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Kelly Kasulis

Kelly Kasulis is the deputy digital editor of The GroundTruth Project.

Kelly Kasulis is a freelance journalist. She has written for PRI, The GroundTruth Project, The Boston Globe, Quartz, Mic and others. Follow her on Twitter: @KasulisK

An image of a Korean music star wearing a yellow shirt

Move over K-pop: Korean youth turn to old-time trot music

Music

Young pop stars in South Korea, struck with nostalgia, are performing covers of old-timey trot music on competition shows like “Mister Trot,” which have viewers vote for their favorite acts in an “American Idol”-style format.

A young man stands in front of media surrounded by other men

South Korea reels from latest high-tech, online sex trafficking case

Sexual violence
A girl wearing a protective face mask to prevent contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rides a toy kick scooter at a park in Seoul, South Korea, April 3, 2020.

South Korea’s delivery workers face ‘unbearable’ pressures amid COVID-19

COVID-19
The cast of "Parasite" accepts the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture during the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles,  Jan. 19, 2020.  

Oscar-nominated ‘Parasite’ speaks to a growing divide in South Korea

Arts, Culture & Media
Seo Ji-hye and Cho Sung-won watch as their two-year-old son, Han-sol, plays with a toy train in his bedroom in Seoul.

Seoul’s subsidized housing gives newlyweds a new lease on the future

Lifestyle & Belief
Rows of military men in white and black uniforms line up perfectly in front of a gray airplane

South Korea wants to draft more men for its shrinking military — and punish those who dodge

Military

Last year, South Korea had roughly 599,000 troops in its armed forces, but the supply of able-bodied males are expected to halve within the next decade.

A North Korean soldier keeps watch toward the south through a binocular telescope

South Korea just repatriated two North Korean fishermen. Why?

Conflict & Justice

The two are suspected of murdering 16 of their fellow crew members and allegedly dumping their bodies overboard. North Korean defectors and human rights activists are blasting the government for sending them back to “certain death” without a proper trial.

tattooist

South Korea has a burgeoning tattoo scene. But most tattoo parlors are illegal.

Culture

Since 1992, the South Korean government has arbitrarily enforced a law that limits the act of giving tattoos to medical professionals.

Man stands at protest with red sign and white letters in Korean

South Korean minister of justice resigns amid national reckoning with corruption

Global Politics

“… We ordinary people — patriotic Korean people — are against Cho Kuk,” said one protester in South Korea. The minister of justice stepped down amidst accusations against his family of nepotism and embezzlement.

A man wearing a white robe delivers a speech and uses his hand to emphasize a point

Just ‘empty’ words? South Korea’s Moon calls for peace with North Korea by 2045.

Nuclear

Moon pledged peace with North Korea by 2045, but his timeline left some skeptical. South Korea hasn’t even been able to convince North Korea to accept rice donations ahead of a looming famine.