SEAblings vs. K-netz: When K-pop Fandom Turned Into a Regional Reckoning
Send a text A minor concert rule violation at a Day6 show in Kuala Lumpur ignites a much larger confrontation between Southeast Asian K-pop fans, know...
Reading the Dead: What Korean Graves Tell Us
Send a text Winter is cemetery season in Korea. With the grass dead, snakes gone, and sightlines open, this is when Korea’s hillside cemeteries quietl...
Who Should Still Be Driving in Korea?
Send a text South Korea became a super-aged society in 2025. The effects are showing up everywhere, but nowhere more visibly than on the roads. In thi...
Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone? Part 2
Send a text Our 300th episode! Pojangmacha didn’t disappear by accident. In Part 2 of Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone, Joe and Shawn trace how Seou...
Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone? Part 1
Send a text There is no Waffle House in Korea. For decades, the pojangmacha was the last line of defense against going home hungry, broke, or blackout...
Christmas Nightmares 2: Holiday Crimes
Send a text Christmas is often framed as a moment of peace, forgiveness, and reflection. But in Korean history, Christmas Eve has repeatedly been chos...
Christmas Nightmares 1: Darkest Holiday Stories
Send a text Christmas is supposed to be a time of warmth, safety, and reunion. But history doesn’t always cooperate. In Part 1 of our two-part Christm...
K-Hacked: How Coupang Exposed Korea’s Cybersecurity Mess
Send a text Shawn and Joe dig into Korea’s crumbling cybersecurity myth and the Coupang leak that exposed almost every user in the country. Korea sell...
Weird Tours
Send a text Shawn and Joe trade war stories from the front lines of Seoul’s tour scene. Influencers melting down in costume, drunk guests apologizing ...
Short: The Expat Quest for Thanksgiving
Send a text This is a blog post I (Joe) wrote on ZenKimchi.com in 2012 about the extreme lengths expats in Korea would go to for creating Thanksgiving...