Life&Culture
LLG In series
Stories of love, life and growth
#Interview
# Human story
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LLG In series
Stories of love, life and growth
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Tailoring weddings for queer couples that law shuns
In South Korea, where marriage is legally defined as a union between a man and a woman, same-sex weddings have existed only in the stories of a few trailblazing couples. Among them are filmmaker Kim Jho Gwang-soo and his partner Kim Sung-hwan, the first openly gay couple known to have held a wedding ceremony in South Korea in 2013. A decade on, such weddings are no longer taboo or something only a few brave outliers dare to pursue. They've now become a viable option for many same-sex couples, al
July 30, 2025 - 12:29:44
Living fully in a land of slim expectations
Three years ago, author Erin Zhurkin moved to South Korea, and her fictional heroine came with her. Abby Allerton, the plus-size influencer at the heart of “Plus Size in Paris”, had already taken on Parisian fashion and cultural expectations in the first book. Now, in a Seoul-set sequel currently in the works, she’s about to face an entirely different set of beauty standards. The push for a Korean story didn’t come from publishers or agents, she said. It came from Korean readers. “It’s a sequel,
June 18, 2025 - 10:02:44
With buoy and camera, millennial diver redefines life as Jeju 'haenyeo'
For centuries, women on South Korea's Jeju Island have dived deep into the sea to harvest seafood to provide for their families. Called "haenyeo," which literally means “sea women,” they rely solely on breath-holding techniques, diving as deep as 10 meters and staying underwater for up to two minutes, without the aid of breathing equipment. Their gear is minimal: a simple diving mask, lead weights around the waist to help them descend and a buoy called a "tewak" — a basketball-sized float with a
May 28, 2025 - 09:11:00
For 15 years, Apple’s Find My app didn’t work in South Korea. This guy changed that
Apple is not the type of company that explains itself. It doesn’t respond to petitions. And it almost never makes country-specific feature changes, especially not for one person. Except in South Korea, where that’s exactly what happened recently. For over 15 years, one of Apple’s most critical device-tracking features, called Find My, was quietly and almost entirely disabled in South Korea. Millions of Korean users owned iPhones, AirPods and AirTags that were, in practice, untrackable if lost or
May 21, 2025 - 08:30:00
The AI artist who refuses to lose himself
When one introduces oneself as an “AI artist,” the question almost always follows: Who is the true creator -- the machine or the human behind it? The recent boom in AI-generated images, particularly those mimicking the look of Studio Ghibli, has made this question become even more widely asked. Yoon Seok-kwan, an "AI artist" who works under the pseudonym Keepkwan, shares this concern. While he believes originality is still possible when working with AI, he worries that much of what is being prod
May 14, 2025 - 10:29:57
'Smile at me': Cancer-fighting senior influencer inspires with strength, grace
Have you ever thought about whether you'd get cancer? We all know someone who has. But many of us walk through life unprepared. Choi Seung-ih, a 59-year-old senior model, was no different. "Never,” she said when asked if the thought had ever crossed her mind. “There was no family history. I exercised regularly. I even trained for a body profile photoshoot. I was strict with my diet. I thought I’d never get cancer. Then, about a year ago, Choi was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Her wor
May 5, 2025 - 16:00:00
How this 20-year-old landed on J-Hope’s project
If you’re a BTS fan, you might recall the floating house in J-Hope’s recent music video, “Sweet Dreams (Feat. Miguel).” That surreal vision wasn't crafted by a veteran artist with decades of experience, but by Kim Onew, a 20-year-old 3D visual effects artist already making waves in the K-pop industry. Kim has already built an impressive resume at a young age. In addition to J-Hope, he’s created visuals for aespa, NewJeans and Stray Kids. His path is all the more remarkable in South Korea, where
April 23, 2025 - 09:37:39
She reclaimed her mornings and built a brand to help others do the same
Early-bird Youn Jin proved that the quietest hours can be the most impactful At 4 a.m., when most of New York was still asleep, Youn Jin was already awake. She blogged. She practiced yoga. She made breakfast. By the time her coworkers shuffled into the office, she already had accomplished a lot. Early mornings have long been considered a secret weapon of successful people, and stories like Youn’s might seem familiar — until you hear what happened next. Her mornings didn’t just set the tone for h
April 2, 2025 - 11:32:04
How a paralyzed activist wrote a master’s thesis with half a million blinks—and rewired his world
For disability activist Jang Ik-sun, hope isn't just a feeling — it’s the eye-tracking software he has mastered to draft policy proposals, the half-million blinks that earned him a master’s degree, and the gaming system he engineered to keep playing despite being almost completely paralyzed GWANGJU --- Jang Ik-sun wrote his master’s thesis one blink at a time. About half a million times, to be exact. For most people, blinking is an unconscious act — something they do effortlessly 20,000 times a
March 29, 2025 - 16:00:00
When calligrapher has an entrepreneurial spirit
From traditional 'seoye' to commercial branding, Lee Sang-hyun transforms calligraphy into modern art form As a child, Lee Sang-hyun had no interest in sitting down and holding a pen. At the age of 11, his mother, hoping to nurture focus and discipline in him, enrolled him in an after-school program that teaches “seoye,” or traditional calligraphy. Instead of grabbing a pen, he spent his days grinding an inkstick on a slab to make ink. When the teacher was not looking, he would scribble on the w
March 19, 2025 - 10:04:38
Real-life version of 'Lovely Runner' couple melts millions of hearts
Kim Hye-mi, Samsung IT developer with disability, shares TV drama-like love story with colleague, viral wedding performance In June last year, a South Korean couple’s wedding video went viral as a real-life version of a love story that had just aired in the hit TV drama “Lovely Runner.” In the video, the groom shields his bride, who uses a wheelchair, with a yellow umbrella after serenading her, re-creating one of the most memorable scenes from the drama series. "I never expected the video to bl
Feb. 26, 2025 - 10:46:16
How much can a pencil sharpener mean to its owner?
More than you’d expect, says Kim Won-rae, warranty service provider of Hi Shapa sharpeners ICHEON, Gyeonggi Province — How much can a pencil sharpener mean to its owner? In Kim Won-rae’s world, it means a lot. At his workshop in Icheon, outside Seoul, where he fixes sharpeners as old as 30-plus years, Kim has every reason to believe so. As the sole warranty service provider for TiTi’s Hi Shapa pencil sharpeners, Kim keeps a binder full of heartfelt letters — cherished memories from users sent al
Feb. 19, 2025 - 10:07:03
Ukrainian mom's take on parenting in South Korea
Mom of 1-year-old son, Anastasiia Novikova extols Korea's postpartum care center, vibrant online communities for new moms, but questions no outings for newborns in first 100 days Anastasiia Novikova, a Ukrainian who has been living in South Korea for nearly a decade, is discovering a side of the country she wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t become a mother a year ago. At a "joriwon," a Korean postpartum care center, she experienced firsthand the support and healing period granted to Korean women
Feb. 12, 2025 - 13:47:09
After surviving coma on honeymoon, this bride is ready to reclaim bliss of newlywed life
Kim Ye-byeol, recovering from partial paralysis due to a brain hemorrhage, embraces a delayed beginning to life with her devoted husband When Kim Ye-byeol opened her eyes after three weeks lost in the void of unconsciousness, she found herself lying in a hospital bed, with a strange man by her side. The man was calling her name, his voice choked with tears. “He kept talking to me, but I couldn’t hear him clearly and his face appeared to be split in two,” said Kim, now 29 years old, recalling the
Jan. 29, 2025 - 16:00:00
A $2 kimchi stew with God’s love: How this Catholic priest fights youth hunger
One day, a woman in her 50s dined at Youth Mungan, a small restaurant that serves only one dish, a steaming bowl of kimchi jjigae for just 3,000 won, or a little over $2. After finishing her meal, she insisted on paying for everyone's meals that day — a total of around 100,000 won. "It was not that big of a sum. So, I just thought, 'What a nice gesture,'" said Catholic priest Gabriel Lee Mun-su, who runs the restaurant, during his interview with The Korea Herald. But what struck him was what hap
Jan. 22, 2025 - 13:24:41
