Dear Shinhwa, I Found My Joy in K-Pop Fandom
Joy is not something I’ve carried naturally.
Dear Tiffany, What Does It Mean to be ‘Korean Enough’?
In pretty much every K-pop group, there is the designated One From America.
Dear Irene, I’m Still Learning How to Be a Feminist Too
To be a K-pop fan is to bear witness to a whole lot of dumb shit.
Dear TVXQ, Shipping Showed Me a Way Out of the Church
This is From a K-pop Fan, With Love, a column by Giaae Kwon about her K-pop obsessions, past and present. When I’m barely twenty years old, I go to a friend’s house for an impromptu reunion. I haven’t kept in touch with most of the people from my high school youth group, so I wander […]
Dear Taeyeon, It’s Okay Not to Be Okay
Giaae Kwon on Taeyeon, living with depression and suicidal thinking, and how she cares for herself by caring for others—including GomSom, her beloved dogs.
Dear IU, Our Bodies Are Fine
I knew my body wasn’t ‘right’; it didn’t look like the bodies of the K-pop idols and Korean actresses I grew up admiring.
Dear H.O.T., I’ll Love You Forever
My obsession with the group was the first step I took away from the life prescribed to me as the Korean American daughter of devout Christian parents.
Finding Home and Comfort in the Food of Korean American Chef Eunjo Park
Eunjo Park, the executive chef at Momofuku’s Kawi, is cooking her way through it. Her food is a reminder that it’s okay not to be one-hundred percent anything.