South Korea: Kimchi, K-Pop, and All-Night Karaoke
South Korea: Kimchi, K-Pop, and All-Night Karaoke  
Podcast: Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books
Published On: Fri Oct 23 2026
Description: South Korea sits at the easternmost edge of Asia and shares the Korean Peninsula with its stern northern neighbor. South Korea’s current geography was created by outsiders: The US and Soviet Union drew its borders after WWII. Although its 20th-century history is pretty grim, the modern country — dynamic, resilient, traditional, and fashionable — is not. In the capital city of Seoul, soaring skyscrapers and colorful neon glitter are juxtaposed with traditional swooping tile roofs. Cone-shaped mountains surround the city, framed by pink cherry blossoms in the spring and maple leaves turned gold, red, and orange in the fall. A short list of things for which we can thank Korea: Kimchi and bibimbap. The MP3 player and those sweet instant coffee sticks with built-in sugar and creamer. K-Dramas (Hello, Attorney Woo!) and K-Pop. (Who doesn’t love a little ‘Dynamite’?!) In this episode, we learn about the discovery of a long-lost royal tomb and the new apps known as ‘dopamine sites.’ Because it’s nearly impossible to talk about South Korea without contrasting it with its northern neighbor, we take a virtual trip to the DMZ and share tips for living like a monk (for a day). Then we recommend five books we love that took us to South Korea on the page, including a quiet novella set in a popular beach town, a colorful comic book with recipes, a modern story of four friends obsessed with beauty in Seoul, a nonfiction book that illuminates life in a place most of us will never visit, and a charming retelling of Pride and Prejudice set during the 18th-century Joseon dynasty. Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin, translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins Cook Korean! by Robin Ha If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick Behind Five Willows by June Hur For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of South Korea Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices