not to excel, as long as he’s doing his best and is happy.

After transfering to a lower-tier high school, where he hopes he will do comparatively better than the other students, Ga-min tries to befriend Se-hyeon (Lee Jong-hyun) — the No. 2 student in his grade. Ga-min gets it into his head that if he can be part of a study group, he would fare better at school. And if he could get Se-hyeon interested, that would attract other smart students to join, too. But the latter initially has no interest in taking part in any of this. Of course, you aren’t wrong to think that he will change his mind.

Pi Han-wool (Cha Woo-min of “Melo Movie” and “Weak Hero Class 1”) is the top dog in a school where the students rank each other by their fighting skills. But in his case, he’s also an academic ace. In a nice bit of meta casting, his gangster father is portrayed by Lee Jong-hyuk, who portrayed the alpha high school bully in the superb Korean film Once Upon a Time in High School.

But I would say that my favorite elements of the show dealt with how Ga-min persevered not only to help himself, but to bolster the other academic misfits who the school doesn’t view as worth the effort to teach. They aren’t from highly-connected families and they have no money. In other words, they are disposable teens. Who cares about them, right?

One of the things that “Study Group” got so right is that few people — especially teenagers — want to be associated with losers, even if they themselves are at the bottom of the rung. In Episode 5, Ga-min attends a study group exchange at a more prestigious and affluent school. There, he saves another student from being bullied.

That boy asks if Ga-min remembers him. They had both attended the same middle school, and he had prevented Ga-min from joining their study group because he felt that including a “stupid” kid would reflect badly on himself — as if Ga-min’s lack of academic skills would rub off on him.

The irony is that if Ga-min had been a better student in his youth, he most likely wouldn’t have been so strong physically with his Superman x Bruce Lee powers. His physical prowess is the result of his having been a poor student. He believed that if he had a healthy body, it would help him attain a healthy mind.

“Study Group” sets up the multiple villain arcs clever ways that enable viewers to understand how they got to be the way they are, but without excusing their atrocious behavior. Abuse begets abuse. And when you’re a teen who desperately needs money, you can rationalize why what you’re doing is only kinda sorta illegal and immoral.

For instance, Sun-chul (Joo Yeon-woo) learns the hard way that doing the wrong thing for a good cause isn’t the way to go about life. The high school hoodlums are the junior members of a large-scale gang headed by Han-wool’s father. Like the rest of the high school gang members, Sun-chol’s job is to take the fall for murders committed by the adults, since underage children won’t be punished nearly as severely as adults.

For Sun-chol, being a school bully and taking the fall for gang members is the only way he can earn enough money to pay for his dying grandfather’s hospital bills. The grandfather loves Sun-chol, but isn’t clueless. He believes education is the best way to elevate Sun-chul’s life and tells the boy, “When a person stops studying, that’s when their life stops.” This is why he himself studies even while bed-ridden.

I am positive that the 할아버지3 could not give two hoots if Sun-chul was in the top 10 percent of his class or was admitted to a SKY school. His point is that the process of learning is as important as life itself, because without it, life would be stagnant and repetitive.

I thought about this as I watched Ga-min go up by 10 points in the class ranking, from 219th to 209th place. Granted, that was out of a class of 220 students. But it’s these small victories that are worth celebrating. Being No. 1 certainly is an achievement. But on a bigger scale, it’s not the achievement that will be a miracle cure for all that is ailing in your life.

As Ga-min’s mother had told him, she didn’t care if he aced every single test. What she wanted most for him was to be happy and kind.

It’s this kindness and desire to help his friends (and even foes) that makes Ga-min a true winner, something that the school’s No. 1 isn’t on track to understand.

Meta moment: Hwang’s “Alchemy of Souls” co-star Yoo In-soo (“All of Us Are Dead,” “Uncanny Counter 2”) makes an appearance as a thug who fights Sun-chul.

Airdates: Ten 45-minute episodes aired on TVING from January 23 to February 20, 2025. Directed by Lee Jang-hoon and Yoo Beom-sang, the script was co-written by Eom Seon-ho and Oh Bo-hyun. “Study Group” is based on Shin Hyung-wook’s webtoon of the same name.

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ICYMI:

Bestselling author Min Jin Lee will release her latest novel, American Hagwon, on September 29, 2026.

Pardon me for being dubious about this so-called holistic admission. Even within the U.S., I sideeye the claims of holistic admission, especially when the U.S. equivalent of SKY schools are involved. Here, there is a university (or community college) for everyone, regardless of grades. But I don’t trust the majority of “elite” schools (including my own alma maters) that pretend to be fair. They most certainly are looking at SAT or ACT scores, as well as the students’ GPA, or whether they can make money off of student athletes. The holistic aspect is a bonus, but I would argue that the parents’ ability to pay for four years of college without needing financial assistance ranks high as to whether schools will admit students.

And don’t even get me started on how criminal it is to charge students (and their parents) the fees that U.S. schools are charging. Some of my views here are based on conversations I’ve had with people who work in higher education and who have been involved in evaluating high school candidates. And some of this is because I’m a cranky Maudlin Crone™️ who’s tired of all the b.s.

할아버지 is grandfather in Korean.

BTS' Strongest Message? A Reminder to Love Ourselves

Jae-Ha Kim — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 20:01:17 GMT

☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)

When I was growing up, there were certain words we weren’t allowed to use. Swear words were off limits, obviously. We didn’t use the word die in any form, unless it was to refer to an actual death. And we weren’t allowed to joke about people being crazy.

In 2025, 40 South Koreans died by suicide every day. According to the country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, mental health issues were cited as the No. 1 reason why its citizens chose to end their lives.

It’s an epidemic that can be curtailed with treatment. But when the stigma is so strong against a disease that can’t be seen — or when depression is viewed as something a person can snap out of at will — who is going to be brave enough to address this in public?

At the start of this 5th episode of “Burn the Stage,” BTS leader RM discusses a time when he was suffering from depression. At one point, he was afraid to go back on stage.

“I was unable to enjoy things like I used to,” he said.

The worries carried over to reading comments from netizens. RM said he knew that even in a sea of complimentary comments, he would fixate on the criticism.

The word he actually used was 욕/yok, which refers to an insult or profane language. He would focus on the 욕 left by some anonymous person, who was too much of a coward to use his or her own name to stand behind their comment.

Writing music that reflected the difficult times he went through was his way of working through his pain. But it also was his way of letting their fans know that they weren’t alone. They could get through it together.

I was delighted that Chicago was so beautifully prominent in this episode. I even saw myself walking out of the Chicago Tribune building.1

Late one night back at their hotel, they’re trying to figure out how to perform on a tiny stage for their first U.S. television appearance. I used to do a little work for JBTV2 way back when, and I can tell you that the stage is tiny. It’s fine for most of the bands that pass through Chicago. But most bands aren’t BTS.

When they reached the studio the next day, they had a look of panic in their eyes. The stage must’ve looked like a balance beam to them. Their elaborate choreography and high-powered dance moves had to be severely toned down so that the band members wouldn’t hit each other’s heads as they sang.

On a day off, they got to be tourists. While waiting to get into the Shedd Aquarium, Jin loses a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and is sent off to fetch hot dogs for everyone. It was a cute moment to see him standing in line, repeating the order to himself in English so that he would get it correct.

Meanwhile, RM and V chose to go on their own outing to take photos outdoors. Watching a jogger pass by, V says, “He’s exercising.” RM responds, “He must be cold.” They were so droll that I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.

When RM hears the rest of the gang are waiting in a long line to enter the Shedd, he shows the Sea Life Busan Aquarium some love, saying that it’s a nice attraction, too. (It really is. It’s much smaller than the Shedd, but they have some wonderful exhibits there.)

My son at 6, enjoying the Sea Life Busan Aquarium.

The footage of their concert at the Allstate Arena3 (in Rosemont, Ill.) felt like home to me. I went to so many concerts in that 18,500-capacity enormodome, first as a teenager with my school friends, and then later for work as a rock music critic.

They close this episode in California, where the band marvels at how far they’ve come.

Suga: “I wanted to succeed and make money, but I didn’t necessarily want to become famous.”

RM: “Two years ago, I never thought we’d be playing a venue like this in America. It’s like a foreigner coming to Korea to be evaluated for taekwondo.”

In an interview with fans after a concert, one young woman tells the cameraman, “Sometimes, BTS is the only reason I wake up in the morning.” I thought about what RM said earlier — about wanting to write meaningful songs that tell listeners that it’s OK to feel however you’re feeling.

We all want to be loved. But often, we’re so busy living that we fail to love ourselves.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: If you need help and don’t know where to reach out, call toll-free (800-273-8255), text (988) or message their counselors via social media (Twitter, Tumblr).

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Airdates: The eight-episode series premiered on March 28. The finale aired on May 9, 2018, on YouTube Red.

JUST KIDDING! I wanted to make sure you were still paying attention. ㅋㅋ

They never paid me. Boo!

Originally named the Rosemont Horizon, the venue officially opened in May 1980. During the summer of 1979, five construction workers were killed when the arena’s unfinished roof collapsed.

In The Latest Edition of 'You’re Not Korean Enough,' the Internet Attacks a Transnational Adoptee

Jae-Ha Kim — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 04:12:23 GMT

Actress Kim Tae-ri is Korean enough. But naysayers argue that transnational adoptees are not. 🥴 (Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

In another edition of You’re Not Korean Enough, we have a contingent of cruel and clueless people on the internet who are taking a Korean adoptee to task for not being a real Korean. Why? Because she initially mispronounced the name of a Korean folk song, “Arirang” (아리랑).

Are you done rolling your eyes yet? Because I’m not.

A few days ago, Kat Turner made an informative video explaining the significance of the Korean folk song “Arirang” as it applies to her. Thanks to BTS annoucing that Arirang is the title of the group’s highly-awaited comeback album, “Arirang” has become a buzzword that is being dissected on social media. What could the significance of Arirang possibly mean? For me, it is a hint that the septet is going back to their roots in a way that is meaningful to them. Will all of their songs be in Korean, with no English tracks? Maybe? But I’m not a soothsayer. However, I am confident that whatever they release on March 20 will be reflective of who they are today.

All of this brings me back to Turner’s video on Instagram. While the post went viral — drawing praise from BTS fans, adoptees, and the general public — there was a contingent of loud and entitled naysayers (most of whom appear to be westerners and/or Korean Americans) who criticized her at every turn for being a clout chaser, an imposter, and — most egregiously — a Korean wannabe.

Why? Because she mispronounced the word “Arirang.”

Here’s the thing. Most people who grew up in a Korean-speaking household — whether in Korea or overseas — are familiar with the song, have sung the song, and know how to pronounce “Arirang.” But would you expect a monolingual English-speaking person to pronounce it as well as a Korean in Korea, or even a Korean American who grew up bilingual? Most likely not. So why are we expecting adoptees — most of whom grew up in white families, in the whitest locations ever (Iowa, for Turner), with no Korean community to integrate into, and who were essentially raised white to assimilate into the majority — to be able to speak Korean properly?

Perpetual Foreigner Syndrome

You know how perpetual foreigner syndrome works, right? It’s when Asian Americans are viewed as foreigners rather than U.S. nationals because we aren’t accepted as real Americans. According to a study by the PEW Research Center, almost 80 percent of Asian Americans have experienced some kind of xenophobia and racism in their lives — ranging from assumptions that we don’t speak English to being told to go back to where you came from … even if we are already there.

Yes, transnational adoptees technically came from somewhere else. Since 1953, South Korea has sent more than 200,000 children overseas to be adopted, earning the dubious distinction of being baby exporters. The majority went to the United States, while others grew up in Europe. Only a tiny fraction of adoptive parents raised their children to read and speak Korean. While it’s easy to fault the parents, it should be acknowledged that this was the norm even a few decades ago, because that’s what experts believed was best for the child. Little thought went into the very obvious fact that a Korean child growing up in a white family is going to stick out as a foreigner, regardless of whether they speak Korean or not.

So tell me, when you remove an infant from their birth nation, and move them to another country that doesn’t share the same (or even similar) language, customs, or culture, how exactly are they supposed to retain a language that they never spoke? (I discuss this further in my review of Return to Seoul in Salon.)

It’s as ridiculous as my first grade teacher was expecting me to point out where every single Asian country was on the world map.1 I had never even gone to school in Seoul. How was I supposed to know? And yes, it was stressful for a six-year-old to be asked to do this. Though I never asked, I wondered why she wasn’t expecting my white classmates to pinpoint where all the European countries were.

Before I go further, I’m going to share some of the comments that people made to Turner. This man heard that Turner’s pronounciation was off, but told her in a way that, to me, read as trying to be helpful and kind.

Others weren’t necessarily rude, but were on the blunter side.

To be frank, most of those comments weren’t helpful. They clearly knew what Turner was saying, but decided that being antagonistic was good for her without considering that it is difficult to use the English alphabet to address the Korean alphabet. It’s AriRang, you say? No it’s not. An English speaker who reads that will pronounce the second syllable as rang — as in, “You rang, ma’am?” — instead of the softer rahng.

People who grew up hearing one language can have a difficult time hearing a second language properly. Here’s an anecdote. People who do not speak Korean have tried to correct how I pronounce 엄마2 — a word I have said since infancy — because they claim that [checks notes] their dry cleaner or their local Korean grocer pronounced it as oh-ma. I do not know these Koreans who they speak of, but I can assure you that these Koreans most certainly did not pronounce the word this way. More likely, that is how these English speakers — through no fault of their own — heard the word. The faulty part, though, comes when they decided it was appropriate to try to school me in the most basic of all Korean words that I am very familiar with.

My own friends who are in the process of learning how to speak Korean have told me that they can’t differentiate the sounds between 오빠3, 아빠4, and 아파5. And to be honest, I don’t blame them. They can sound similar.

Do you know how you become fluent in a foreign language without a trace of your native accent? Sure, there are exceptions to any rule, but the most efficient way is to move to the country where the language you want to learn is spoken and immerse yourself by speaking it every day, surrounded by the accent you want to emulate. For instance, I speak perfect American English. Why? Because I’ve lived in the U.S. since I was very young.

How difficult is it to understand that for all intents and purposes, Korean is a foreign language for adoptees who were raised in western countries and never given the opportunity to learn their birth language? To put things into perspective, there are diehard (non Korean) K-pop and K-drama fans out there who have enjoyed Korean content for more than a decade. Most of them cannot speak any Korean. And that’s OK. So why is there this unrealistic expectation that adoptees would somehow find it simple to reclaim their birth language?

But hey, why consider all of that when it’s easier to be an intrusive know-it-all who lacks empathy for a marginalized community?

Three hours is all it takes for foreigners to master Korean pronunciation? Kindly shut the fuck up with this nonsense.

So she acknowledges that Koreans (in Korea) have a difficult time saying “r,” but is too dense to understand that it is similarly difficult for some westerners to pronounce Korean words. And yes, Koreans who were adopted as babies are westerners.

Turner made a second video to address some of the complaints about her pronunciation, which, again was thorough.

She reiterated again that she is an adoptee who didn’t grow up speaking Korean. And she was met with comments like this, written by a person who clearly does not respect or even like Koreans.

I say this as disrespectfully as I possibly can: kindly fuck off.

Loss of language is a profound loss of culture, something that too many of the well-actually commenters didn’t consider before venting their spleen on the internet. And without naming names, it surprised me that there are quite a few people who still don’t know the difference between ethnicity and nationality. I never thought I’d have to explain this on Beyonce’s internet, but you can be both ethnically Korean and a U.S. national.

I interview a lot of celebrities, including Koreans who were born in the U.S. and are therefore U.S. nationals, but moved to South Korea and permanently live there. Their English is no longer fluent. Why? Because they live in a country where Korean is spoken and have few people to speak English with.

The Rose’s lead singer Woosung, who grew up all over the world, told me that he has gotten to the point where he is no longer fluent in either Korean or English. He was exaggerating, because he is the perfect example of someone who is completely bilingual. But I understood exactly what he was saying, because language is fluid. It evolves whether you’re living in that specific country or not.

The FSI Categorizes Korean as Exceptionally Difficult for Native English Speakers

According to the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Korean is one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn.

When white westerners try to speak Korean, they are often allotted at a least a modium of grace, because they don’t look like they should be able to speak Korean, right? Maybe it’s because haters are too willfully ignorant about the realities of adoption that they spew shit like, “Getting adopted by a white family was literally the best thing that could have happened to you” — which illustrates that the commenter below literally doesn’t know the actual meaning of the word literally.

It’s likely that this person/troll/bot doesn’t give a toot about adoptees and is just cobbling together rhetoric they’ve heard here and there, rather than doing any meaningful research. Two things can be true: you can have a good life with your adoptive parents, and you can still carry generational trauma from losing your first family. While well-meaning people congratulate westerners for adopting their kids, what most don’t know or even think about is that adopted children are more likely to experience anxiety and PTSD than children who weren’t adopted. And adoptees are also four times as likely to attempt suicide than kids who grew up with biological parents.

So when someone says, “Getting adopted by a white family was literally the best thing that could have happened to you,” it reeks of white saviorism, xenophobia, and willful stupidity.

After responding to a few of her detractors, Turner said she decided to stop. It is hurtful to read comment after comment intent on erasing a rightful part of her identity.

“I think ultimately, the emotion I felt the most was sadness that humans are capable of treating other humans in such a way over the pronunciation of a word,” Turner told me. “The only thing I present myself as an authority on is my own experience as a K-adoptee. And how many times did I say I didn’t have access to my language? In what way am I supposed to show more humility?”

Earlier this past week, I interviewed a well-known Korean American woman who asked me, “When you are attacked online, what do you do? Do you get sad, or maybe angry? How do you deal with it?” I thought about it, and the truth is that I get both sad and angry. Most of the time, I say nothing to defend myself because that only ramps up their hatred. There is no reasoning with people who know they are lying, but don’t care. But I told her that what I do for myself is that I write about it, not necessarily for others to read, but because I want a record of their hate on my own terms.

Everything lives on forever online, right?

I don’t ordinarily shame people for not speaking English well, regardless of whether they are native English speakers or learned it as a foreign language. But I am not here to be your shit catcher. And for the record, I am the first one to say that I’m always surprised at how my Korean skills are simultaneously really good and really bad. (Diaspora may relate to this feeling.) While I maintain my uncontested status as the Queen of Typos™, I can hold conversations and conduct on-the-record interviews in grammatically correct Korean and English. I know for a fact that people like her cannot.6

FWIW, she deactivated after my final response. Score one for this Maudlin Crone.7

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* I am working on a long-form reported newsletter that I hope to publish in the upcoming weeks. I hope you will look forward to it.

ETA: In which I’m mentioned in the same reel8 as the iconic Pachinko author Min Jin Lee.

If You’d Like To Discuss This and More,
Join Me at Our Next ZOOM Meet-Up on Match 27, 2026.
Pʟᴇᴀsᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴀ ᴘᴇʀᴋ ғᴏʀ ᴘᴀɪᴅ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇʀs.

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A reminder: I am not an adoptee.

엄마 means mother.

오빠 is what a younger sister calls her older brother.

아빠 means dad.

아파 means hurt/pain.

Whether any of us like it or not, English is the world’s No. 1 international (and dominant) language. If you can speak fluent, unaccented English, that is a huge asset in the South Korean job market, which is why many parents try to send their children to study in the U.S., England, and Australia. In the U.S., being able to speak Korean is an advantage, but not to the same extent as being fluent in Spanish.

I described myself as a Maudlin Crone to a friend, and she said that would be the perfect name for our (never-to-happen) punk rock band.

ETA on March 11, 2026. Kat Turner asked if it would be OK to include some of our messages to each other in her latest reel. I was happy to oblige.

"Melo Movie" Beautifully Explores Familial Loss

Jae-Ha Kim — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 15:02:49 GMT

☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
Go Gyeom (played by Choi Woo-shik)
Kim Mu-bee (played by Park Bo-young)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

This show was included in my Teen Vogue round-up of the best K-dramas of 2025:

This emotionally-engaging show is less of a rom-com than it is a slice-of-life K-drama that explores how familial loss greatly impacts who we are today. As Gyeom (Choi Woo-shik) and Mu-bee (Park Bo-young) explore their budding flirtation, we learn more about the traumas that led them to where they are today. Mu-bee was literally named after the word movie. After her father worked himself to death in the film industry, Mu-bee tackles her own demons by becoming a director – a way for her to pay homage to her dad’s love of films.
Meanwhile, Gyeom’s career as an actor never flourished, but he found his niche as a photogenic film critic. Though he doesn’t get as much screen time as the lead actors, Kim Jae-wook steals this series with his heartachingly nuanced portrayal of Gyeom’s older brother, Jun. At 20, Jun became Gyeom’s guardian when the latter was just 9. Though he does everything he can to provide a happy life for Gyeom, the younger brother lives with a constant feeling of guilt, knowing that he benefited from Jun’s sacrifices. (Netflix)

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But there were plenty of things I couldn’t get into that blurb that I wanted to discuss, so here I go! Please note that there are some spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the series yet, you may want to read this later:

In first episode, the child version of Mu-bee is seen addressing bullies who are picking on a smaller, younger boy. She tells him, “Tell everyone you’re my younger brother.” K-dramas love to show the childhood connection between the male and female leads, so I assumed she was protecting Gyeom.1 I was wrong.
In a K-drama rarity, the central characters kiss in the first episode … and she is the one who took the initiative!
If you’re reading this on a content-scraping plagiarism site (e.g. europesays(dot)com), please understand that they stole my copyrighted work. They have no legal right to present my writing as their own. —Jae-Ha Kim

Koreans are a very practical people. So when you see depictions of guests bringing toilet paper as a housewarming gift (as they do in Ep 3), it’s not considered a joke or an insult — nor is it the only gift option.
By Ep 4, Gyeom is working as a film critic. Because he is young, good looking and speaks his mind, he finds a loyal following. In a radio interview, he is asked about a critic’s responsibility. He says, “It doesn’t matter to me whether a movie has a happy or sad ending. But it’s rather irresponsible to render the ending unimpressive and turn it into a tool to teach the viewers a lesson.”

I found this interesting, because critics and celebrities (and their fans) have long had a love/hate relationship. Naysayers may argue that someone who isn’t an artist themself isn’t qualified to critique the work of someone who is. But with that said, then how can fans who aren’t artists or critics accurately critique the artistry of those who are?2
Gyeom believes that critics and filmmakers have a symbiotic relationship that keeps each other toes. But the aftermath of a negative review is shown, too. The director of a film he panned overdoses on sleeping pills.3

Airdates: Ten episodes (each running 60 to 70 minutes) released on Netflix on February 14, 2025.

Spoiler Alert: At the end of Ep 6, we see the funeral photo of Gyeom’s older brother, Jun (Kim Jae-wook). Jun had one of the most compelling subplots. Incredibly handsome and walking with a limp, he is good natured and everyone’s favorite. In Ep 7, viewers get a flashback that explains how the two brothers ended up fending for themselves. When Gyeom was 9 and Jun was 20, their parents died. Instead of going to college and sending Gyeom off to an orphange, Jun went to work full-time. He took took care of Gyeom and made sure he got a good education.

In a moment of grief and clarity, Gyeom realizes that the car accident that Jun had been in — which the elder brother had previously attributed to a combination of intense fog and poor road conditions — was most likely a suicide attempt. And while the series doesn’t make a definitive conclusion, he was probably correct.

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The little boy is Jeong-ho (played as an adult by Cha Woo-min). Gyeom is jealous of Woo-min, not just because of his connection with Mu-bee, but because Woo-min is tall, handsome, and fluent in English (having returned from the United States).

I reviewed a film, pointing out some of its flaws. The filmmaker emailed me and threatened to sue me, saying that I caused him hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue because of my review. [Not likely.] What did I do? I passed the email along to the publication’s legal team and they said, “Don’t worry about it,” and that was the end of that. It’s never pleasant when Hollywood filmmakers threaten to sue you for a review that is both factually correct and also subjective in scope. Not everyone is going to like your work. Threatening to sue is egregious and ill conceived.

It’s a balancing act when reviewing anything, because a critic’s job is to be fair, but also honest. In this case, the director didn’t try to die by suicide. He was drinking alcohol recreationally and took some sleeping pills later to help him sleep, not realizing that the combination could kill him. Do I think this was an excuse? No, because he had no reason to protect Gyeom. He also had been in the film industry long enough to know that not everyone is going to love his work.

Korean Influencer Describes Spouse as "Just a Housewife"

Jae-Ha Kim — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:46:41 GMT

Photo by RDNE Stock project

According to the Nobel Prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin, one of the reasons why South Korea has the second lowest birth rate1 in the world is because of the imbalance of household chores between married couples. In her research paper Babies and the Macroeconomy, the Harvard professor noted:

• Policies such an governmental financial incentives to have more children can’t fix a problem that’s based on the disparity between men and women at home.

• Even if they work full-time, Korean women are expected to handle the majority of household chores and child care, with women spending three hours more daily taking care of their homes than their male partners.

• Goldin points out that like South Korea, countries like Italy and Japan — which also have low birth rates — are addressing traditional gender roles at a snail’s pace.

“When a country experiences such fast economic growth, it doesn’t give generations enough time to adapt to modern realities. You end up thrusting people into modernity without changing the structures around them. In South Korea, gender roles within households remain stuck in the past.” — Claudia Goldin, quoted in the Washington Post

Photo by An chi heung (안치흥)

In 2016, Cho Nam-Joo addressed gender inequality in her bestselling book Kim Ji-young, Born 1982.2 It became the first Korean novel in seven years to sell more than a million copies. It’s a short book that you can finish in one sitting, and one that I highly recommend.

If you’re reading this on a content-scraping plagiarism site (e.g. europesays(dot)com), please know that they stole my copyrighted work. They have no legal right to present my writing as their own. —Jae-Ha Kim

What I remember the most about the novel is the powerfully depressing ending. That portion of the book is told from the perspective of Ji-young’s male psychiatrist, who offers a perfunctory analysis of some of her medical issues. But as he continues, it’s clear that he neither likes or respects women. He is even conflicted about Suyeon, a therapist at his practice, who quit her job due to a high-risk pregnancy:

I was displeased by the news at first, wondering why she couldn’t just take a couple months off instead of quitting altogether, but I guess this is for the best since she’ll be going on maternity leave soon anyway, and then causing inconveniences at the clinic by taking sick days for herself, for her child, etc.
Suyeon has undoubtedly been a great employee. … She even remembers how I take my coffee and brings it in on the way to work. … Unfortunately, because of her suddenly leaving, more patients have decided to terminate therapy rather than be referred to another counselor at our clinic. That’s a bottom-line loss for the clinic.
Even the best female employees can cause many problems if they don’t have the childcare issue taken care of.
I’ll have to make sure her replacement is unmarried.

It doesn’t occur to this man that after the birth of the baby, maybe the husband should stay home to care for the child instead. The assumption pretty much worldwide is that no matter how educated, ambitious, or skilled a woman is in the workforce, she is the one who is expected to make sacrifices for the family.3

Which leads me to the Korean male influencer referenced in the headline. Woody speaks in a droll voice and eats food on camera. He’s a tour guide and also has some kind of office job. According to people who have been on his tours, he is not a stockbroker or a trader. This is important to remember.

A few days ago, he made a video that started off with a couple of benign comments:

He went out drinking after work.
He was happy because he made money in the stock market.

He told his wife about it, and then got annoyed when she began talking about stock market trends. That’s fine. Spouses get annoyed with each other every day. That’s life.
But then he disgarded her thoughts because, “She’s a full-time housewife.”

He ended the video by saying that she probably won’t make him breakfast in the morning because she is upset by his attitude.4 And his minions were hyucking it up in the comments.

If someone like billionaire Warren Buffett had made this comment, it would still be obnoxious, sexist, and wrong. But coming from a man who’s an influencer/tour guide/office worker?5 The audacity to downplay her views (regardless of whether she knows nothing about the stock market or whether she’s a master-of-the-universe-in-training) because she — checks notes — stays home to take care of their two young children.

Maybe Woody was pandering to his audience, and maybe his wife wasn’t offended by his take-my-wife-please sense of humor, such as it is. But in my head, I kept thinking, “Women, stop marrying men who clearly don’t respect you, much less like you!”

The fact is, statistics show that married men are happier, healthier, and wealthier than unmarried men.6 But the opposite is true for women, to the point where married women — and divorced men — have the highest rates of suicide, according to Avrum Geurin Weiss’s 2021 book Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men's Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships.7

South Korean Women Are Better Educated, But Less Employable Than Men

Approximately 71 percent of South Koreans between the ages of 25 and 34 have attained higher education.8 Korean women in their 20s and 30s are more educated that their male counterparts, according to a 2024 report conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD). Yet the employment rate for women was 76 percent, compared to the 83 percent for men.

What Harvard economist Claudia Goldin said appears to be true. When you thrust a nation into modernity without changing the structures around them, “gender roles within households remain stuck in the past,” regardless of who is better educated or suited to work outside the home.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with parents deciding that it’s beneficial for both of them to work outside the home and hire a third party to watch the children. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with a couple deciding together that it’s best for the family if the woman stays home to handle all the thankless day-to-day details.

Women earning less than men isn’t shocking, sadly. But according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s 2023 analysis of about 3,000 companies, South Korean men earn 30.7 percent more than women. And, women’s earnings have dropped by 6.7 percent, compared to only 0.8 percent for men. Sometimes, working women don’t even necessarily want to quit their jobs to be the stay-at-home parent, but the inequity between men and women’s salaries is set up so that it makes fiduciary sense for her to stay home.

In both the novel and its film adaptation, the female protagonist of Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 was cajoled by her husband to have a child. He promised her that he would help raise the baby and convinced her to quit the job that she loved. Of course, reality dictated that his long hours at work kept him in the office more than at home. Ji-young didn’t have the luxury of lunching with friends and colleagues or going out for after-work drinks (like the influencer Woody). And when she took her baby for a stroll and enjoyed a cup of coffee on a park bench, she overheard a group of office workers derisively describing her as a lazy woman living the good life by leeching off her hard-working husband.

They don’t care that she can hear them. In fact, they want her to hear them, because she’s just a housewife ... much like their own mothers, most likely.

In this [possibly fabricated]9 video above, a little girl says that she wants to be a housewife when she grows up. And her little friend says that his dream is to marry her when he grows up. I would like to believe that both children grew up with parents who treated each other with love and respect. It’s all about choices and working together as a team, isn’t it?

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If there are any factual errors, please let me know and I will make the necessary corrections. If you simply disagree with my opionions, I can live with that and hope that you can, too. Cheers!

As of this year, Taiwan has the lowest birth rate in the world.

Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 was made into a film in 2019.

I remember a kinda/sorta situation occurring at a newsroom I worked at many years ago. Only this time around, it was the women in power who pushed a talented journalist out. They knew she was a single mom who had to leave work at a certain time to pick up her children from daycare. So they changed her schedule to make her work later.

Are you a child? Make your own breakfast.

There’s nothing wrong with being an influencer, tour guide, or office worker. My point is that there’s nothing wrong with being a homemaker, housewife, stay-at-home-mom (or dad).

Sources are everywhere, but you can check out this Psychology Today piece from 2022.

"Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men's Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships" is an American non fiction book and didn’t center specifically on South Korea.

Two-year colleges, four-year universities, graduate schools.

Both the little girl and boy are wearing the same white tights and the Mary Jane shoes. They also look almost identical.