
Korea Deconstructed
Korea Deconstructed is a show that talks to Korean people about Korean issues. It seeks that which is real, authentic, and experienced, often taking place beyond the reach of headline news and geopolitics.
It is hosted by David Tizzard who has lived and worked in Korea for nearly two decades and has a PhD in Korean Studies
Latest episodes

Nov 21, 2022 • 1h 36min
Jeon Seoyeon: Education, Feminism, and Kindness | Korea Deconstructed #040
Jeon Seoyeon is a South Korean woman working towards becoming a landscape architect and focused on helping social minorities. We talk about the importance of kindness and how it can affect our lives. What modern feminism feels like in South Korea. And the reality of Korean education. During this, Seoyeon is able to draw on the ideas of Mark Fisher, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and even swear on occasion. I hope you enjoy this conversation and Sara's attitude to life as much as I did. Conversation Outline 0:00 Introduction 2:08 Education and Suneung 33:20 Women and Feminism 53:50 Helping Social Minorities 1:26:51 Advice for Young People Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com...

Nov 12, 2022 • 3h 12min
Dr. Mark Peterson: Slavery, Confucianism, and Korean History | Korea Deconstructed #039
Mark Peterson first arrived in Korea in 1965. He then completed a PhD at Harvard University. He is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah. He has written countless books and now runs a popular YouTube channel on Korean history. Dr. Peterson has developed a strong understanding of the language and culture and used these to develop his own thoughts on Korean history. This is a wide-ranging discussion addressing the past, the present, and the future. We discussed Korea's internal developments as well as its place in the wider world. There was respectful disagreement, shared laughter, and mutual respect throughout the conversation. I hope you find it as thought-provoking as I did. Dr. Peterson's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/우물밖의개구리TheF... Dr. Peterson's New Book: https://www.aladin.co.kr/shop/wproduc... Discussion Outline 0:00 Korea in 1965 33:25 What is Confucianism? 46:17 Korea and China Relations 59:24 Slavery in Korea 1:17:00 Gregory Henderson 1:21:39 Confucianism in Modern Korea 1:45:36 Korean Language and Culture 1:51:26 Books on Korea 2:20:46 Korea as a Peaceful Nation 2:50:54 Advice for Young People 3:00:11 Fear of Death Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com... Special thanks to Nic Teeny for the research on this episode

Oct 25, 2022 • 1h 40min
Lieutenant General Chun In-Bum (ret.): Korean Military, BTS, Life Lessons | Korea Deconstructed #038
Lieutenant General Chun In-Bum (ret.) has played an important role in the history and development of South Korea. Now retired, his popular YouTube channel helps address contemporary issues facing the current generation as they prepare for or look back on their own mandatory military service. At the age of 65, the General has seen and experienced more than many of us could imagine. This is an opportunity to listen to him talk about life, discipline, and the importance of freedom. Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chun_In-bum YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/INBUMCHUN Discussion Outline BTS' Decision and Military Service Mobile Phones in the Korean Military Discipline The Korean Army in Media (JSA, DP, Descendants of the Sun) North Korea The Korean Military on YouTube Lessons on Life Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com... Special thanks to Nic Teeny for the research on this episode

Sep 3, 2022 • 1h 34min
Youngwoo Park: The Korean Queer Community, Christians, and Positivity | Korea Deconstructed #037
Youngwoo Park majors in Italian Area Studies and International Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. His fields of interest include human rights, development cooperation, and the sociology of gender and race. Youngwoo is currently working as a translator in the Department of Operations and Support for the Seoul Queer Culture Festival. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/youngwoo-park-419524214/?originalSubdomain=kr Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com...

Aug 19, 2022 • 1h 47min
Jumin Lee: Politics, Gender, and Anti-Discrimination | Korea Deconstructed #036
Jumin Lee is a Korean trial attorney and former Air Force officer. He writes regularly for NK News and Korea Pro on Korean politics, with a recent focus on gender, discrimination, and protections of minorities in South Korea. We spoke at length about key issues in Korean politics, the problems facing both major parties, the struggles of the Justice Party, and revisited influential characters such as Kim Dae-jung and Kim Yong-sam. You can find Jumin's work here: https://www.nknews.org/content_author/jumin-lee/ Or follow him here on Twitter: https://twitter.com/oldtype Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com...

Aug 13, 2022 • 2h 9min
Jeanie Y. Chang: K-Dramas and Mental Health | Korea Deconstructed #035
This is a conversation about K-Dramas and mental health, covering Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Our Blues, Tomorrow, and much more. We talk about the romance, the beauty standards, the soundtracks, the coping mechanisms, and the international success. Jeanie Chang is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a bestselling author on Amazon, an international corporate speaker, and a global social media influencer known as Noona's Noonchi Find her online: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noonasnoonchi/?hl=en Learn more about Jeanie Chang Learn more about Noona's Noonchi Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com...

Aug 5, 2022 • 42min
Chun Su Jin: The Princesses of Pyongyang| Korea Deconstructed #034
Chun Su-jin is a South Korean writer who is proud of her North Korean heritage. Born and raised in Seoul, Chun dreams of living in Pyongyang in a unifed Korea. She writes in both Korean and English and has covered the Presidential Office, the Foreign Ministry, and the Unification Ministry. Su-jin has recently written and published a book called North Korean Women in Power: Daughters of the Sun which covers the four most powerful women in the country, detailing their personalities and proximity to power. http://hollym.net/book/north-korean-women-in-power-daughters-of-the-sun/ Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen on podcasts: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com...

Jul 24, 2022 • 57min
Kim Yung Hee: Searching for my Korean Family | Korea Deconstructed #033
Kim Yung Hee was found by the Yeongdeungpo-gu police on October 26, 1973. She has since found her biological father. Now she is looking for her biological mother whose name is Lee Geum Soon or Lee Geum Sook. Her father's nickname for her mother was "망고". She is about 75 years old. Her mother's hometown is Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do. In the early 1970s, her mother lived with her sister across from Shinhyeon Church in Daehyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Help Yung Hee find her family Article: https://m.yna.co.kr/view/MYH20220704018300641 Website: https://www.umma4usa.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/umma4usa YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJtHPik6Wmu1mFX4NVdY5Iw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umma4usa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umma4usa/ KakaoTalk: umma4usa Email: umma4usa@gmail.com Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard ▶ Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast... ▶ Listen online: https://koreadeconstructed.libsyn.com... ▶ Artwork: Chan https://www.instagram.com/chans_desig... ▶ Music: disorientalz https://www.instagram.com/disoriental...

Jun 14, 2022 • 1h 56min
Suhyun J. Ahn: Queer Korean Poetry and Confucian Philosophy | Korea Deconstructed #032
This is definitely a conversation in two parts. For the first hour, we talk about LGBTQ literature and poetry in South Korea, particularly the work of Kim Hyun. We ask what it means to write queer poetry, who the leading figures in South Korea are, and what this says about society changing over time with the rise of institutions like Ding Dong. There is also a focus on the newly-published English version of Glory Hole, a collection of queer poetry which Suhyun co-translated. We then shift gears and address the focus of his doctoral work: Confucian philosophy. Suhyun is interested in the epistemological debates in the field and whether knowledge and values are transcendental or of internal origins. He charts some of the debates over the centuries, up to and including contemporary Korean philosophy. I push back in some ways and ask about the enslavement of large swathes of the population and the patriarchal system some say Confucianism created. It was a great discussion as the rain poured down outside our windows. Suhyun J. Ahn is a PhD candidate studying East Asian philosophy. When he is not researching, he translates Korean poetry. His works have appeared the award-winning documentary, Time to Read Poems. He recently translated Kim Hyun’s Glory Hole, the first Korean queer poetry collection. Until 2020, he was the founder and the editor-in-chief of Nabillera: Contemporary Korean Literature. Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard

Jun 10, 2022 • 1h 52min
Hyun Joon Lee: Crypto Bros, Luna and Do Kwon, and the Kimchi Premium | Korea Deconstructed #031
Recent shockwaves in the Korean crypto world have been caused by the crash of Luna and subsequent investigations into its founder Do Kwon. Hyun Joon (Andre) explains the Korean crypto world, the 'Kimchi Premium', Korean law and the reason foreigners are banned from the Korean crypto exchanges, the effects of the Luna crash, and the future of the industry. Hyun Joon (Andre) Lee is a Business Development and Marketing Specialists at Mainblock, a South Korea based incubation and VC firm working with blockchain-based projects in the P2E, NFT, Metaverse and DeFi space. He started his cryptocurrency journey in 2017, by arbitraging the price discrepacy of cryptocurrencies between exchanges and is now focusing on Music NFTs, and Play2Earn projects. Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard ▶ Get in touch: datizzard@swu.ac.kr ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62047873 ▶ Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidTizzard
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