There is one unwritten rule for anyone hoping to debut as a beauty influencer in Korea: Slap your face — rhythmically and with flair. A quick scroll through YouTube, TikTok and other social media channels showcasing Korean cosmetics reveals a familiar scene of creators vigorously patting toner, lotion or foundation onto their faces in a slapping motion, using their hands or makeup puffs. The same exaggerated tapping ritual is also a staple of TV home shopping channels, where hosts repeatedly sla

Nisa Sermchaiwong, a 26-year-old American who moved to Seoul for graduate school in 2022, recalls the awkward moment she first said “bless you” to a classmate who sneezed. “I was in our school lab, and I guess my friend was sick because she sneezed five times in 10 minutes,” she said. “I said ‘bless you’ each time because that’s the norm in the States.” But in a silent room, the gesture quickly became uncomfortable. “Our lab was very quiet because everyone was working. And each time I said ‘bles

A security guard who was prosecuted for eating snacks worth less than a dollar at a logistics company in Wanju, North Jeolla Province, has been acquitted on appeal, overturning a conviction that had threatened his job and livelihood. The Jeonju District Court on Thursday reversed a lower court ruling that fined the 41-year-old guard 50,000 won for theft, declaring him not guilty. “The defendant cannot be deemed to have had intent to steal, given that he had been told he was free to eat snacks st

Gimbap (also spelled kimbap) is everywhere in Korea. You can find it sliced or unsliced, vegan or spicy, packed fresh or frozen, all for as little as a couple bucks. Every convenience store has it and every city eats it. So would it really make sense for anyone to travel over three hours from Seoul to a random city just to eat it? Tens of thousands already did last year. Now, with the second Gimcheon Gimbap Festival set to return on Oct. 25 and 26, and gimbap riding a wave of global pop cultural

There is a district office in Seoul where bursts of excitement, often audible as screams, echo throughout the building. The source of the thrill? A set of giant slides that whisk visitors from the second floor down to the basement in under 7 seconds. Installed and opened to the public in early September, Dongjak District Office’s “D-Lide” has drawn crowds lining up like at an amusement park. It’s not just children enjoying the ride -- office workers from outside the district are joining in the f

Wearing a glittering stage outfit, a woman jumps high, swings her arms, and shouts to the camera, “Start!” On her cue, hundreds of people in dozens of rows raise their cards together, kicking off a giant mass game that first forms a red running figure, then spells out the word “goal” in English. The assembled crowd also moves in perfect sync, forming a giant star. The giant cheering squad in the video wasn't made up of professional performers but of new hires who joined Samsung Electronics in 20

A bizarre incident involving a mentally ill woman recently occurred at a store in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, where the suspect, wielding knives and wearing a cat mask, threatened employees and customers, including small children. When the police arrested her and asked why she did it, she answered "meow" and said, "Can't tell you that, meow." The National Police Agency on Wednesday posted a video of her arrest in a toy section of the store at around 7:23 p.m. on Aug. 2. In the video, the s

A video showing what appears to be an unidentified creature in the Han River has gone viral, according to local media reports Wednesday. The video titled “A Real Monster Emerges at the Han River in Seoul” was posted July 11 by fishing-themed YouTube channel Jungdam Story. It shows the YouTuber fishing at night near a parking lot by the National Assembly in Yeouido, when he spotted something large and moving in the water. At first, he thought it was a big fish. Upon closer observation, he appeare

Days after South Korean police confirmed that the body found in Andong Dam in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, belonged to a school vice principal who vanished in 2010, new details have emerged, including an account from the man who discovered the body. Baek Min-gyu, 55, a former leader of the Andong water rescue team, was conducting maintenance work on the dam on May 17 when he accidentally dropped a ladder into the water twice. Wearing scuba gear, he dove down roughly 30 meters to retrieve i

Huh Kyung-young, a wacky politician who ran for South Korean presidency three times with outlandish pledges like giving 100 million won ($71,467) to every citizen, is back in the news, not as a candidate running for the June 3 election but as a criminal suspect. The 77-year-old, who holds the official title of honorary leader of the National Revolutionary Party, has been behind bars since Saturday after the Uijeongbu District Court issued a warrant for his detention on charges of fraud, violatio