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Send us Fan Mail We’re back with another Fun Size episode. This time, we’re looking at something that sounds simple on paper: sick leave. In Korea, it’s legally guaranteed. In reality, it’s often difficult, discouraged, or just not used at all. From teachers paying out of pocket for substitutes to cultural pressure to keep working no matter what, the system doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. We also talk about a recent case that brought attention to the issue and why change may finally be coming. Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Cherry blossoms might seem like the most harmless part of spring in Korea. But behind the crowds, festivals, and photo spots, there’s a deeper story that most people don’t notice. In this episode, we explore the quiet controversy surrounding cherry blossoms in Korea, from their role during Japanese colonial rule to the modern debates about whether they should even be celebrated at all. We also talk about the now-familiar “Cherry Blossom Ajosshi,” a one-man protester who appears every spring to remind people of that history. From nationalist myths to modern science, this is a story about how something as simple as a flower can carry layers of meaning. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail We’re trying something new. This is our first Fun Size episode—a shorter format where we tackle current topics that spark debate in Korea. This time, we’re looking at the controversy surrounding the sign at Gwanghwamun. Should it be written in Hangul or Hanja? It sounds like a simple design choice, but it opens up deeper questions about history, identity, and how Korea presents itself today. We break down the history of Korean writing systems, why Chinese characters were used for centuries, and why Hangul matters so much today. We also look at why this debate keeps coming back—and whether the current push for change is really about culture, or something else. Join us as we unpack a small change with surprisingly big implications. Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail This episode takes a lighter turn with a “This or That” game that somehow turns into strong opinions about Korean food, hiking, cities, and history. We compare Bukhan-san and Inwang-san, break down bibimbap preferences, and get into the difference between taxi buffets and mountain restaurants. Along the way, we talk about cooking at home versus eating out, the cultural weight of the Goryeo period, and why Busan quietly wins a lot of these debates. There are also a few detours into movies, comedians, and the kinds of places in Korea that don’t show up in guidebooks. A relaxed episode, but with plenty of opinions. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Pet ownership in Korea is growing rapidly, but what happens when a beloved animal dies? In this episode, Joe and Shawn explore the surprising and often emotional world of pet funerals in Korea. From strict burial laws that classify animal remains as “waste” to private cremation services that hold full memorial ceremonies, the reality of pet death reveals an unusual intersection of law, culture, and changing attitudes toward animals. Shawn shares personal experiences with cremating two of his pets and explains why pets almost never appear in Korean cemeteries, despite their growing role as family members. The episode also explores pet ownership trends, historical attitudes toward cats, and the ongoing debate about whether pets should be allowed to rest beside their humans. As Korea’s pet culture continues to expand, pressure is building to rethink how the country treats animals in death as well as life. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail A minor concert rule violation at a Day6 show in Kuala Lumpur ignites a much larger confrontation between Southeast Asian K-pop fans, known online as SEAblings, and Korean netizens, or K-netz. What began as frustration over DSLR camera use quickly escalated into accusations of racism, ingratitude, and cultural superiority. In this episode, Joe and Shawn explore what this clash reveals about Korean hierarchy, Confucian social order, ethnic “pure blood” nationalism, development pride, and the uneasy place of Southeast Asia within Korea’s mental map of the world. From migrant labor and marriage migration to multicultural children and the politics of gratitude, this episode examines how fandom became a mirror reflecting deeper regional tensions. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Winter is cemetery season in Korea. With the grass dead, snakes gone, and sightlines open, this is when Korea’s hillside cemeteries quietly reveal their stories. In this episode, Joe and Shawn talk about what they see every year while wandering through Korean burial grounds: traditional mounds and stone guardians, Christian symbols mixed with Confucian motifs, rare Western-style graves, pet burials, collective graves, and the occasional unsettling sign of vandalism. This isn’t a guide to death rituals. It’s an exploration of how memory, belief, class, and modern pressure quietly reshape how Koreans remember the dead. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail South Korea became a super-aged society in 2025. The effects are showing up everywhere, but nowhere more visibly than on the roads. In this episode, Joe and Shawn talk about the sharp rise in accidents involving elderly drivers, including several deadly incidents in Seoul and beyond. They dig into the numbers, the government’s largely ineffective license return programs, and why simply telling seniors to stop driving ignores deeper issues like poverty, work necessity, and isolation. This is not a blame episode. It’s about how Korea went from automatic respect for elders to open ageism, and how fear-driven policy risks making the problem worse instead of safer. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Our 300th episode! Pojangmacha didn’t disappear by accident. In Part 2 of Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone, Joe and Shawn trace how Seoul’s soju tents went from survival spaces to cultural nuisances, then to nostalgic props. From Olympic-era crackdowns and hired enforcers to violent evictions, gentrification, and sanitized “sensibility pocha streets,” this episode looks at how modernization erased a vital part of everyday life. This isn’t a story about food. It’s about power, class, gender, and who gets to stay visible in a global city. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail There is no Waffle House in Korea. For decades, the pojangmacha was the last line of defense against going home hungry, broke, or blackout drunk. It was cheap, social, messy, and human. And then it slowly disappeared. In Part 1 of Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone, we trace the origins of the pojangmacha from Japanese yatai and Joseon-era taverns to its explosion after the Korean War. We talk about why these tents mattered, who ran them, what people ate there, and why they became one of the most important informal social spaces in modern Korean history. This is not just a story about street food dying. It is a story about how Seoul systematically removed the spaces that ordinary people built for themselves. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Christmas is often framed as a moment of peace, forgiveness, and reflection. But in Korean history, Christmas Eve has repeatedly been chosen for violence, punishment, and erasure. In Part 2 of Christmas Nightmares, we examine three chilling cases tied to the holiday. We begin with the Seokdal-ri Massacre of 1949, when South Korean soldiers burned a mountain village and executed dozens of civilians on Christmas Eve — a crime buried by the state for decades. We then move to the execution of Park Heung-suk, remembered as “Mudeungsan Tarzan,” hanged on Christmas Eve in 1980 after a violent confrontation born from forced eviction and extreme poverty. Finally, we revisit the Daejeon bank robbery and murder of 2001, a Christmas-season killing that remained unsolved for over twenty years. These stories expose how Christmas, rather than symbolizing mercy, was repeatedly used as a moment of finality — when the state acted, and history tried to move on. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Christmas is supposed to be a time of warmth, safety, and reunion. But history doesn’t always cooperate. In Part 1 of our two-part Christmas Nightmares series, we explore some of Korea’s darkest stories tied to the holiday season. We begin with the Heungnam Evacuation of 1950, remembered as the Miracle of Christmas, when nearly 100,000 refugees escaped North Korea by sea. But behind the miracle were impossible choices, brutal exclusions, and families torn apart in the freezing cold. From there, we move to modern tragedies. A massive Christmas Eve pile-up on the Cheonan–Nonsan Expressway that turned fog and black ice into chaos. A chilling Christmas Day murder rooted in online obsession and jealousy. And a violent armed robbery that shattered the illusion of holiday safety. These are stories where celebration collided with fear, and survival mattered more than tradition. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Shawn and Joe dig into Korea’s crumbling cybersecurity myth and the Coupang leak that exposed almost every user in the country. Korea sells itself as an IT powerhouse, but behind the fiber optics sit outdated servers, neglected government systems, weak regulations and a corporate culture that treats security like a box to check. From the SK Telecom and Lotte Card breaches to the government’s own embarrassing hacks, the episode breaks down why Korea keeps getting hit, why companies keep failing upward and how a single leak at Coupang nearly shut down parts of the small business economy. Plus, a side tour through xenophobic blame games, delivery driver exploitation and the weird reality that the country with the fastest internet once clung to ActiveX like a family heirloom. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail Shawn and Joe trade war stories from the front lines of Seoul’s tour scene. Influencers melting down in costume, drunk guests apologizing between vomit breaks, bathroom disappearances, oddball actors who steal the show, couples who arrive mid-argument, and reviews born from pure misunderstanding. The episode digs into what really derails a tour, how guides survive it, and why some guests treat history like fan fiction. Add a little wildlife drama, a clown fight, a Kenny G busker and a heron named Bob, and you get a solid snapshot of what it means to guide people through this city. It is messy, funny, awkward, exhausting and sometimes unexpectedly sweet. Korea's #1 ghost and dark history walking tour. Book at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram

Send us Fan Mail This is a blog post I (Joe) wrote on ZenKimchi.com in 2012 about the extreme lengths expats in Korea would go to for creating Thanksgiving in their adopted country. I exhume this post every year to remind myself and others that giving thanks goes beyond turkey, Macy’s parades, and football. Get your comic at DarkSideOfSeoul.com Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Devon Hiphner Gabi Palomino Steve Marsh Eva Sikora Ron Chang Mackenzie Moore Hunter Winter Cecilia Löfgren Dumas Josephine Rydberg Devin Buchanan Ashley Wright George Irion Facebook Page | Instagram