Why Do I Need PASS Just to Prove I’m Me in Korea?
PASS, run by Korea’s telecoms, replaced the old certificate system and now verifies you everywhere — after 2025’s SKT breach, it added face scans too.
Tech & Work
Inside Korea’s IT industry — developer life, startup culture, and how Koreans work with tech.
What Is Danggeun (Karrot)? Korea’s Neighborhood Secondhand App, Explained
Danggeun (Karrot) is Korea’s GPS-verified neighborhood app for buying, selling, and meeting neighbors. How it works, and how a foreigner actually uses it.
Does Google Maps Work in Korea Yet? (2026 Update: Still No, Here’s Why)
Korea ‘approved’ Google Maps in February 2026 — but it still won’t give driving directions. Here’s why, and the Korean map apps to install instead.
Korea Finally Killed Internet Explorer — But Try Using a Korean Bank on a Mac
One afternoon, a website completely defeated me. I was on my MacBook, trying to do the most boring thing imaginable: log into a Korean bank. The site told me to install a security program first. Fine. I installed it. I refreshed the page. It said the program was not installed. So I installed it again. … Read more
KakaoTalk: The App That Quietly Runs Korea
It’s 7:32 AM. I unlock my phone and there are 47 unread KakaoTalk messages waiting. Not on Instagram. Not on Slack. KakaoTalk alone. A family chat. Two work department chats. A college group chat that’s been alive for 12 years. A chat with the parents of my daughter’s daycare friends. My in-laws’ family group. Scroll … Read more
Working in Tech at a Korean Financial Company: What It’s Really Like
When I was in elementary school, I watched a movie called Hackers. You know, the 1995 one with Angelina Jolie and rollerblading through New York. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. Then I watched Live Free or Die Hard and decided — yeah, I want to be that person. The one … Read more