Korea is everywhere — but do we understand it?

There was a time when Korea felt like a question mark. Growing up, we remember how often people would ask if we were from North or South Korea, as if the two were interchangeable, or mistake Koreans for something else entirely. In Brazil or the United States, the confusion took different forms, but the underlying feeling was the same: Korea existed somewhere at the edges of global awareness — visible, but not fully seen. Today, that has changed. Korea is everywhere. From the global rise of K-pop to the influence of Korean beauty, the country has moved from the margins to the center of cultural attention. Scroll through social media and you will find endless interpretations of Korean life — foreigners documenting their routines in Seoul, commenting on work culture or decoding social norms. Korea, it seems, has become legible. But being visible is not the same as being understood. Last month, one of us participated in a book club in Brazil where the novel in discussion was “We Do Not Part,” by Korean author Han Kang. This was such an interesting coincidence, as the choice for the b

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