How Ranking Culture Shapes Life in South Korea Numbers Define Everyday Life From a young age, many South Koreans find their lives dominated by numbers—grades, rankings, salaries, and even social status. In school, students are constantly compared through report cards that list their exact rank in each subject and overall. This relentless focus on numerical … Read more
What the Numbers Really Mean The Hype Around ChatGPT Subscriptions South Korea recently made headlines for having the second-highest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers in the world, just behind the US. This announcement, made by OpenAI during a press event in Seoul, seemed to signal Korea’s leadership in AI adoption. However, experts caution that these … Read more
The Unseen Challenge of a Changing Society The Invisible Problem of Xenophobia Xenophobia in South Korea is often dismissed or downplayed, especially in online spaces. Many Koreans believe that discrimination is either exaggerated or not as serious as in other countries. Comments on news articles frequently claim that racism is a global issue and that … Read more
The Power of Persistence The Hidden Problem with Apple Devices in Korea For over 15 years, Apple’s “Find My” feature—which lets users track lost iPhones, AirPods, and AirTags—was quietly disabled in South Korea. Millions of Korean users couldn’t use this basic function, while the rest of the world took it for granted. Most people assumed … Read more
The Viral Video and Public Anxiety Recently, the YouTube channel Kurzgesagt released a video titled “South Korea Is Over,” sparking global debate about the country’s future. The video highlights Korea’s record-low birth rate and warns of economic and social collapse. While such warnings are not new, they have become so frequent that many Koreans are … Read more