Korean Beauty, Fashion, and Lookism
Korea Deconstructed
While much of the world focuses on the beauty standards of Korea’s rich and famous, its K-Pop stars, actors, and influencers, we are left wondering how much of this actually applies to real life. Do regular Korean citizens face the same scrutiny around weight, fashion, surgery, and tattoos? I brought 4 Korean adults together to talk about these ideas and also to reveal some things about their own lives. Today’s Guests Sage Jeoung Nuri AJohn / Discussion Outline 0:00 Nail culture 7:40 Pretty Privilege in Korea 18:00 Showing Skin 24:45 Does K-Pop Affect People? 37:40 Fashion...
info_outline
Korean Buddhism, Meditation, and Stories of Enlightenment
Korea Deconstructed
Joseph Bengivenni is an artist and photographer who has spend most of the past twenty years living in and exploring South Korea. The Korean mountains and temples have captured his heart and mind, as he obsessively searches for scenic areas to photograph and auspicious places to practice Dharma. You can follow his journey on Instagram: @oxherder_photography The history of Korean Buddhism: koreanbuddhism.wordpress.com. Photos: Discussion 0:00 Introduction to Buddhism 34:00 Seosan, Korea 45:48 Meditation and Hwadu 1:01:20 Gyeongheo 1:19:20 An Ox with No Nostrils 1:27:48 Daehaeng Kun Sunim...
info_outline
Trump, Xi Jinping and Lee Jae Myung
Korea Deconstructed
Rob York is director for regional affairs at Pacific Forum in Honolulu, working on Korean Peninsular security and Indo-Pacific information warfare. He previously worked as production editor at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and as editor of NK News from 2013 to 2016. He earned his PhD in Korean history in 2023. Pacific Forum: Discussion Outline 0:00 Lee Jae Myung 17:50 Trump and Korea 39:00 North Korea 43:10 Communism 47:55 China in the 21st Century 1:10:00 Korea and Japan 1:15:50 The International Order David A. Tizzard has a PhD in Korean Studies and lectures at Seoul Women's...
info_outline
Ra Jong-yil on Korea: History, Memory, and Presidents
Korea Deconstructed
In this episode of Korea Deconstructed, I sit down with Ra Jong-yil, a scholar, diplomat, and influential figure in modern Korean politics. We recorded this conversation in his house in Seoul. Born in 1940 during the Japanese occupation of Korea, Ra Jong-yil has lived through some of the country’s most defining historical moments. And, in many cases, helped shape them. We talk about his father's role in the Provisional Government in Shanghai alongside Syngman Rhee, Kim Ku, and Ahn Chang Ho. Ra also reflects on his mentorship of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, two presidents who helped usher...
info_outline
Parasocial Love & The Global K-pop Explosion
Korea Deconstructed
Italian journalist Marianna Baroli joins me to discuss K-pop, fan culture, parasocial love, and how Korean music is reshaping global identity, especially in Italy. But at what cost? And where do we go next? Find Marianna online Instagram: Panorama: Discussion Outline 0:00 Introductions 4:55 Fan girling 2PM 7:35 Why K-pop Beat the West? 9:25 The Current State of K-pop 14:20 GOT7 17:50 Girl Groups 20:25 Italian Reactions to K-pop 25:00 Airbnb and SEVENTEEN 28:35 Toxicity in K-pop Online 32:00 Parasocial Relationships 36:00 Objectivity in Music Reviews 40:00 The Producers of K-pop 43:30 Jay...
info_outline
Crash Landing on Meaning: Life, Class, and Rediscovery through Korea
Korea Deconstructed
Lebanese scholar Rania Hafez joins Korea Deconstructed for a wide-ranging conversation on class, culture, and the search for meaning. Rania reflects on how media pushes culture wars over class solidarity, the importance of leadership in academia, and how she discovered Korean dramas during the Covid pandemic. Her love for Crash Landing on You and Hometown Cha Cha Cha helped her find beauty and purpose again, calling Korea her "Narnia." A deeply personal and philosophical episode about rediscovery, passion, and why Korea speaks to so many hearts around the world. She also reflects on her...
info_outline
Kim Il Sung: The Accidental Tyrant Who Changed Korea Forever
Korea Deconstructed
My guest is Fyodor Tertitskiy, a prolific scholar, polyglot, and one of the few who reads the footnotes of history in multiple languages. His new book, Accidental Tyrant, a biography of Kim Il Sung, challenges the official state mythology and unearths the improbable rise of a guerrilla fighter turned dynastic dictator. This is how Kim Il Sung outwitted imperialists, communists, comrades, and colonels alike, turning chance into legacy, failure into foundation. But the question remains: what does this all mean for those of us living in a world still shaped by the ghosts of his decisions? ...
info_outline
Koreans React to the 2025 Presidential Election: What Do Koreans Really Want?
Korea Deconstructed
In this episode of Korea Deconstructed, I’m joined by four university students: young people who voted, watched, and waited as South Korea held its most recent presidential election and elected Lee Jae-myung. We discuss what the election felt like to them. What it felt like to cast a vote. What they saw among their friends. And what was never said. We’ll explore the hopes and contradictions of a generation caught between economic uncertainty, cultural shifts, and a political system that doesn’t always seem built for them. Korea Deconstructed #105 Big thank you to these wonderful...
info_outline
Is Korea Falling Apart? 4 Young Koreans React to “Korea is Over”
Korea Deconstructed
A recent viral YouTube video claimed that Korea would soon be extinct. The country transformed negatively by one of the world's lowest birthrates. Change, it suggested, was too late. Four young adults come together to discuss the future of Korea, assessing its birthrate issues, education, culture of perfection, and the deep spiritual crisis that seems to have gripped the nation. Is Korea really over? Not necessarily... We hear from 4 young people all living here: a young Korean man interested in Jungian psychology, a woman balancing study and modeling, an ethnic Korean from Uzbekistan...
info_outline
Dividing Korea: Dr. Kornel Chang
Korea Deconstructed
Kornel Chang on U.S. Power, Korean Resistance, and the Birth of Division What if Korea’s true revolution was never allowed to happen? In this episode, I talk with historian Kornel Chang, author of A Fractured Liberation, to explore a moment in Korean history that most people never learn about. A moment when ordinary Koreans believed they were on the brink of something new. In 1945 Japanese colonial rule had ended and, across the peninsula, people were filled with hope. Workers seized factories, farmers reclaimed land, and women demanded rights. It was Korea’s “Asian Spring”...an...
info_outlineI watched Squid Game Season 2 over the holidays and decided to record some brief thoughts on it. You can find an abridged version in the newspaper here: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2025/01/782_389692.html
I am back in the studio next week with a new guest and a new topic before flying to the UK to spend a month with my family.
Happy 2025 everyone.
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 a social-cultural commentator, and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to the channel: @DavidTizzard/videos
Thanks to Patreon members: Hee Ji Jacobs, Bhavya, Roxanne Murrell
Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=62047873
Connect with us:
▶ Get in touch: [email protected]
▶ David's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/datizzard/
▶ KD 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
#koreadeconstructed #davidtizzard