Interview | Tycho van der Hoog on the shady world behind the façade of remarkable structures A surreal discovery: North Korea built monuments all over Southern Africa. When Tycho van der Hoog (25), researcher at the African Studies Centre Leiden, encountered a Stalinist-looking building in the center of Namibia’s capital city Windhoek, he could not … Continue reading North Korean monuments under the African sun
Homophobia turns violent at Incheon’s first ever queer parade Incheon/Amsterdam – On september 8, the first ever Queer Culture Festival in Incheon was violently obstructed by anti-LGBT protesters. 300 festival visitors were surrounded by some 1000 opponents of the queer festival. For nine hours, the festival visitors were stuck between police lines without access to … Continue reading Black masks and burning flags
Seoul – While the sun sets over Gyeongbokgung palace, an angry mob shouts “fake refugees out!” About 1500 people have gathered at a demonstration organized by an online organization called “refugees out”. The target of protest are 500 Yemeni refugees who arrived at Jeju Island earlier this month. The diverse demographics of the crowd surprised me: … Continue reading “FAKE REFUGEES OUT”
After president Trump and Chairman Kim signed the Joint Statement earlier this week, there is tension in the air. Today, I walked past Seoul’s city hall and encountered this gigantic poster covering almost the full side of the building. The text on the poster reads: “Peace between the South and the North, Seoul is also … Continue reading “Peace between the South and the North, Seoul is also with you.”
“Did they photograph us, you think?” -“I don’t know… but if I so, I hope I’m smiling!” – two guys joke around while the police fences off an area around a toilet in the K-building at the Sogang campus. Someone hid a secret camera in the man’s restroom and posted photos on the Korean extreme … Continue reading #몰카: Hidden Cameras Stir Up South Korea’s Gender Debate
From Nijmegen to Seoul Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by big cities. Coming from Nijmegen, a university town with a population of only 170.000, I always dreamed about living in a huge metropolis. But now I live in Seoul, it actually feels quite intimidating from time to time. The scale of everything … Continue reading From Nijmegen to Seoul
