

Korea Deconstructed
David Tizzard
Exploring Korea through open conversations with historians, students, professors, pop stars, and everyone in between. Learn, reflect, and understand with Korea Deconstructed.
The host, David Tizzard, has a Phd in Korean Studies and is a Professor at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He also writes a weekly column in the Korea Times.
The host, David Tizzard, has a Phd in Korean Studies and is a Professor at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He also writes a weekly column in the Korea Times.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 17, 2023 • 2h 37min
The North, The South, and The Coffee #048
Jacco Zwetsloot has been the host of the NK News Podcast since 2018. He has interviewed a wide range of guests about their knowledge of and experience in North Korea, from celebrity defectors to high-ranking U.S. government officials. Jacco has a Master of Arts from Leiden University, for which he wrote a thesis on North Korean graphic novels. This is a conversation in two parts - both of which are fascinating. The first sees Jacco recount details of his three trips to the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang. These bring to life the reality of travelling in and out of a country determined to control the flow of internal and external information. He provides keen insights into the reality of this system and the practices carried out. The second half sees us talk about South Korea - a country Jacco has called home for many years. Of particular interest is the conversation about movies and culture. He finishes our chat by suggesting unification of the peninsula is something that will happen - though when and by what means he remains unsure. NK News Podcast: https://www.nknews.org/category/north-korea-news-podcast/latest Jacco on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaccoZed Discussion Outline 0:00 Explaining North Korea 32:57 The People of North Korea 46:49 NK News Podcast 1:05:18 NK News 1:14:07 South Korea 1:32:54 Korean Movies, Music, and Books 1:55:08 The Foreign Community 2:09:34 Advice for Young People 2:18:20 Unification 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... ▶ Music by Kev at Disorientalz. https://www.instagram.com/disorientalz/
Feb 15, 2023 • 1h 43min
The Sublime Ideology of K-Advertising #047
Dr. Olga Fedorenko is scholar of Korean Studies and anthropology of media at Seoul National University. Her research interests revolve around media and its connection to social and political life in contemporary South Korea. Her book The Flower of Capitalism: South Korean Advertising At a Crossroads: https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/flow... T his is a discussion about Korea, media, and the advertising landscape. Dr. Fedorenko also taught me a staple of anthropology: Find the strange in the familiar, and the familiar in the strange. I love this idea. My next two conversations are in-person so Olga might be the last Zoom discussion that takes place on Korea Deconstructed. There's something about being in-person. Discussion Outline 0:00 Early Experiences of Korea 8:47 Contemporary South Korea 19:17: The Liberalization of Korean Media 28:00 Life in a Korean Advertising Agency 47:40 Marxism in Academia and South Korea 54:00 Celebrities in South Korea 1:14:10 Advertising in Daily Life 1:31:30 Advice and the Future 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... ▶ Music by Kev at Disorientalz. https://www.instagram.com/disorientalz/

Feb 4, 2023 • 1h 50min
Korea's Three Revolutions #046
Philip Turner was appointed New Zealand Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in March 2018. He is concurrently Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He has spent decades in China, Japan, and Korea. Discussion Outline 0:00 What is a diplomat? 24:30 Life in East Asia 45:00 Experiences with South Korea 1:09:13 Values at home and abroad 1:26:40 North Korea 1:32:57 Youth and the next generation 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... ▶ Music by Kev at Disorientalz. https://www.instagram.com/disorientalz/
Jan 24, 2023 • 2h 46min
On Korean Civilization #045
Colin Marshall's essays on on cities, language, and culture have appeared in publications like the New Yorker, the Guardian, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, whose Korea Blog he wrote for six years. He's now at work on a book of essays in Korean, and a book about Los Angeles in English. Find Colin Online Twitter: https://twitter.com/colinmarshall Website: http://blog.colinmarshall.org/ Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmG7qCR4RSo 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... ▶ Music by Kev at Disorientalz. Check him out!
Jan 18, 2023 • 2h 45min
Do You Like K-Pop? #044
Haley Yang is a reporter at the Korea JoongAng Daily where she writes about culture, society, K-pop, and hallyu. This is a long conversation about Korean culture, society, and the people who live and engage with it. It's critical, humorous, and lots else in between. Come for the content, stay for the shade, leave with a smile. Discussion Outline 0:00 Introduction 2:48 Writing about Hallyu 10:35 New Jeans and the K-pop Scene 43:20 Beauty Standards and Plastic Surgery 1:08:49 Dating and Sexuality 1:20:00 Social Media Love and Toxicity 1:42:40 Omega X and Corporate Abuse 1:54:00 Fetishization and Koreaboos 2:17:00 K-Content vs Korean Content Find Haley on Twitter: https://twitter.com/haley_dose_of Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/haleydoseof 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... ▶ Music by Kev at Disorientalz. Check him out!

Dec 27, 2022 • 1h 3min
Dr. Paul Youngbin Kim: Cross-Cultural Psychology and Korean Behavior | Korea Deconstructed #043
This is a conversation about behavioral patterns passed down over generations which then produce real-life manifestations of cultural concepts. We explore the symbiotic relationship between values, behavior, and material conditions as well as how acculturation takes place at different speeds in each domain. Dr. Kim explores culturally-bound syndromes such as hwabyeong (화병) and then explains the behavioral psychologist view of han (한), jeong (정), nunchi (눈치), and chaemyeon (체면). Paul Youngbin Kim is a Professor of Psychology at Seattle Pacific University. He received a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Notre Dame in 2010. His scholarly interests are in Asian and Asian American psychological processes, especially regarding the cultural, interpersonal, and individual factors that impact psychological outcomes such as mental health and attitudes toward seeking mental health help. His scholarly work has been published in some of the top academic journals of his field (e.g., Journal of Counseling Psychology, Asian American Journal of Psychology). Paul is Korean by birth but has lived outside of Korea since he was 10 years old. His cross-cultural experiences continue to inspire his scholarly endeavors. Discussion Outline 0:00 Cultural Constructs 8:30 Korean Behavior 17:40 The Korean Concept of 'Han' 21:47 Inter-Generational Trauma 33:15 Nunchi (눈치) and Gat-saeng (갓생) 39:16 Power distance and Hierarchy 42:20 Chaemyeon (체면) 47:20 Can Non-Korean People 'get' Korean cultural concepts? 53:05 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...
Dec 20, 2022 • 2h 28min
Peter Bint: Being Famous in Korea | Korea Deconstructed #042
Peter Bint is a television and radio personality. With a Korean mother and a British father, he successfully navigates two cultures, building bridges and making friends along the way. He currently hosts a daily two-hour morning radio show and appears on MBC's United Fathers among many other things. This is a conversation about identity, language, multiculturalism, lookism, K-pop, fame, and children. Peter's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterbint338 Peter's Insta: https://www.instagram.com/peter_b83/?hl=en United Fathers: https://mydramalist.com/738875-united-fathers Discussion Outline 0:00 What Part of You is Korean? 16:00 Korean Ethnicity 25:22 The Korean Language 37:10 Modern Multiculturalism 44:07 Hallyu and its Effects 56:36 Lookism 1:06:13 K-Pop 1:16:05 Television and Fame 2:06:00 Raising Kids in Korea 2:13:41 Advice for Young People 2:21:20 Question for the Next Guest 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...
Dec 14, 2022 • 2h 35min
Dr. Henry Em: When Did Koreans Become Korean? | Korea Deconstructed #041
When did Koreans become Korean? That is the question Dr. Henry Em, Associate Professor of History at Yonsei University, and I started exploring. It wasn't planned. And it was difficult. But by then end of this, I think we got somewhere. And I got to know Henry more as a person. We're talking about the creation of nation states, official narratives, the minjok, and actors as the subjects of history. About people. About Kim Ku, about Park Chung-hee, About status and gender in Korean history, post-colonialism, communism, North Korea, and memory and violence. We even talk about K-dramas. Henry Em (임흥순) is associate professor of Asian Studies at Yonsei University, Underwood International College. He was born in Seoul, grew up in Chicago, and received his BA, MA, and PhD (History, 1995) from the University of Chicago. From 1995 to 2013, he was assistant professor at UCLA and University of Michigan, and associate professor at NYU. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Korea (1998-1999) and Visiting Professor at Centre de Recherches sur la Corée, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris (2000). Professor Em began teaching at Yonsei University in 2013. His recent publications include "North Korea as Neighbor: Critical Scholarship on North Korea," Korea Journal, 61-3 (autumn, 2021), "Christianity, the Cold War, and the Construction of the Republic of Korea," Korea Journal, 60-4 (winter, 2020), and "Killer Fables: Yun Ch'i-ho, Bourgeois Enlightenment, and the Free Laborer," Journal of Korean Studies, 25-1 (March, 2020). His book, The Great Enterprise: Sovereignty and Historiography in Modern Korea, was published by Duke University Press in 2013. Henry's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Enterprise-Sovereignty-Historiography-Asia-Pacific/dp/0822353725 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 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


