Publications

Techno-cultural affordances and toxic language practices in South Korea

Forthcoming 2027

Eldin Milak and Rachel Berryman

In Toxic Language in East Asia: Linguistic Analysis of Aggression and Conflict, edited by Lucien Brown and Xi Chen. Routledge.

This chapter introduces the concept of “techno-cultural affordances” to examine how digital platforms and Korean sociocultural practices shape online toxic language, including cyberbullying, hate speech, discrimination and harassment. It also reconsiders the relationship between online and offline language practices in South Korea.

The research was supported by the Core University Program for Korean Studies (AKS-2022-OLU-2250005).

ISBN: 9781041096467

Decolonizing Beauty?: Digital Beauty Practices and Postcolonial Entanglements of K-Beauty

October 2026

Sojeong Park

In Global Perspectives on Hallyu: History, Theory, and Postcoloniality, edited by Seok-Kyeong Hong and Sojeong Park. Palgrave Macmillan Singapore. Part of the Palgrave Series in Contemporary Korean Studies.

Sojeong Park’s chapter approaches K-beauty as both a digital practice and a postcolonial phenomenon. It explores how image editing, camera filters and virtual avatars shape beauty ideals and racialised self-representation, while considering how Korean beauty culture is negotiated alongside Western standards and wider debates about identity and decolonisation.

eBook ISBN: 978-981-95-8860-2

Korean Youth Migration to Australia: A Human Security Perspective

2026

Jay Song

Palgrave Macmillan Singapore. The first comprehensive history of Korean youth migration to Australia, tracing 150 years of migration and people-to-people connections through a human security perspective.

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-92-1150-0

Aging, Mutual Affection, and Romance: Gerontoromcoms Come of Age in South Korean Cinema

June 2026

Joanna Elfving-Hwang

In Contemporary Korean Culture from the Edge: Transgression, Innovation, and Intimacy, edited by Jooyeon Rhee, Hong Kal and Thomas R. Klassen. Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 205–218.

This chapter explores the rise of South Korean romantic comedies centred on older adults. It shows how these films portray love and relationships in later life, challenging common assumptions about ageing, dependence and personal agency.

DOI: 10.5040/9781978748590

Gender mainstreaming in Korean aid? Rethinking narratives about women's economic empowerment

April 2026

Jae-Eun Noh

Development Policy Review 44 (3). DOI: 10.1111/dpr.70073

This article examines how women’s economic empowerment is understood and applied in Korean aid projects. Based on 12 KOICA project evaluations, it identifies recurring assumptions about gendered roles, participation, economic outcomes and market-led growth that can limit more transformative approaches to gender equality.

The research was supported by the Academy of Korean Studies.

Pro- and anti-social language of Korean social networking services (SNS)

March 2026

Eldin Milak, Ana Tankosić and Qian Gong

In The Routledge Handbook of Language and Social Media around the World, edited by Caroline Tagg, Korina Giaxoglou and Kristin Vold Lexander.

This chapter examines how language practices on Korean social media can support creativity, civic participation and mobilisation, while also contributing to conflict, discrimination, cyberbullying and hate speech.

The research was supported by the Core University Program for Korean Studies (AKS-2022-OLU-2250005).

DOI: 10.4324/9781003360339-15

The Viral Turn: rethinking virality in the creator economy on TikTok

February 2026

Jin Lee and Janey Umback

Continuum 40 (2). DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2026.2625794