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[HanCinema's Digest] Culture Corner

The Washington Post minds the generation gap in North Korea in relation to the country's persistent propaganda, Robert Neff tracks tigers in Joseon for The Korea Times, XXL gives props to 10 Korean rappers on the rise, and South Korea's new president wants to eliminate the need for job applicants to include a photograph of themselves in new campaign.

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"In North Korea, a generation gap grows behind the propaganda"

Tim Sullivan, writing for The Washington Post, examines the role of propaganda in perpetuating North Korea's hermetic culture around state reverence. "In this profoundly isolated country, a place that can still sometimes appear frozen in a Stalinist netherworld, a generational divide is quietly growing behind the relentless propaganda". Unlike the expressive and free South, with its K-pop and love of artistic expression, the youth in the DPRK have to adhere to a strict code of conduct that reinforces and perpetuates the country's oppressive ideology.

...READ ON THE WASHINGTON POST

"[Joseon Images] Tigers in Seoul"

The Korea Times is running a great historical series by Robert Neff about interesting aspects of country's history. In this article, Neff explores how tigers -- "fond of human flesh" -- used to terrorize the Joseon people. There are a number of interesting stories about tigers in Korea's Joseon era; here you'll learn about how, for example, one palace that was supposedly abandoned due to a troublesome tiger that roamed the graveyard. There were even reports of 'big cats' in the sewers and around Mt. Nam, no doubt causing residents and foreign visitors serious distress.

...READ ON THE KOREA TIMES

"The New New: 10 Korean Rappers You Should Know"

XXL puts 10 of South Korea's biggest up-and-coming rappers in the spotlight. As writer Peter A. Berry notes, hip-hop/rap "began spreading through South Korea after the fall of the nation's authoritarian military government at the end of the 1980s". Today, hip-hop has become a well-supported genre and has filtered into other types of modern music. Click on through to find out who these rising rappers are and to get a taste of the noises they're making.

...READ ON XXL

"South Korea launches 'blind hiring' to tackle appearance-obsessed culture"

Part of preparing to apply for a job in Korea involves making sure that you have a great photo of yourself to accompany your application. The culture around providing a picture of yourself, however, has been put under some serious pressure over the last year, but the new president, Moon Jae-in, is trying to change the practice through a new campaign called "blind hiring". What do you think about including a photo when applying for a job, and of Moon's new plan to counter it? Let us know in the comment section below.

...WATCH ON YOUTUBE

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