Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · 7d

I’ll be visiting Budapest as a Junior Fellow at the IAS-CEU @iasceu.bsky.social during Fall 2025. I look forward to engaging with other fellows, visiting scholars, and artists in residence. Friends and colleagues passing through Eastern Europe are most welcome to connect.

1 1 7

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · 15d

We’ll ask: How has feminist/queer scholarship in Korean Studies changed (or not) since then? How do institutional barriers shape feminist/queer scholarship, activism and collaboration across Korea and the US? How do global circulations of Korean culture shape these debates? Where do we go from here?

1 4

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · 15d

Join us for a roundtable reflecting on the decade since Feminism Reboot (2015), a turning point in feminist and queer politics and scholarship in South Korea. Together, we’ll reflect on what has shifted, what has stalled, and what futures we might imagine.

Register here: bit.ly/46jg871

1 5 9

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · 27d

I’ll be giving talks both in Taipei and Seoul later this month. If anybody’s around, please feel free to come by and connect.

2 7

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Sep 8

For Korean readers, I’m also sharing a full Korean translation of the article.

그동안의 작업들 가운데 한국 퀴어 운동의 사례를 직접 다룬 첫 논문이라, 관심 있으실 분들을 위해 한국어 번역본을 함께 공유합니다.

JUNG (BJS 2025) Korean Translation.pdf

drive.google.com

3 5

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Sep 8

My new open-access article in the British Journal of Sociology explores how Korean queer activists envision and enact social change by rethinking “the global”—shifting from UN human rights frameworks to regional solidarities across Asia.

Decolonizing the Global: Contested Cosmopolitanisms in Global Queer Activism

In the last decade, the “decolonial turn” has gained prominence across academic disciplines, challenging inherent Eurocentric knowledge paradigms. Extending these conversations, this paper critically....

doi.org

2 13 36

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Sep 7

The US military murders North Korean fishermen, while ICE violently arrests South Korean workers in Georgia. Abroad or at home, through military or immigration raids, against civilians or workers, North or South, US violence on Korea and the Korean diaspora continues, as it does on many others.

11 39

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Aug 15

Eighty years ago today in 1945, Korea was freed after 35 years under Japanese colonial rule—a day we remember as “the day the light returned (광복절).” On this anniversary, many Koreans hold in hearts the hope of liberation for other occupied lands and colonized peoples.

1 20 98

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 29

Friends and colleagues in Chicago:
Sharing this call for book donations from local organizers raising funds for The Sameer Project and the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund. They’re looking for clean, used (or new) books to sell at upcoming fundraisers.
Please consider donating if you can!

Used Books 4 Gaza! Chicago Area

We are collecting book donations for a mutual aid fundraiser to resist against
I.C.E. and the zionist occupation of Palestine.

As Chinese abolitionists in the diaspora, we seek to be in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle as well as the anti-imperial struggle in amerikkka.

This book drive is a collective effort to draw attention to two pressing realities that demand our material support today: the ongoing genocide in Gaza (the latest result of the continuing zionist occupation of Palestine) and the criminalization and incarceration of brown migrant bodies by ICE.

We believe that as settlers and residents of amerikkka we have an obligation to enact mutual aid as a consistent practice of revolutionary discipline to divest ourselves from empire.

In addition to looking out for our future vending efforts, you can offer support right now by donating books to us for sale in the upcoming months. We are looking for books that you would find interesting and would buy to read. You can find our donation bins at the following locations across the city.

DONATION DROP-OFF LOCATIONS

Nabala Cafe
4660 N Broadway (Uptown)

Pilsen Community Books
1102 W 18th St (Pilsen)

Tangible Books
3326 S Halsted St (Bridgeport)

Accepting books in all genres for all ages in good, clean condition. Donate interesting books that you'd WANT to read.
Please no dictionaries, textbooks, or manuals.

Please remove any loose paper or sticky notes before donating.

If the bin is full or you have questions about the donation/fundraising process, reach out at laoda azeite@proton.me

Our final fundraising goal is $2000. We plan to split our proceeds between The Sameer Project, Midwest Immigration Bond Fund, and families whose livelihood are actively impacted by the zionist occupation and ICE raids.

While we do not have the capacity to offer pickups, if you cannot donate/transport books we invite you to support by sharing this post with your networks, donating money directly to The Sameer Project and families in need, and sharing vending opportunities with us.

2 8 14

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 21

Amazing! Big congratulations! Can’t wait to read and learn more!

1 1

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 21

If you have a Korean bank account, please consider donating to the Gaza Emergency Relief Fundraising Campaign. This effort is coordinated by ADI (Asia Dignity Initiative) and the Korean Civil Society Urgent Action in Solidarity with Palestine, in partnership with Palestinian women’s organizations.

팔레스타인 가자지구 긴급구호 4차 모금 | Notion

팔레스타인 가자지구 긴급구호 4차 모금을 시작합니다.

platformc.notion.site

9 12

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 9

The Migrant Workers Solidarity for Equality condemned the company and government, demanding urgent heatwave policies to protect vulnerable migrant workers. They stated, “In climate disasters, vulnerable groups suffer most. Migrant workers did not come to Korea to die. Migrant workers’ lives matter.”

1

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 9

Labor unions condemned the negligence, discrimination, and lack of protection for migrant workers during the heatwave. They called for stronger enforcement of safety laws and an end to unfair treatment on worksites where migrant workers face harsh conditions.

1

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 9

At his funeral, only Vietnamese friends came. Neither the company nor officials paid respects. A few Buddhist monks visited and prayed for Long’s peaceful rebirth. His Vietnamese friends expressed deep fear that the same could happen to them.

1

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 9

Two days ago, a 23-year-old Vietnamese construction worker, Ngo Duy Long, died from heatstroke at a worksite in South Korea. It was his first day on the job. While Korean workers left at 1PM in 99°F heat, Long and other migrant workers worked until 4PM. He was found collapsed, body temp 104.4°F.

‘폭염’ 한국인 낮 1시 퇴근…이주노동자만 4시까지 일 시키다 사망

경북 구미에서 폭염 속 20대 베트남 국적 노동자가 숨진 가운데 이주노동자들만 혹서기 단축 근무를 하지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 노동단체는 폭염 휴식 의무화 적용을 하루빨리 시행해야 한다고 촉구했다. 전국건설노조 대구경북건설지부는 9일 오전 대구시 수성구 대구고용노동청

www.hani.co.kr

1 6 13

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 7

How ironic that the deeply homophobic government of my home country, South Korea, is sponsoring an international screening of a queer film—Love in the Big City (2024), based on Sang Young Park’s bestselling novel—as a representation of K-culture abroad. 🤷‍♂️

6 38

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jul 7

Last night on the train home, I was surrounded by some baseball fans. One guy asked, “Why so unhappy? Wearing a mask so you don’t breathe with us?” Then his relative yelled, “Thanks for keeping your country’s virus to yourself!” I wish racists could at least settle on where they stand with masks. 🤷‍♂️

1 3 17

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 20

Another activist stated: “The time of Palestinian queer people is linked with Korean LGBTQ community, rooftop protest workers, disabled comrades, migrants, refugees, sex workers, those exposed to danger and exploitation, and those opposing martial law and rebellion, yearning for equality and peace.”

1 3

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 20

The executive director of Rainbow Action spoke: “The rainbow flag doesn’t belong to LGBTQ people alone. It’s a symbol of resistance against oppression and a beacon of hope for solidarity and liberation. Now we raise this flag in solidarity with the suffering and struggle for Palestinian liberation.”

1 1 3

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 20

Yesterday, queer activists from the national LGBTQ coalition Rainbow Action and Palestine solidarity activists issued a joint statement urging an end to the silence on Palestine. Over 3,000 Korean LGBTQ community members and allies have signed the solidarity petition: campaigns.do/campaigns/1577

[한국 성소수자 - 팔레스타인 연대 성명] 집단학살에 침묵, 공모하는 프라이드는 없다 - 팔레스타인의 반식민 투쟁에 | 빠띠

[한국 성소수자 - 팔레스타인 연대 성명] 집단학살에 침묵, 공모하는 프라이드는 없다 - 팔레스타인의 반식민 투쟁에 적극적으로 연루되자! 우리는 말한다. 이 땅의 생명으로서, 인간으로서, 비인간동물의 이웃으로서, 성소수자로서, 차별과 배제의 폭력을 경험해온 이들로서, 동시에 저항의 힘을 만들어낸 이들로서, 팔레스타인에 이어지는 학살의 목격자로서, 절멸의 위...

campaigns.do

1 6 11

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 9

This is one of the most striking reads of the day. Thanks for sharing.

1 1

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 6

For over 400 days, activists have held a one-person daily protest outside the Israeli embassy in Seoul, urging an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and Korean arms sales. They also hold biweekly marches and this month launched a “No Pride in Genocide” campaign in solidarity with queer Palestinians.

1 9

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 6

Teacher Ji Hye-bok has protested over 500 days for reinstatement after being dismissed for exposing sexual violence at her school. Her legal battle to invalidate her unfair transfer has now begun. Her stand highlights systemic failures protecting students and whistleblowers.

1 6

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 6

In Gumi, worker Park Jeong-hye has protested on a factory rooftop for over 500 days, demanding fair employment after Japanese-owned Korea Optical High Tech laid off workers but kept production elsewhere. She leads a national petition calling for a parliamentary hearing on layoffs and job security.

1 4

Minwoo Jung @minwoojung.bsky.social · Jun 6

As South Korea’s newly elected President Lee Jae-myung pledges to rebuild democracy, revive the economy, and foster a just and safe society, several long-running grassroots protests across the country highlight challenges ahead and call on the government to turn promises into meaningful action.

1 5 11