ISSUE 002 | MAY 2025
STATEMENT
On Noise, Dissonance, and Political Possibility
APPOINTMENTS
ARGUMENTS
ATTACHMENTS
To Where the Flowers Are Blooming: Gwangju’s Literary and Material Memoirs
Tracing Gwangju’s material and literary memoirs, Yoojin Kim reflects on what it means to step into the shoes of those who gave their lives for the May 18 Democratization Movement—and to carry their paths forward into the present.
“The Cold War Ended, and Orion’s Choco Pie Won”
Madeleine Han follows the unlikely routes of the choco pie, examining how this popular Korean snack embodies “cold war” legacies and offers material for reimagining political possibility.
Re-enchanting Our World: Haejoang Cho on Memory, Hallyu, and Mutual Care
Anthropologist Haejoang Cho recalls Korea’s evolution from cultural colony to cultural producer and explores how shared love for Korean popular media might cultivate communities of care in our present and future.
This isn’t Stray Kids fan fiction, but…
Singaporean author Camille Chong reflects on the power of “stray-ness” and how Stray Kids emboldened her to wander beyond set paths.
Visibility That Bothers: #LoveInTheBigCity and Brazilian Fan Activism
Ligia Prezia Lemos and Mariana Marques de Lima consider Brazilian fan activism in support of Love in the Big City (2024) and ask what such practices reveal about transcultural fandom and cross-border solidarity.
Reacting to the K: An Interview with Emma Chang
ReacttotheK founder Emma Chang traces the origins of her YouTube channel and shows how listening with a classical music ear can open up new sonic dimensions of K-pop.
K-pop, Sex Work, and Parasocial Intimate Labor
Adan Jerreat-Poole traces the shared conditions of parasocial intimate labor linking K-pop idols and webcam models, thus imagining the possibility of solidarity not only across borders but also between bodies at work.
Fan Artist Spotlight: Izumo’s Natural Imperfections
Mixed-media and video artist Izumo shows us how the fan’s human touch can transform and re-animate the polished surfaces of K-pop media.
The Rise of the Murder Rom-Com
Anisa Khalifa examines what the murder rom-com reveals about the fears, desires, and realities of women living under the persistent threat of gendered violence.
The Modern South Korean Revenge Fairytale: Women in Cancer and Love
Sue Hyon Bae reads cancer narratives as another ideological genre, investigating how certain neoliberal scripts of female empowerment can paradoxically reinforce patriarchal structures.
On Noise, Dissonance, and Political Possibility
We release Issue 002 in the wake of South Korea’s impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol. This moment of political reckoning—facilitated by mass protests that were visually and sonically marked by K-pop fan practices—frames our Editors’ Statement and informs the questions that run through this issue.