Contents
The Concepts of Jeong, Han, and Heung: Uniquely Korean Cultural Codes?
Military Service: The Formative Years
Putting Korea on the Map: Korea as Number One
Life in the Pressure Cooker
Love and Courtship in Korea: Dating and Marriage, Korean-Style
The Aegyo Syndrome: Girliness to the Max
Critical Events in Korean History
Korea’s Multifaceted Belief Systems
Education in Korea: Shut Up and Study!
Korean Buddhism: A Shocked King Converts His Kingdom
Christianity in Korea: The Powerful Newcomer
Korean Shamanism: Thousands of Gods, Thousands of Years
Traditional Folk Paintings (Minhwa) and Crafts
The Dano Festival: Dancing, Singing Drinking and Wrestling
Hanok: The Traditional Korean Home
The Korean Martial Arts: Taekwondo, Ssireum, and More
Girls in The Limelight: Beauty and Plastic Surgery
Boys in the Limelight: The Rise of the Pretty-Boy
Being a Foreigner in Korea: A Question of Personal Space
Korea, the Land of 10,000 Coffee Shops: Cafe Culture with a Vengeance
Democracy and Demonstrations: Protest! Protest! Protest!
The Selling of Hahm and the Changing Korean Lifestyle
Seoul (And Busan And Daejeon And Daegu And Gwangju): A City of Tower Blocks
The Power of the Internet
The Video Gamer’s Second Home
The Decline and Rebirth of Professional Computer Gamers
Google-Blockers: Korea’s World Class Internet Companies
Netizen Slang: Eoljjang or Anyeodwae?
Special Feature: An Interview with Simon and Martina of “Eat Your Kimchi”
How Korea is Changing: Is Korea Xenophobic?
Eat Until Your Belly Explodes: Some Great Korean Dishes to Try
Do All Koreans Eat Dog?
Kimchi: It Ain’t Just Cabbage
Korea’s Changing Political Landscape
Korea is Growing Older
Suicide in Korea
Does Korea Have Crime?
Popular Myths about Korea
What is a Chaebol?
The Big Five Chaebols
A High-Tech Powerhouse: New, Newer, Newest
The Rise of Korean Woman Power?
The IMF Crisis of 1997–98
Are You Gap or Eul?
Jeong Ju-young and Hyundai
Workplace Drinking Rituals
You’re Nobody Without a Business Card
How to be a Polite “Alcohol Whale”
The Joys and Sorrows of Soju
Popular Hangover Cures
The Traditional Korean Nightclub (Yes, Really)
The Noraebang Song Room
The “Date Course”
Sports Mania Strikes
Cross My Palm with Won
Head for the Hills!
Sweating it Out: The Jjimjilbang and Sauna
The Comic Book World of Manhwa
The K-Pop Factory
The Best Korean Music You’ve Never Heard
Special Feature: An Interview with Jaurim Vocalist Kim Yoon-ah
Ballads and Bbongjjak
Hongdae: The Capital of Cool
Korean Music Legends
Wannabe a Star?
An Interview Feature: Psy’s Gangnam Style
A Korean TV Primer
Five Korean TV Shows to Know
Gag-Con: Slapstick and Satire
The Winter Sonata Craze
A Bluffer’s Guide to Korean TV Dramas
Korean Cinema: The Golden Era
“Commercial Features”: The Lifeblood of a Korean Celebrity
The Art of Cinema in Korea
Gangnam—The Trendy Southern Part of Seoul