Se Eun Gong

Gold medalist North Korea's Song Kukhyang, center, silver medalist North Korea's Jong Chunhui, left, and bronze medalist South Korea's Kim Suhyeon, right, gesture during the medal ceremony of women's 76kg group A weightlifting competition at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Oct. 5, 2023.

The Asian Games revealed a new divide between South Korea and the North

Se Eun Gong

At the recently concluded Games, South Korean athletes and journalists said North Koreans refused to engage with them. Some even avoided customary handshakes or photo sessions atop the podium.

South Korean teachers participate in a rally in front of the National Assembly on Sept. 4, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. School teachers rallied to mourn the recent suicide deaths of fellow teachers distressed by disgruntled parents and unruly students, and to call for measures to prevent such tragedies.

South Korea teachers seek protection from harassment by students' parents

Se Eun Gong

Many South Korean teachers say they have suffered from parents' harassment and excessive demands. This summer, they came out to the streets voicing anger and demanding protection for their rights.

North Korean defectors take a computer class inside Anseong Hanawon, Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, in Anseong, South Korea, July 10.

Fewer North Korean defectors reach South Korea, and questions grow about unification

Se Eun Gong

Just 67 North Korean defectors arrived last year. Inter-Korean dialogue and exchange have ground to a halt. Seoul's Unification Ministry has a new, hawkish head who wants to change the agency's role.

Activists gather to protest against a planned release of water from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant in Japan, in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday.

As Japan prepares to release Fukushima wastewater, anxiety grows across South Korea

Se Eun Gong

As Japan plans to release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea this summer, concerned South Koreans are stocking up on sea salt.

A North Korean soldier looks across the Yalu river near Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong in April 2017.

A former North Korean operative gives his first interview since defecting

Se Eun Gong

Kim Hyun-woo used to work for North Korea's top intelligence agency. He defected to South Korea in 2014 and is now on his first-ever visit to the United States.

The Muslim community at Kyungpook National University mostly comprises students from Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and other countries with large Muslim populations. Here some members of the community pray at the Dar ul Emaan Kyungpook Islamic Center, in Daegu, South Korea.

Muslims in South Korea want to build a mosque. Neighbors protest and send pig heads

Se Eun Gong

The tensions are a test of the nation's tolerance of increasing diversity, when South Korea is looking to immigration to bolster its aging and shrinking workforce.

Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, speaks during a debate hosted by the Kwanhun Club in Seoul, South Korea, on March 15.

Why K-pop's future is in crisis, according to its chief guardian

Se Eun Gong

The chief producer behind BTS says K-pop is in crisis as global sales slow or decline — and BTS' taking a break is a big factor. But the industry is trying to pick itself back up.

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and his daughter presumed to be named Ju Ae attending a military parade held in Pyongyang to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces, at a railway station in Seoul on Feb. 9, 2023.

South Korea says again that Kim Jong Un has 3 children, and the eldest is a son

Se Eun Gong

Questions about the dynastic ruler's children and possible succession scenario arose with the apparent second child's repeated appearances in public in recent months.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, center, leaves after a briefing announcing a plan on Monday to resolve a dispute over compensating people forced to work under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea Monday, March 6, 2023.

U.S. allies South Korea and Japan move closer to resolve forced labor feud

Se Eun Gong

South Korea announced on Monday a plan to compensate victims of forced labor under Japan's colonization through a government foundation with funds from South Korean companies.

So Seong-uk, left, speaks at a press conference while his partner Kim Yong-min looks on in February 2021 as they file a lawsuit against South Korea's National Health Insurance Service at the Seoul Administrative Court.

In a first, a South Korean court says same-sex partners should get government benefits

Se Eun Gong

The appeals court ruled Tuesday that So Seong-uk can't be denied spousal benefits by the National Health Insurance Service just because his partner is the same gender as him.