“Squid Game” Season 2 heads back into the arena
NPR invited me back on their Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast to discuss the second season of the Korean series “Squid Game.”
Category: Issues
Martial Law in South Korea: What to Know and Why K-pop Fans Were Raising Concerns
The last time a president declared martial law in South Korea was in 1980.
Suga’s ‘Perp Walk’ Wasn’t Necessary
Suga’s ‘perp walk’ wasn’t necessary: Due Process vs. Freedom of the Press
Has the Korean Press Learned Nothing After Lee Sun-kyun?
Suga isn’t stupid. He knows he’s one of the most famous men in South Korea, and that the news media and the public would literally love to catch him in a scandal. And since he hasn’t been caught in a dating scandal or a bankruptcy scandal or a family scandal, the news is making do with what they have: scooter-gate.
K-pop Members Shouldn’t Be Forced to Participate in Every Interview
By Jae-Ha Kim Substack August 9, 2024 A few days ago, journalist Lily Dabbs shared on Twitter that she had interviewed the K-pop group ZEROBASEONE and included a link to her article. Before I go […]
Does Racist Vintage Art Get a Pass?
This is how stereotypes work. Westerners have depicted Asian men as being effeminate since forever.
Peak Performative Activism: K-pop Edition
It’s my contention that the majority of online antagonists are adults. Why? Children simply do not care about old people’s opinions about anything.
Why Are Korean Celebs Still Apologizing?
One of the strangest things about Korean celebrity culture is the number of famous people who are essentially forced to issue apologies for doing normal, everyday things (that their detractors themselves are probably doing).
South Korea is reckoning with the death of beloved ‘Parasite’ actor Lee Sun-kyun
NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe speaks to syndicated columnist Jae-Ha Kim about the scandal that led to the death of beloved South Korean actor Lee Sun-Kyun. Note: This conversation has mentions of self-harm.
They Call Us K-Culture
I was the first guest of 2024 on Phil Yu and Jeff Yang’s podcast, “They Call Us Bruce.” We discussed K-dramas, BTS, Lee Sun-kyun’s tragic death and how annoying it is when non-Asian members of the media co-opt our stories.
How South Korea’s stringent anti-drug laws played a role in the death of “Parasite” actor Lee Sun-kyun
Following Lee Sun-kyun’s death, you are going to read a lot on social media and in newspapers about how South Korea has the highest overall suicide rate of all countries. And while someone will surely write a think piece about South Koreans being predisposed to dying by suicide, it’s important to remember how South Korea came to be an economic powerhouse and how its citizens’ well being was secondary to the country’s greatness.
Part 2: That Podcast & BTS’ Relevance to Korean Diaspora
A reminder that it’s really gross to tell people that their identity is determined by what language they speak — or what language they choose to sing in. Part 2 of my coverage of that problematic NYT K-pop podcast.
NYT’s Podcast Questioned Whether K-pop Should Only Be Sung in Korean
The thesis of the New York Times’ podcast questions whether K-pop is still K-pop if sung in English. It also questions whether Korean artists should even be singing in English, since there are so many Western artists who already sing in, you know, English…
AT&T, a Factory Job and Me
She saw me as a dark-skinned minority, like herself. Aligning herself to me wouldn’t help her step up in social status. To her — and probably to many people — I was just another immigrant working in a factory, and that’s all that I would ever be. To her, she saw no value in me. Maybe my ethnic otherness reminded her too much of herself.
When Everyone Wanted to Sue Me
I’m not an influencer by any means and I’m not a celebrity. But I have dealt with trolls, starting from the days when they had to mail their vitriol through the USPS — all the way through present day, when haters can harangue you nonstop on social media.
As BTS Celebrates 10th Anniversary, Their Impact and Legacy Is Undeniable
In this essay, writer Jae-Ha Kim celebrates BTS’s 10th anniversary as a group by looking at the dreams they achieved on behalf of the Korean diaspora. They rose to the top and took us with them.
The Gatekeepers of Who Is (and Isn’t) Korean
Last week I wrote an article about an incident that occurred to my family when we were new immigrants in the United States. Who knew that such an innocuous essay would stir up the emotions of haters, who deemed us as getting what we deserved for deciding to move here. Of course, they all tapped away anonymously on their keyboards from their homes in the … United States.
When Strangers Destroyed Our Korean Lunch
To them it may have been smelly and weird. To us, it was a taste of home.
Losing My Korean Didn’t Make Me Any More American
Back in my era, the teachers encouraged immigrants to only speak English at home so that we wouldn’t fall behind. But what they didn’t know at the time — or perhaps they didn’t really care about — was that in the rush to make us understand English, many of us lost our ability to converse in our birth language.
On Being Reprimanded for Writing About More Than 1 Korean “Boy Band”
To many misguided editors, one Asian is enough. Two Asians is overkill. Three Asians will get you called in to the office to be reprimanded. And also… Epik High is not a boy band. But they wouldn’t know that, would they?