The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast
Episodes
311 episodes
The Composer Korea Tried to Execute
Isang Yun was one of Korea’s most important composers, blending traditional Korean sounds with modern European music.But in 1967, he was kidnapped off the streets of West Berlin by South Korean agents, tortured, and sentenced to death.
Fun Size: Why Teachers in Korea Can’t Take Sick Days
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...
The Korean Cherry Blossom Controversy
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 surround...
Fun Size: The Gwanghwamun Sign Controversy
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...
The Korea “Would You Rather” Episode You Didn’t Know You Needed
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 d...
Why You Can't Bury Your Pet in Korea
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...
SEAblings vs. K-netz: When K-pop Fandom Turned Into a Regional Reckoning
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 us...
Reading the Dead: What Korean Graves Tell Us
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 wan...
Who Should Still Be Driving in Korea?
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...
Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone? Part 2
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 ...
Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone? Part 1
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 W...
Christmas Nightmares 2: Holiday Crimes
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 chilli...
Christmas Nightmares 1: Darkest Holiday Stories
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 begi...
K-Hacked: How Coupang Exposed Korea’s Cybersecurity Mess
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 syste...
Weird Tours
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-a...
Short: The Expat Quest for Thanksgiving
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 myse...
The Secret Military Club That Hijacked Korea
Korea’s modern history has plenty of villains, but Hanahoe might be the most quietly terrifying. This was the private club of military officers that spent decades pulling strings behind the scenes and building the foundation for South Korea’s a...
Moving Graves
Special Guest: Ron ChangKorean graves do not always stay where you put them. In this episode, Ron Chang joins us to talk about what it is really like to exhume and relocate family graves in Korea. Ron recently moved the graves of ...
The West Comes Knocking | The Fall of Joseon, part 18 (1791-1801)
When a Dutch sailor shipwrecked on Jeju in 1627, he thought he’d been captured by cannibals. Instead, he became Korea’s first Westerner—and the first sign of change that would shake Joseon to its core.This episode traces the arrival of W...
Haunted Barracks: Korea’s Military Ghost Stories
The Korean military is haunted — literally and culturally. Soldiers whisper about phantom footsteps, cold spots inside fences, and radio calls from the dead. In this episode, we look at the legends that thrive in Korea’s barracks: the White-Cla...
Shawn Wrote a Spooky Book
Here it is! Finally! Shawn Morrissey's much anticipated book of Korean supernatural encounters is released. We ask him your questions. Will he answer them?
Why Korean City Slogans Sound So Weird (and Why We Love Them Anyway)
Korean cities love English slogans, but rarely get them right. From “Hi Seoul” to “Busan is Good,” we explore how Korea’s branding obsession created a national genre of delightful linguistic chaos.
From Madness to Reform | The Fall of Joseon, part 17
King Jeongjo inherited a kingdom broken by madness, murder, and factional greed. In this episode, we look at how the grandson of Yeongjo—and son of the doomed Prince Sado—tried to rebuild the dynasty. From political purges and paranoid advisors...
