You are here: Homepage Tag East Asia Articles Photo: Ole Witt for KULTURAUSTAUSCH Personal history | North Korea Fleeing North Korea Choi Song Hui served as a loyal soldier in North Korea’s army, but then fled across the border river. She now lives in Seoul where she continues to fight for human rights in her home country By Choi Song Hui 11/04/2024 Photo: Bas Losekoot Family life | South Korea The silent protest of women in South Korea The East Asian country has a demographic problem: its population is ageing rapidly but many women have no desire to have children By Hawon Jung 04/30/2024 Photo: Ziyi Le How we live now | China China’s youth opts out Working long hours and being part of the rat race are part of everyday life in China. But lots of young people are opting out - and talking about it on social media. Photographer Ziyi Le takes portraits of a disillusioned generation By Tami Xiang, Darren Jorgensen, Ziyi Le 01/25/2024 Source: Ole Witt Playlist | Mongolia The sound of the Gobi Desert Songs about camels, sandstorms and minerals: The Gobi Desert is a rich source of inspiration for the Mongolian music scene. A playlist By Pau Szczap 01/06/2024 [Translate to English:] Foto: Taiwan FactCheck Center Media | Taiwan “We’re in the middle of an information war” Manipulated images, cyberattacks and viral fake news: digital disinformation is commonplace in Taiwan. Ho Hui-An of the Taiwan FactCheck Center on fighting against the tide Interview with Ho Hui-An 06/01/2023 on behalf of the dragon Illustration: Verena Schulz Notes and observations | Taiwan Taiwan: island of curiosities Beethoven, bubble tea and vertical cemeteries: life in Taiwan is often funny, sometimes strange, never boring. Don't believe us? Read on ... 06/01/2023 Freddy Lim performing with his extreme metal band “Chthonic” Photo: Nicolas Datiche / Getty Images Playlist | Taiwan “Heavy metal saved my life” Heavy metal star - and politician - Freddy Lim knows Taiwan's music scene inside out. A conversation about Taiwanese music and the ten songs you need to decipher it Interview with Freddy Lim 06/01/2023 A busy shopping street in Hong Kong in the 1970s Photo: Getty Images Fiction | Hong Kong A magical metropolis Xi Xi’s novel “My City” takes readers back to Hong Kong in the 1970s. By Thomas Hummitzsch 06/01/2023 Taiwan’s diplomatic representative Shieh Jhy-Wey, in Berlin Photo: Ole Witt for KULTURAUSTAUSCH Diplomacy | Taiwan “Without our chips, your car window won’t open” Taiwan’s diplomatic representative Shieh Jhy-Wey promotes his country’s interests in Berlin. A conversation about democratic alliances, the country’s authoritarian legacy and Xi Jinping Interview with Shieh Jhy-Wey 06/01/2023 Chen Inzone, 38 years old, works as a farmer and lives in Jiali Photo: private Vox pop | Taiwan Military service and cats Students, a fish farmer, a beautician and an activist: we asked eight Taiwanese people what’s on their mind 06/01/2023 Wang Chung-Yong watches a dredger Photo: Ann Wang / Reuters Raw materials | Taiwan The sand pirates Chinese freighters are hunting for one of the world's most coveted raw materials off the Taiwanese coast. But the search for sand poses a problem not just for Taipei, but for Beijing By Will Yang, Yian Lee 06/01/2023 Rapper PinkChain and his girlfriend, a film director, on the dance floor of the “Final” Photo: Etang Chen Nightlife | Taiwan A night out in Tapei Our author drifts through the city, meets people in nightclubs and drinks sweetened soy milk with a date at dawn. A story about being young in Taiwan By Hsuan 06/01/2023 Li Ang, born in Lukang in 1952 as Shih Shu-tuan, is one the most prominent voices in Taiwan’s literature Photo: Barbara Zanon / Getty Images Literature | Taiwan Sex and politics: Taiwan’s last taboos Taiwan is often portrayed as a model Asian democracy by the West. But how free and open-minded is the country really? Author Li Ang on a question she’s been asking for decades By Li Ang 06/01/2023 The KMT ruled Taiwan with an iron fist from 1948 and declared martial law on the island to persecute and imprison alleged spies and communists. Among the victims was Xu Daidé, who was sentenced to ten years in prison for participating in a book club when he was only twenty years old. After his release, only a few of his friends were willing to friends were willing to keep in touch with him. Tu Guimei (pictured above) only met and married him after his imprisonment. After the KMT's autocracy ended in 1987 with the the end of martial law, people like Xu Daidé were financially compensated. However, the perpetrators were never brought to justice. This is another reason why the social stigmatisation of the victims continues. The KMT is still one of the two major popular parties in Taiwan. Photo: H. C. Kwok History | Taiwan In the shadow of the dictator Under the regime of dictator Chiang Kai-Shek, tens of thousands of people were arrested and killed in Taiwan between 1948 and 1987. However, the country has never come to terms with the “White Terror”. Photographer H. C. Kwok wants to change that with his pictures by giving the victims a voice. By Billy HC Kwok 06/01/2023 Japanese woodcut showing the city of Kyoto in the Edo era Illustration: DAJ / Getty Images Sustainability | Japan “Nothing was superfluous” The notion of recycling and saving resources was already an everyday reality in Japan 300 years ago. Makiko Yamaguchi reflects on the Edo era Interview with Makiko Yamaguchi 01/09/2023 A whale dives underwater in perfect symmetry to the frame of the camera Photo: Christa Boaz / Getty Images Fiction | South Korea Diving into the past Cheon Myeong-kwan's expansive novel “The Whale” retells South Korea's 20th-century history as a feminist fairy tale. Twenty years after its Korean publication, European readers can finally access a modern masterpiece By Thomas Hummitzsch 10/01/2022 The author Gulbahar Haitiwaji, born in 1966 in Xinjiang, northern China, is an engineer. In 2017 she was arrested in China Photo: Emmanuelle Marchadour Photo: Emmanuelle Marchadour Human rights | China “Not giving up the fight” Gulbahar Haitiwaji is the first Uighur woman to have published a book about her time in a Chinese “re-education camp”. She talks about life after publication Interview with Gulbahar Haitiwaji 04/14/2022 Chefs Zhao Ansheng and her husband Niu Song during lunch break in their basement room near the northern Third Ring Road in Beijing. Photo: Sim Chi Yin Life underground | China “I asked, Where do you live?” In Beijing, some people on low incomes dwell in basements beneath the city. Photographer Sim Chi Yin depicted them in her photo series “The Rat Tribe”. A conversation Interview with Sim Chi Yin 01/07/2022 At a dig site in Zhucheng, palaeontologists managed to reassemble the bones of several tyrannosaurs Photo: Xinhua / Eyevine / laif Under the ground | China Welcome to Cretaceous Park There have been more dinosaur bones excavated in Zhucheng, China, than at almost any other location in the world. But it all started with a search for something completely different By Li Dawei 01/07/2022 A green retreat in the middle of Taiwan’s capital: the Treasure Hill artists’ district Photo: Jui-Chi Chan / iStock / Getty Images Urban life | Taiwan High on Treasure Hill Twenty years ago, the historic Taipei neighbourhood of Treasure Hill was going to be demolished. Today, it is an enclave for both international and Taiwanese artists By Carina Rother 01/07/2022 Survey | Japan Olympic Games, now? 80 % of people in Japan disagree The healthcare system in Japan is under strain due to the pandemic. More and more voices are calling for the 2020 Summer Olympics to be postponed again – or even canceled altogether By Chingli Tor 07/01/2021 Illustration: Kulturaustausch Online protest | South East Asia The great tea revolution Under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, more and more people in Southeast Asia are rising up against autocracy and censorship. What’s behind the online movement? By Brian Hioe 04/01/2021 Photo: Jasper James/Gallerystock Fiction | South Korea A South-Korean woman’s life In her novel, author Cho Nam-Joo tells of a South Korean woman who is caught between tradition and hypermodernity By Sabine Scholl 04/01/2021 Illustration: Cristiana Couceiro International relations | USA Can the US reach out to Asia? Under Donald Trump, the US turned its back on its Asian allies and openly challenged Peking. Now it is up to Joe Biden to pick up the pieces By Shihoko Goto 04/01/2021
Photo: Ole Witt for KULTURAUSTAUSCH Personal history | North Korea Fleeing North Korea Choi Song Hui served as a loyal soldier in North Korea’s army, but then fled across the border river. She now lives in Seoul where she continues to fight for human rights in her home country By Choi Song Hui 11/04/2024
Photo: Bas Losekoot Family life | South Korea The silent protest of women in South Korea The East Asian country has a demographic problem: its population is ageing rapidly but many women have no desire to have children By Hawon Jung 04/30/2024
Photo: Ziyi Le How we live now | China China’s youth opts out Working long hours and being part of the rat race are part of everyday life in China. But lots of young people are opting out - and talking about it on social media. Photographer Ziyi Le takes portraits of a disillusioned generation By Tami Xiang, Darren Jorgensen, Ziyi Le 01/25/2024
Source: Ole Witt Playlist | Mongolia The sound of the Gobi Desert Songs about camels, sandstorms and minerals: The Gobi Desert is a rich source of inspiration for the Mongolian music scene. A playlist By Pau Szczap 01/06/2024
[Translate to English:] Foto: Taiwan FactCheck Center Media | Taiwan “We’re in the middle of an information war” Manipulated images, cyberattacks and viral fake news: digital disinformation is commonplace in Taiwan. Ho Hui-An of the Taiwan FactCheck Center on fighting against the tide Interview with Ho Hui-An 06/01/2023
on behalf of the dragon Illustration: Verena Schulz Notes and observations | Taiwan Taiwan: island of curiosities Beethoven, bubble tea and vertical cemeteries: life in Taiwan is often funny, sometimes strange, never boring. Don't believe us? Read on ... 06/01/2023
Freddy Lim performing with his extreme metal band “Chthonic” Photo: Nicolas Datiche / Getty Images Playlist | Taiwan “Heavy metal saved my life” Heavy metal star - and politician - Freddy Lim knows Taiwan's music scene inside out. A conversation about Taiwanese music and the ten songs you need to decipher it Interview with Freddy Lim 06/01/2023
A busy shopping street in Hong Kong in the 1970s Photo: Getty Images Fiction | Hong Kong A magical metropolis Xi Xi’s novel “My City” takes readers back to Hong Kong in the 1970s. By Thomas Hummitzsch 06/01/2023
Taiwan’s diplomatic representative Shieh Jhy-Wey, in Berlin Photo: Ole Witt for KULTURAUSTAUSCH Diplomacy | Taiwan “Without our chips, your car window won’t open” Taiwan’s diplomatic representative Shieh Jhy-Wey promotes his country’s interests in Berlin. A conversation about democratic alliances, the country’s authoritarian legacy and Xi Jinping Interview with Shieh Jhy-Wey 06/01/2023
Chen Inzone, 38 years old, works as a farmer and lives in Jiali Photo: private Vox pop | Taiwan Military service and cats Students, a fish farmer, a beautician and an activist: we asked eight Taiwanese people what’s on their mind 06/01/2023
Wang Chung-Yong watches a dredger Photo: Ann Wang / Reuters Raw materials | Taiwan The sand pirates Chinese freighters are hunting for one of the world's most coveted raw materials off the Taiwanese coast. But the search for sand poses a problem not just for Taipei, but for Beijing By Will Yang, Yian Lee 06/01/2023
Rapper PinkChain and his girlfriend, a film director, on the dance floor of the “Final” Photo: Etang Chen Nightlife | Taiwan A night out in Tapei Our author drifts through the city, meets people in nightclubs and drinks sweetened soy milk with a date at dawn. A story about being young in Taiwan By Hsuan 06/01/2023
Li Ang, born in Lukang in 1952 as Shih Shu-tuan, is one the most prominent voices in Taiwan’s literature Photo: Barbara Zanon / Getty Images Literature | Taiwan Sex and politics: Taiwan’s last taboos Taiwan is often portrayed as a model Asian democracy by the West. But how free and open-minded is the country really? Author Li Ang on a question she’s been asking for decades By Li Ang 06/01/2023
The KMT ruled Taiwan with an iron fist from 1948 and declared martial law on the island to persecute and imprison alleged spies and communists. Among the victims was Xu Daidé, who was sentenced to ten years in prison for participating in a book club when he was only twenty years old. After his release, only a few of his friends were willing to friends were willing to keep in touch with him. Tu Guimei (pictured above) only met and married him after his imprisonment. After the KMT's autocracy ended in 1987 with the the end of martial law, people like Xu Daidé were financially compensated. However, the perpetrators were never brought to justice. This is another reason why the social stigmatisation of the victims continues. The KMT is still one of the two major popular parties in Taiwan. Photo: H. C. Kwok History | Taiwan In the shadow of the dictator Under the regime of dictator Chiang Kai-Shek, tens of thousands of people were arrested and killed in Taiwan between 1948 and 1987. However, the country has never come to terms with the “White Terror”. Photographer H. C. Kwok wants to change that with his pictures by giving the victims a voice. By Billy HC Kwok 06/01/2023
Japanese woodcut showing the city of Kyoto in the Edo era Illustration: DAJ / Getty Images Sustainability | Japan “Nothing was superfluous” The notion of recycling and saving resources was already an everyday reality in Japan 300 years ago. Makiko Yamaguchi reflects on the Edo era Interview with Makiko Yamaguchi 01/09/2023
A whale dives underwater in perfect symmetry to the frame of the camera Photo: Christa Boaz / Getty Images Fiction | South Korea Diving into the past Cheon Myeong-kwan's expansive novel “The Whale” retells South Korea's 20th-century history as a feminist fairy tale. Twenty years after its Korean publication, European readers can finally access a modern masterpiece By Thomas Hummitzsch 10/01/2022
The author Gulbahar Haitiwaji, born in 1966 in Xinjiang, northern China, is an engineer. In 2017 she was arrested in China Photo: Emmanuelle Marchadour Photo: Emmanuelle Marchadour Human rights | China “Not giving up the fight” Gulbahar Haitiwaji is the first Uighur woman to have published a book about her time in a Chinese “re-education camp”. She talks about life after publication Interview with Gulbahar Haitiwaji 04/14/2022
Chefs Zhao Ansheng and her husband Niu Song during lunch break in their basement room near the northern Third Ring Road in Beijing. Photo: Sim Chi Yin Life underground | China “I asked, Where do you live?” In Beijing, some people on low incomes dwell in basements beneath the city. Photographer Sim Chi Yin depicted them in her photo series “The Rat Tribe”. A conversation Interview with Sim Chi Yin 01/07/2022
At a dig site in Zhucheng, palaeontologists managed to reassemble the bones of several tyrannosaurs Photo: Xinhua / Eyevine / laif Under the ground | China Welcome to Cretaceous Park There have been more dinosaur bones excavated in Zhucheng, China, than at almost any other location in the world. But it all started with a search for something completely different By Li Dawei 01/07/2022
A green retreat in the middle of Taiwan’s capital: the Treasure Hill artists’ district Photo: Jui-Chi Chan / iStock / Getty Images Urban life | Taiwan High on Treasure Hill Twenty years ago, the historic Taipei neighbourhood of Treasure Hill was going to be demolished. Today, it is an enclave for both international and Taiwanese artists By Carina Rother 01/07/2022
Survey | Japan Olympic Games, now? 80 % of people in Japan disagree The healthcare system in Japan is under strain due to the pandemic. More and more voices are calling for the 2020 Summer Olympics to be postponed again – or even canceled altogether By Chingli Tor 07/01/2021
Illustration: Kulturaustausch Online protest | South East Asia The great tea revolution Under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, more and more people in Southeast Asia are rising up against autocracy and censorship. What’s behind the online movement? By Brian Hioe 04/01/2021
Photo: Jasper James/Gallerystock Fiction | South Korea A South-Korean woman’s life In her novel, author Cho Nam-Joo tells of a South Korean woman who is caught between tradition and hypermodernity By Sabine Scholl 04/01/2021
Illustration: Cristiana Couceiro International relations | USA Can the US reach out to Asia? Under Donald Trump, the US turned its back on its Asian allies and openly challenged Peking. Now it is up to Joe Biden to pick up the pieces By Shihoko Goto 04/01/2021