[HanCinema's Digest] Culture Corner

Korea's work culture may not be changing fast enough for the younger generation, The Korea Herald explores the capital to reveal the history of Korea's love of literature, food unites North Korean refugees close to home, and Seoul plans to build a 'comfort women' museum.

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"South Korea's Brain Drain"

Is South Korea's infamous work culture driving young people away? The country's work culture is evolving in the right direction, but it may not be happening fast enough for the younger generation: "Ask most Seoulites in their 20s and 30s about living in Korea and you're likely to hear a litany of complaints", writes Ben Forney for The Diplomat. "This trait is especially acute in the country's highly educated youths, particularly amongst those who have worked or studied abroad".

...READ ON THE DIPLOMAT

"[Seoul Saunter] Dongdaemun, where old books and new ideas coexist"

Korean literature has been in the news a lot more over the past year or so for all the right reasons-starting with Han Kang's award-winning novel, "The Vegetarian", which one the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. But as the world starts to take notice of this literary aspect of the Korean Wave, it's interesting to discover the history of Korea's love of books. In this article on The Korea Herald, you'll hear about Seoul's famous "used book street" near Dongdaemun station, just one part of the city the appears "to have escaped the passage of time".

...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD

"What even exiled North Koreans miss about home"

Today, there are around 30,000 North Koreans refugees living on the other side of the DMZ. Some of them travel from around the country to eat at Choi's unassuming restaurant: "They come for the potato pancakes, the blood sausage and, very often, for a fried street food that many dreamed of back when nearly everyone they knew was hungry. More than anything, though, they come for memories the food brings back of an outcast homeland they may never see again".

...READ ON CBS NEWS

"South Korea to build 'comfort women' museum in Seoul"

South Korea's government recently announced that a museum will be built to remember Korea's so-called "comfort women", wartime sex slaves used by Japanese troops during their occupation of the peninsula during WWII: "Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women - mostly from Korea but also other parts of Asia including China - were forced to work at Japanese army brothels across the region during the 1939-1945 conflict". 38 survivors are still alive today.

...READ ON THE STRAIT TIMES