Korea Fm Talk & News | Koreafm.net

Members of the "Only in Korea" Facebook group focusing on news and happenings in South Korea have raised $2,000 to help the homeless in Seoul during the holiday season. OinK moderator Deja Motley lead the initiative and told Korea FM that her previous work with homeless in Chicago has motivated her to help the less fortunate here in Korea. "Only in Korea" creator Travis Hull and other group members also participated in the fundraiser that gave food and warm clothes to as many as 200 people this holiday season.Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2 Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Thursday, December 31 - Hundreds of protesters are joining South Korean survivors of Japanese World War II sex slavery to denounce a new agreement between the two nations, a South Korean soldier is dead following a gun-related incident on the southern side of the DMZ, and for seven quarters in a row, South Korea has the fastest Internet speed in the world.

South Korea’s Education Ministry has threatened to sue over a childcare dispute, both part-time and full-time Korean workers are subject to illegal pressure from their employers, just how many soldiers does North Korea have, and despite a slow start South Korean films performed well at the box office in 2015. Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2 Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Thursday, December 24 - South Korea’s Constitutional Court has rejected a petition that challenged the country’s 1965 agreement with Japan for victims of forced labor, A Daegu court has found a 42 year old man guilty of defaming President Park Geun-hye through critical leaflets, chemical castration for sex offenders has been ruled constitutional and South Korean workers face some of the worst statistics in the OECD.

Wednesday, December 23 - A group of South Korean lawyers have filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court over the government's move to reintroduce state-authored history textbooks, California will likely teach high school students about Comfort Women by 2017, and Facebook is the most popular social media tool in South Korea. For more news, talk radio & independent music from Korean peninsula, subscribe to the Korean News Update Podcast in the iTunes Store, with your favorite Android application, or visit KoreaFM.net.

More than 30 foreign residents of Korea have been chosen to be part of Seoul's Foreign Residents Council, a new group formed under Mayor Park Won-soon to review the city’s current policies, seek advice from foreign residents and create new proposals. The Foreign Residents Council recently held its inaugural training conference, and Korea FM spoke with a few of its English-speaking members. Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2 Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

The Asia Society, a pan-Asian think tank, the recently held an open seminar with Korean Shaman Eunmi Pang on the role of Shamans in contemporary Korean society. Korea FM interviewed Shaman Pang and recorded part of the discussion that occurred between religious scholars and members of the public. Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2 Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Seoul National University recently hosted the 2015 Korea Human Rights & Peace Debate to develop Korean & English communication skills for high school & college students.Korea FM attended the event and spoke with organizers as well as high school contestants.Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Recently, experts from around the world gathered in the capital to attend the Seoul Dialogue For Human Rights, organized by the Yonsei Center For Human Liberty & the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. The day began with an opening address from the chair of the event, Yonsei Professor Lee Jung-hoon, who discussed the dual nature of the conference in recognition of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Recently, Korea FM traveled with a group of undergraduate and graduate students from Seoul to Gyeonggi-do Gwanju to visit a countryside museum known in English as the "House of Sharing". While there, the group learned about the history and purpose of the museum and was also able to speak with a Korean survivor of Japanese military sexual slavery.Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

City Hall & Seoul Plaza recently played host to the 2nd year of the Seoul Kimchi Festival, an event where thousands of volunteers make kimchi for the needy & celebrate the Korean custom of Kimjang, the making and sharing kimchi. Korea FM . net spoke with the organizer of the Seoul Kimchi Festival as well as performers & attendees to learn more about the event.Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Ask people here in South Korea where the majority of smog, fine dust, or the scientific term PM2.5 comes from, and you'll get quite a few different answers. However, if you ask Greenpeace, you'll only get one. Earlier this year, the NGO released a joint study conducted with Harvard on air pollution in South Korea, and according to those results, blaming China misses the bigger culprit, South Korea's coal power plants, here at home. Korea FM spoke with a representative of Greenpeace here in Seoul to learn more about the research and its implications.

Foreign correspondents, journalists, and prominent bloggers based in Korea were recently invited to attend a night of networking and panel discussions hosted by the Korea Observer and the Senior Public Diplomacy Group, a volunteer wing of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Korea FM spoke with attendees and asked them what it was like living and working in South Korea, including the benefits and disadvantages they faced. This report also includes audio from a panel discussion on pitching stories about Korea and a brief history lesson in some of the first Western journalists who visited the peninsula.Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Recently, more than 150 people attended a standing room only event for foreign entertainers to network and discuss solutions to issues they face while working in Korea. The event was organized by the Korea Observer and The Senior Public Diplomacy Group, a volunteer wing of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with all proceeds from the sales of tickets to be donated to the Foreigner Entertainers Association to improve safe and equitable working standards in the Korean entertainment industry. Korea FM was there and spoke to attendees about their impressions of working in the Korean Entertainment Industry.

The Seoul City Government has finally decided to end it's long running branding campaign of “Hi Seoul: Soul of Asia”, a slogan that was chosen nearly 10 years ago when over 7,000 people voted for the concept. Seoul is continuing its reliance on citizens choosing the city's slogan, and three new branding ideas can now be voted for online until October 26th. Korea FM spoke with tourists near City Hall here in the capital to find out which slogan they preferred, and what they think of city slogan in general.Subscribe to our daily "Korean News Update" or weekly "This Week Korea" and "Korea Speaks" reports via:iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/korea-fm-.-net-talk-radio/id1019399741?mt=2Android Apps - http://subscribeonandroid.com/feeds.feedburner.com/koreafmRSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/koreafm

Sunday, October 11 - The South Korean Government is strengthening sanctions against men who give up their citizenship to avoid mandatory military service, a record number of people attended the 20th anniversary of the Busan International Film Festival, and more than 440 Seoul street cleaners are on the job this weekend to clean up the city’s “rotten cheese” smell. For more news, talk radio & independent music from Korean peninsula, subscribe to the Korean News Update Podcast in the iTunes Store, with your favorite Android application, or visit KoreaFM.net.

It's now been 10 years since the completion of the Cheonggye Stream Restoration Project that transformed an elevated freeway in the heart of Seoul into an 11km family friendly walkway that now attracts millions of tourists each year. While it's reported that most people in Seoul are now convinced the change was worth the trouble, the project cost more than $300 million and displaced 60,000 merchants and street vendors. KoreaFM.net visited the Cheonggye Stream and asked people what they thought of the pros and cons of the project.

Last weekend, a reported 32 million people traveled across South Korea for the Chuseok holiday. Korea FM reporter Chance Dorland traveled to Milyang, a small town located between Busan and Daegu, to spend the Chuseok holiday with a Korean family, where he filed this report.

A growing number of Koreans are treating Chuseok as a more relaxed holiday, a trend that points to the slowly changing tide of Korean national holiday customs. KoreaFM.net asked people here in Seoul how they planned to celebrate "Korean Thanksgiving" and also spoke with a Korean history and culture professor to learn more about the history of one of Korea's most important traditional holidays.

This month, experts from around the world gathered in Seoul for a public forum at the Asan Institute For Policy Studies to discuss South Korea and other examples of successful transitional justice. KoreaFM.net was there and spoke with an organizer of the event to find out its history and what his organization hoped attendees would learn from the experience.