· January, 2012

Stories about South Korea from January, 2012

South Korea: Kids Become Outcasts for Not Having Branded Bags

  25 January 2012

Blogger Hangukdrama wrote on South Korean elementary children's craze over expensive and branded school bags and how this behavior has been encouraged by parents, who concerned that their kids would become outcasts if they are seen with ‘cheaper bags’, kept buying the bags.

South Korea : Pizza Appears in Lunar New Year's Ancestral Worship

  23 January 2012

Sharing food with relatives that had been offered in the ancestral worship is regarded as the essence of the traditional Lunar New Year holiday in Korea and there are strict and complicated rules to follow in offering food. However, some young Koreans have started offering unconventional food, such as pizza,...

Responses to AP's News Bureau in North Korea

  17 January 2012

The Associated Press has opened a news bureau in North Korean capital, becoming the first western news agency to have its office inside the hermit kingdom. North Korea Tech blog consolidated some of the Twitter responses to the news.  

South Korea: National Security Law Draws Intense Criticism

  13 January 2012

North Korea Tech wrote a blog post on South Korea’s controversial National Security Law that bans display and distribution of North Korean material. Recently, several citizens were arrested under this law for posting seemingly benign North Korean songs or news clips.

North Korea Punishing People Who Did Not Mourn Enough for Kim Jong Il

  13 January 2012

A news report came out saying North Korean authorities have begun to punish citizens who did not display enough sadness at Kim Jong Il's funeral. Bloggers have already raised suspicions that the hysterical mourning may not be genuine. Net user kmarko posted sample photos of citizens who seem indifferent.

South Korea: A Teenage Boy's Anti Suicide Campaign Video

  6 January 2012

A spate of student suicides occurred recently in South Korea due to mindlessly violent school bullying. While some schools hushed up the case for the sake of their reputation, a 18-year-old student made this short video [ko] to raise public awareness. (There is no English subtitle yet)

South Korea: Students Protest Against Election Rigging

  6 January 2012

As suspicion and anger grow over the ruling party's election rigging, students from South Korea's major universities gathered together to release a joint statement calling for a thorough reinvestigation of the case. One net user posted photos of the student protest in Daum Agora, the nation's biggest public forum.