(Source)

The front and back covers of American Born Chinese (2006) by Gene Luen Yang, my first completed book of 2013!

Body Image, Health

— Korea’s Pop Music Explosion Is Fueling a Plastic Surgery Boom (Alternet; KoreAm)

— The Evolution of Asian Eyebrows: A (Dia)critical Contemplation (Pasadena Art Beat)

— Park Geun-Hye & Skirts: HATE this Double Standard (Korean Gender Cafe)

— Wait A Minute, Did North Korea Just Get Sexy? (NK News.Org)

— In Japan, Tattoos Are Not Just For Yakuza Anymore (Japan Subculture Research Center)

— Foreign Cosplayers Are Welcome In Japan (Kotaku)

— Is Natural Beauty More Oppressive Than Make-up? (XX Factor)

— Femen’s Neocolonial Feminism: When Nudity Becomes a Uniform (Alahkbar English)

— “I suspect it’s difficult for men to imagine a world in which their bodies have long been inextricably linked to their value as an individual…” (Persona)

Censorship, Media

— KCSC Keeps Trivial NK Speech Blocked (Infidelworld)

— Over 1,000 Films Rated in 2012 (Kobiz)

— Put simply, JYJ fans are like an organized gang on Nate (Netizen Buzz)

— Netizen Explains Roots of Korean Conservative Online Community (KoreaBANG)

— Kim Sori’s MV teaser featuring her cameltoe rated 12+ (Netizen Buzz)

Crime

— First-ever chemical castration sentence handed down (The Hankyoreh; The Marmot’s Hole)

— Sexual Assault and Harassment, Child Self-defense, Domestic Violence Shelter Volunteer (Korean Gender Cafe)

— Child molesters getting probation thanks to settlements with parents (The Marmot’s Hole)

— 가정폭력 Domestic Violence Awareness : Music & Media (Korean Gender Cafe)

— Go Young Wook again accused of sexual assault against a minor (Asian Junkie; Netizen Buzz; Omona They Didn’t 1, 2)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— Chinese Love Notes: Broken Dreams (Selly’s Little World)

— Forgive me a little sentimentality on a Sunday morning (I’m No Picasso)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— 안녕히 계세요 (Shotgun Adventures)

— South Korea Prepares The Young For A Rapidly Aging Population (NPR)

— Low South Korean birth rate raises fears (The Financial Times; free registration required)

— Unwed mothers call for Park’s attention (The Korea Times)

— Surge in Twins as Older Couples Seek Fertility Treatment (The Chosun Ilbo)

— N. Korea moving into aging society (The Korea Times)

— Test Me: The Relationship Between TOEIC & Communicative Competence (Scribblings of the Metropolitician)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate

— One Small Step for a Woman, One Giant Leap Backward for the Nation (Asiapundits)

— Beate Gordon, Long-Unsung Heroine of Japanese Women’s Rights, Dies at 89 (The New York Times)

LGBT, Sexuality

— HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign in Seoul (The Kimchi Queen)

— Reading List: Becoming a Female-to-Male Transgender (FTM) in South Korea (The Kimchi Queen)

— The Gay Teen-Boy Romance Comic Beloved by Women in Japan (The Atlantic)

— Gay star Hong Suk Chun’s guesting on ‘Radio Star’ receives a favorable response (Netizen Buzz)

Miscellaneous

— AIDA MAKOTO: Monument To Nothing (Art Exhibition Reviews) (Japan Subculture Research Center)

Pop Culture

— When culture meets decorum (radio-palava) (Angry K-pop Fan)

— New Year, New Look, New SNSD? (Seoulbeats)

— Girls’ Generation has a boy and some serious gender troubles (Beyond Hallyu)

— The Year in Korean Movies (Spoiler Alert: ‘Wow’) (Mark Russell’s Website)

— Block B files suit against Stardom Entertainment for lack of payment, wants contract nullified (Asian Junkie; Angry K-Pop Fan; Omona)

— Raining on Rain’s Parade: Celebrity Soldiers and Special Treatment (Seoulbeats)

— The concept of T-ara’s new Sexy Love MV is quite dehumanizing and it reeks objectification (Angry K-pop Fan)

— Has K-pop Lowered Our Music Standards? (Omona They Didn’t)

— Jung So-min: “Watching my bed scene with my parents was awkward” (Dramabeans)

— PSY: What would have happened if a foreign singer had sung anti-Korean songs? (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Congratulations Psy on your tremendous success! Time to become a vegetarian and ride a bicycle to work (Korea: Circles and Squares)

Social Problems

— Y’all are funny. Just stare back? This is Incheon. (I’m No Picasso)

— Normal Sadism, Weak Boundaries, and Social Unhappiness (Gord Sellar)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

(Source)

For anyone interested in my thoughts about the election result, Vishakha N. Desai at the Asia Society sums them up much better than I could:

The fact that so many Asian countries have accepted women as political leaders and heads of state long before Americans have managed to put a woman in the White House has led some observers to believe that it must mean Asian societies are ahead of the Western world in accepting women in leadership roles. The truth is far more complex than the simplistic observation that this automatically means women will benefit from such role models at the pinnacle of their power. In the case of Park, she may have earned the position on her own merits more than other female counterparts, but that doesn’t mean her leadership will bode well for women’s rights in South Korea or the region during her tenure.

See Tales of Wonderlost here and here for short but telling summaries of exactly what Park Geun-hye has done for women’s rights so far; National Public Radio and Arirang for people’s expectations of her in this regard; and Bloomberg for more on the paradox of why Asia leads the globe in the number of years women have ruled, yet also leads the globe in gender discrimination (Hint: Many of those leaders come from political dynasties). Also, I think it says a lot about a candidate’s and his or her party’s democratic credentials when they refuse to extend voting hours to allow more people of working age to vote, effectively disenfranchising them.

Other interesting reporting on the election include what it says about Korea’s rapidly aging population and increasingly large generation gap; and Roboseyo’s suggestions that Park Geun-hye should (but probably won’t) cut the government’s extensive ties to mass media (the role of biased reporting in the elections was also mentioned at Global Voices), as well as radically reforming the National Security Law.

Update: Seungsook Moon’s article at CNN is also a must-read.

Announcements

— Auditions in Gwangju for The Vagina Monologues – Feb 3 (Korea Maria)

— Survey: How do you keep in contact with Koreans? (Loving Korean)

Body Image, Health

— Korean Teens Ask ‘Please Rate My Face’ on Online Community (KoreaBANG)

— Looking Pretty In North Korea (NK News)

— Dueji and ‘Diet’ stamps: the importance of weight in Korea vs. the United States (Mapping Words)

— Girl’s Day Yura’s cute tummy flab ‘looks good’ (Netizen Buzz)

— Plastic Face — Grimes and Brown Eyed Girls (Frank Kogan)

— Honesty is the Best Policy for B.E.G and Plastic Surgery (Seoulbeats)

— Local lads slap on Korean makeup for K-pop look (Asiaone Showbiz)

— “Beauty” According to Google (Tales of Wonderlost)

— A Video about Fashion and also Beauty in Korea (Foreigner Joy)

— The absence of help: a Korean girl’s testimony on recovering from an eating disorder (Mapping Words)

— Meet 1912’s Perfect Woman: Pear-Shaped, 171 Lbs, Doesn’t Know Fear (Jezebel)

— Samsung chip plant caused woman’s breast cancer, S. Korean gov’t agency rules (Monster Island; ILDA)

Censorship, Media

— Teenagers’ Exposure to Sex in the Media (South Korea Human Rights Monitor)

— Grab them while you can: Hara, HyunA, and Hyorin’s ‘Chum-Churum’ CFs to be taken down (Omona They Didn’t; Netizen Buzz; The Chosun Ilbo; allkpop)

Crime

— New police guideline allows easier house searches (The Korea Herald)

— USFK Soldier Sentenced To More Time In Korean Jail for Drugs Than A Korean Received for Rape (ROK Drop)

— A Crackdown on Sex Crimes Against Children? What Crackdown? (Expat Hell)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— Female Body Issues That Arise When Dating Asian Men (AMWW Magazine)

— Christmas in Korea: It’s time for romance! (Seoulbeats)

— How Did You Know He/She Was The One? (Geek in Heels)

— On My Negative Dating Experiences With Chinese Men, and Why I Still Kept Smiling About China’s “Dating Scene” (Speaking of China)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— Apparently Being a Student-Parent is a “Colossal Blunder” (Omona They Didn’t)

— Adoptee’s search strikes a chord (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Why are Korean men estranged from their families? (The Korea Times)

— Vietnamese Population on Rise in Korea (Arirang)

— A day in the life of a Chinese kindergarten – in pictures (The Guardian)

— Pregnant pause (The Hong Kong Standard)

— Sex-Specific Toy Preferences: Learned or Innate? (Homo Consumericus)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate

— Our New President: the Views of Korea’s Young Women (The Three Wise Monkeys)

— Female business owners rank higher than men in particular areas (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Justifying Conscription? (Sorry, I Was Drunk)

— What Conscription Really Means for Koreans (Beyond Hallyu; update)

— S. Korea to cut mandatory military duty by three months (Yonhap)

— Closing the Gender Gap: A short PDF introduction (OECD)

— Migrant workers report physical abuse, wage discrimination (The Hankyoreh; see here also)

— 51% of Japanese public thinks wives should stay home (The Daily Yomiuri)

— Japan’s Suicidal Salarymen Are Dying for Work (Vice)

— Global Times to leftover women: Find a gay best friend because no-one else will love you (Shanghaiist)

LGBT, Sexuality

— I Will NOT Love You Long Time (Fuck yeah, feminists!)

— Yet another sexy reason why robots will replace humans [NSFW] (io9)

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

— So I take it the classroom will be a homosexuality-free zone? (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Reading List: Homosexuality in ancient and modern Korea (The Kimchi Queen)

— More Men Kissing Men Please: The Need for LGBT Representation (The One Shots)

— Here’s some news about the only gay men to exist in Korea (Omona They Didn’t)

— Reading List: Queer North Korea (The Kimchi Queen)

Pop Culture

— From Sexual to Sensual (Seoulbeats)

— T-ara turns down alcohol cf but gets on board with Pachinko ad (Omona They Didn’t; Netizen Buzz)

— What’s in a Logo? (Seoulbeats)

— End of the Road?: Ten Rookies We May Not See Come 2013 (MTVK)

— Koreaboo: Phase or Foe? (Seoulbeats)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

(Source)

Not related to any of the stories sorry — I just love the colors, and the retro look. But see pop reviews now if you’d like to know more about his album.

Announcements

— Queer Shorts Shot on Smart Phones Film Festival, December 22nd (The Kimchi Queen)

Body Image, Health

— Masseurs find narcissists easy prey (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Pretty boys and dancing divas give South Korean cosmetics Asian appeal (Reuters)

— More handsome men entering women-heavy professions in Korea (The Dong-a Ilbo)

— Do Koreans and Korean Americans have different standards for if someone looks “American”? (I’m No Picasso)

— The Real Bodies Manifesto: Finding Each Other (8asians)

— So … did Shin Se Kyung have plastic surgery or not? (Asian Junkie)

— “My, What Healthy Breasts You Have!” (said no one, ever) (Nursing Clio)

— Fashion Interviews: A Shot of Soju With Monika Rofler (chincha)

Censorship, Media

— SKorea’s porn fight ‘like shoveling in a blizzard’ (The Marmot’s Hole)

— ‘Cheongdamdong Alice’ apologizes for offensive words spotted on screen (allkpop)

— Park Geun-hye Rally Photo Doctored Ahead of Election (koreaBANG)

— Korean CF Types: The dance, the star power, the drama (Hangukdrama and Korean)

— Facial Recognition Technology and Privacy Issues (Visual Anthropology of Japan)

— Yoon Il Sang: “It’s Sad That Korean Media Tries to Find Humor by Putting Down Their Wives” (soompi)

Crime

— Myeong-dong Hiking Club still pimping Korean girls to Japanese tourists, doing very little hiking (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Subway stations main location for sex trade of runaway youths (The Korea Times)

— Man rapes mentally handicapped kid, walks on appeal because he shows regret (The Marmot’s Hole)

— “I Want to Throw Flowers”: a series that records the experiences of a survivor of sexual violence (ILDA South Korean Feminist Journal)

— So, just to be clear, it’s OK for a teacher to have sex with a 12-year-old student as long as the student wants it? (The Marmot’s Hole; Waygook)

— A heartfelt and concise piece on what “human trafficking” really means (Japan Subculture Research Center)

— Japan’s ‘life-less’ anti-stalking laws are costing lives to be lost (The Japan Times)

— Is self-defense properly recognized? (The Korea Herald)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— Tharp On: Marriage (Busan Haps)

— Websites Sell Burmese Brides to Chinese Bachelors (The Irrawaddy)

— The Romance Issue (Mochi Magazine)

— Interracial Dating 2: Black Women & Asian Men desexualized? (The Vanguard Element)

— Exhibition journeys into Asian marriage customs (The Korea Herald)

— Six Chinese Men in the Movies Who Loved Western Women, from Least Sexy to Most Sexy (Speaking of China)

— China’s Singles’ Day Beats the US’ ‘Black Friday’ On E-Sales (chinaSMACK)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— Study: Korean students excel in math and science, but lack confidence (The Hankyoreh)

— Why I gave my daughters English names (BBC)

— How I Learned to Love College By Rejecting the Model Minority Stereotype (Mochi Magazine)

— Seoul lays out new support plans for multicultural families, foreigners (asiaone)

— US Soldier – Filipina mixed kids acquire illegal immigrant status before they are born (The Marmot’s Hole)

— What’s for Dinner? One mother’s adventure in maintaining a balanced diet for her Chinese-Canadian baby (bejingkids)

— Disposable diapers or bare bottoms? China frets over potty training (Christian Science Monitor)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate

— Workplace discrimination prompts ‘whitened’ job applications (BBC)

— Why are so few educated Asian women marrying? (Marginal Revolution)

— S. Korea’s gender wage gap highest among OECD (MK Business News)

— Women in North Korea: ‘Men can’t earn enough money so it’s our job now’ (The Guardian)

— Park Geun-hye: Female Presidential Candidate (Korean Gender Cafe)

— As South Korea Tackles Drinking Culture, Samsung Sets Guidelines (Korea Realtime)

— Three out of four sexual harassment victims are women in their 20s and 30s and half of it occurred at the workplace (The Korea Times)

— Ri Sol-ju, Conspicuous Wealth, and the “Military Wife” Type in the DPRK (SINO-NK)

— ‘Korea still male-dominated’ (The Korea Times)

— Korean Through K-pop 101: The Bean Paste Girl (Seoulbeats)

— South Korea’s Forgotten War (The Atlantic)

— Is South Korea ready for “Madam President”? (Reuters)

— China’s Job Market Tightens for Young Foreigners (The New York Times)

— McKinsey & Company Report on the Job Market for New Korean Graduates (Korea Business Central)

LGBT, Sexuality

— Venery and the sin of transgression in Joseon Korea (The Marmot’s Hole)

— On Sex In The US, and How My Husband Taught Me the Word “Sao” (Speaking of China)

— Women rights advocates call on China’s population planning officials to de-link household registration from compulsory fitting of IUDs (Radio Free Asia)

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

— Gay, transgender Korean students discriminated against at school (Asian Correspondent)

Miscellaneous

— Are you Russian? An interview about Causasian female stereotypes and harassment in Korea (mapping words)

— CERD (and other) updates (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— What I’ve Learned About Crises, or How My Vaguest Shadow of a Doubt Died Today… (Gord Sellar)

— Cultural Assimilation (I’m No Picasso)

— If You Wanna Be My 형… (Gord Sellar)

— How Taiwan is better than Korea (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Expat Diaries: ‘Night Vibes’ Spreads Black Culture Throughout South Korea (Ebony)

Pop Culture

— Natthew and Diversity in K-pop (Seoulbeats)

— The politics of Pandora: is international music really that “different”? (Mellowyel’s Collection)

— Cast walks out of Great Seer shoots citing no pay (dramabeans)

— Unpopular Opinion: Defending Jay Chou’s Hit on “Gangnam Style” (Seoulbeats)

— NSFW Fanart: ELFs are on another level, man (McRoth’s Residence)

— Worry for the Right Reasons: K-pop and Kohaku (Seoulbeats)

— 2012 a tough year for idol groups as singers shine (Korea Joongang Daily; Netizen Buzz)

— HallyU.S.A: K-pop’s Appeal to Asian-Americans (Seoulbeats)

— Q & A : ‘9 Muses of Empire’ director Hark-Joon Lee on IDFA (fuck yeah nine muses)

— 2012: The Year Of Scandals, Relationships, And … Americanism? (Asian Junkie)

— Streaming to Be Heard: K-pop on Internet Radio (Seoulbeats)

— Finding Korean literature in English (In Imminent Danger)

— MBC and A Look at Korean Sitcoms (Seoulbeats)

— Korean films get controversial (ampm)

— K-pop’s Appeal to a Black Fan (Seoulbeats)

Psy’s Apology (in chronological order)

— ‘Gangnam Style’ Rapper Psy Apologizes For Lyrics About Killing Americans (Speakeasy)

— Quick Thought about PSY’s Past Anti-American Lyrics (Ask a Korean!)

— PSY Apologizes (The Marmot’s Hole)

— The PSY scandal: singing about killing people v. constantly doing it (The Guardian)

— … In Which America Learns Something Interesting about Psy (and South Korea) (Gord Sellar)

— You Shouldn’t Forget about the Past, Cuz It Don’t Forget About You… (Scribblings of the Metropolitician)

— Psy, slowly and painfully (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— K-Pop Fizz Fizz: Life After PSY (Spin)

Social Problems

— Australian Police Apologise to Korean Assaulted in Melbourne (koreaBANG)

— Do 1 in 8 Koreans have an addiction? (Asian Correspondent)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

(Meet me at the wall: “God damn you, pores! How I hate you so!”)

Announcements

— Extras needed Nov. 30 – Dec. 2 for what will be Korea’s best SF film ever! (Brutal Rice Productions; also available in Korean)

— Update: Free beer and pizza provided!

— Rubber Seoul, Saturday, December 1

— Richard and Andrew Fiedler are Missing 리차드 피들러,앤드류 피들러 실종

Body Image, Health

— Korean women outlive men by 7 years: U.N. (The Korea Herald)

— Strict Dress Code of Female Employees (Human Rights Monitor)

— ‘Am I pretty?’ Korean teens look online for answers (The Korea Times)

— Cosmetics and K-pop Idolatry (Seoulbeats)

— Korean Beauty Standard (Korean Mom Lily’s Life Style)

— Discovering Korean perceptions of beauty in Seoul (Beyond Hallyu)

— Six out of Ten Adults Don’t Exercise in S. Korea (KBS)

— Taken a-back by the lack of S/mile-legs (J-Popping)

— 72-year-old grandfather models women’s clothes, becomes internet sensation (Shanghaiist)

— The shock of the (male) nude (BBC)

— Men May Have Body Image Issues, But They Don’t Even Come Close to What Women Go Through (Jezebel)

— Muscular Body Image Lures Boys Into Gym, and Obsession (The New York Times)

— Pumped Up Kids: New report shows adolescents hit the gym (and the steroids) in search of muscles (Bitch)

Censorship, Media

— Activist Says Porn Helps Men And is Unrelated to Sex Crimes (Korea BANG)

— Confessions of Paid Political Trolls in South Korea (Global Voices)

— Microsoft to suspend XBox Live service to minors from Nov 27 (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Twitter user gets suspended sentence for North Korea retweets (The Hankyroeh; The New York Times; Korea Realtime)

— Court rules in favor of netizen who posted video of Kim Yu-na (The Hankyroeh)

— Sohee Sues for Slander (Seoulbeats)

— In South Korea, student journalists can fill the gaps (Asian Correspondent)

— The Problem of Introducing Korea Overseas (Korea: Circles and Squares)

— Gov’t Agencies Splash Out on Celebrity Promoters (The Chosun Ilbo)

— See guys, Japanese netizens are just as psychotic! (Asian Junkie)

Crime

— Police reinforce teams to prevent sex crimes (The Korea Times)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— Fewer international couples getting married, more getting divorced (The Hankyoreh)

— Why I Married a Korean (From Korea With Love)

— Kids’ Wedding Prospects Cause Parents Serious Pain (The Chosun Ilbo)

— Why Lee Byun Hun is not a nice person (update: or a pervert) (I’m No Picasso)

— Chinese IT Company Offers ‘Love Bonus’ To Encourage Employees To Hook Up With Each Other (The Huffington Post)

— Dating Tips for Asian American Women (Radical Ramblings)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— Challenging Korean and Foreign Stereotypes of English Teachers (I’m No Picasso; see also here, here, here, and here)

— Former foreign English teacher spreads Korean culture in New York, invited to Korea (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— Multicultural kids still got it rough: Ye Olde Chosun (The Marmot’s Hole)

— A Korean Depiction of a Multicultural Family: Papa (Seoulbeats)

— Where you live affecting where you go to school (Human Rights Monitor)

— Adventures in Parenting Abroad Pt. 4: Please Please Please Reproduce! We’ll Give You Anything You Want! (The Three Wise Monkeys)

— Number of students forecast to nearly halve by 2050 (The Korea Herald)

— After a long preference for sons, it’s a girl generation (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Unnatural selection: The social dilemmas arising from China’s one-child policy (Aljazeera)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate

— How Korea Insults Women (Scribblings of the Metropolitician)

— Women lawyers ride high on World Cup (The Korea Times; The Hankyoreh)

— Do you know if there’s any sort of movement in South Korea to do away with mandatory military service? (Angry K-Pop Fan)

— Obstacles faced by Korean women (Korea Joongang Daily)

— S. Korea’s No. 1 social problem: the second-class status of women (I’m No Picasso)

— South Koreans Receive Fewer Paid Vacations, Says Survey (Korea BANG)

— Book Excerpt: ‘Northern Girls’ by Sheng Keyi (Asia Society)

— Women in China Leadership Fewer Than Under Mao: Chart of the Day (Bloomberg)

Gangnam Style

— Anish Kapoor Goes ‘Gangnam Style’ for Ai Weiwei (Scene Asia)

— “Gangnam Style” MV nominated for People’s Choice Award (MTVK)

— PSY’s Performance on the AMA (Omona They Didn’t)

— GLEE goes Gangnam Style (Omona They Didn’t)

— Things I Thought I’d Never See: A Dude Rapping In Korean At The American Music Awards (Disgrasian)

— Aaand it happened: Gangnam Style breaks Gee consecutive win record on MB (Omona They Didn’t)

— Hey, Sexy Lady: Hyuna, Kpop’s Gangnam Style (Omona They Didn’t)

— Psy Chats & Performs Worldwide Hit Gangnam Style On The Jonathan Ross Show 10/11/12 (Youtube)

— Psy will fade and SNSD will thrive, says paper as Psy closes the American Music Awards (Asian Junkie)

LGBT, Sexuality

— Damage Control, What Damage Control? (Seoulbeats)

— The Beautiful Daughter: How My Korean Mother Gave Me the Courage to Transition (The Huffington Post)

— Korean Culture Through K-pop 102: Let’s Talk About Sex (Seoulbeats)

— How Many Women are Involved in the Korean Sex Trade? (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— Life in Korea: adult product stores in Korea (Travel Wire Asia)

— Perceived as a Prostitute on the streets of Seoul (Mapping Worlds)

— Reading List: Gay/Poet/Korea: An Interview with Gabriel Sylvian on the Poetry of Gi Hyeong-do (The Kimchi Queen)

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

— Hotels turning into centers for sex trade (The Korea Times)

— What happens to women denied abortions? This is the first scientific study to find out (i09)

Miscellaneous

— The Lady Divers of Jeju Island (Double Takes)

Pop Culture

— The Guardian writes about K-pop yet again, readers are not impressed (Beyond Hallyu; The Guardian)

— Blockbuster: 100 Million Go to South Korea Cinemas This Year (Korea Realtime)

— Lee Hi: What will K-pop do with her? (Frank Kogan)

— Will the Korean Pop Culture Boom Have Legs? (Speakeasy)

— Let’s Have a Much Needed Discussion About Anti-Blackness (지쳤다)

— South Korea: Bollywood’s Future Market? (The Diplomat)

— Can TV Make You a K-Pop Star? (Korea Realtime)

— “Hold Up! What Did You Just Sing?”: The 5 Worst K-Pop Boyfriends (The One Shots)

— Gangnam Style isn’t a one-off – Major music industry report says future pop sensations will be YouTube-driven globalised acts from Asia and South America (The Independent)

— Spinning the Great K-pop Wheel (Seoulbeats)

— Film Festival Highlight: Eungyo – A poet looks into his glass (London Korea Links)

— Review: The Taste of Money (YAM Magazine)

— Nine Muses to Star in K-pop Exposé Documentary (MTVK)

Social Problems

— Church? Volunteer Organization? Cult? The Nebulous World of Korean Religious Movements (The Three Wise Monkeys)

— A Vicious Cycle of the Passing Down Poverty (Human Rights Monitor)

— Corruption in Korea: What is the Crux of the Problem? by Tom Coyner (The Asian Law Blog)

— When Tom Coyner was a Peace Corps volunteer, he found the root of Korean corruption was lying in the farming villages (Occidentalism)

— Corruption Not to End Soon in Korea: Why? (The Asian Law Blog)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

(Source: Retrogasm {NSFW})

Apologies for the lack of posts this week everyone, but I was in a bad car accident a few days ago, and had to be rushed into surgery. The car was a complete write-off too.

Fortunately through, the car in question was *cough* actually only a few centimeters long, left on my my bedroom floor by my daughters for me to slip on and nearly break my toe :D And I’m happy to report that my injuries are healing nicely, even if I am going to be hobbling around for next week or so!

Announcements

— Gangnam Style Flash Mob, COEX, Sunday November 18, 1:30-3:30pm (Seoul Convention Bureau)

— KUMFA is looking for 5 volunteers to watch kids during their meeting this Sunday, November 18th, 11-3pm (Tales of Wonderlost)

Body Image, Health

— What is the fascination with (Korean) Cosmetic Surgery? (I’m No Picasso)

Censorship, Media

— Manufactured Girl Power: Female Empowerment in a Male-Powered Industry (Seoulbeats)

— IU, Eunhyuk, and the Imaginary Korean Netizen Backlash (Seoulbeats)

— Block B’s friendly trolling turns into a controversy because netizens have no friends (Asian Junkie)

— Arirang produces documentary to try and show a positive message about expats in Korea (Action Against MBC Korea)

— Food porn, reborn! (Scribblings of the Metropolitician)

— How is Media Manipulated (I’m No Picasso)

— China slams “distorted” view of copyright piracy problem (Reuters)

Crime

— Ladies, Do You Find Korea to be Dangerous? (I’m No Picasso)

— Man Arrested for Sexually Harassing Wonder Girls’ Sohee (Omona They Didn’t)

— [Special reportage part V] The exploitation of teen runaways (The Hankyoreh)

—  An unholy home of incest (The Marmot’s Hole)

— More N.Korean Defectors Turn to Crime (The Chosun Ilbo)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— Gay(?) Dating in Korea Tip #3: There Will Be Coyness (The Kimchi Queen)

— The town with 200 women marrying foreign men (Vietnam.net)

— Vietnamese learn to become S. Koreans’ wives (Tuoitre News)

— Naturalization called off for past ‘misbehavior’ (Korea Joongang Daily)

— It’s Not Like on TV: “80% of Korean Men Without a Car and Home of Their Own Never Find Love” (Rocketnews24)

— 4 Good things and 4 Bad things about International Marriage (Korean Mom Lily’s Life Style)

— How to Attract Protesters to Your Wedding (Scene Asia)

— Oxytocin keeps committed men away from attractive women (io9)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— Elite education not a surefire path to success (The Korea Herald)

— In case you’ve forgotten, most foreign English teachers aren’t certified teachers (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— 24 Seoul districts rebel on day care (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Tiger mom madness: fake passports, fake schools, and even fake marriages (Korea Law Today)

— Aging Japan: How can the world’s most elderly society overcome its demographic crisis? (Al Jazeera)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate

— Female leadership gains ground in auto industry (The Korea Herald)

— GM Korea likes ladies in office (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Samsung now hires more women, underprivileged (Korea Joongang Daily)

— More women strive to break through glass ceiling in Korea’s financial sector (Yonhap)

— Park rapped for being not feminine enough (The Korea Times)

— Viewpoint: What Chinese women really need (BBC)

Gangnam Style

— Žižek: Why Gangnam Destroyed Bieber (Youtube)

— K-Pop Star PSY: I Would Teach President Obama ‘Gangnam Style’(Korea BANG)

— Gangnam Style isn’t a one-off – Major music industry report says future pop sensations will be YouTube-driven globalised acts from Asia and South America (The Independent)

— Heidi Klum And Psy Do “Gangnam Style” For The MTV EMAs (Buzzfeed)

— Psy to perform and receive an award at the ‘American Music Awards’ (Allkpop)

— Anish Kapoor to make Gangnam Style video (The Telegraph)

— “Psy & Madonna – Gangnam Style x Give It To Me” Live Performance (Youtube)

— “Gangnam Style” Drops to #5 on Billboard Hot 100, But That’s Okay… (Omona They Didn’t)

LGBT, Sexuality

— If IU is 20 and in Spring, Why is Ga-In the One Blossoming? (The One Shots)

— Notes on a K-pop Scandal with the ‘Korean Nation’s Little Sister’ (Asianaut)

— The Myth of IU’s Innocent Image (The Mind Reels)

— IU probably getting Super Junior’s Eunhyuk’s dick, company denies everything but netizens don’t care (Asian Junkie)

— Female Celebrity Accidentally Tweets Intimate Photo (Korea BANG)

— K-Pop darling IU may have some explaining to do (The Marmot’s Hole)

— SM Entertainment declines to comment on IU-Eunhyuk scandal (Omona They Didn’t)

— South Koreans Launch Condoms Into North Korea (Business Insider)

— Reading List: Representation, Politics, Ethics: Rethinking Homosexuality in Contemporary Korean Cinema and Discourses (The Kimchi Queen)

— Goo Hara’s pre-debut underaged sex scandal and it’s relevancy now (Omona They Didn’t)

Pop Culture

— THE SEEYA: Now CCM is Just Grasping at Straws (Seoulbeats)

— French TV documentary on Kpop (Omona They Didn’t)

— Driving Freely Through the World: Cosmopolitanism in K-Pop (IASPM-US)

— SM’s Embedded Ads: The Case For and Against Them (Seoulbeats)

— “Playing with Girls’ Generation” Tokyo Concert – Fan Fashion Pictures (Tokyo Fashion)

— Seoul searching: how politics plays out in South Korean cinema (The Guardian)

— “9Muses of Star Empire” Documentary Teaser! (Omona They Didn’t)

— Open World Entertainment CEO Jang Seok Woo admits to all charges against him (Asian Junkie)

— The Black Ocean of My Seoul (Seoulbeats)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)