Nura Ezzatie is a social media influencer with at least 182,400 followers on TikTok. Outside the social media world, she is a secondary school teacher in her native country of Malaysia. Neither of the two would have been possible, had she not embarked on a journey to teach herself Korean more than a decade ago. In 2010, then at age 18, Ezzatie discovered the world of K-pop through Super Junior. Watching all kinds of Korean TV shows starring the idol group almost every day, she decided to learn

Hashtag Korea Feb. 12, 2023

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a retro cafe in Insa-dong, central Seoul, saw people chilling out on sofas, listening to music from the 1970s and '80s. Each table was equipped with a vinyl record player and a headset for visitors to indulge themselves in music from the likes of British rock band Queen to Korean legend Lee Moon-sae. “It seems like young people nowadays like LPs more than older people do,” said the only middle-aged man in the place, who introduced himself as a 53-year-

Culture Feb. 8, 2023

YouTube is home to a myriad of creators catering to people interested in Korean language and culture, but not many have the presence of Billy Go. The 36-year-old American has nearly 544,000 followers, amassed through a decade of engagement and several hundreds of tutoring clips and posts. His YouTube channel, which started in 2012, “Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean” mostly features short-form videos of 10 minutes or less that teach the Korean alphabet, words and phrases, as well

Social Affairs Feb. 6, 2023

For many Koreans, their most treasured memories from their student days are often of multiday trips to renowned historic or natural sites around the country. These include the UNESCO-recognized historic city of Gyeongju; the country’s wartime capital and now second-biggest city Busan; and Jeju Island, the one and only Korean entry to the World’s Seven Wonders of Nature. However, an online post purportedly written by a teacher about a field trip to Jeju has gone viral, sparking some h

Hashtag Korea Feb. 2, 2023

Soaking in hot water with strangers, getting body scrub treatments and eating roasted eggs and sweet rice punch called "sikhye" to rehydrate -- the bathhouse experience often depicted in films and dramas has long been a part of Korean life. But the longstanding communal bathing culture may soon be history, as soaring energy prices deal a cruel blow to an industry already pummeled by the pandemic. Between March 2020 when social distancing rules were introduced and December last year, a

Hashtag Korea Jan. 27, 2023

Nine out of 10 successful candidates for this year’s teacher employment examination for public kindergartens, elementary schools and special education schools in Seoul are women, data showed Friday, continuing a years-old trend of extreme sex-ratio imbalance. A total of 166 applicants passed the test -- 164 applying to work at schools operated by the city government and two for national educational facilities in the city, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Of the 16

Social Affairs Jan. 27, 2023

미국 CWTV 드라마 ‘100’에서 주연 핀 콜린스 역을 맡아 유명해진 미국 배우 토마스 맥도넬 (37)은 국내 팬들 사이에서 ‘한국어 수집가’로 불린다. 2017년부터 매달 자신의 트위터 계정에 한국어 트윗을 게재해온 그는 “심심해”, “이거 실화냐?” 등 짧고 간단한 한국어 문장은 물론, “야 전정구기 나 꼬시지마,” “준표야 밥은 먹고 다니냐?” 와 같은 의미심장한 글을 올리며 세간의 이목을 받아 왔다. 현재 그의 트위터 글의 90퍼센트가 한국어로 쓰여져 있을 정도. 처음에 그는 뜻은 모른 채 그저 보기에 예쁜 한글 글자를 말 그대로 수집해서 트윗했었다. 하지만 그간 개인 교습까지 받으며 공부한 끝에 이젠 한글을 읽고 쓸 수 있고, 일상적인 한국어 대화는 이해하는 한국 문화 팬이 되었다. 맥도넬은 최근 코리아헤럴드와의 인터뷰에서 한국어는 “

한국어판 Jan. 25, 2023

Spam is one of the most popular gift items in South Korea, particularly during the Lunar New Year gift-giving season. A spam gift set typically holds stacks of cans, sometimes combined with cooking oils and other everyday condiments, in boxes of various sizes and prices. On Gmarket, the country’s largest online marketplace, Spam gift sets are sold starting from under 20,000 won ($16) to over 120,000 won. “Spam gained popularity as a holiday gift since the 2000s. Gift sets account f

Hashtag Korea Jan. 22, 2023

North Korea is clamping down on the use of South Korean slang and expressions, which experts in Seoul see as a response to the growing influence of South Korean dramas and films in the reclusive state. According to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, the communist regime has adopted new legislation that seeks to impose stronger punishment on its residents who taint the “Pyongyang standard language” with foreign influences. It was among the issues and agenda items d

Hashtag Korea Jan. 19, 2023

2023 is the Year of the Black Rabbit. The furry, nimble animal, long associated with fertility and prosperity, has already been appearing at various places across Seoul, embodying Koreans’ wish for the year to be a fruitful one. Following are some of the places you can find the bunnies. Giant bunnies On a recent Tuesday afternoon, foreign tourists took pictures near a 12-meter-tall rabbit sculpture holding a traditional Korean lucky bag, set up at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul earli

Hashtag Korea Jan. 17, 2023

Last year, South Korean singer-producer DJ Koo Jun-yup’s story of rekindling an old love with Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu made many swoon. Announcing his marriage with the ex-girlfriend, Koo, 53, said he was “resuming the love he had but couldn’t realize 20 years ago.” Through all the sweetness, the international star couple would have gone through some paperwork to become legal husband and wife both in Korea and Taiwan. Hsu, in particular, would have been asked to prov

Hashtag Korea Jan. 9, 2023

In the wee hours of Monday, cellphones in homes and offices suddenly started making beeping sounds en masse in Greater Seoul. It was the emergency text alert for a 3.7 magnitude earthquake detected near Ganghwa County, Incheon. The earthquake occurred at 1:28 a.m. in waters about 25 kilometers west of Ganghwa County. It was the first quake stronger than 3.0 magnitude to hit the nation this year. No damage has been reported, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Many sleepers we

Social Affairs Jan. 9, 2023

American actor Thomas McDonell, best known for his role as Finn Collins in the US television network CW’s post-apocalyptic series “The 100,” has a rather peculiar presence on Twitter. One day in 2017, he made his first tweet in Korean. At that time, he was into tweeting in various languages to reach out to people from all over the world who were looking at his profile. His tweets are usually simple expressions -- "I'm bored," "Is this for real?" -- in

Hello Hangeul Jan. 8, 2023

On weekends, a street from Sinchon Station to the main gate of Yonsei University in Seoul has turned into a K-pop mecca, where various performances and fan events draw crowds of young music fans from all over the world to the car-free zone. However, the lively scene is unlikely to continue from later this month, as the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided Thursday to lift the weekend traffic ban which had been in place for nine years. From Jan. 20 until September, all automobile vehicles except

Social Affairs Jan. 5, 2023

In July last year, more than 60 Vietnamese were caught organizing, or taking part in, “drug parties” at nightclubs and karaoke bars in Busan and other southern cities. On top of any penalty they had received from Korean law enforcement, the foreigners were given an order to leave the country from the immigration authorities, along with a permanent reentry ban. For some, it was deportation, while others received a departure order. What is the difference? Here, Kim Ju-hyeong, a senior

Hashtag Korea Jan. 3, 2023