Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“Having been raised using Korean in her family, a Korean American journalist said that she still struggled to speak Korean fluently, and this experience led her to question why Korean entertainment writers and consumers failed to question improbable stories, such as that of ‘Vincenzo,” Lee Kyung-eun — the director of Human Rights Beyond Borders — wrote in her OpEd piece. The journalist she is talking about … is me.
“Having diverse characters leads to endless possibilities for storytelling. And there are infinite ways to tell an adoptee’s story…”
“Squid Game” is not this year’s “Parasite,” so much as it is a satire in the vein of “A Modest Proposal.” Just as Jonathan Swift pointed out the abject brutality of telling the poor to satiate their hunger by eating healthy, plump babies, Hwang depicts the cruelty of lording a huge sum of money – literally – over desperate people’s heads, knowing that most will die as they lived: penniless.
“One of my objectives in filmmaking is to bring empathy and understanding to our community,” said “Blue Bayou” writer, director and star, Justin Chon.
It shouldn’t matter what language a group chooses to sing in. And yet, it has become a huge deal in K-pop, with some stans saying BTS are sellouts for singing their last three singles in English. I disagree, just as I defended Monsta X when they released an album sung all in English. But that’s not how some people chose to remember it.
BTS approaches their music as art, because that’s what they want to create – something beautiful and meaningful that withstands the test of time.
Minority journalists should have the same opportunity as white reporters to tackle prestigious assignments. Maybe their take won’t be better than their white colleagues. Maybe they will. But how will we ever know if they’re not given a chance?
In this essay, writer Jae-Ha Kim examines BTS’s recent statement calling attention to anti-Asian racism. Content warning for discussions of racism and use of a quoted slur.
In this op-ed, writer Jae-Ha Kim unpacks the racist comments of German radio host Matthias Matuschik towards Korean band BTS in the larger context of the rise in violence toward Asian people globally. Content warning for discussions of racism and use of a quoted slur.
