Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“I love that every place you visit, from small town to metropolis, has its own unique way of living and point-of-view on life,” said “Crew Girl” showrunner Vivian Lin. “There’s always a local wisdom that I’ve never thought about that changes some part of my life for the better.”
K-CULTURE WITH JAE-HA KIM is the space where I curate my reviews and views about Korean-centric things happening in the pop culture realm (and beyond) that pique my interest…and I hope yours, too. Won’t you join me?
I’ll be updating this page periodically to include music that’s piquing my interest at the moment. Song of the day: “Pretty Baby” by Blondie.
When comedian Atsuko Okatsuka was eight years old, she thought her family was taking a two-month vacation to the United States. “It was never supposed to be longer than that,” Okatsuka said in a Zoom interview from her Los Angeles home. “I wanted to go back [to Japan]. When I realized I wasn’t going back, [I started fixating] on little things I disliked. I remember just going off in elementary school suddenly and refusing to use the [pencil] erasers. My classmates and the teacher must have thought I was just this insane eraser police.”
Simon D. Lee, attorney and founding partner of Pureum Law Office, answers all the complicated questions.
“I remember being in my living room on our group chat, I saw the [Lollapalooza] offer come in,” said Kim Theory’s Audrey Cymone. “I was so excited. I told my dad about it and then he started losing his mind. We are so grateful for the opportunity.”
“I think travel is the best way to hold a mirror up to yourself, because you get out of your comfort zone,” said saxophonist Dave Koz. “You realize that the way my culture does things is not the only way to do it, and it expands you as a person.”
“Don’t Say Good Luck” actress Scarlett Estevez says her favorite destination is the place she has yet to visit.
BTS don’t want anyone to do this. Here’s why.
“If I’m being honest, l didn’t know exactly what to expect when starting to pursue life as an idol,” says Michi, who hails from Hawaii. “I knew what an idol was, but it was difficult to imagine what a realistic daily lifestyle would be like. One thing that was different from what I had pictured was how many people work behind the scenes to assist the team to become who they are. There is so much effort and planning that goes into every song and stage.”
WHIB’s second mini-album “Cherry Pie” – out August 5 – continues to showcase their fluid blend of sweet vocals with intense rapping.
NPR invited me to talk about BTS’ decision not to submit their music for Grammy consideration on their “Here & Now” podcast.
In my latest for Rolling Stone, I report on BTS removing themselves from Grammy contention in 2027, and what all of this means.
Named after a trio of awesome alt-rock Kims, Kim Theory is making lots of noise before graduating high school. My latest exclusive for Rolling Stone magazine.
“Space makes Earth better,” said astronaut Aisha Bowe. “Every new place still fills me with even more curiosity. What changed after space is how I see Earth. When you look down at this planet from 100 kilometers up, every destination looks impossibly precious. If anything, space made me want to explore more of this world, not less.”
For New York City-based activist and model Ava Dash, traveling is less about an itinerary than it is about embracing the moments she never planned for, like “watching the sun set over the ocean with close friends, discovering a tiny restaurant you found by accident, or getting completely lost in a city and ending up somewhere even better than where you intended to go.”
Would we have done well if we had stayed in Korea? Probably, because my parents were resilient. But would I choose to move to Korea permanently at this stage of my life? No, for the same reason that my father wanted to be buried here rather than in our family plot in Seoul. His family is here, he said, and he wanted to be near us even in death.
“We are always in a beautiful part of England for ‘Bridgerton,’” Oli Higginson said. “I’ve filmed wonderful scenes at the Bridgerton house in Greenwich and at Hampton Court Palace near Richmond. We used to film a lot in the English city of Bath, but now they have built this incredible backlot set out at Shepperton Studios, which is truly a feat of artistic engineering. It is stunning. And given that, it does indeed always feel like the locations are another character. They totally inform how we carry ourselves and how the scenes play out.”
The Korean American author offers a fresh, modern take on “Chunhyangjeon.”
Some people mistakenly describe K-dramas (even the best K-dramas) as soap operas. While daytime shows certainly exist in Korea—typically airing Monday through Friday for about 50 to 200+ episodes—the K-drama umbrella covers a multitude of genres. Read more in my latest article for Teen Vogue.