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South KoreaSouth Korea, an East Asian country about a quarter the size of California, is the 13th-largest economy in the world, emerging as a major player on the global stage in a remarkably short span of historical time. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, what was once a poverty-stricken, largely agrarian population ruled by a military dictatorship has become an urban, industrialized, highly educated society. It's a young but durable democracy that has managed to withstand episodes of political turbulence and ongoing tensions with its nuclear-armed neighbor, North Korea. In recent years, Korean culture has become one of the country’s chief exports, with K-pop music and media, such as “Squid Game” and “Parasite,” attracting huge audiences in the West. At home, the country faces a demographic crisis, with declining birthrates, high youth unemployment, and the highest incidence of suicide in the developed world.Explore South Korea

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A ‘supernote,’ or nearly-perfect counterfeit $100 bill, was recently found in South KoreaThese “supernotes” have even fooled US government officials. North Korea is widely believed to be behind the creation of these counterfeit banknotes. YouTube South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the worldIf current birthing trends persist, every hundred South Koreans today will have only six great-grandchildren between them. This crisis is a result of high expenses, harsh work-family trade-offs for women, declining marriage rates, and other societal factors. Some newer policies are helping to build incentives for having children, but larger issues also need to be addressed. Works In Progress How life ranks in South Korea As South Korea developed over the last half of the 20th century, quality of life soared. The country now outperforms the world average when it comes to education, health, and civic engagement, according to the OECD’s Better Life Index. In this dashboard, you can see where South Korea ranks in terms of housing, jobs, income, and more, and compare it against other developed countries. OECD K-pop is one of South Korea's biggest exportsWriter Vivian Yoon could never have imagined that the music she secretly loved as a kid growing up in Los Angeles’ Koreatown would become the phenomenon it is today. In this 14-part podcast, Yoon takes the deepest dive into the history of K-pop, a surprising journey that passes through the 1992 LA riots and a hip-hop club in Seoul once frequented by Black American GIs. LAist Studios Wealthy, 'chaebol' families rule South Korea's economyA handful of huge family-run conglomerates, or chaebol, are the engines of South Korea’s economy, with Samsung alone representing 20% of the country’s GDP. This gives the chaebol (literally “wealth group”) outsized power, often leading to corruption, labor violations, and anticompetitive practices. One economist interviewed in this Vice documentary says the chaebol have replaced Korean democracy with corporatocracy. VICE Asia Seven of South Korea's presidents have left office before their term endedRecently removed President Yoon Suk Yeol isn’t the first South Korean leader to face turmoil at home. As this Voice of America piece shows, at least seven of the country’s 20th-century heads of state saw their political careers (and, in some cases, their lives) come to an abrupt and sometimes violent end. Voice of America Why South Korean women are having fewer babiesFor decades, Asian countries have been combating dwindling birth rates by basically bribing families into having more children: offering government-subsidized housing, free IVF treatments, and even straight-up cash handouts. It hasn’t worked. In this BBC video, a TV producer, a cartoonist, and a private-school teacher explain their views on having children in 21st-century Korea. BBC News See South Korea's nighttime light usage, far surpassing North Korea'sYou can tell a lot about a place by looking at satellite imagery of the earth at night. Economists use such images to study poverty and inequality, especially about secretive countries where it can be difficult to get information any other way. An image from NASA’s Earth Observatory shows the difference in electrification between North and South Korea (and the lights illuminating the DMZ are visible from space). NASA South Koreans grew roughly 7 inches in a century on average A hundred years ago, the average Korean woman was only 4’7”. Today, she stands nearly eight inches taller than her great-grandmother did, the largest jump of any country on earth. This video from Vox tries to explain why. Turns out, South Korea’s increasing postwar quality of life gave its people a (literal) leg up. Vox The US and South Korea have a robust, if delicate, allianceThe deep ties between South Korea and the United States go back decades, but the relationship hasn’t always been frictionless. When two off-duty American servicemen accidentally killed two South Korean middle-school girls in 2002, it set off anti-American protests that led South Korea to seek a more balanced relationship. The Council on Foreign Relations traces key moments in the two countries’ seven-decade history. Council on Foreign Relations South Korea is separated from North Korea by a demilitarized zoneThere’s a lot of symbolism going on in the South Korean flag: a red-and-blue yin-yang represents the harmony created by opposing forces, and the white background represents peace and purity. The four black trigrams symbolize the four elements. The CIA World Factbook has more info on this country of 52 million, including where it ranks globally on obesity rates, energy consumption, and more. CIA World Factbook Smart cities like Songdo, South Korea, have created isolating environmentsBuilt as a futuristic, eco-friendly city filled with smart features like pneumatic trash systems and app-controlled homes, the town provides limited opportunities for face-to-face interactions amid sterile backdrops. A focus on high-rise housing amplifies the lonely, disconnected atmosphere. Bloomberg South Korea's decades long effort to build a new capitalSouth Korea has spent decades trying to ease overcrowding in Seoul by developing Sejong City as a new administrative hub. Named after the king who created Hangul, Sejong was designed to decentralize government functions—but slow population growth and limited transit have complicated the plan. 1440 South Koreans appear to be losing interest in K-popK-pop fandoms don’t seem to be losing steam in the US, but apparently, South Korean fans are less interested in their domestic music industry. A number of factors could be contributing to this dwindling passion, such as scandals with idols, BTS’ hiatus, and less dependency on media after COVID-19. Currently, there’s no panic that the industry is dying, but there is increasing concern that the future will not be quite as bright as the past. DW News The South Korean government invests in K-popWhile it can feel like K-pop's popularity appeared in the West out of nowhere, there have been longstanding efforts to make it take off in countries around the world. The Korean government invested in its culture for a more powerful future during a financial crisis in Asia. From building huge auditoriums to refining hologram technology, South Korea's Ministry of Culture has devoted huge sums to ensure the success of K-pop. NPR South Korean artist uses her own body as a canvasDain Yoon is a South Korean artist whose whimsical paintings utilizing her body as a canvas have gone viral. See examples of her works where she uses her face and torso to present elaborate, often surreal, visual works. CNN Explainer: the Joint Security Area between North and South KoreaWhat is the Joint Security Area? Read the Guardian’s explainer for quick facts about the JSA. The JSA is a section of the 250 km-long Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. The DMZ is lined on both sides with razor wire, heavy... TheGuardian.com See an anamorphic illusion of a massive crashing wave in South KoreaAn enormous aquarium with perpetually crashing waves has popped up amidst an urban landscape in South Korea, but don’t expect to hear the water sloshing around if you walk by. Designed by District, the elevated tank is actually a massive anamorphic illusion. The digital media company created the pub Colossal A critic on what BTS' return from military service meansSarah A. Son, a lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield, argues that K-pop icons now recognize how intertwined their band's identity is with that of their country. In her review of Netflix's documentary "BTS: The Return," Son suggests the group, after serving in the military, is more attuned to the pressures of such a specific kind of stardom. The Conversation From 1991 to 2024, lithium-ion battery cell prices have fallen by 99%The decrease from about $10,000 to $50 per kilowatt-hour has been driven by innovations in battery chemistry, improvements in manufacturing and supply chains, and increases in global cumulative production, which have caused average price declines of 19% each time it has doubled. Our World in Data K-pop band BTS released their fifth album, 'Arirang,' after a four-year hiatus The album reflects the identity and roots of one of the world's most popular boy bands. Alongside a new single and free concert, the release kicked off BTS's 82‑date world tour through 2027. The free concert at Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square drew tens of thousands of attendees and was livestreamed on Netflix. The Hollywood Reporter Aurora borealis and auroras australis do not always mirror one anotherWhile the Earth's magnetic field is symmetric across the magnetic north and south poles in isolation, charged particles from the sun distort the field. If the angle of impact between the wave of particles and the Earth's field is such that the distortions are uneven, dissimilar geomagnetic storms and resulting auroras are produced in the northern and southern hemispheres. AGU China reports the highest prevalence of hearing loss and South Africa reports the lowestThis conclusion comes from research published in 2025 that analyzed self-reported hearing loss and hearing aid use from long-term studies that covered 28 countries. Its findings included that the countries with the greatest prevalence of hearing loss (China, South Korea, Mexico, and Brazil) also had the lowest levels of hearing aid use. BMJ Group Hear the story of Milton Washington, a stateless biracial Korean AmericanIn a BBC "Lives Less Ordinary" podcast, Milton Washington recounts his early life as a stateless child in South Korea—born to a Korean mother and a Black US soldier—and his path to US citizenship. Lives Less Ordinary Davos has been home to many pivotal moments in international diplomacyDavos provides a forum for unlikely meetings: FW de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela and Mangosuthu Buthelezi during South Africa’s transition from apartheid, North and South Korea held their first-ever ministerial talks, and East and West German leaders discussed reunification. Forbes The simple melody in 'Auld Lang Syne' has led to the song’s repurposingIn addition to becoming a standard tune to ring in the new year, the song has been reworked as a Dutch soccer anthem, a Japanese standard, and the South Korean national anthem. A significant part of its widespread use is that it has no copyright limitations. It helps, too, that it's simple melody is easy for even the most amateur singers to tackle. Vox Interactions between solar storms and Earth's magnetic field create aurorasSolar storms on the Sun's surface produce clouds of electrically charged particles, some of which make their way to Earth. Those trapped in Earth's magnetic field accelerate toward the north and south poles, colliding with atmospheric atoms and molecules in the process, which produces light. Royal Museums Greenwich US defense spending peaked during the Korean War at 13% of GDPIn 1953, during the Korean War, US defense spending reached 13.58% of GDP—more than three times today’s level. That peak marked the most militarized moment of the Cold War, and spending has never returned to that level since. Econofact Imagining the reunification of the KoreasThe idea of reunifying North and South Korea has been a geopolitical dream for years, though one that feels perpetually out of reach. That hasn’t kept some from imagining it, though. Reddit user Aofen created a set of maps that postulate what effect a hypothetical reunification would have on population numbers, birth rates, median income, political affiliation, and more. Reddit There is a nature preserve in Korea's DMZIn almost every way, the Demilitarized Zone is a depressing place, a testament to humans' inability to make peace. There is one surprising upside: Keeping people away has allowed nature to thrive. Recently released images offer a 360-degree view of some of the hundreds of endangered species making a comeback in the DMZ, including white-naped cranes, mountain goats, musk deer, and golden eagles. Google Arts & Culture A Tiger economy typically describes a booming Southeast Asian countryThe term “tiger economy” has been used over the last several decades to describe a developing country experiencing rapid economic growth, often due to developing export-oriented industries and/or financial markets. The term was originally applied to Southeast Asian economies, including South Korea’s, and has since been used to describe Ireland, the Baltics, and Dubai. Investopedia Explore the Earth at night from spaceSee the planet in all its luminosity with this NightEarth app, an interactive spherical globe showing real satellite imagery of Earth. Toggle between views of real-time clouds, aurora borealis activity, and more. NightEarth The world rapidly decolonized after World War II After WWII, weakened European powers faced mounting resistance from colonized peoples. Between 1945 and 1980, dozens of nations across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East gained independence. CFR Education from the Council on Foreign Relations In 2022, the US exported more than 450,000 metric tonnes of cheese worldwideThat same year, the US cheese export market was valued at $2.3B. The main consumer markets for the US were Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and Canada. Mexico was the largest importer of US cheese, with 87% of its cheese imports coming from its neighbor. Insider Monkey An introduction to becoming a K-pop superfan K-pop is not a genre but rather an ever-evolving industry. This resource breaks down the different eras of K-pop. Learn how the first generation, with bands like H.O.T., evolved into today’s fourth generation, where idols can train and debut outside South Korea. Find new groups to listen to, and appreciate the diversity of the different groups’ sounds. NPR K-pop idols have reduced rights due to their contractsIn 2024, the South Korean government ruled that celebrities are not entitled to the same rights as workers. This decision was made in response to the band NewJeans, whose members raised concerns about workplace harassment. The South Korean labor ministry instead found that the content of their contracts indicates that they do not hold the same legal status as other workers in the country. The dispute highlights the ongoing debate about the entertainment industry's treatment of idols. BBC News Training to be a K-pop idol is a high-pressure experienceThe life of an idol is known to be arduous, but what does life look like before one even reaches fame? In this video, a reporter investigates the K-pop dance schools of South Korea and unveils a darker side of the industry. In hopes of "making it," students undergo relentless training routines and auditions to achieve their idea of perfection. While the pupils insist on their autonomy and belief in the system, there are clear pressures to conform and meet industry expectations. Unreported World BTS has finally completed their mandatory military serviceThe world’s biggest boyband went on hiatus in 2022, leaving millions of fans—fittingly known as the BTS ARMY—waiting hungrily for their return. South Korean law states that all young, able-bodied men between 18 and 28 must serve between 18 to 21 months in the military. A revision was made to the law in reaction to BTS’s success in 2020, stating that K-pop stars or entertainers could postpone their military service until they turn 30. Today Show Hallyu, or 'Korean wave' is the phenomenal expansion of Korean culture around the worldDescribed as a sort of “soft power,” South Korea managed to dominate the world with tools like “Squid Game,” “Parasite,” or BTS instead of military force. Skincare, music, movies, television, and food are just some industries that have boomed and grown in popularity in recent years. 7NEWS Australia K-pop is defined by catchy music, synchronized dances, and devoted fansThanks to its eye-catching aesthetics and catchy music, South Korean pop has sparked a global industry. Both their sound and visuals are meant to be fun and addictive to consume. 90 Day Korean

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