• (im)peaches and koalas

    (im)peaches and koalas

    I got my (im)peaches out in Yeouido Embed from Getty Images Cho “Luke Skywalker” Kuk isn’t alone in thinking three years is too long. One of the first things the Minjoo Party did as soon as the new National Assembly opened was submitting a proposal for special investigation into the death of a marine, an…

  • Will the salmon set Lee free?

    Will the salmon set Lee free?

    Plus, ‘Democracy’ knocking on judiciary’s door; Min Hee-jin, or the archetype of Korean psyche.

  • observations after the election

    observations after the election

    Winners and losers; Talent crisis in politics; Partisan media’s novel development

  • 2024 Election: 20-inch nails in Korean democracy’s coffin

    2024 Election: 20-inch nails in Korean democracy’s coffin

    In this year’s election, a total of 59 parties are asking for a vote. Does the biggest-ever number suggest the height of South Korean democracy? I’m a bit skeptical. How many of them are really serious? I took a count of the number of leaflets included in the official election packet sent by the election…

  • Mystery of Lee’s Minjoo takeover

    Mystery of Lee’s Minjoo takeover

    Until he was nominated as his party’s presidential candidate in 2022, Lee Jae-myung had been an outsider in the Minjoo Party. He was elected twice as a mayor and then a governor, having had no time to rub shoulders with Minjoo insiders in Yeouido. When he was elected to lead the party after losing the…

  • Yoon vs doctors: scapegoating works every time

    Yoon vs doctors: scapegoating works every time

    What should President Yoon do to improve his dismal approval rating? A noble man君子 would seek for a reform. Fortunately, there is—and will ever be—no shortage of issues that are of national urgency: um, how about improving corporate governance and shareholder value? That’s what delivered Japanese stock market from its decades-long gloom, they say. No…

Korea Kontext

a bit deeper than your average Korea news

Skip to content ↓