President Yoon Suk Yeol, speaking from the Office of the President’s disaster control center on May 11, announces the COVID-19 pandemic will officially end on June 1. (Yonhap) On June 1, Korea officially began treating COVID-19 as an endemic, and the lives of its people have changed significantly.     Korea has eliminated nearly all restrictions related to the pandemic, including mandatory quarantines, believing t

A surf instructor, right, shows two beginners basic surfing techniques at Gisamun Beach, Yangyang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on the east coast of Korea, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Saul Latham) The Korean wave, or hallyu, may be sweeping the world, but on the once-insular Peninsula  –  or at least the southern part of the Korean Peninsula  –  many Koreans have become obsessed with another kind of wave, surfing.   Korea’s history of surfing dates b

Grace Kao, a professor of sociology at Yale University, poses before an interview at a hotel in central Seoul, April 25. (Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk)   Grace Kao, a renowned professor of sociology at Yale University, recently earned an unusual moniker: “an ARMY at Yale.” ARMY refers to the global fandom of K-pop juggernaut BTS.    As her unique nickname suggests, Kao is a big fan of the Grammy-

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee with U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. first lady Jill Biden before the state dinner at the White House on April 26. (Korea Times photo)   President Yoon Suk Yeol marked his first year in office on May 10 after bringing a series of major changes across every facet of government during the bustling period. The numbers below represent key moments of his presidency and succinctly summarize the chan

  Students from Gyobang Elementary School in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, celebrate after winning the group elementary school division tournament of The 1st Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Cup: National Jangsa Ssireum Competition in Boseong, Jeollanam-do Province. The competition took place from April 30 to May 6. (Courtesy of Korea Ssireum Association)         The global popularity of Korean reality shows