Smoking habit data released in 2016 reports that despite recent price increases for a pack of cigarettes in South Korea, more than 20% of young smokers will continue smoking. To find out what those results mean, Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland spoke with University of Illinois at Chicago Health Policy Center director Dr. Frank Chaloupka & Amer ...…

The Nikkei Asian Review recently published a piece on rather surprising Moon Jae-in supporters leading up to the special election he won to replace former President Park Geun-hye who current remains jailed following her impeachment. Moon's support from this group was so surprising, it's even been dubbed "the great sensation". Who are they? Nort ...…

ConsumerAffairs.com writer Amy Martyn recently wrote a piece titled "Booze, bribes and propaganda: The company that promises 'safe' travel in North Korea" regarding the tour company American college student Otto Warmbier took (Young Pioneer Tours) before being detained for allegedly stealing a poster. After being sentenced to 15 years of hard l ...…

Barry Welsh's "Seoul Book and Culture Club" recently played host to author Michael Breen, who discussed his newly released book "The New Koreans". To better understand the text & the Q&A session contained in this podcast, in our previous episode, Korea FM spoke with Breen about "The New Koreans" & why it was written. Now, in the final chapter o ...…

Michael Breen is a writer & consultant who first came to South Korea as a correspondent in 1982. He's covered North & South Korea for several newspapers, including the Guardian, The Times & the Washington Times. Few are more knowledgeable about Korea than Michael Breen, a trained journalist who's lived here for many years & whose connections go ...…

A 2016 education report from The Economist asks if higher wages or less working hours make a better teacher. While South Korea has one of the highest wages for public teachers in the OECD, public teachers in the ROK also spend double the average amount of time on administrative tasks. Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland spoke with Economist data j ...…

Seoul-based reporter Steven Borowiec recently wrote an article for Aljazeera English titled "Why young South Koreans are turning away from religion". Borowiec spoke with Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland to discuss the personal stories & data from his research, as well as the educational & job pressures that appear to be behind the trend. Read m ...…

Recently, Seoul-based think tank The Asia Institute held a peace march in the capital. The event was open to the public, & peace activist Yoh Kawanaka was invited to travel to Seoul from Japan to participate. Kawanaka spoke with Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland to discuss the peace march, her wish for better relations between South Korea & Japa ...…

The Asia Institute is a Seoul-based think tank that addresses global issues with a focus on Asia, committed to presenting a balanced perspective that takes into account the concerns of the entire region for current trends in technology, international relations, the economy & the environment. Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland has covered several ...…

Recently a column appeared on NKNews.org that directly made light of how US President Donald Trump has influenced what’s going on here on the Korean Peninsula, & it didn’t paint the new president in a very good light. Under the title “How Donald Trump is seriously undermining the South Korea-U.S. alliance”, the article begins with a description ...…

Recently, over 1,000 foreign runners participated in the Pyongyang, North Korea Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon. Held every year since 1981, the race only began accepting participants from outside North Korea in 2014, & the very next year, Laura Imkamp was one of those who traveled to North Korea to participate. The Shanghai-based Germ ...…

Last year, the head of Singapore's Health Promotion Board announced new plans to fight diabetes that focus on educating the public on the health risks of eating white rice based on research data from the Harvard School of Public Health that links daily consumption of white rice to an increased risk of developing diabetes. Korea FM reporter Chan ...…

Earlier this month, a panel discussion titled “The Glass Zoo: Women in Journalism” was jointly organized by media start-ups Korea Exposé & Mediati, moderated by Korea Expose managing editor Haeryun Kang & Mediati manager Mijin Lee. Much of the audio of that discussion is contained in this podcast episode as well as a brief interview with panel ...…

A US aircraft carrier & other vessels appear to finally be on their way to the Korean Peninsula, a human rights group is calling on China to not force 8 North Korean refugees back to the DPRK, and a South Korean company has come under fire for their depiction of differences between Korean and foreign intestines. All that & more on the latest Ko ...…

Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s presidential career began & ended with firsts, & while countless pieces have been written on the protests that led to her removal from power, one recent writeup from the Canadian weekly current affairs magazine Maclean's makes the case that that South Korean youth, & the forces they control, are per ...…

This Saturday, April 22nd the “March For Science” will take place around the world as “the first step of a global movement to defend the vital role science plays in… health, safety, economies, and governments.” It’s no coincidence that date is also Earth Day, & alongside the main march in Washington, D.C., more than 500 cities around the world ...…

China warns there will be “no winner” in an armed North Korean conflict that could start “at any moment”, Vice President Mike Pence will arrive in Seoul on Sunday, & despite an economic boycott over THAAD, South Korean exports to China have risen. All that & more on the latest Korean News Update podcast episode from Korea FM.Stream the episode ...…

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rising with the arrival of a US aircraft carrier, overseas voting is up, ex-president Park Geun-hye could soon be indicted, & coffee is king. All that & more on the latest Korean News Update podcast episode from Korea FM.Stream the episode online at http://www.spreaker.com/user/seoulitup/tensions-rising-on-k ...…

The concentration of fine dust particles in South Korea’s air is the worst since 2015, the ROK has test fired a new long range ballistic missile, a Busan-based expat has been thrust into the spotlight after alleging discrimination by South Korean police, & an iconic Hollywood symbol will soon be replicated in Seoul. All that & more on the lates ...…

Colombian Leo Mendoza has lived in South Korea for 16 years. He's married to Korean & is a well known member of the Busan community for his work with a local dog shelter. Recently, he & his wife were shopping at Costco, & according to Mendoza, he was attacked by an older Korean man after a disagreement over how he & his wife spoke to the man's ...…

Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been arrested, the salvaged Sewol ferry has arrived at port, Seoul’s air quality is the worst ever recorded, & the monthly pay gap between Korean workers has reached an all time high. All that & more on the latest Korean News Update podcast episode from Korea FM.Stream the episode online at http:/ ...…

Seoul-based reporter Jason Strother recently wrote for the BBC that "while not an obvious choice for the jet-setting expat, South Korea’s high-energy capital has a lot to offer foreign professionals." Strother joins Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland to discuss the pros & cons of Seoul's expat lifestyle & how that differs from typical expat favor ...…

Bones found on the Sewol ferry are not those of missing victims, the European Parliament says South Korea hasn’t abided by standards related to freedom of association, five kilometers of Gangnam road & streets will soon be a no smoking zone, & the body of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s assassinated half brother is heading to Pyongyang. All t ...…

The Sewol Ferry has been raised and will arrive at a port on the South Korean mainland later this week, satellite images have captured vehicle movement at a North Korean nuclear test site, despite the Chinese boycott of Korean tourism one popular travel destination is seeing a boom, and the number of South Korean marriages has reached its lowes ...…

In June of 2016, American English teachers & Fulbright English Teaching Assistants from around South Korea gathered at the Seoul Global Cultural Center in Myeong-dong to share their thoughts & cultural talents at the Black Culture & History Festival. Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland spoke with event organizers & attendees to get their thoughts ...…

Former President Park Geun-hye says she will honor prosecutors’ request to answer questions regarding the scandal that removed her from office, animal rights activists have accused Park of animal neglect for leaving 9 dogs in the presidential residence, a court has temporarily banned the use of a state-authored history textbook, & nearly half o ...…

To prepare for the upcoming 2018 Pyeongchang winter olympics, South Korea is investing in both infrastructure & athletes, with one sport in particular making headlines for its addition of foreign-born players. Last year, Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland spoke with Korean Ice Hockey Association international coordinator Kwan Choi about the six N ...…

Several journalists have been attacked by pro-Park Geun-hye supporters in the aftermath of the ruling that removed her from power, after vacating the presidential residence the now former president says “the truth will emerge,” & a video of an expert on South Korea being interrupted by his children during a live interview has created hilarity & ...…

South Korea’s Constitutional Court has permanently removed President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal, triggering an automatic presidential election to be held in 60 days. All that & more on the latest Korean News Update podcast episode from Korea FM.Stream the episode online at http://www.spreaker.com/user/seoulitup/korean-n ...…

It's no secret that South Korea has an obsession with fried chicken & beer, but last year's article from Canadian expat & Vice writer Dave Hazzan brings the phenomenon into focus by calling South Koreans the "undisputed Asian masters of chicken." Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland spoke with Hazzan to learn just how far the ROK's appetite for chi ...…

North Korea says US bases in Japan were the target of its most recent ballistic missile test, China is trying to punish South Korea’s economy for THAAD, and a new Korean television series, with zombies, will be released new year. All that & more on the latest Korean News Update podcast from Korea FM. Stream the episode online at http://www.spre ...…

The de facto head of Samsung has been indicted on bribery & embezzlement connected to the Park Geun-hye corruption scandal, North Korea wants custody of the body of leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother, South Korea’s largest dog meat market is closing & a South Korean musician worried about paying her rent sold an award she won… live on stage. All ...…

President Park Geun-hye will not appear at the final hearing for her impeachment following protests by hundreds of thousands in Seoul over the weekend, no trace of the nerve agent that killed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother has been found at the airport where he was attacked, China is blocking access to South Korean music & drama ...…

Last year, the Asia Institute invited the public to attend a free lecture by the author of the first English language book written about one of Korea's greatest historical figures. Author David Mason grew up in Michigan & has now lived in South Korea for more than three decades. He received his M.A. in Korean Studies (focusing on the History of ...…

While North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s brother, Kim Jong-nam, was recently murdered while living outside of the DPRK, he’s not the only Mount Paektu Bloodline member to have made it out of North Korea. Two articles from Anna Fifield, the Washington Post’s Tokyo Bureau Chief, have connected past defections both to & from North Korea to their pr ...…

As the Korean Wave continues to become popular in many parts of Asia, Korean dramas & music have also begun to make inroads in other parts of the world, including villages in rural Africa. Last spring, Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland spoke with Xiaochen Su, an American working in Tanzania for an agricultural micro finance institution to suppor ...…

According to a 2016 analysis of Forbes data on billionaires around the world, nearly three quarters of all South Korean billionaires inherited their wealth. Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland spoke with Caroline Freund, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute For International Economics, to learn why, despite the worldwide trend of self-made bi ...…

*** Answer the Korea FM Listener Survey for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Visit http://bit.ly/KFMSurvey ***While Seoul's Noryangjin fish market is one of the top fish markets in the entire world, the stories making the news in South Korea & abroad have lately focused on the ongoing battle between the company that owns the market & fis ...…

*** Fill out the Korea FM Listener Survey for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Visit http://bit.ly/KFMSurvey ***Emergency contraception became a hot topic in South Korea last summer after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s decision to continue its policy of no over-the-counter sales at pharmacies of what is commonly referred to as th ...…

Fill out the Korea FM Listener Survey for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Visit http://bit.ly/KFMSurveyMillions are traveling across the country for the Lunar New Year, President Park Geun-hye faces criticism for blaming her impeachment on “lies and conspiracies”, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has dropped out of the presidential race, a new ...…

Last spring, thousands of coffee lovers, shop owners & business professionals traveled to Gangnam for Coffee Expo Seoul 2016, an event organized by Coex & the Korea Coffee Association as Korea’s premier coffee industry and equipment trade show, complete with premium coffees & teas, coffee ingredients, machinery & equipment, gourmet food, & shop ...…

In March of last year, North Korea-focused NGOs gathered in Yeouido at the South Korean National Assembly to inform perspective volunteers how they can donate their skills to help North Korean refugees and improve inter-Korean relations. Organizations represented included Justice for North Korea (JFNK), Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR), Trans ...…

The summer of 2016 marked the first time a vegan festival was held in Seoul. Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland attended Vegan Festival Korea to speak with its organizers, and some of its attendees, about how new food options are making it easier than ever before to maintain a vegan lifestyle in the ROK.Rate & Review this podcast at http://bit.ly ...…

Due to suspected cheating, this summer the ACT exam was cancelled for all test-takers in South Korea & Hong Kong in what became the first cancellation of the exam to ever affect an entire country, a decision that prevented some 5,500 students from taking the exam at 56 different test centers.To find out how important the ACT is for South Korean ...…

South Korean ‘comfort women’ were recently remembered at an event in Melbourne as part of ’16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence,’ a movement that started at Rutgers University in 1991 but is now part of an official UN campaign. As it does every year, the campaign kicked off around the world on November 25th, the International Day f ...…

Since the fall of 2012, Zandari Festa has brought Korean, expat and international musical acts to Hongdae, an area of Seoul known to be the indie music capital of South Korea. This year's Zandari Festa took place from September 30 to October 3 with a reported 160 plus acts performing at a dozen venues, with what seemed to be a larger focus on b ...…

Despite fighting for several years to be made a naturalized American citizen, a US immigration judge has now ordered Korean-born American adoptee Adam Crapser to be deported from the United States. The now 41 year old was adopted from a South Korean orphanage at the age of three, but after suffering severe child abuse & neglect from two differe ...…

As temperatures rose in Seoul & the rest of the country this summer, so did public drinking & reports of intoxication & altercations with police. Korea FM’s Chance Dorland spoke with Korea Times writer Hong Dam-young about her coverage of the rise & People Unite Against Street Harassment president Brittany Hayes about the increased threat of ha ...…

The announcement earlier this year by Yuhan-Kimberly, South Korea's leading company in the domestic sanitary pad market, that it would increase the price of its pads by up to 20 percent has resulted in a social media backlash against the company & the highlighting of stories from low-income teenagers who, already unable to afford sanitary pads ...…

Earlier this year, more than 100 sinkholes were discovered in Seoul, & with an additional 246-kilometer section of the capital yet to be scanned, that number could rise to as many as 300 or more. Korea FM’s Chance Dorland spoke with David Weary, a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia, & Jessica Canaan of Florida- ...…