For Korean adoptees, cultural holidays such as Hangul Day and National Foundation Day can take on a deeper meaning, as they reconnect with their heritage and identity. These two important Korean holidays provide adoptees with opportunities to engage with significant aspects of Korean history and culture, allowing them to explore their roots in meaningful ways. 

KCCNYC Mix No 4: 할로윈 파티 HALLOWEEN PARTY: This month our playlist is a collection of spooky, and sensual K-Pop to help soundtrack your Halloween party + music videos to get you in a spooooky mood!

The diversity represented in this month’s new k-dramas is pretty stunning.  We have a musical history lesson; women in a small town selling sex toys door-to-door; a mainstream drama with gay main characters; a tiny, silly spin-off; a couple of dramas examining the definition of family; a couple of crime dramas where the main character challenges their instincts and a sequel horror story.  Wow.

October deserves a spooky story and we’re telling an eerie one called Green Onion or The Man Who Planted Onions. It’s also the first story in a new book called “Korean Folktales” by Kim So-un and Frances Carpenter, being released Oct. 29. Pick it up online or at your local bookstore!

We’re in a land where the people have never seen an onion before. In this land, the people actually eat… other people. That’s because the people have a disease where they see other people as cows and can’t tell the difference between the two.

National Foundation Day celebrates the creation story that tells how Korea came into being.  Hangul Day celebrates the historic creation of Korea’s alphabet by King Sejong the Great.  Both celebrations give us windows into the richness of Korean tradition and culture.

I hope everyone had a great Chuseok (Hangawi) Holiday!
In Korea, to celebrate Chuseok, families gather around to eat Songpyeon (송편), and commemorate our ancestors with Jesa (제사). We remember those who are no longer with us during the holidays.

BY EUN BYOUL OH & SHARON STERN

For Chuseok, we eat a lot of food. A LOT OF FOOD.

We cook a lot of food, eat a lot of food, and have a lot of leftovers.

So, for this month in the Korean-American community, we brought some news about food!

And, a special note on the release of PBS Frontline Documentary South Korea's Adoption Reckoning.

For many Korean adoptees, traditional holidays like Chuseok hold a unique significance. They represent not only a cultural celebration but also an opportunity to connect with their heritage and identity in a meaningful way. This year's Chuseok was particularly poignant, given the recent  AP News article that exposed the troubling history of international adoption practices in South Korea, revealing systemic fraud and unethical conduct. Despite these revelations, Chuseok continues to serve as a reminder of adoptees' unique journeys and the diverse ways in which families are defined and experienced....

BY SHARON STERN

We thought it would be fun to share a Chuseok recipe with everyone this month.  It might seem like an intimidating thing to try to make Korean songpyeon, but they aren’t that hard to make!  

By Hannah Elliott
방탄소년단 DEEP CUTS

This month, we put together a collection of BTS Deep Cuts spanning their entire catalog. You won’t find any “Dynamite,” “FAKE LOVE,” or “DNA” here. If you are already a hardcore BTS fan, these songs, most likely, won’t surprise you. But it may be a nice trip down memory lane or remind you of a song or two that you may have forgotten about over the years.

BY SHARON STERN

This month’s new dramas feature a really wide variety of genres.  We have a pretty serious teen drama, a goofy cop comedy, a demon who takes over a judge, a woman juggling two personalities, a dog who communicates with a has-been actor, a family laundry that is laundering money and a second season of a drama that should have never been made in the first place.  There is never a dull moment in dramaland and this month is no exception!

BY JOSHUA KIM

This month we have a short fairy tale called The Golden Ax and the Silver Ax - 금도끼와 은도끼. 

In it, there are two woodcutters: Deokbo, the kind one, and Yunbo, the lazy one. One day, Deokbo goes to chop wood in the forest with his iron ax but accidentally drops it in a pond, crying out in sadness. In the form of an old man, a mountain god, Sanshinryeong, comes out of the pond holding a golden ax....

BY SHARON STERN

Last month we celebrated the talents of Korean athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics.  This month we follow up with an equally amazing group of Korean athletes who participated in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.  South Korea sent a total of 83 athletes – 46 men and 37 women – who competed in 17 different sports, to the Paralympics this year.  By the Closing Ceremony, South Korea had won a total of 30 medals (6 gold, 10 silver, 14 bronze), ranking 22^nd overall.  They won medals in Para Shooting, Boccia, Para Table Tennis, Para Badminton, Wheelchair Fencing and Para Taekwondo.

By SHARON STERN and EUN BYOUL OH

Disability in South Korea is a very complicated topic.  South Korea has, until recently, had a classification system for disabilities, completely dependent on medical evaluation and as a result, over-simplifying how social response is mandated, including exclusion of students in schools and access to education as well as access to employment.  The right to mobility as a basic human right, stated in documents such as the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has encountered cultural attitudinal challenges and therefore political challenges in South Korea.

BY SHARON STERN

We can’t and shouldn’t get through September without remembering the events of 9/11.  September 11, 2001 was a date in history that affected New York more than any other place in this country or the world.  Almost 3,000 people lost their lives and among them were 28 Koreans.  For those born after 9/11, the date may be more like a history lesson to remember.  For those of us that were alive, we will never be able to forget it.