By Wins Alone, Three Teams Are Tied At the close of the third round of the 2026 LCK regular season, T1, Hanwha Life Esports, and Gen.G each stood at 16 …
J. Haan
J. Haan
I'm J. Haan, the writer and editor behind KoreaUpClose. I live in Korea and report each story with local sources and on-the-ground context — not just trend recaps.
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K-Beauty & Fashion
Not an Acquisition, But a Stake: Why Torriden and Goodai Global Chose to Team Up Instead
by J. Haanby J. HaanThis Time, It Didn’t Buy the Whole Brand You’ve probably seen the name Goodai Global pop up again and again in K-beauty acquisition news. It’s grown by taking controlling stakes …
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K-Food & Dining
After ‘Culinary Class Wars,’ Why We Remember Chefs by Nickname — The Sociology of Omakase, Imo-kase, and Samchon-kase
by J. Haanby J. HaanPeople Who Google the Chef Before the Menu Something’s shifted in how people pick a restaurant these days. A few years ago you’d search for “the best sushi place” or …
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K-Beauty & Fashion
The Contact Lens Brand Behind ‘Jang Wonyoung’s Eyes’ Just Sold for 140 Billion Won
by J. Haanby J. HaanBehind One Pack of Lenses Sits a 215 Billion Won Valuation Have you ever searched for the colored contacts Jang Wonyoung wears? These days, that search comes with a hefty …
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Webtoons & Web Novels
tvN’s ‘My Bias’s Employee’ Is Stuck Around 3-4% in the Ratings — But Its Source Webtoon Is Getting a Second Look
by J. Haanby J. HaanA 4.2% Debut for a ‘Successful Fan’ What if you took a job just to see your favorite idol — and ended up clashing constantly with the CEO instead? That’s …
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Tradition & Heritage
A Deer Antler Still Lodged in a Whale’s Bone: How a Neolithic Hunt in Ulsan Became a Korean Heritage
by J. Haanby J. HaanWhere Bone Met Bone A deer’s antler is lodged inside the bone of a whale. Heard in passing, it might sound like two coincidental remains from land and sea, buried …
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Variety & Reality Shows
Gian84 Says He Has a New Girlfriend. She’s an AI, and SBS Just Bet an Entire Show on Whether He Falls for Her
by J. Haanby J. Haan“I just got a girlfriend,” Gian84 says in the teaser for his new show — then the camera cuts to someone who isn’t, technically, a person. SBS’s new Thursday variety …
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Tradition & Heritage
‘International Law Is No Match for a Cannon’: The Last Calligraphy Ahn Jung-geun Wrote Before His Execution Returns After 116 Years
by J. Haanby J. HaanEight Characters Have Come Home From Japan “Manguk gongbeop bulyeo daepo” (萬國公法不如大砲). Eight characters in black ink, brief as they are, carry the weight of an entire era’s despair once …
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Travel & K-Content Tourism
Yeongwol Searches Jumped 190%: How K-Dramas and Films Are Rewriting Korea’s Travel Map
by J. Haanby J. HaanYeongwol Searches Are Up 190 Percent Sometimes, after watching a drama or a film, you just want to walk the actual road that appeared on screen. Travel platform Agoda looked …
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Language & Literature
Should Korea Force Every Bookstore to Charge the Same Price? The 2026 Fixed-Price Debate
by J. Haanby J. HaanThe Same Price Printed on Every Copy The number printed on the back cover of a book is a plain sale price, but it’s also a kind of promise binding …
