Interspersed in Michael ByungJu Kim’s captivating first novel Offerings are delightful Korean proverbs called sajaseong-eo. In the old days, these wise words written in Chinese characters were recited by scholars and noblemen, and eventually many of these sayings were adopted into the everyday vernacular of the common folk. Sajaseong-eo literally means four character proverb, and…
Wealthy executives and corporate giants are giving over $1 billion to influence policy and counter violence. The Asian American Foundation (“TAAF”) announced that just two weeks after launching it has raised nearly $1.1 billion to support AAPI communities. This builds upon an initial commitment from the TAAF board of $125 million announced on May 3rd, which was already the largest…
YouTube officially announced that BTS’s “Butter” set a new 24-hour record, breaking the previous record held by their own “Dynamite” music video. BTS now occupies the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on YouTube’s All-Time Top 24 Hour Music Debuts. BTS also took to the Billboard Music Awards stage on Sunday for the television debut…
Korean dads are hard to shop for because they always say they don’t need anything. Well, that’s where you come in to provide Dad with just the thing that he didn’t even know he needed. As the pandemic eases its grip on the world, our hardworking dads deserve some serious R & R and we’re…
2021 SUMMER SESSION June 1 – August 9, 2021 The Korea Society’s Korean language classes are a great way to learn Korean in a small-class setting from university-affiliated and native-speaking instructors. Registration Registration is now open for our Summer 2021 Korean language classes. As per usual, the Summer Session features classes in a wide variety…
A list of this year’s 2021 Baeksang Award winners has been released! All the nominated Korean dramas are currently available to stream in many regions but the films are not yet available as of this writing. Here are this year’s Film & Television winner and nominee highlights with links for where to watch the ones…
My love affair with the Korean drink, makgeolli, started after a visit with a friend to Washington State. We were off visiting different restaurants and partaking in the various cuisines that Seattle is famous for. On one particular outing, we were dining at a restaurant that was notable for its homemade kombucha. My friend and…
Dr. Stephanie Han leads this class on the events and personalities crucial to Korean American culture and history. Explore the narrative of Korean America and examine how our community contributes to the United States and exerts global influence. Part II of this session will cover Post War Korea-1965, LA Riots ‘Saigu’, and the present. Are…
Doljanchi 돌잔치 is the Korean first birthday celebration. Dol 돌 means birthday and janchi 잔치 means banquet or feast, so doljanchi technically means birthday party. Though the term always refers to the first birthday party, this event is also called “cheot” dol, 첫돌, or “first” birthday. For the doljanchi, parents celebrate by having a party with many traditional foods and rituals.…
I have two teenage daughters who swear to me they will never have children. They say that they, like all children, are a drain on the life of their mother. Why would they want to put themselves through that, they challenge us to answer. I have nothing to say to this. We men may be…