south korea | Al Majalla

A protester holds a poster with an image of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol during a candlelight rally calling for the ouster of the president in Gwanghwamun in Seoul on December 5, 2024.

Are democracies doomed to gridlock and dysfunction?

From France to South Korea, US democratic allies are descending into political chaos

Emma Ashford and Matthew Kroenig 07 December 2024

Fans wait to pay for merchandise at a BTS pop-up store titled "Monochrome".

How South Korea’s ‘Hallyu’ cultural wave swept the globe

K-pop, Oscar-winning films and famous TV dramas have boosted the country's profile and owe much to government policies as well as spontaneous creativity

Najeeb Mubarak 04 December 2024

Han Kang’s 'We Do Not Part' offers new look at South Korea’s past

The Nobel Prize-winning novel takes readers on a journey through the landscape of memory and pain, revisiting an evil committed three-quarters of a century ago to illuminate the present

Samir Qasimi 24 November 2024

Han Kang, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature

Al Majalla

South Korean Nobel Laureate Han Kang: ‘Life is a wound’

The first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature has written eight novels, published three short story collections, and penned a wealth of poetry. Who is she—and what does she write about?

Emad al-Ahmad 16 October 2024

K-pop girl group New Jeans perform during “2024 Korea On Stage — New Generation," held at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul on May 21, 2024.

Anthony WALLACE / AFP

Why South Korean pop culture rocks and North Korea’s does not

Dictatorship stifles creativity and joyrn

The Economist 04 June 2024

A North Korea flag flutters next to concertina wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su

North Korea Fires 3 Ballistic Missiles after Unprecedented Year of Tests

North Korea fired three ballistic missiles toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Saturday, the South Korean military said. The launches were the latest in an unprecedented number of…

31 December 2022

People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile off its east coast, in Seoul, South Korea, December 18, 2022. REUTERS/ Heo Ran

North Korea Fires Two Ballistic Missiles, Escalating Tensions, Says South Korea

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles towards the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast on Sunday, said South Korea and Japan, prompting South Korea's presidential office to "strongly…

18 December 2022

Trucks are parked at a terminal of the Inland Container Depot in Uiwang, South Korea, November 30, 2022. REUTERS/ Heo Ran

South Korea Considers Ordering More Truckers Back to Work

The South Korean government was moving on Wednesday towards ordering more truckers to return to work as their national strike entered its 14th day. But the administration has so far failed to…

07 December 2022

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Round of 16 - Brazil v South Korea - Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar - December 5, 2022 Brazil's Richarlison celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

Sublime Brazil Crush Korea 4-1 With Attacking Masterclass

World Cup favorites Brazil produced a performance to delight fans and terrify potential opponents on Monday as they ripped through South Korea with four first-half goals to secure a hugely impressive…

05 December 2022

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group H - South Korea v Portugal - Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - December 2, 2022 South Korea players celebrate after the match as South Korea qualify for the knockout stages REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

South Korea Leave it Late, Then Wait, Before Reaching Last 16

South Korea's Hwang Hee-chan scored in added time to snatch a 2-1 comeback win over Portugal on Friday but they then faced an agonising 10 minute wait on the pitch before discovering it was enough to…

02 December 2022

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Hidaya, a 31-year-old Palestinian mother, carries her sick 18-month-old son Mohammed al-Mutawaq, who is also displaying signs of malnutrition, inside their tent at the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 24, 2025.

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Culture & Social Affairs

The culmination of policy: Israel’s use of starvation in Gaza

07 August 2025

What began 18 years ago is coming to a head today: the intentional, purposeful denial of food as a biological weapon that kills a population slowly, after first breaking its will

Hala Al-Naji

UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher holds the
Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 report during a press conference in Geneva on December 3, 2024.

Elodie le Maou / AFP

Profiles

Tom Fletcher: the senior UN man calling out Israeli 'cynicism'

03 August 2025

A former British diplomat now advising the UN Security Council has accused Israel of "making starvation a bargaining chip". Surprise, surprise, this did not go down well in Tel Aviv. Who is he?

Con Coughlin

Solar-powered lights on a mountain road in Lebanon.

Shutterstock

Business & Economy

Powering the periphery: how renewables are reshaping rural development in the Arab world

07 August 2025

Beyond the flashy projects of the Gulf, a quieter contribution to the energy transition is underway across North Africa and the Levant

Jessica Obeid

Jason Lyon

Science & Technology

Could China gatecrash the US-Gulf AI wedding?

09 August 2025

America offers the technology and the know-how, while the Gulf brings the capital and the energy, but are the Gulf states putting all their AI eggs in the US basket?

Shirley Ze Yu

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