A Korean’s Take: Culture, Media & Everyday Life

Je Moon-jae's thumb stops unlocking his phone. That is where it starts. Within a few scenes he has been put out of his own apartment, and the systems that had been quietly confirming he existed have all agreed, at once, that he does not. Netflix's Mousetrap takes its premise from an old Korean folktale in which a rat eats a man's discarded fingernail clippings and becomes him. Adapted from the Kakao webtoon Field Mouse and directed by Kim Hong-sun, the series drops the supernatural machinery almost entirely and rebuilds the story out of passwords, credit records, and biometric locks. Ryu Jun-yeol plays both Moon-jae, a reclusive novelist who has spent years avoiding people, and the man wearing his face. The identity theft is the surface. What stayed with me was a colder question underneath it: how much of a person is actually held inside that person, and how much of it is just other people agreeing to keep recognizing them. The victim is not clean The strongest decision t...

I Live Alone (나 혼자 산다) has been on MBC since 2013, and for a lot of Koreans it's comfort TV. The premise is simple: celebrities who live by themselves let the cameras into their ordinary days. Jun Hyun-moo, the former KBS announcer turned host, has been one of its most familiar faces for years, so when he packed a bag and left for Uzbekistan, plenty of people were watching. The trip looks spontaneous on screen Watching Jun Hyun-moo leave for Uzbekistan, the trip appears remarkably spontaneous. On screen, it feels as though he makes the decision and simply goes. But overseas filming requires preparation An overseas television shoot always involves preparation outside the frame. Flights and accommodation have to be arranged, entry procedures checked, the production staff's movements coordinated and safety addressed, and afterwards the footage goes through editing. From the broadcast alone it is hard to know when that preparation took place or how extensive it was. That does...

Korean summer is more than just hot People often describe Korea as a country with four distinct seasons. I agree, but summer is the one season I find difficult to romanticize. The problem is not simply the temperature. It is the combination of heat, heavy humidity and monsoon rain that changes how I commute, sleep, dress, walk and plan even ordinary days. If you are visiting for the first time, the humidity will probably surprise you more than the number on the thermometer. Quick facts Jangma (monsoon): usually late June to late July around Seoul Tropical night (yeoldaeya): temperature stays at or above 25°C overnight Boknal: the three hottest days, when Koreans eat samgyetang Plan outdoor sightseeing for morning or early evening How humidity changes everyday life Heavy humidity makes the air feel close, and even a short walk can leave me tired. My impression of summer comes not from one unusually hot day but from the way heat and moisture settle into daily life for weeks. In spr...

At 7:00 a.m., I went to a cinema in Korea to see Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey . I had never gone to a movie that early before, and the fact that I was willing to rearrange my morning for it made me ask a larger question: why has Nolan built such a loyal audience in Korea? Nolan's name has become part of the attraction There is probably no single explanation. One obvious factor is his reputation. Korean audiences already know Inception , Interstellar , Dunkirk , Tenet and Oppenheimer . Interstellar in particular became a phenomenon here, selling more than 10 million tickets in Korea, a club usually reserved for Korean blockbusters. Over time, those films seem to have built a certain level of trust in his name. Some people decide to see a new Nolan film simply because it is a Nolan film, before they know much about the story. This does not mean every Nolan film will automatically succeed. Still, a well-known director starts from a different position than an unfamiliar on...