Korean. American. Podcast Daniel and Jun

This week Jun and Daniel discuss a few of the biggest headlines in Korean news during the month of May 2024: Min Hee Jin’s ongoing legal battle with HYBE, Naver being asked by the Japanese government to give up control of LINE, famous celebrities Psick Univ and Kang Hyung-wook getting canceled, and the Korean government’s attempted ban on overseas direct purchasing. Why does there appear to be such a stark contrast between how Koreans are reacting to Min Hee Jin, compared to non-Koreans? What...

This week Jun and Daniel discuss Daniel’s recent experience attending an event at his 4-year-old’s preschool– sports day! Sports day (운동회) in Korea is a classic elementary school tradition that would evoke very fond memories to most anyone who grew up there. For Americans, imagine field day, but even bigger, more official, and standardized across all schools. What were the classic events that all Koreans would know? How were children typically divided up? What is humorous about how the score ...

This week Jun and Daniel discuss the housing payment system of jeonse (전세), or key money deposit, that is unique to South Korea amongst all OECD countries. Roughly 50% of renters in Korea are living with a jeonse, and in 2022 the average jeonse price in Seoul was $500,000. For the first few months after moving to Korea, Daniel had to ask almost every Korean person he met about the jeonse system, because of how foreign and unsustainable it seemed. What is a jeonse, and how does it work? What a...

This week Jun and Daniel have another guest interview with their friend and former co-worker, Alex, who is a frequent visitor to Korea. This time, Alex is visiting Korea to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday. What is something that the cities of Ilsan and Bundang share? What was the first food Alex and his wife sought out upon landing? What are some ways that Koreans are innovative, food-wise? What are some things Alex thought was Korean growing up, but is actually Japanese? What does Al...

This week Jun and Daniel discuss the topic of milestones and celebrations. As Daniel recently passed a significant birthday, our hosts take this opportunity to compare what are the big life events in Korea and America, as well as what is typically done to celebrate. What does your average children’s birthday party look like in Korea, and what is one surprising difference from America? Are birthday parties themselves as big of a deal in Korea as they are in America? What surprised Daniel about...

This week Jun and Daniel discuss a couple major trending news headlines in Korea. First, Min Hee-Jin (CEO of ADOR, HYBE’s sub-label for the K-pop girl group NewJeans) held a press conference to address her dispute with HYBE (Korean entertainment company behind BTS and other K-pop groups) which went viral for its authenticity and candor about the industry. Despite neither of our hosts being big K-pop fans, they do their best to break down the story for the audience. Why exactly did the press c...