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KOREA

March 2021

Cultural Journey in Coffee

All About Coffee

    STORY

    All About Coffee

    A Medium for Human Connection

    At first glance, there appear to be as many coffee shops on Korea's streets as there are convenience stores. Even strolling along the country¡¯s side streets and alleys, one is bound to come across a coffee shops outfitted with a state-of-the-art coffee roaster as large as a small car and where the lattes, Americanos, and flat whites are prepared by a prize-winning barista.

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Regional Boon

    Journey

    Regional Boon

    ¡®Coffee City¡¯ Gangneung
    in Gangwon-do Province

    Located in Yeongjin Beach in Gangneung, famed for being the site of a classic K-drama ¡®Goblin¡¯ (20) is Bohemian Coffee Roasters, established and run by Park Ichu. Park, as the next section will corroborate, is one of Korea¡¯s first-generation coffee makers.

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First-gen Barista

    Muse

    First-gen Barista

    Bohemian Coffee Roasters

    Born in Kyushu Island in Japan in 1950, Park was raised in a rural household where he had to tend to the crops for sheer sustenance. It was the need for a stable livelihood that in fact, drove him to study coffee in Japan from 1986.

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Cultural Journey
in Coffee

All About Coffee

Regional Boon

First-gen Barista
Icon of Sentimental
K-ballad

interview

Deep Lyricality,
Well-tuned Wisdom

Lee Moonsae

Of the select few capable of retaining mainstream popularity alongside critical and artistic prestige in any arts field, a handful of oldie K-pop singers remain active to this day.

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Independent
Bookshops

indie culture

Charming &
Novel Curations

Surely one of the greatest joys of living in any city or town is discovering a small bookshop around the corner.

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Kkomak Dallae
Bibimbap

Seasonal Delights

Timely Synthesis

For March which marks the onset of spring for the Korean peninsula, cockles and wild chives are in season.

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For 2021, we are bringing to fore tidbits of our daily lives: something many of us in these pandemic-ridden times realize we could¡¯ve cherished more, attributed greater fondness and gratitude toward. It¡¯s a considerable shift from our prior intent to highlight the ¡®best of¡¯ (what our nation offers) — which is arguably the spirit of our organization, as a promoter of the nation.

We believe that by exposing possibly more mundane, practical and commonplace bits of Korean life — including the everyday customs of contemporary and ancient Korea, plus all the periods in between —, you feel more intimate to our nation and all that we have to offer.