KJD Special Reports | Korea JoongAng Daily

KJD Special

Not too cool for school: How K-pop stars took over university festivals

The easiest way to catch a K-pop concert isn't, in some ways, bagging a coveted ticket for a dome show — it's a university festival, where star-studded lineups descend on school campuses. But how did this tradition start?

Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon shaves his head in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on March 23 to call for the enactment of a special act on the southeastern port city's ″global hub″ initiative. [LIM HYUN-DONG]

[WHY] Korea's hair-itage: The history of head-shaving in politics

[WHY] One Americano, four hours: Inside Korea's 'cafe study tribe'

A poster for Season 8 of Coupang Play's Saturday Night Live Korea [COUPANG PLAY]

[WHY] How Korea’s political comedy show became an image laundering machine

People on a bus look at smartphones and do not engage in an undated photo. [GETTY IMAGES PRO]

[WHY] Small talk, big discomfort: Why Koreans don't chat with strangers

Lee Jee-ho, the eldest son of Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, salutes during an enlistment ceremony at the Naval Academy in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on Sept. 23, 2025. [YONHAP]

[WHY] Twice the time but twice the benefits? Why some young men choose to serve as officers in the Korean military.

An unmanned ice cream and snack store in western Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

[WHY] Service without a smile: The popularity and problems of unstaffed stores

GoogleAdmanager-KJD

Latest News

Commuters sit and stand inside a subway car in Seoul on Dec. 1, 2025. [YONHAP]

[WHY] Seat warmers: Cause for comfort or pain point for Korea's commuters

Commuters in Seoul express frustration over overly heated subway seats, often referred to as 'eong-ddeu.' Complaints have surged in recent months, with temperatures regulated by an overall heating system, not intentional seat warmers.

2026.2.27

Boy band Stray Kids wins the Album of the Year award at the 2025 MAMA Awards in Hong Kong on Nov. 29, 2025. [CJ ENM]

[WHY] Has the Korean market become optional for K-pop?

K-pop's popularity is shifting as domestic interest wanes, despite global successes by groups like Stray Kids. Industry observers note that casual listeners in Korea are decreasing, leading agencies to focus on core fandoms instead of broader appeal.

2026.2.20

Popular in Popular in KJD Special

Stainless steel chopsticks used in Korea [GETTY IMAGE BANK]

[WHY] Flat, frustrating and now famous: The history of Korea's metal chopsticks

The flat, metal chopsticks omnipresent in Korea have become more well-known around the world with the rise of the Korean Wave, but where did these more difficult versions of the utensil come from, and why are they still around?

2026.2.13

Park Chan-mi, a 41-year-old mother, poses for a photo with her twin children in Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, a historic building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Jan. 17. [PARK CHAN-MI]

[WHY] Millennial parents choose memories over mortgages, setting up temporary homes abroad

Millennial parents in Korea, like Park Chan-mi and Cho Ah-ram, are increasingly prioritizing extended travel experiences over traditional financial investments like mortgages. When memories matter more than money, monthlong vacations become the norm.

2026.2.6

A man who collects paper and boxes poses for a photo. [JOONGANG ILBO]

[WHY] Why older adults brave freezing winters, scorching summers to collect cardboard

From the freezing morning hours of winter to the scorching afternoons of summer, older adults can be seen collecting paper and cardboard, but this isn't part of a recycling program — it's how many keep the lights on in a rapidly aging society.

2026.1.23

An adult works on her Kumon worksheets. [KYOWON]

[WHY] Once-dreaded worksheet from childhood now becoming surprising study tool of choice for adults

For today’s MZ generation, daily worksheets are a familiar — and not especially fond — childhood memory. And yet, despite those groan-inducing memories, many of those children are now, as adults, voluntarily returning to the once-dreaded worksheet.

2026.1.16

A job seeker holds up a resume, which includes a photo on the top left, at the 2025 Gangnam Job Fair at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on June 5. [YONHAP]

[WHY] The reason Korean companies ask applicants for photos

Why do Korean companies ask applicants to include photos with their resumes?

2025.12.19

A stock image of an engaged couple [GETTY IMAGES]

[WHY] Engagements that don't start with a proposal: How Korean couples commit

While a proposal close to the nuptials may seem startling to Western observers, it is the norm in Korea, where formal proposals often happen well after wedding planning has begun. Why, then, do Korean proposals take place so late in the process?

2025.12.12

In the animated image, a woman is shown receiving multiple cosmetic treatments [GETTY IMAGES]

[WHY] Koreans' obsession with having a 'baby face'

Fighting against aging has been a universal obsession that has fascinated people for centuries, regardless of their age, gender, nationality or social status, rom the Fountain of Youth to Dorian Gray's portrait and the rise of plastic surgery.

2025.11.21

Cars are in line to enter Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on May 5. Most of them are either white- or black-colored cars. [YONHAP]

[WHY] ‘Sushi on wheels’: Is Korea's obsession with white and black cars finally changing?

Why do Koreans seem to have such a love affair with neutral-colored cars? Is it somehow linked to old Korea nickname of “land of white clothing?” Or simply because white has become the most common choice by default?

2025.11.7