Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time Podcast

Jiwon Yoon, Ph.D.

Explore Korean history, culture, society, food, books, politics, and everyday life through stories rich with context and heart. Hosted by Dr. Jiwon Yoon and developed with Jihyun Lee, this podcast helps listeners understand Korea beyond headlines, stereotypes, and trends. yoonjiwon.substack.com

  1. 1d ago

    The Lunch Tray Grows Up

    Twenty-three years ago, my husband’s job at LG in Korea came with a place to live—and three meals a day. His monthly dormitory fee, including breakfast, was ₩21,000 (about $18 at the time). Lunch and dinner at work were free. We sometimes spent more on a single date-night meal. In this episode, we explore how meals and housing became part of some Korean employers’ role, and why a job seeker might love the cafeteria while getting nervous about a company that calls itself “like a family.” The companion essay, The Lunch Tray Grows Up, explores workplace cafeterias, who helps pay for lunch, and who gets to eat there. This episode follows the history and expectations behind that support. Read and listen for the whole picture; my husband’s dormitory makes its debut here. For more on the greeting mentioned in this episode, read my earlier essay about “Have you eaten?”. Curious about more everyday stories from Korea? Browse my visual essay archive and pick a picture that catches your eye. A quick note on what’s next: At the very end of this recording, you’ll hear me tease our next topic as Korean convenience stores. Right after I turned off the mic and scheduled the episode, I decided to take a fun detour first. Next time, we are following Korea’s meal culture onto film and drama sets with celebrity food trucks and coffee trucks. (Thankfully, Korean convenience stores are open 24/7, so they will still be waiting for us after!) Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode 안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; glad to see you 평택 (Pyeongtaek) — A city south of Seoul, where my husband worked for LG 서울 (Seoul) — South Korea’s capital 기숙사 (gisuksa) — A dormitory; here, employee accommodation with assigned rooms and some shared facilities 사택 (sataek) — Company-provided housing; often a separate home allocated to an employee, sometimes with their family 가족 같은 회사 (gajok gateun hoesa) — “A company that feels like family”; a phrase that can suggest warmth or raise concerns about unclear expectations 밥 (bap) — Cooked rice; also a meal 밥 먹었어요? (bap meogeosseoyo?) — “Have you eaten?”; also a way to check in and express care 인크루트 (Inkeuruteu) — Incruit, the Korean recruitment platform whose survey is discussed here 회식 (hoesik) — A meal or social gathering with coworkers, often outside regular working hours 구내식당 (gunae sikdang) — An on-site cafeteria, such as one in a workplace 식대 (sikdae) — Meal expenses; in this episode, a meal allowance provided by an employer 식권 (sikgwon) — A meal ticket or voucher, issued on paper or digitally 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today 다음 주에 만나요 (daeum jue mannayo) — See you next week 💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions. Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Oct 13

    🎧The Cost of a Hot Lunch

    A school lunch can arrive on time even when the people making it are struggling. How did South Korea’s school kitchen workers get others to listen? This episode follows the workers whose accounts of illness helped prompt investigations and lung cancer screening, and the unions, researchers, and parents who brought kitchen conditions into public view. There’s also a small thought experiment: one worker is off sick, the ingredients have arrived, and the lunch bell shows no interest in rescheduling. The companion newsletter, The Cost of a Hot Lunch, examines working conditions and what needs to change. Here, the focus is on the people who got others to pay attention. Read one, listen to the other, and you get the whole picture. There’s more to this lunch than fits on one tray. Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode 안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; nice to meet you / glad to see you 급식 (geupsik) — meals provided by an institution; school meals in this episode 급식실 (geupsiksil) — a school cafeteria or school meal facility 산재 (sanjae) — a work-related injury or illness; short for 산업재해 산업재해 (saneop jaehae) — occupational injury or disease; the full term behind 산재 조리흄 (jori hyum) — cooking fumes; particles and gases released during cooking 대체인력 (daeche illyeok) — replacement or substitute staff who cover another worker’s absence 정성 (jeongseong) — the care and sincere effort someone puts into what they do 정치하는엄마들 (Jeongchihaneun Eommadeul) — literally “Mothers Who Do Politics”; the Korean civic group known as Political Mamas 구내식당 (gunaesikdang) — an in-house cafeteria, such as one serving employees at a workplace 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today, too 다음 주에 만나요 (daeum jue mannayo) — See you next week 💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions. Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Oct 6

    🎧The Women Behind Korea’s School Lunch Trays

    The same school cook might be called ‘teacher,’ ‘auntie,’ or ‘ajumma,’ and each name can change what we notice about her work. In this episode, we follow the words spoken around Korean school lunch—from a serving counter to a workers’ strike—and ask what happens when care becomes someone’s job. The companion essay, The Women Behind Korea’s School Lunch Trays, follows the skill behind the meal. Here, we listen to the language around it. Together, they give you the whole picture. Curious about more everyday stories from Korea? Browse my visual essay archive and pick a picture that catches your eye. Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode 안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; glad to see you 저기요 (jeogiyo) — Excuse me; a way to get someone’s attention 선생님 (seonsaengnim) — Teacher; also a respectful way to address someone who is not officially a teacher 이모 (imo) — Maternal aunt; also “auntie” when addressing an unrelated woman 이모님 (imo-nim) — A more respectful form of imo 조리사님 (jorisa-nim) — A respectful way to address a licensed cook 아줌마 (ajumma) — A middle-aged woman; can sound familiar or dismissive, depending on context 밥하는 아줌마 (bap haneun ajumma) — Roughly, “a woman who cooks meals”; used dismissively in the dispute discussed here 정성 (jeongseong) — Attentive effort, sincerity, or care put into something 엄마의 정성 (eomma-ui jeongseong) — A mother’s attentive care and effort -님 (-nim) — An honorific added to a name or title to show respect 도을순 (Do Eul-sun) — The school meal worker and union leader discussed in this episode 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today 다음 주에 만나요 (daeum jue mannayo) — See you next week 💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions. Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Sep 22

    🎧Reading a School Lunch Backward

    In a Korean school, “teacher” can be someone who plans your lunch. And the person cooking it might end up competing on Netflix. Why does South Korea have nutrition teachers? This episode explores the people behind Korean school lunches: dietitians, teachers, cooks, and the different kinds of expertise their titles recognize. Along the way, we meet Kim Min-ji, whose school menus became an online sensation, and Lee Mi-yeong, the “Master of School Meals” from Culinary Class Wars. Their stories raise a bigger question: what makes everyday cafeteria skill worthy of public recognition? Curious to see the school lunches that made Kim Min-ji famous? I shared some of them in my previous article. This is the companion to this week’s newsletter, with a different seat at the table. The essay reads a Korean children’s book through the labor of preparing 1,000 lunches. Here, we follow the job titles, the Korean–American differences, and the people who became famous for feeding others. Each stands on its own; together, they offer a fuller picture. Read the companion essay: Reading a School Lunch Backward. A quick scheduling note: the newsletter and podcast take the final week of each month off for research and longer writing. Both return on October 6. Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode 안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; nice to meet you / glad to see you. 우리 학교 급식은 어떻게 만들어질까요? (uri hakgyo geupsigeun eotteoke mandeureojilkkayo?) — How Is Our School Lunch Made?; the Korean children’s book discussed in the companion newsletter. 급식 (geupsik) — An institutionally provided meal; in this episode, school meals or school lunch. 영양 (yeongyang) — Nutrition. 영양 선생님 (yeongyang seonsaengnim) — A respectful way of addressing a school’s nutrition professional; the phrase alone does not establish formal teacher status. 영양사 (yeongyangsa) — A licensed dietitian in South Korea. 영양교사 (yeongyang gyosa) — A nutrition teacher: a licensed dietitian with a teaching credential who holds a formal teaching position. 조리사 (jorisa) — A cook; in this context, a professional involved in preparing school meals. 조리실무사 (jori silmusa) — A school kitchen or food-service worker involved in tasks such as preparation, serving, cleaning, and sanitation; duties vary by workplace. 선생님 (seonsaengnim) — Teacher; also a respectful form of address used beyond the teaching profession. 조리사 선생님들 (jorisa seonsaengnimdeul) — A respectful way of referring to the cooks as a group; -deul marks the plural. 교사 (gyosa) — Teacher; here, the formal professional role. 식생활 교육 (siksaenghwal gyoyuk) — Education about food, eating habits, and dietary practices; rendered as “food and nutrition education” in this episode. 흑백요리사 (Heukbaek Yorisa) — Literally “Black-and-White Chefs”; the Korean title of Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars. 급식대가 (geupsik daega) — “Master of School Meals”; Lee Mi-yeong’s nickname on Culinary Class Wars. 교육공무직원 (gyoyuk gongmujigwon) — Education support employees; an employment category distinct from teachers and civil servants, which can include workers on indefinite-term contracts. 김민지 (Kim Min-ji) — The school dietitian discussed in this episode, known for her widely shared cafeteria menus. 이미영 (Lee Mi-yeong) — The school cafeteria cook known as “Master of School Meals” on Culinary Class Wars. 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today, too. 10월 첫째 주에 만나요 (siwol cheotjjae jue mannayo) — See you in the first week of October. 💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions! Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Sep 15

    🎧The Lunch Korea Built

    Before Korea’s stainless-steel lunch trays, there were dosirak: lunches packed at dawn, compared at shared desks, and, in some classrooms, inspected by teachers checking the grains in a child’s rice. After a month of research, conversations, and memory-gathering, I trace the lived history behind Korean school lunch: the kindergarten that assigned my mother a different side dish to pack each day; the coal stove in my fourth-grade classroom; the families who packed two lunchboxes because school lasted into the night; and the strange moment when a school-lunch referendum led Seoul’s mayor to resign. This is the audio companion to this week’s newsletter essay, but it is not simply the newsletter read aloud. The essay follows the public system Korea built, from postwar relief to universal free meals. Here, I get into the memories, detours, lunchbox inspections, and stories that did not fit neatly into a paragraph. Read one, listen to the other, and you get the whole picture. Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode 안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; nice to meet you / glad to see you 떡볶이 (tteokbokki) — spicy rice cakes 김치 (kimchi) — fermented vegetables, most often napa cabbage, seasoned with chili pepper, garlic, and other ingredients 김 (gim) — dried, roasted seaweed sheets, often eaten with rice 보온 도시락 (bo-on dosirak) — an insulated, stacked lunchbox; literally, “heat-retaining lunchbox” 김치찌개 (kimchi jjigae) — kimchi stew 주번 (jubeon) — a student assigned rotating classroom duties for the week 매점 (maejeom) — a small school shop or snack store 야자 (yaja) — short for yagan jayu haksseup (야간 자율 학습), or evening self-study 중학교 (junghakgyo) — middle school; in Korea, it includes grades 7 through 9 평준화 (pyeongjunhwa) — the high-school equalization policy, under which student placement is largely determined by lottery rather than school-specific entrance exams 급식 (geupsik) — an institutionally provided meal; commonly used for school lunch 나쁜 투표, 착한 거부 (nappeun tupyo, chakhan geobu) — “Bad vote, good refusal”; the boycott slogan used during Seoul’s 2011 school-lunch referendum 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today, too 다음 주에 만나요 (daeum jue mannayo) — See you next week 💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions. Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

    🎧The Lunch Korea Built

  6. Sep 8

    🎧A New Season Begins With School Lunch

    A Korean school lunch tray looks simple: rice, soup, kimchi, and a few side dishes. Follow it far enough, though, and it leads straight into politics, invisible labor, hagwon schedules, convenience-store dinners, child poverty, and the very different ways childhood can look depending on the family you are born into. That is where this new season is headed. Also in this episode: I return after a two-month break, explain the podcast’s new Tuesday rhythm, and introduce a project I have been quietly building all summer—an online program about taegyo, the Korean tradition of prenatal care and education. This episode is the audio companion to this week’s newsletter essay, but it is not an audiobook version of it. The newsletter has the structure and argument; the podcast follows the research trails, cultural details, and stories that refused to fit neatly into a paragraph. Read one, listen to the other, and you get the whole picture. New here? Or looking for something to explore between episodes? Browse the complete visual archive of Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time. 💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions. Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode 안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; nice to meet you / glad to see you 태교 (taegyo) — Often translated as “prenatal education”; a Korean tradition of prenatal care, family preparation, and cultivating a supportive environment for pregnancy 급식 (geupsik) — An institutionally provided meal; in this episode, it refers specifically to Korean school lunch 학원 (hagwon) — A private after-school academy, often attended for subjects such as English, mathematics, music, sports, or test preparation 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today, too 다음 주에 만나요 (daeum jue mannayo) — See you next week Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 16

    🎧65. I Said I Was Taking a Break. Here’s the Whole Story.

    Yes, I did say I was taking a break last week. And yet, here I am in your feed again. (Life comes at you fast, especially during the summer.) In this special, highly personal episode of Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time, I am sitting down with a cup of coffee to share the honest story behind my summer hiatus. No formal essays today, just a warm, behind-the-scenes chat about what happens when life, parenting, and independent writing collide. Read the companion newsletter here: I Said I Was Taking a Break. Here’s the Whole Story.This week’s newsletter and podcast cover almost the same ground, so there’s no need to do both unless you want to. Choose the version that fits your day: read with coffee, listen on a walk, or save it for later. This is truly the final episode of Season 1. See you soon for Season 2! Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

    🎧65. I Said I Was Taking a Break. Here’s the Whole Story.

  8. Jul 2

    🎧64.The People Inside Convenience

    What if convenience has a night shift? In this Season 1 finale of Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time, I look at Korea’s culture of speed through the people who make everyday convenience possible: delivery workers, warehouse workers, cleaners, cafeteria workers, and others whose labor is visible as service but often invisible as work. This episode is not a reading of the newsletter. Think of it as the companion route: same destination, different road. The essay and podcast work together to show the bigger picture behind Korea’s fast delivery culture, invisible labor, platform work, night shifts, and the hidden systems beneath everyday comfort. Read the companion newsletter here: The People Inside Convenience: Behind Korea’s fastest comforts is a labor market that keeps making workers visible as service, but invisible as people. This is the final episode of Season 1. I’ll be taking a summer pause in July and August, and Season 2 will begin in September. Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode * 안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida) — Hello; nice to meet you / glad to see you * 배달 (baedal) — delivery; often used for food delivery or app-based delivery services in Korea * 택배 (taekbae) — parcel delivery; package delivery * 택배기사 (taekbae gisa) — parcel delivery worker; courier; literally “parcel delivery driver/worker” * 사장님 (sajangnim) — boss; business owner; also used as a polite form of address. In this episode, I talk about how calling a worker “boss” can sound respectful while also shifting risk and responsibility onto them. * 빨리빨리 (ppalli-ppalli) — “quickly, quickly” or “hurry, hurry”; often used to describe Korea’s culture of speed, though I use it carefully because it can become an oversimplified cliché. * 액화노동 (aekhwa nodong) — “melting labor” or “liquid labor”; Dr. Seung-yoon Lee’s concept for work whose boundaries are melting between employee and self-employed, workplace and platform, working time and waiting time, boss and algorithm. * 보이지 않는 노동자들 (boiji anneun nodongjadeul) — “Invisible Workers”; the main title of Dr. Seung-yoon Lee’s Korean-language book discussed in this episode. * 경계 없는 노동, 흔들리는 삶 (gyeonggye eomneun nodong, heundeullineun salm) — “Boundless Labor, Unstable Lives”; the subtitle of Dr. Lee’s book. * 쿠팡 (Kupang / Coupang) — Coupang, one of Korea’s largest e-commerce and logistics companies * 장덕준 (Jang Deok-joon) — a 27-year-old worker at a Coupang logistics center whose death became an important labor case in Korea * 박미숙 (Park Mi-sook) — Jang Deok-joon’s mother, who became a public voice demanding accountability after her son’s death * 후 안옌 (Hu Anyan) — the Korean rendering of Hu Anyan’s name; Hu is the Chinese writer of I Deliver Parcels in Beijing * 나는 북경의 택배기사입니다 (naneun Bukgyeong-ui taekbae gisamnida) — “I Am a Parcel Delivery Worker in Beijing”; the Korean title of Hu Anyan’s book, published in English as I Deliver Parcels in Beijing * 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida) — Thank you for listening today as well * 건강한 여름 보내시고, 9월에 다시 만나요 (geonganghan yeoreum bonaesigo, guwol-e dasi mannayo) — Have a healthy summer, and I’ll see you again in September Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

    🎧64.The People Inside Convenience
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Ratings & Reviews

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out of 5
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About

Explore Korean history, culture, society, food, books, politics, and everyday life through stories rich with context and heart. Hosted by Dr. Jiwon Yoon and developed with Jihyun Lee, this podcast helps listeners understand Korea beyond headlines, stereotypes, and trends. yoonjiwon.substack.com

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