image-93e862094a3735614e33f960aff4473f02354ae4-3164x2013-jpg

South Korea

Examining what it’s like to live, work and play in South Korea, our experts guide you through the nuances that define its culture.

Explore behavioural developments in South Korea

image-c03b9db9788c21a2ef39ab47136c570da7dae7ee-1200x684-gif

Download the Cultural Snapshot of South Korea

Latest South Korea articles

·
17 Dec 2024

Viral South Korean influencer challenges ageing attitudes

signal·
17 Dec 2024

A 77-year-old YouTuber @koreagrandma is launching a skincare brand in collaboration with global cosmetics giant Cosmax. While anti-ageing concerns still dominate beauty trends, older adult influencers who promote self-care are paving the way for pro-ageing rituals instead.

·
4 Dec 2024

AI sleep assistant targets growing stress relief needs

signal·
4 Dec 2024

Sleep tech start-up Asleep is launching an AI-powered assistant to meet the growing demand for accessible and tech-driven wellness solutions. With Z-Talk, it's feeding into a desire for brands to help people manage their wellbeing through personalised and innovative products.

·
28 Nov 2024

Koreans buy mini make-up for low-cost experimentation

signal·
28 Nov 2024

Korea’s Gen Zers and Alphas are snapping up smaller-sized cosmetics to affordably splurge on beauty and test new products before committing to them. As mini items flood an already oversaturated market, brands can lean into new, unique modes of personalisation that tiny product design facilitates.

·
27 Nov 2024

Starbucks South Korea courts Gen Z with concept store

signal·
27 Nov 2024

Starbucks Korea has announced a new concept store in Seoul that targets university students. Brands are honing in on unique, memorable shopping experiences to win over Gen Z, and they could benefit from a more niche approach to counter oversaturation in the experiential retail landscape.

·
25 Nov 2024

Demand for authentic K-food in Germany sparks response

signal·
25 Nov 2024

Through the Korean Cultural Center’s ‘Korean Food Awareness’ campaign, the centre hopes to impart knowledge and skills to restaurants in Germany about how to prepare authentic Korean dishes. Ensuring accurate cultural representation is key to success in an increasingly globalised world.

·
21 Nov 2024

Josun Hotels & Resorts launches online lifestyle store

signal·
21 Nov 2024

Korean luxury hospitality group Josun Hotels & Resorts has launched a store to expand its online presence via its distinctive food and lifestyle products. With people searching for accessible indulgences, premium hotel-branded products can bring luxury escapism into homes.

View all

Experts on Access

Book a call with a leading expert in our network

image-5bd7801b02873795dbc20807f2516a944e4caa1e-352x394-png

Cultural Insider

Max Kim

Journalist specializing in research-intensive longform projects

Seoul-based journalist Max Kim has written on the intersection of tech and South Korean politics for publications such asThe New Yorker,MIT Technology Review,The Guardian,covering topics such as the political and economic impacts of Big Tech, the platform economy, and the impact of both on human behaviour. He offers a big picture view of how tech interweaves Korean society and share reflections on what's next.

image-0c21ff04c19e802babd32829f72acd090d9d59dd-4500x2525-jpg

Macro Expert

Ingyu Oh

Expertise in organisations and cultural studies

Ingyu Oh is a professor of business management and Korean and Japanese cultural industries at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. He is also a researcher at the International Centre for Organization & Innovation Studies, Singapore. Before coming to Japan in 2018, he had taught at Korea University, Bristol Business School, Middle East Technical University, UC Berkeley, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, the University of Waikato, and the University of Oregon. His main teaching and research interests include organisational studies, innovation, international business, business history, and cultural studies. He is an associate editor ofAsia Pacific Business Review.

image-47f815721ad7696f74f67792a2abc0bc5c8f19a4-1362x1310-jpg

Macro Expert

Hyeyoung Woo

Professor specialising in family and health in Korea and the US

Hyeyoung Woo is a professor of sociology and the director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State University. She received her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. Woo's research centres on status attainment, such as in education, work, and family, and its associations with health and wellbeing over the course of a person's life, particularly those in the US and Korea. Her current project is titled 'The Making of Women in Korea', funded by the Academy of Korean Studies. Her work has been published in several journals and books, includingRedefining Multicultural Families in South Korea.

image-3124b2bafcaae061fa0ef02713f2f58d2b0f3513-200x200-jpg

Cultural Insider

Lorraine (Lorr) Ye

Head curator for digital artists and K-culture writer

Lorraine (Lorr) Ye is the Head Curator at thehug.xyz, helping their community of more than 14,000 global digital artists navigate how to become entrepreneurs and multi-modal creators of the future. When she's not working on HUG, she is a features writer at AllKPop.com, the largest English-language K-Pop news site in the world. There, she focuses on marketing, communications, and PR and holds interviews with renowned artists.

image-ff937eae01e071750abb703e55121654fdc991db-3807x4601-jpg

Sector Expert

Hawon Jung

Journalist/author on gender issues and feminist movements in South Korea

Hawon Jung is a former Seoul correspondent for AFP and the author ofFlowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement. Jung spent over a decade writing about the Korean Peninsula, focusing on the military confrontations between the two Koreas and gender issues in South Korea.Flowers of Fireis based on her years-long reporting on the #MeToo and feminist movements in the South – an economic, technological and cultural powerhouse that still has one of the worst records on women's rights in the industrialised world. Her coverage of the country's #MeToo movement was also shortlisted in the Awards for Editorial Excellence by the Society of Publishers in Asia.

Toolkit

Bespoke solutions

Our most effective techniques, distilled into templated solutions for fast, affordable and tailored research solutions.

Discover Toolkit