Korea Deconstructed

Korean gender, feminism, fairness and equality are discussed here at length. We also cover transgender representation in media, male mandatory military service, magic days for women, and the world's lowest birthrate.

Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/L9azQpXZ2Rc?si=u-xsXr1c2atGH-ri

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▶ Email: [email protected]

▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/

▶ KD Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed/

▶ Jeon Yunseo: https://www.instagram.com/y_jeon_s/

▶ Jongmin: https://www.instagram.com/dunchonerd/

Guest Ms. Samantha Afflick-Smith is an associate professor at Hanyang University’s Seoul campus. She works for the Centre for Creative Convergence Education’s College of English Education Committee (CCCE:CEEC), where she teaches courses from conversation skills, critical analysis, academic writing to professional presentations. She also teaches a vibrant PBL discussion course on South Korean society and its evolving cultural diversity. Samantha is known as an educator, peer and mentor who regularly encourages people to be their best and persevere through challenges with her positive attitude and tireless energy. In her free time, Samantha enjoys reading, writing short stories for her blog – Cacophony of Cerebral Consciousness @c3griot.wordpress.com and learning new skills, such as drawing, and audio editing.

Discussion Outline

0:00 What is (Korean) Feminism?

12:05 Radical Feminism and the Internet

17:25 The Silencing of Men

23:40 Are Women and Men the Same or Different?

33:00 Can Men and Women be Friends?

42:50 Monthly Menstrual Leave

55:20 Transgenderism and Poongja

58:15 Should Women do Mandatory Military Service?

1:17:10 The World's Lowest Birthrate

1:38:40 How to Make the World a Better Place?

1:47:50 Recommendations

#koreadeconstructed #davidtizzard

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com 

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

This week I sat down with a group of BTS fans from around the world and spent two hours listening to their stories. As a lot of the media hype and attention around them has either focused on their solo efforts or been replaced by the next generation of idols, I thought it would provide some nice distance from the unprecedented levels of success they were achieving as a group a few years back.

And so we explored different things together: When did they first discover BTS? What was the performance or the album that made them fall in love? How has their fandom affected their lives? What’s their favorite song? How many of the dances can they do? Who’s their favorite member? What makes them stand out from other groups? 

Big thanks to the guests: Kit, Aishu, Celine, and Annis

Member

Thank you again to the paid Patreon member Bhavya. 

Discussion Outline 

0:00 Introduction

1:00 Discovering BTS

5:35 The Evolution of BTS

10:48 What Makes BTS Great?

15:30 The Seven Members

36:35 BTS and Mental Health

43:05 ARMY

52:30 BTS and Politics

1:00:35 BTS and the K-Pop Industry

1:04:20 Recommendations

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/

▶ KD Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed/

▶ Kim Soyoon: https://www.instagram.com/celinesoyoon/

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com

▶ Song by Radical Gary (David): Savage Penguin

Zeljana Zmire, Ph.D. in International Studies and Korean Studies, is a lecturer at Hanyang University in Seoul. Her research interests include multiculturalism, immigration policy, comparative politics, international politics and other. She can be reached via [email protected].

You can also find her on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeljana-zmire-2927307b/

Members

Thank you again to the paid Patreon member Bhavya. 

Discussion Outline 

0:00 Defining Multiculturalism

6:00 Korea's Homogeneity

15:35 The Effects of Media

23:11 International Marriages

31:30 Becoming Korean

39:15 Racism in Korea

48:00 Nouveau-Riche Nationalism

53:05 Stereotypes on White Women

56:05 How to Make the World Better

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard 

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/

▶ KD Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed/

▶ Jeon Yunseo: https://www.instagram.com/y_jeon_s/

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com

▶ Song by Radical Gary (David): https://youtu.be/AAkVRbH8eyg?si=FYtMqj2YfmJcmPPI 

Carlos Gorito is many things but most in Korea would have first come across him when he appeared on the hit television show 비정상회담 in 2015. Discussing a wide-range of topics in Korean, his personality and passion saw him gain many fans and win respect from the nation. He has worked with the Brazilian Embassy in South Korea and does a fabulous job of promoting relations between the two countries. When you listen to him speak, he says "us" and "we" when talking about Korea, and is now a public relations ambassador for Jeju Island. I first met him when we were both appointed by the Ministry of Justice to help people acclimatize to life here, a position he still proudly holds.

Find him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlosgorito/

Thank you to Bhavya for joining the Patreon as a paid member. I try to put free stuff there for members so you can see things with or without money. Because the studio and everything else involved costs a fair bit, any contribution certainly helps, but is not required.

Discussion Outline

0:00 비정상회담

10:44 The Korean Language

18:20 Korean Culture

25:10 Our 애국심

33:40 Korean History

36:50 North Korea

43:20 Multiculturalism in Korea

51:30 Beauty Standards in Korea

54:55 Misconceptions about Korea

1:05:20 Advice for Coming to Korea

1:11:00 Korean Korea Deconstructed (한국어로...)

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/

▶ KD Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed/

▶ Kim Soyoon: https://www.instagram.com/celinesoyoon/

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com

▶ Song by Radical Gary (David): https://youtu.be/AAkVRbH8eyg?si=FYtMqj2YfmJcmPPI

Jocelyn Clark is a performer and scholar. Before becoming a professor at Pai Chai (培材) University in South Korea, she founded and directed the CrossSound new music festival in Alaska, and the new music touring ensemble IIIZ+ (guzheng, koto, gayageum, and percussion), organizations through which she commissioned and/or premiered over 30 new works for Korean gayageum. Next to her work in contemporary music she is the first foreigner without Korean heritage to become an official government disciple in the National Heritage system, in the genre gayageum sanjo and byeongchang [伽倻琴散調/竝唱].

As a scholar, Clark has spent over 25 years in Japan, China, and Korea studying traditional musics. She holds a Ph. D. from Harvard University in East Asian Languages and Civilizations where she wrote on the language of pansori, focusing on the tension between its oral transmission/low social standing and its tenuous relationship to Chinese classical poetic texts of the High Tang. Other research interests include music of place, aesthetics, and contemporary “national music” performance practices in Northeast Asia in the age of AI. She has published in academic journals such as The World of Music, Asian Musicology, and Perspectives on Korean Music. She writes an opinion column for the national newspaper the JoongAng Daily.

The introduction music is taken from Jocelyn playing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAQ6u3-N0YY Discussion Outline

0:00 Starting a Korean Journey

14:05 Understanding Korean Music

22:00 Explaining Pansori

33:45 Pansori, Gender, and Change

38:36 Cultural Transmission and Education

45:15 Concepts and Social Recognition of Korean Culture

51:55 Seopyeonjae (서편제) and The Sound of a Flower (도리화가)

58:30 Korean Sounds

1:04:40 Aesthetics: More than Music

1:17:40 The Korean Language

1:22:30 3 Minutes Speaking Korean

1:25:45 Live Concerts

1:35:10 A Chinese Lesson

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/

▶ KD Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed/

▶ Yunseo Jeon: https://www.instagram.com/y_jeon_s/

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com

Jihoon Suk received his BA and MA on Korean modern history from Yonsei University and studied Korean Studies briefly at the University of Michigan. Now, a Ph.D. candidate at Yonsei University, he is doing extensive research on the colonial-era cultural history of Korea, with a special focus on the presence and popularity of modern audiovisual media (sound recordings, films, radio) during that time. He had published a number of articles and research papers in collaboration with various institutions, including the National Contemporary History Museum of Korea, Seoul City History Museum, Korean Film Archive, and the National Gugak Center. He also recently published a book (in collaboration with Nate Kornegay) on the history of Scratch Tiles, a type of brick that was popular in the U.S. and East Asia during the first half of the 20th century.

You can follow Jihoon online here: https://www.facebook.com/jihoon.suk.1/

Discussion Outline 

0:00 Korean Kisaeng (기생/妓生)

12:27 The Creation of Korean Culture and Music

23:35 Korean Male Prostitution during the Joseon Dynasty / 사당패

33:15 Outlawing Korean Buddhism during the Joseon Dynasty

40:00 Slavery during Traditional Korea

55:30 Korean Palaces and Modern Tourism

1:06:00 Anti-Communism and North Korea

1:17:35 Han, Heung, and Mut (한, 흥, 멋)

1:24:40 The Japanese Colonization of Korea

1:37:48 Listening to Early Records of Arirang

2:14:00 The Lessons of Korean History

2:17:30 Recommendations

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/

▶ KD Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed/

▶ Yunseo Jeon: https://www.instagram.com/y_jeon_s/

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com/

Peter Yoonsuk Paik is a Professor at Yonsei University in the Department of English Language and Literature.

His academic writing on a variety of subjects can be found here: https://yonsei.academia.edu/PeterPaik

Discussion Outline 

0:00 On Greatness

14:20 What Kind of World Do We Live In?

20:00 The Necessity of Spirituality

24:40 Equality and Liberty

30:00 The Modern University Classroom

40:10 On the East and West

50:00 On Korean Education

54:10 Burning (Korean Movie)

1:00:40 On Korean Society

1:09:00 The Future

1:16:45 Recommendations

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/

▶ KD Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed/

▶ Yunseo Jeon: https://www.instagram.com/y_jeon_s/

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg 

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com/

▶ Music: Couldn't Be Your Son - by David Tizzard

Professor Moon Seungsook is a political and cultural sociologist, scholar of gender studies, and East Asianist specializing in South Korea. She grew up in Seoul, Korea and lived and worked in Boston and Cambridge, MA before moving to Vassar College. Her research evolved from feminist critiques of nationalism, militarism, democratization, and citizenship to globalization and transnationalism shaping militarism and civic agency, production and consumption of food and masculinities. She is a recipient of notable awards, including a Fulbright Scholars Award (2004-05), an inaugural endowed-chair visiting professorship at Harvard University (2014-15), and the Laboratory Program for Korean Studies Research Grant from the Academy of Korean Studies (2018-23). Her latest book is Civic Activism in South Korea: The Intertwining of Democracy and Neoliberalism (2024).

Civic Activism in South Korea: https://www.amazon.com/Civic-Activism-South-Korea-Neoliberalism/dp/023121149X

Discussion Outline 

0:00 Introduction

7:00 The real life effects of neoliberalization

15:40 Life in pre-democratic South Korea

21:00 Neoliberalism and democracy in South Korea

32:53 Citizens' Organizations in South Korea

42:05 Neoliberalization and religion

51:35 The profound irony of individualism

55:05 Multiculturalism in South Korea

1:02:45 Recommendations

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Find us on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com/

▶ Music: Fighting by Disorientalz

The Space Out Competition in Seoul, South Korea, is a unique and quirky event that challenges participants to do... nothing. The goal of the competition is to simply sit still, remain calm, and "space out" for 90 minutes without any distractions. In a society like South Korea's, where work culture can be intense and people often feel pressured to be constantly productive, the Space Out Competition offers a refreshing contrast. It emphasizes the importance of mental health and the need to slow down, even if just for a little while.

This year's winner was Soa Kwon, a television presenter, announcer, and celebrity in the English-speaking media world of South Korea. Her success brought her even more fame, appearing on television with Yoo Jae-suk and Jo Se-ho as well as CNN. Soa says she could somewhat foresee this success and puts a lot of it down to her habit of writing down her goals and then manifesting them.

Find Soa online:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soa.kwon/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tv-tn8cr

In this episode, we are joined by regular co-host Yunseo Jeon and also Hyemin Kim 

Yunseo: https://www.instagram.com/y_jeon_s/

Hyemin: https://www.instagram.com/hminimii/

Discussion Outline

0:00 The Queen of Spacing Out

10:25 Manifesting Your Future

20:25 Beauty and Gender in Media

29:35 Celebrity Tea

33:05 Weird Animal Noise Section (lmao)

43:50 German or Korean?

50:05 Evaluating Korean Society

1:04:20 Looking at Hallyu

1:12:55 Becoming a 'Dragon'

1:20:45 Recommendations

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Find us on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com/

▶ Music: Fighting X 3 by Disorientalz

Is Korea racist? Is Korea homophobic? How do media representations affect people's lives here? We brought two Korean people and two foreigners together to discuss life here in South Korea, exploring the topics of beauty, dating, race, sexuality, social media, and more. Aaliyah, Thomas and I had just spent 6 hours a day together for the last 4 weeks at the Hanyang University Summer program studying Korean culture. We’ve missed Yunseo for the last 6 episodes but she is back with us now. She’s also meeting Thomas and Aaliyah for the first time. Hongmin, relatively fresh from finishing his military service for the country, joined us to talk about his own experiences. Discussion Outline 0:00 Korea and TikTok

7:40 Beauty and Appearance

24:50 Gaydar in Korea

32:00 Dating Apps and Clubbing

45:55 PDA in Korea

53:00 Cultural Appropriation

1:03:47 Pronouns and Language

1:09:12 Being Gay in the Korean Military

1:13:20 Media Representation and a Better Society

1:27:40 Korea Before and After

1:31:10 BL Dramas

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

▶ Get in touch: [email protected]

▶ Yunseo Jeon: y_jeon_s

▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873

▶ Watch us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@UCXcdboOUCnCFnrAOF5dV1sg

▶ Find us on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/koreadeconstructed

▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/korea-deconstructed/id1587269128

▶Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zdXkG0aAAHnDwOvd0jXEE

▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com/

▶ Music: Savage Penguin by David Tizzard (Radical Gary)