Small pieces. A bigger Korea.

THE LATEST PIECES

A closer look at Korea

One detail can change the picture.

Han Kang at a Nobel Week press conference in Stockholm on 6 December 2024.

K-TODAY6 MIN READ

How Korean literature becomes a book in another language

Follow Han Kang, Bora Chung and Hwang Sok-yong through their translators, shared revisions, publishing samples and the work between manuscript and book.

Noraebang neon signs in Daehangno, Seoul, photographed on 2 September 2011. Paul Stafford / TravelMag.com.

How a noraebang turns a recorded song into your voice

Inside a Korean singing room, song selection, queues and key controls meet the less visible work of making accompaniments and maintaining a repertoire.

Rice mixed with vegetables and mushrooms in a white bowl

Why prepare everything separately for a meal you will mix?

Bibimbap begins long before a spoon rearranges its colours. Vegetables, rice, sauce and the heat of a stone bowl each need their own preparation.

Round dumplings on a steaming tray with filling visible at the top

Why does the same dumpling change between steamer and frying pan?

Wrapper thickness, filling moisture, a sealed edge and the final heat connect the making of one mandu to steaming, frying and soup.

Cloudy makgeolli being poured from a kettle into a small cup

How does white rice become a cloudy drink?

Makgeolli begins with more than rice and water. Starter enzymes, yeast, the preparation of grain and the handling of a finished bottle all shape the drink.

How the lines of Korean jogakbo are made

From choosing remnants and enclosing seam allowances to contemporary work with walls and light, follow the construction and changing uses of Korean patchwork cloths.

Colored paper stacked in an Insadong shop

How bark becomes a sheet of Korean hanji

Follow steaming, alkaline cooking, beating, sheet formation and finishing to see how Korean paper becomes a window surface, a conservation material and a sculptural medium.

Interior of a PC bang in South Korea, photographed on 8 March 2020.

How a game in a Korean PC bang became an arena event

From broadband and StarCraft to television leagues, professional teams and LoL Park, trace the work that turned repeated play into a spectator culture.

Grilled pork belly on a plate with rice, kimchi and leaves

FOOD11 MIN READ

The meat cooks on the grill. Where does the meal become complete?

Korean barbecue moves from heat to a leaf, a spoonful of rice and a little paste. Following that journey reveals more than a plate of meat.

Goryeo trefoil covered box with chrysanthemums, about the twelfth century

How Korean lacquerware turns shell into light

From cloth-covered wood and two ways of cutting shell to layered lacquer: actual Goryeo, Joseon and contemporary boxes reveal the work behind the shine.

Interior passage with entrances to jjimjilbang rooms

EVERYDAY8 MIN READ

How a jjimjilbang builds the time after bathing

Keys, clothes, wet areas, roasted eggs and sikhye: a visitor’s account and actual charcoal-kiln, women-only and leisure-complex examples explain the layout.

A frame from Chris Belison’s video of BTS’s Love Yourself concert in Bangkok on 7 April 2019, showing the audience.

K-TODAY7 MIN READ

How K-pop light sticks made the audience part of the show

BTS and SEVENTEEN notices reveal how design, seat pairing, support booths and fan chants connect a handheld object with a live performance.

People demanding Park Geun-hye’s departure at Gwanghwamun on November 26, 2016

K-TODAY24 MIN READ

Why South Korean democracy keeps returning to the streets

From election fraud and police torture to the 2024 martial-law declaration, the Kisses protesters and a court attack: follow what happened, how people responded, and the judicial decisions that followed.

K-TODAY10 MIN READ

How Korean cosmetics found a place in everyday life abroad

Cushion sponges and refills, folded mask packets and overseas stock: the material journey behind K-beauty.

Bowls of kimchi and different vegetable dishes arranged together

Why does one Korean meal arrive with so many plates?

Washing and pressing greens, browning and braising tofu, building an egg roll: follow the distinct work behind small dishes and a shared dinner.

White porcelain moon jar with a short neck and a rounded body

Why is a Korean moon jar not perfectly round?

Two clay halves, a kiln that changes their shape, and a name adopted much later: the moon jar brings together the work of making a vessel and the changing ways of looking at it.

Bookshelves and a roasting machine inside a Seoul bookshop café. Photographed 9 October 2015.

EVERYDAY10 MIN READ

How did Korean cafés become places to spend time?

Dabang order markers, coffee mix, roasteries and a converted Seongsu factory: follow the work preparing a cup and changing a place.

Jeju haenyeo with float and collecting net. karendotcom127, 2007.

DISCOVER9 MIN READ

Jeju’s haenyeo bring more than seafood back from the sea

Floats, nets, iron tools, shore routes and boat journeys: follow the equipment, shared work and changing songs of Jeju’s women divers.

Korean and Latin keys on a keyboard. © revi, January 23, 2018.

K-TODAY9 MIN READ

How Hangul travelled from letters to the world’s screens

An explanatory volume, newspaper machinery, spelling meetings and character data: the practical work that delivers writing to another reader.

Editorial image of gimbap in a metal lunchbox on a park bench

How a roll of gimbap became a meal

Cookbooks from 1966 and 1976, specialist-shop preparation, frozen manufacturing and overseas customer votes trace the work inside a portable meal.

Hearth and iron cooking pot. © revi, 31 January 2014.

EVERYDAY9 MIN READ

Why did the Korean home become warm from the floor up?

Channels, supported stones and drying earth came before circulating water. Follow the work that made and maintained ondol, and the changes to rooms, windows and furniture.

AI image of a broad pan with red-sauced cakes, fish cake and scallions

Tteokbokki lives through different times under one name

From soy-seasoned beef and rice cakes to Sindang-dong pots, a vendor’s tray, rosé sauce and microwave cups: the work behind changing meals.

Entrance and customers at 7-Eleven Muan International Airport

EVERYDAY9 MIN READ

A Korean day inside one convenience store

Morning delivery, dates, triangular gimbap, a parcel scale and evening noodles: follow a small shop through the movements of its goods.

AI-generated editorial image of an onggi jar platform.

Korean flavour begins before the meal, in a jar

From cooked beans and meju to separating brine, choosing a soup texture and the grain route of gochujang: the earlier work behind tonight’s seasoning.

The story stopped turning pages and began flowing down

From early online comics and episode production to a new character in Sweet Home and the sound work of Moving: how one story is made again.

AI image of a green bottle, ceramic carafe and empty glasses on a wooden shelf by a window

Soju is older than the green bottle

Follow the still, Andong’s factory and inherited skills, grain restrictions, modern distillation and overseas product lists.

Editorial scene of plain and red-sauced chicken on one tray

How a box of Korean chicken becomes a shared evening

Whole roasting, orders by part, coatings, sauce and half-and-half packaging follow the work of dividing, cooking and moving a bird.

AI-generated editorial illustration of gim and rice

How a sheet of gim moved from the rice table to a snack packet

From cultivation nets to sheet forming and a second roast: the work behind Korean seaweed changes its shape, packaging and the way a hand reaches for it.

AI image of beef and side dishes around a charcoal grill

FOOD9 MIN READ

Hanwoo names the cattle. Why do we think of the taste?

From working cattle to the meat counter: breeding records, grades and the different decisions behind grilling, soup and bulgogi.

AI depiction of broth noodles with egg and scallions in a saucepan

FOOD9 MIN READ

How a packet of ramyeon reached the world’s tables

From the 1958 invention and Korea’s first production in 1963 to broth, sauce, cups, overseas factories and 2025 exports.

AI-generated editorial image of kimchi preparation.

Kimchi is a food. Kimjang is a shared practice.

Follow salting, rinsing and filling into buried jars, smaller containers and shared meals: the concrete work behind a kimjang day.

STYLE9 MIN READ

Hanbok: a garment and a way of wearing it.

From ribbon tying and quilted layers to brooches, uniforms and alterations: actual garments show how hanbok making meets another occasion of wear.

A small living space with a window-side table and bed

EVERYDAY10 MIN READ

Smaller households, a different picture of Korean life.

Taking a purchase through several meals, retrieving washing after dinner, and navigating a hospital visit: follow the 2025 household figures into domestic work and actual routes to help.

Apartment buildings around a landscaped courtyard

EVERYDAY10 MIN READ

What does “a country of apartments” actually count?

65.8% of dwellings, 54.5% of households: follow the different counts, Mapo’s six-storey stairs, Yeouido’s lifts and the shells and presales that shaped life inside Korean apartments.

A low-rise coastal neighborhood overlooking a harbor

DISCOVER10 MIN READ

Korea is bigger than Seoul.

Ports, factories and neighbouring homes in Ulsan; different roads connecting schools and markets in Jeju. Follow ordinary connections to see Korea’s several centres beyond Seoul.

Grand Drum Ensemble, National Dance Company of Korea. Sejong Center, Seoul, 22 August 2006.

K-TODAY9 MIN READ

K-culture has more than one doorway.

A TWICE recording, a translated book, vertical comics, NANTA, noodles and a compact: follow the work behind six entrances.

Sloping Bukchon street and wooden hanok door

What makes a cultural work feel Korean?

From Bukchon walls to a painted tiger and multilingual dialogue, KPop Demon Hunters and Pachinko show familiar materials beginning another life.

Main entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London

K-TODAY7 MIN READ

Popularity does not mean everyone feels the same.

Readers in Catania, a Japanese Misaeng jury, Han Kang and a London exhibition reveal responses more particular than a single approval score.