Many Korean women face both institutional barriers and everyday cultural expectations. Life often feels mapped out in advance, and those who deviate from that path meet resistance or worse. Meanwhile, the media tends to celebrate only the rich and famous, making it harder to see the everyday heroes and role models who truly reflect women's lives in Korea.

In this episode, I'm joined by Minyoung Kim, Victoria Yi, Sarah Soeun Lee, and Sangeun Kim — a team of writers behind a recently published bilingual book that shares real stories of women's experiences in Korea: their challenges, frustrations, families, dreams, and triumphs. Together, we talk about what it means to live honestly in a society that often prefers silence.

Apologies for the sound issues in this one. It was a new set-up and mistakes were made. Hopefully you can still find value in the courage and ideas of the four women.

Book Links

📘 Amazon: https://a.co/d/hCzXIyF (Currently only the eBook is available.)

📗 The printed edition will be officially released on major global retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others on December 19th.

If you can't wait, you can purchase the printed version directly through BookBaby: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/bethekey

Discussion Outline:

0:00 Introduction

8:05 Beyond Stereotypes

15:40 The Power of Community

28:05 Writing a Book

42:00 On Feminism

56:52 Hierarchical Korean Language

1:06:50 Changes in Korean Society

1:27:00 Hope for the Future

1:40:40 Recommendations

Thanks to Patreon members: Bhavya, Roxanne Murrell, Sara B Cooper, Anne Brennels

Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=62047873

David A. Tizzard has a PhD in Korean Studies and lectures at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He writes a weekly column in the Korea Times, is a social-cultural commentator, and a musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades.

Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/vIbpLfWJoZM?si=srRVQ1vRkLvCV076

Subscribe to the channel: @DavidTizzard/videos

Music by Jocelyn Clark

Thank you to 한종철 for helping me record this.

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