The excitement is palpable, as it always is just before any dance competition. Upbeat Latin tunes echo through a hall of dressing rooms that buzz with giddy conversations in a number of languages. Inside, flamboyantly dressed men ensure that every tassel of their costumes is in place while their female partners apply thick eyeliner and …
On a warm spring afternoon, Jin Park, a 32 year old Korean citizen, guides me to our destination on Nodeul-seom, a seemingly unremarkable island smack dab in the middle of Seoul’s Han River. Park looks like any other guy his age, donned in cargo pants and a navy hoodie. Those passing him probably suspect he …
There’s no doubt that cartoons are loved all around the world. Comic books and animated television shows conjure up images of childhood, Saturday mornings, and spent allowances. Yet, there are few places where cartoon culture is as prevalent as Eastern Asia. In Korea, comics are taken to a whole new extreme. Manhwa literally means “comics” …