image-0a45bd79fd56a3d60759899b5668b2d8aa14d256-3965x5947-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-077de4ff232754b5e629a00d95ba073e89c462a6-1920x1094-gif

Download the Cultural Snapshot of South Korea

Latest South Korea articles

·
14 Jan 2025

LG woos skeptical techies with holistic AI product slate

signal·
14 Jan 2025

At Las Vegas CES 2025, LG Electronics unveiled new products that aim to reduce friction in everyday tech usage through human-centric artificial intelligence. As doubts persist around AI, brands can combine mobility and ease of use with technology to gain widespread trust.

·
10 Jan 2025

South Korean institute supports translators' careers

signal·
10 Jan 2025

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea is establishing a state-run graduate school dedicated to literary translation. With growing interest in global literature, support for human translators can help bring works to an international audience, making cultural exchange more accessible.

·
9 Jan 2025

L'Oréal leans into K-beauty demand

signal·
9 Jan 2025

L’Oréal has acquired South Korean skincare brand Dr.G from Swiss retail group Migros. As social media erodes barriers to international cultural exchange, demand is increasing for products and experiences beyond borders, like K-beauty.

·
8 Jan 2025

Child-free sentiment is growing among Koreans

signal·
8 Jan 2025

A report revealing public sentiment around marriage, childbirth, and generational values shows that more than half of Koreans wouldn't mind not having children. This reflects the continued shift away from traditional milestones and family structures due to socioeconomic barriers.

·
7 Jan 2025

Convenience stores disrupt premium K-beauty retail

signal·
7 Jan 2025

The battle for market share in beauty retail is heating up between discount and convenience stores in South Korea. As the boundaries between mass and premium increasingly blur, brands in the space can dial up personalised experiences to set themselves apart from low-cost competitors.

report·
2 Jan 2025

How UGC kick-started the revival of K-beauty

report·
2 Jan 2025

Influencer and user-generated content (UGC) is powering a second wave of popularity for K-beauty, following a global trend that values authenticity over celebrity ambassadorships. In this shifting consumer landscape, brands are creating inclusive products and tapping more diverse creators to represent them.

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