Outside a Syracuse, New York, restaurant in June 2019, local Korean War veterans hold up “The Korean War and its Legacy,” a history book for elementary, middle and high school students published by the Korean War Legacy Foundation that year. (Photo by the Korean War Legacy Foundation) As the Korean War began on June 25, 1950, the month of June in South Korea has been about remembering the soldiers and patriots who died protecting their homeland. Along with efforts in Korea, devotees

President Yoon Suk Yeol, speaking from the Office of the President’s disaster control center on May 11, announces the COVID-19 pandemic will officially end on June 1. (Yonhap) On June 1, Korea officially began treating COVID-19 as an endemic, and the lives of its people have changed significantly.     Korea has eliminated nearly all restrictions related to the pandemic, including mandatory quarantines, believing t

A surf instructor, right, shows two beginners basic surfing techniques at Gisamun Beach, Yangyang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on the east coast of Korea, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Saul Latham) The Korean wave, or hallyu, may be sweeping the world, but on the once-insular Peninsula  –  or at least the southern part of the Korean Peninsula  –  many Koreans have become obsessed with another kind of wave, surfing.   Korea’s history of surfing dates b

Grace Kao, a professor of sociology at Yale University, poses before an interview at a hotel in central Seoul, April 25. (Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk)   Grace Kao, a renowned professor of sociology at Yale University, recently earned an unusual moniker: “an ARMY at Yale.” ARMY refers to the global fandom of K-pop juggernaut BTS.    As her unique nickname suggests, Kao is a big fan of the Grammy-

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee with U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. first lady Jill Biden before the state dinner at the White House on April 26. (Korea Times photo)   President Yoon Suk Yeol marked his first year in office on May 10 after bringing a series of major changes across every facet of government during the bustling period. The numbers below represent key moments of his presidency and succinctly summarize the chan