A list of all the current updates on the world’s favorite young royals, the King and Queen of Corea. Check this post regularly for new editions, darlings!
Modern Royals: Meet Tae-Eul, the Mysterious Queen of Corea
Modern Royals: A glimpse into the private residence of the king and queen of Corea (updated with newly released photos)
Modern Royals: Queens Day Q&A About the Queen of Corea
Modern Royals: The protocol of touch
Modern Royals: 7 Times the Queen of Corea stole our hearts with her smile
Royals Spotted: Is that the King and Queen of Corea?!
Royals Spotted: Queen’s Unbreakable Sword Has Insta!
Royal Scandal: Proof of the king and queen of Corea’s utter besottedness with each other
A Royal Twin! Meet the Most Honorable Lady Seo-gyeong
Royal Exclusive: the King of Corea bares his heart in a flash interview
Royal Exclusive: Their Majesties are sweet as cake and you need strong tea for this
Love in the Royal Kitchen: A scrumptious glimpse into Their Majesties' routine + a juicy reveal?!
Own A Royal Flat! The King and Queen of Corea in adorable photoshoot for a cause
Royal Triangle? Gong Shin will buy your house and touch your queen
Royal Panic: The queen was lost--and found--in Seoul
Royal Twinkle: The king and queen of Corea have a sweet secret, don’t they?
The Royal Guard: Elite and formidable and just as soft for their king and queen
Happy Queens Day! The king's cake, the queen's portraits, and a stunning photograph
Queens Day Festival - First Day: The king and queen were late because... shenanigans
Queens Day Festival Recap: Where is the queen?!
Palace Announcement: WE HAVE A ROYAL BABY!
Royal Wedding: We FINALLY have wedding crumbs
Royal Baby’s Fierce Circle: The Queen, Her Majesty’s OB, and the PM
Modern Royals: 10 Times the King and Queen made ahjummas ugly-cry over their romance
The Corean Awards: A reunion of the royal love triangle
Romance and Rowing: The 2020 Rowing Competition for the Children's Cancer Fund
International Day for Climate Action, Daesang Medical Group, and Queenly Impatience
Modern Royals: The queen bares her heart about her new project, her queenship, and the king
Outstanding Royals: The King's Birthday
Outstanding Royals: The King's annual support and promotion for Adoption Awareness Month
The Queen of Corea stuns in London
A Dark Day for Corea (continues with The Heartbeat)
Queen in recovery, villain in prison (follows the Heartbeat)
Corea Fiction
Inside Joke (Standalone, canon)
That Situation (Standalone)
The Conversation (HEA With Queen; Read after Corea News: The protocol of touch and The Most Honorable Lady Seo-gyeong)
The First Friday (Standalone, canon)
The Morning After (Standalone, canon)
That bastard, Gong Shin (spinoff for Corea News Own A Royal Flat and Royal Triangle)
Three Hours for Chicken (Companion to Corea News Royal Panic)
Seo-ryeong vs Lady Noh (Companion to Three Hours for Chicken)
Her Majesty’s birthday passed quietly, without the expected revelry dedicated by the king for our beloved queen
The entire kingdom agrees this is very much in character with Her Majesty, who had an almost-permanent blush and shy smile during the Queens Day celebrations
Although of course that had everything to do with the King’s unabashed affection rather than shyness at being the center of everyone’s attention
June passed without much buzz for royal watchers
The King had quietly returned to his duties, photographed in meetings and appearances close to Busan
Now, in a surprising turn of events absolutely staggering both in their lack of fanfare and the stunning beauty of the content, the Royal Public Affairs Office released portraits of the Queen.
Portraits. Of. The Queen.
“In celebration of Their Majesties’ first anniversary, the Royal Court is pleased to present Her Majesty’s portraits.
“Exhibited to the Corean public for the first time, these portraits also unveil and chronicle new collections in the Crown Jewels, commissioned by His Majesty for the queen.
“The Plum Blossom of Corea, aligned with the Royal Court’s insignia and illustrating Her Majesty’s beauty and courage, the Plume of Corea representing Corea’s national bird, the magpies, and their famed legend of reuniting star-crossed lovers, and the Lion of Corea, designated as the emblem of His Royal Highness, the Prince Yeong-hwan.”
You could have knocked me over with those white gold and diamond-encrusted feathers in the Plume of Corea!
It’s our first ever glimpse of her since she gave birth to the prince. The queen looks entirely breathtaking in these portraits.
According to my team’s research (and my circle of ahjummas’ enthusiastic contributions, of course), the previous queen also sat for portraits with her own especially commissioned jewelry shortly after the current king was born.
These portraits show off both queen and jewels, a loving, if formal, testament to the kingdom’s continuity and prosperity.
Royalty around the world have always done the same, though I must say these portraits are nothing like the ones we’ve seen.
The queen looks particularly regal in the first photo. And then your eyes move down and you hear a soft gasp– yours– at the queen’s show of skin in that glimpse of her knee and leg.
Rather than immodesty, you only think of a woman of her times, sophistication, and refinement. It’s in character with the queen’s boldness and refusal to be slated in the outdated (and hypocritical) rules other royals are supposed to follow.
In this second photo, her smile speaks of her love for her baby. That’s the Lion collection commissioned to represent the little prince.
Again, that lovely smile, in more of the pieces in the Plum Blossom of Corea collection. I love that cape and that cuff.
The previous queen, the king’s mother, also had her own Plum Blossom pieces. Among the Crown Jewels, every specific Plum Blossom collection is known by the queen’s name.
We are quite mesmerized at this first sight of Her Majesty’s hair sleeked back. She looks good in any hairstyle, does she not? She’s almost like Audrey Hepburn here, wearing the Plume of Corea collection.
I’m quite certain there are more photos... and more gifts showered by the king on his queen while they celebrate this first anniversary.
Happy anniversary, Your Majesties!
I’m always in raptures when I’m reminded I’m here witnessing all this. Modern royals with good heads on their shoulders. A whirlwind romance, a baby, and a kingdom more in love with them than ever.
Especially when the queen seemed to want to flip the switch and turn our attention away from her and to the real treasure of the palace!
I must admit I screamed. Dignity, be damned.
Look at that full head of hair! And those chunky hands and legs!
This post had no caption, only the Queen’s laughter and love in emojis.
And that marks the little prince’s Baek-il, or 100th Day! The Royal Public Affairs Office said our favorite royal family is celebrating in private, and thanks everyone for their continued well-wishes for His Royal Highness, the Prince Yeong-hwan.
Baek-il is still very much in vogue in modern-day Corea, although bigger parties– i.e., one of the wealthiest countries in the world flaunting their wealth– is reserved for the doljanchi, the first birthday, instead.
Stay tuned! The queen is after all very much a mom in love with her baby, and that means we get royal baby photos, don’t we!
------------
Because these photos scream Her Majesty The Queen. This post just spilled out of me so easily. My goodness gracious. She is stunning.
Baby photos have been saved for so long for Corea Baby News lol. I just needed to open the right folders. Aaaah. And perfect timing for Baek-il and the anniversary too. :) I’m tying this up neatly soon.
The king and queen of Corea welcomed their first child, a son, on April 18.
It seems only yesterday when this author first reported on the mysterious new queen of Corea
Now I must admit my eyes are going misty that we have come along since then, we have met the queen, she’s no longer mysterious. Her Majesty is, in fact, quite marvelous
And now the kingdom is rejoicing at the birth of the Prince Yeong-hwan
The prince royal of Corea was born on April 18 at 4:27am. The king was present at the birth, and the queen was attended by her appointed surgeons.
No traditional easels were propped up here in this kingdom. Gwangyeongjeon Palace in Busan will not be thronged by crowds of well-wishers wishing to take a photo of a piece of paper framed on an easel.
No, the announcement was simply released by the Royal Public Affairs Office, hand-delivered in luxurious cream cardstock to all establishments of the press.
That’s the cardstock Corea’s newspapers have published. All the papers were late and had cream and blue front pages today. Once that cardstock was on hand, it was a race to the printers.
Needless to say, I’m going to have mine framed.
His Royal Highness the Prince Yeong-hwan: what’s in a name?
Yeon. What a lovely name. I’ve been told that the hangul of Yeon means several things like kite and year? And the hanja means “beautiful” and “graceful.”
It’s pronounced “yun.” But never mind, we’re not going to use that name. We’re just lucky they shared the name, and so soon! When I was fortunate enough to interview the queen last October about the Eomoni Foundation, I knew the Her Majesty was already prepared for her baby. Name included!
And they don’t need to appear like they’re considering the name carefully: they’re the king and queen. They only need to please themselves.
The Royal Monosyllable
Unlike their European counterparts and their three to four names, Corean royalty traditionally have monosyllabic names.
Since the Goryeo dynasty, monosyllabic names were used by (and at one point restricted to) the royal family.
But it has since been more used, though still uncommon. Parents simply prefer two syllables to one for their child’s given name. More options for the hanja characters.
Some celebrities and idols have monosyllabic screen names. However, if you do come across a Corean with a monosyllabic name, it’s very likely it’s a family tradition, and also very likely a family tradition proudly continued because it was a granted royal privilege for service or contribution as vassal.
The prince’s title and historic name
Every single one of us will refer to the little prince by his title, the Prince Yeong-hwan.
Yeong means perpetual, eternal, brave, glory, honor, hero. It’s the first name of Jo Yeong, the king’s Unbreakable Sword and Captain of the Royal Guard. There’s a reason that name is popular, usually combined with another character, and not just because the mother was crushing on Jo Yeong.
Hwan means shining, brilliant, lustrous, understandably a traditional addition for royal titles, and often given to first sons. Before he became king, His Majesty’s title was Prince Dae-hwan, as was his father’s before him.
Popular speculation is that the little prince’s title honors Jo Yeong.
Yeon is also the personal or birth name of Jangsu of Goguryeo, who reigned in a golden age when Goguryeo was one of the great powers in Asia, a veritable empire he expanded by conquest and ruled with justice and diplomacy. Jangsu successfully perpetuated what his father Gwanggaeto the Great started: a loosely unified Three Kingdoms.
He perfected and innovated many of the kingdom’s political, economic and institutional systems.
He also had the longest reign in East Asian history, ruling for 79 years until he died at age 98.
And best of all, it was Yeon, or Jangsu, who shortened the kingdom’s name from Goguyreo to Goryeo, which evolved to how we know it today: Corea.
Now I’ve seen some papers say the little prince royal has quite big shoes to fill. I say, his parents simply gave him a good name.
And with parents like that, I’m sure His Royal Highness will be well-equipped to be a great king like his namesake, like his father, when he’s conferred as Crown Prince.
A kingdom rejoicing
This is the first baby born to the royal family of Corea since His Majesty himself was born thirty four years ago. Sadly, the late queen had been in poor health, and soon passed when the king was only three years old.
The whole kingdom held its collective breath when the queen was flown to CorGen. Though the media was promised a press conference, none came.
The palace website banner has been updated about the queen’s health and the newspapers fairly flew off the stands at the announcement.
We still wait to hear from Their Majesties, but everyone is content to know the queen and baby are safe and healthy.
The Royal Public Affairs Office did give us a few tidbits. The palace had received 5734 gifts from friends of the royal family (royalty, aristocracy and democratic leaders of the world), Corean organizations and citizens, and international well-wishers.
Corea also woke up and spent the day being serenaded by bells. There is still no standard for the bell ringing, but all proposals have been reviewed and approved by the palace. The result was an experience I won’t soon forget. It was like an all-day concert! Who knew bells could sound so lovely?
Corea’s towns and cities coordinated with each other so that their bell ringing would be a veritable symphony. I've seen some social media posts of people who "followed the bells" and enjoyed their drive.
Come evening, LED and clever engineering lit up several buildings and entire blocks across the cities of Corea. Blue for the prince, blue for the queen, and black and gold to celebrate the royal family.
And if you drive around, you might feel overwhelmed at all the flags. Every home, every establishment flew the flag of Corea.
Needless to say, the flower festivals are gearing up to become a celebration of the prince's birth. But I have a feeling this contingency has already been in the plans long ago!
I am so tremendously happy. Congratulations, Your Majesties!
“It seems only yesterday when this author first reported on the mysterious new queen of Corea”
On this day last year, in fact! Corea Stories is one year old today!
It’s been crazy! Thank you all for your reviews and notes, here, on AO3 or on Twitter, you awesome people.
The palace has confirmed that Her Majesty the Queen has been admitted to CorGen today at 10:17 A.M.
This follows nationwide curiosity when news crews now on round-the-clock surveillance of the palace and CorGen spotted one of the royal helicopters landing on the CorGen helipad
His Majesty the King is still in the UK
The palace website has been updated with a note that His Majesty has been informed and is on his way back.
Not mentioned in the note, but we can properly deduce the king is no longer attending the funeral of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, April 17. If that confuses you, it’s still Saturday in the UK
Is the queen in peril?
Corea’s online communities are fairly screeching because the palace website has since removed the static banner saying the queen and the baby are both well.
Why the brouhaha over that? After all, an update is imminent, isn’t it?
This author, as should all of you, take comfort from the fact that if the queen had been in less than perfect health, the king wouldn’t have left her side.
The queen is young and was a former officer in the police force, not counting her position in the kingdom’s classified investigatory services. Both posts have vigorous physical qualifications. That should assure us, too.
Until we have statements from authorized sources, why should we conjure panic and outcomes none of us want?
Well-meaning ahjummas I otherwise adore and respect are understandably shaken after the queen’s accident in November. (See our coverage here and here). They wonder if the queen was injured somehow in the palace or elsewhere.
Several spring and flower festivals are ramping up across the country in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society’s Annual Flower Show. (See the royal floral mystery attached to the Show here). Her Majesty’s last public appearance was on White Day, but today’s report had Corea’s citizens posting their photos of the queen with messages of support hoping she’s okay.
Here’s one such photograph from user JungjeonTaeEulah, posted on the palace website’s update comment section, and with 450,000 hearts as of this writing
It turns out the queen had popped up for a surprise incognito visit here and there, and it really drove up morale-- and the Corean spirit of excellence.
Not only is the kingdom absolutely bananas over their king and queen, they’re also excited about this royal baby. Add to that a queen whom you never know might drop in on your town’s festival preparations and I’ve never seen a lovelier country in all my years as a nomad correspondent. I might stay here.
But I digress. Aside from acknowledging that this is a day of suspense for all of us, this author will refrain from--and condemns-- sensationalist hysteria.
Don’t think I’m made of stone. I’m barely hanging on to my training as a journalist by my fingernails. And I just had them done.
Is the queen delivering the heir?
The Royal Public Affairs Office has declined to give any statement at this time, except for announcing that Mo Jin-ha, the private secretary to the sovereign, will hold a press conference, time to be determined.
The media and all members of the press (and all Corean citizens) are requested to stay clear of the roads between CorGen and the airport. (My team is stationed in several spots with telephoto lenses the size of small cannons).
CorGen and the office of Doctor Chae Song-eun, the queen’s OB, also decline to comment.
This is speculation on this author’s part and by no means should my dear readers take this as reliable information even if we do have confirmation from past releases: The queen is within thirty-five to thirty-six weeks. At most, barely thirty-seven weeks.
If she delivers, the royal prince or princess will be considered late preterm or early term.
As far as we’ve been told, the queen reaches full term in the first to second week of May. This means the baby would be born 3 to 4 weeks early.
A kingdom expectant
As we wait with bated breath for updates, here’s what we know:
This is the kingdom’s first royal baby since the king himself was born in 1987, also earlier than his due date, but only by four days.
This baby will immediately bump the Lady Se-jin from succession, and if a princess, will not be displaced as heir apparent by male siblings. The king has done away with male primogeniture in succession, recognizing it unconstitutional alongside the country’s laws on equality.
Across the kingdom, bets have been placed on the baby’s gender. Boy and girl have equal odds, with some bets on multiple births (twins).
Unlike in other royal pregnancies you might know of if you love royals, the name has been left well alone in Corea. No bets about the names here. No Corean citizen is willing to place bad luck on the baby. In Chinese and Corean tradition, you call the baby by a “milk name” to confuse evil spirits who might...well, spirit it away.
We will receive an announcement within 24 hours of the birth, although the king and queen might decide to wait. It’s their prerogative.
When the king was born, his birth was announced within the day. His name followed a day after.
Because the king was the first Catholic heir apparent, the Catholic churches throughout the kingdom rang their bells on the day of his birth, ranging from peals that lasted three hours, shorter songs that lasted five minutes, to joyful rings of three every minute.
The current royal baby will also be Catholic. The Royal Court still hasn’t issued any standard protocol for the bell-ringing, but they do have specific rules for the gun salute, a long-standing tradition since the 1900s.
If you want to go to one of the royal palaces and residences to watch the gun salute, see our report here.
Unlike other royal families, Corea doesn’t release portraits of their royal babies.
Unless the current king and queen breaks tradition and recognizes our need to see their baby, we’ll see the prince or princess in the official portrait of the royal family when it’s released for the kingdom’s textbooks.
FLASH UPDATE:
The king has arrived in the kingdom and is on his way to CorGen.
Photographed here on his way to his car. His Majesty was immediately escorted to his awaiting convoy. (Telephoto lenses pay for themselves. This author is willing to do endorsements wholeheartedly).
It hasn’t even been six hours since we knew of the queen’s condition. Either the king’s jet made the flight in half the time, or the king had already been on his way before the queen was even taken to the hospital.
Stay tuned for updates. Our thoughts and prayers are with Her Majesty and the baby.
We are counting down the days to the queen’s due date. We haven’t seen her around much.
Her last public appearance was on White Day, in March, when she and the king attended the UAAC Baseball season pre-opening friendly match
We weren’t given permission to publish those photos, and many of them have been taken down because of the kerfuffle over the queen’s watch. See our report here.
It seems Corea is much more conservative about protecting their queen than we thought.
The palace website’s static banner is still up, saying the queen and the baby are both well, and that Their Majesties are thankful for everyone’s concern and well-wishes.
No word about where the queen is currently residing. We do know they’ve left Pyeongchang. And we also know that there’s a tradition that the heir is born in Gwangyeongjeon.
VIP 7, the royal wing recently reopened (and unexpectedly used in November during the queen’s accident) in CorGen, is now completed and sealed, should Her Majesty choose to have her delivery there
It’s also another tradition that media photos are now cropped.
While lucky Corean citizens and I (I live here with a working visa, so I count myself lucky) have seen the royal baby belly on television, international people who are also in love with these royals would see nothing. Nada. Zilch.
The queen would only appear in print and online in cropped photos.
Something about protecting the baby from evil eyes.
And if you want to test the terrifying efficiency of the Royal Public Affairs Office, be my guest. We’ve had reports that disallowed photos of the queen disappear in less than ten seconds.
Corea is one of the most modern and advanced in its technology and tolerance, but it does still have these charming quirks, and we respect them!
The king is currently away. Along with the king and queen of Bhutan, the sultan of Brunei, and the agong of Malaysia, these royal heads of Asia are going to the United Kingdom to pay their respects to the queen of the United Kingdom on the passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The funeral will be held on April 17. See our report on the expected royal guests here.
Because we miss her so much, here’s a recap of all our Queen Sightings.
Read on AO3.
Who could forget this? Corea was stunned at the queen showing more leg than she had ever done. Her Majesty was spotted arriving at Cheongwadae for the Prime Minister’s private party last winter.
It’s testimony to the queen’s popularity that she got zero criticism. If she did, no one was brazen or bold enough to make it public.
Royal watchers (and ahjummas, elite and non-elite), say this is still perfectly within the unspoken royal proprieties and the fingertip rule applied to schoolgirls (the fingertip rule: your hemline shouldn’t be shorter than your fingertips).
The queen also only went to a private gathering among friends, which the king also attended. The press had been allowed to take photographs but it was not a public event.
Her Majesty in the Winter Palace. Released by the Royal Public Affairs Office in January.
This is the last, full-sized media photo we have before the palace quietly but efficiently released the request for the queen’s photos to be cropped.
Also in January, a close up of the Queen’s perfect skin, also released by the Royal Public Affairs Office. Location unspecified.
February 5: Her Majesty’s televised message for the Annual Children’s Ball in Busan, for the first time held as an actual ball for kids, bouncy castle and all!
February 25: Several lucky students in schools around Busan were lucky enough to have been visited by Her Majesty before or during their commencement exercises.
March 1: The queen attended a panel for Zero Discrimination Day at the Royal Hall of Justice, the first panel of its kind pioneered by the Attorney-General, Gong Ae-ra.
March 1: That evening, when Their Majesties attended a concert for Zero Discrimination Day
April 4: Their Majesties in their joint Easter message, both of them just looking so beautiful. Is it any wonder they’re the world’s most favorite royals?
We hope the king comes home soon! This author understands social obligations, but Pyeha, with all due respect-- well, I’m sure you’re already impatient to be home and I don’t need to nag. Far be it from me!
Let me know what you think! A lot of little details here meant as companion to Winter Palace 2.
And the rest of what comes next :)
And yes, it's backdated. I'd blame my job but I also love my job but yeah, I blame it.
Credits to the Kahi photo (with watermark) from Kim Go Eun Philippines @/kimgoeunphofc on Twitter and IG
Corea News: Royal Wedding Postscripts and A Floral Mystery
Counting down to the royal baby’s arrival, we got gifts!
If my calculations (well, we can depend on the ahjummas for this) are correct, we are now at 34 weeks.
The Royal Public Affairs Office can probably feel the entire nation’s bated breath so they gave us delicious things to distract us
First, some context: Corea’s Royal Horticultural Society is ramping up to the annual flower show in May
Every two years, the flower show includes awards for the best floral arrangements, with plenty of categories and a grand prize to vie for
For close to two centuries now, the kingdom’s best florists show off their skills here and I’ve heard the competition is so stiff that the kingdom’s florist street had to be disbanded, each florist relocated. Until the 1930s, almost all cities in the kingdom had an ordinance that no two florists can exist within 1000 feet of each other
This law is no longer in effect, but florists still observe it. They say they like it-- it regulated their numbers especially in the capitals
It’s a pain when you’re shopping for flowers and don’t know what you want yet. You have to drive or add a few hundred to your step counter instead of hopping next door or just two to three doors down.
Now to the juicy bits: The Royal Public Affairs Office released what we thought was a video of support for this year’s Flower Show and Florist Awards
50 seconds into the video, we discover we thought wrong
Well, it certainly is such a gorgeous highlight of Corea’s flowers and florist talent. But it was also so. Much. More. The ahjummas haven’t recovered yet.
In September after the announcement of the queen’s pregnancy, we were given wedding portraits.
Yesterday, the kingdom of Corea was treated to a rare glimpse into the private wedding of the king and queen.
We still don’t know the full guest list, and of those present, no one has said anything, not even the Prime Minister, who was most certainly there.
The video is quiet and soft, each montage blooming into green and white images solidifying into flowers and greenery.
It was all bouquets and candle light, really, and if you expected a procession of royalty, you’d be disappointed.
Oh, don’t mistake me: we know royalty from other countries flew in and witnessed it, and we know the ceremonies were spread over several days, but aside from that, we know not much else.
With these new crumbs, now we also know that this wedding is all elegance and zero pomp and pageantry.
Not that there was any doubt on that score.
We confirmed permission from the Royal Public Affairs Office to publish these screencaps of my favorite bouquets.
None of that stiff and contrived symmetry you usually see. These arrangements are so much like the queen we’ve come to know and love in her casual style and sincerity.
And then comes the surprise of this seemingly innocuous video of flowers: we hear the queen herself speaking.
For my international readers who unfortunately can’t watch the video, we’ve been given permission to publish the queen’s vows.
Yes, that’s right. It was the queen speaking her vows.
From the official translated captions:
“I decided-- I decided to love the fate that chose us--but you made that decision easy. There’s a reason everyone loves you, though sometimes you’re a little too good, a little out of this world [laughter]. But you’re here with me. You came for me. And I’m here with you. I promise… I promise to stay with you always, no matter how far we need to walk. I’ve been given hints that you are my destination. You’re my... you’re my dream I couldn’t forget. I’ll be happy anywhere fate takes us. I love you.”
We are swooning.
What I wouldn’t give to know every story behind those words!
The kingdom’s royal watchers surmise that the Royal Court released the queen’s vows to underline her loyalty to the king, and by extension, the kingdom, especially with the impending birth of the heir.
This child, boy or girl, will become Crown Prince or Crown Princess, according to the king’s edict last year when he named his distant cousin the Lady Se-jin his heir, after Prince Buyeong’s death and shortly before his marriage to the queen.
The queen spoke her vows with a slight tremble in her voice. The way she hesitated and resumed with so much love in her words made this author sigh.
What about the king’s vows?
According to the Royal Public Affairs Office, the king and queen exchanged the traditional Catholic vows in their church wedding, promising faithfulness, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death.
The queen’s personal vows were a surprise at the tail-end of her prescribed vows.
Thank you for letting us in on that surprise!
Though I’m so sure the king had his own piece to say. No one looks at his wife the way His Majesty does without vows that would have made us weak at the knees.
The mystery pew
Another surprise came from keen-eyed ahjummas who pointed out that the video showed us two different sets of pew flowers.
And indeed, two different pews.
Here they are side by side:
Left: hydrangeas, baby’s breath, camellias and begonias
Right: Two fat roses and a peach ribbon
So did Their Majesties have two different ceremonies in two churches?
I’ve been to Munsan Church in Jinju, an hour from Busan, and I recognize the pew on the left.
The pew in the right photo is a mystery.
I’m sure ahjummas might discover where this pew can be found, but then it has to fit the story of Their Majesties having a wedding there. My team has also already been on a search, but so far, all the churches near us have dark pews.
Even if the pew flowers were changed, were the pews changed, too? Some churches combine two designs of pews, especially if donations have been made for the purchase of new ones but the church doesn’t want to insult those who made donations for the still perfectly functioning pews.
That’s not the case in Munsan. Neither the hanok nor the Gothic building have pews that match the one in the photo.
We are harping on about this floral mystery and still impatient for the royal baby.
If you live in Corea and you’re a man, you probably have a burning resentment for the king always raising the bar when it comes to romantic gestures.
For my international readers-- and let’s face it, most of my readers are international because I write in English, although some ahjummas have taken to using translation apps on my articles, just to make sure I’m accurate and/or have used what they “educated me about...”
Anyway, White Day is a special day you only see in a tiny portion of Asia
Japan started it, and Corea and Taiwan also do it. China, Vietnam and Singapore also do it to some extent
While the Western world pampers women on Valentine’s Day, it’s quite the opposite here, where men receive chocolates and confessions of love from women
It’s gotten so widespread that it’s become a standard in schools and workplaces, to the extent that “giri-choko” or obligation chocolates exist
These are the chocolates you had to hand out to your male colleagues, relatives, friends
Apparently, you can give cheaper varieties for these people. The more expensive the chocolate, the more special the guy will perceive himself to be. It’s a game of finesse, of not leaving anyone out, making sure your recipient feels appreciated (especially the sunbaes and bosses) but making sure no one gets the wrong message either
White Day is a reverse Valentine’s Day. It’s the women’s turn to receive chocolates and gifts from the men
And men are expected to give four times the value of what they received on Valentine’s Day
Many workplaces pool their money to buy packages of good chocolates for their women colleagues
In Corea, despite dwindling support for obligation chocolate, romantic chocolate persists. Chocolate sales reach billions of won on Valentine’s Day, and this triples on White Day.
Stores create special White Day chocolates, and advertisements and online reservations start as early as January.
White Day this year was full of queen-themed chocolates. Crown shapes, real gold flecks, the plum blossom inspired by the Royal Court’s insignia and Her Majesty’s necklace and signature forget-me-not blue color dominated the designs that flew off the shelves before they were even placed there.
Specific hashtags on Instagram were full of posts of these chocolates and photos of guys waiting in line to pick up their reservations for a Godiva box of Crown Jewels, a limited edition White Day 2021 box of chocolates quilted in the distinct Chanel pattern, which is now a trademark of the queen so often seen wearing her Coco Crush earrings or rings.
Chocopologie’s House of Knipschildt also created Sa Majesté Truffle, very similar to their Guinness Record-holder La Madeline au Truffle, except this one contains a delicate strawberry and edible gold candy in the shape of the queen’s plum blossom pink diamond necklace.
This is made to order, and sources say Chocopologie had to close orders from Corea when it reached 2700 pieces. That $350 per truffle.
Delafee sold out their Plum Blossom Chocolate and Gold Lollipops in seconds, and their 24-karat Gold Chocolate Box with a collectible solid gold coin bearing the Royal Court’s plum blossom insignia, retailing at $899, sold out in one day.
Coreans snapped them up. These were the gifts to be had. Men thought they were pretty much in the clear in pleasing their women.
Until photos came out of the queen wearing the legendary J12 X-ray, made almost entirely in sapphire crystal.
The J12 X-ray and its transparent sapphire crystal face and 5.46 carats of baguette diamonds, with the gear train seemingly suspended in midair
Aside from the watch hands, train wheels, mainspring, metal hinges and components, if the parts aren’t sapphire crystal, it’s diamond, and where it’s not made of diamond, it’s in white gold. The hour markers are diamonds. The bezel is diamond. The face and bracelet are all sapphire crystal.
As it often goes in Corean media, the photos zooming in on the queen’s wrist were immediately taken down. For security purposes, and some ahjummas said it’s so the queen’s bespoke watch won’t be imitated.
There are only twelve of these watches to be made in the world, and aside from the queen of Corea, we have not yet seen it on anyone else. The availability is still TBA.
Sapphire crystal bracelet, plate and bridges. The luxury and rarity comes from the difficulty and expense of machining and working with sapphire crystal, the second hardest material next to diamonds.
It’s so fitting that royalty is the first to be seen with this watch, and not just any royalty, but the queen of Corea, who does seem to like Chanel watches.
See our Queens Day Recap, where the queen wore the Chanel Boyfriend watch.
Here’s Her Majesty photographed wearing the J12 Phantom last year
And I think the king’s in trouble, because I rather think the queen had no idea she was wearing $626,000 on her wrist when she and the king appeared at the UAAC Baseball season pre-opening friendly match.
The Prime Minister was also there, along with CorGen Obstetrics Chief Chae Song-eun, the queen’s OB.
The Royal Public Affairs Office declined to comment, but in his monthly televised panel today with the Ministries of Finance and Commerce, the press asked His Majesty about the watch as the meeting wound down, and the king answered it with laughter.
“I did hear that men are furious with me? I’m sorry but the watch is very much the queen’s style. The sapphire crystal means the band and the watch face are indestructible. I happen to choose Her Majesty’s accessories in that criteria.
“If you can afford to buy your wife and the mother of your child an expensive gift, why not? This country owes a lot to its women--don’t forget we have a Queens Day because we owe our queens so much-- give them expensive gifts! The most expensive you can afford without bankrupting yourself and getting yourself killed by your wife, of course.”
Seeing as the king is very much alive and his blissfully happy self as ever, we can assume the queen has forgiven him.
And now I bet all the luxury brands in the world are gearing up with their own sapphire crystal and/or timepiece offerings.
And while the J12 X-ray’s price is astronomical, I have to agree with the king that it’s definitely the queen’s style. That is to say, it’s absolutely wearable, unlike the million dollar diamond watches Harry Winston, Cartier, Chopard and their ilk have made.
We do wonder what the queen has given the king for Valentine’s Day, but perhaps bearing the heir to the Corean throne is beyond enough.
The Prime Minister of Corea is the kingdom’s first female prime minister and their youngest ever, selected and appointed into office at 34.
She is presently in her second term and remains a formidable leader, battling the male-dominated arena of Corean politics, now independent of any party (she was formerly with the Jinsun Party).
She doesn’t compromise when it comes to good governance.
Doesn’t compromise on impeccable feminine style either.
Emphasis on impeccable and feminine and style.
The PM has been criticized for being “too obsessed with her looks, always in makeup and dressed in luxury brands.”
To these critics, the 38-year-old Koo Seo-ryeong only laughed. “Is that all you can nitpick about me? I’m glad.”
I love her. When I’m not gushing over the king and queen, I’m staring at the prime minister in respect and admiration.
This kingdom has won the lottery in its leaders. With a Prime Minister like this, and a king and queen like that, it’s too good it’s almost unfair.
Corea is currently led by two powerful women. Her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Minister of Corea represent two sides of womanhood, and together, they send a powerful message: Dress however you want. Own your style. Don’t recognize glass ceilings. Keep rising.
This is what PM Koo did. Known for being ruthless even in her days as a newscaster, she accepted the suit of KU Group Chairman Choe and then divorced him and sent him to jail with evidence for embezzlement, fund diversion and breach of duty.
After the divorce, there was speculation of a special attachment between the king and the Prime Minister, with the PM appearing at the palace every Friday for weekly reports. But now we know the reports were simply that, reports.
Despite so many photos of them together, the rumored romance didn’t materialize and the king soon married the queen, who quickly became friends with the PM.
The Prime Minister enjoying the late apples in Pyeongchang
Her Majesty and the PM have spearheaded several projects together, the latest being the Eomoni Foundation, now international, and they recently broke ground for The Queen So-yong University, for women and taught by women. Nine buildings will rise on site, two of them for dormitories and seven for academics and applied research. Seven college departments are already open for enrollment and currently housed in several buildings across Seoul and Busan.
The kingdom’s best and brightest female professors and students are being wooed with above-market salaries and scholarship packages. Applications from abroad are also pouring in, but the pioneer students will be exclusively Coreans.
Would the PM Koo teach a class? The PM laughed at my question. “I don’t have the time. Because if I teach a class, it won’t be a one-off one-hour special. I’ll want to make sure they retained what I taught. And I’ll probably make them cry.”
This made the author laugh. It wasn’t long ago that the PM would have been quite sweet in her answer, but these days, the PM is more candid, and now more beloved for that candidness. She doesn’t mince words.
For instance, the PM is an alumna of Corea University, and while the university wholly supports the PM, she is vocal about “the old farts” who run it. Hopefully, this comment will lead to a shakeup that will make Corea University leadership better.
And why would the PM need to be sweet anyway? Her connections are nothing short of glittering. Through her adopted sister, the Lady Seo-gyeong, she’s connected to the queen.
PM Koo is also connected to the pharma-fortune Parks, half-sister to Hogyeong heiress Park Ji-young. And yes, the PM is the illegitimate child of the Parks, a connection they openly acknowledge especially after the death of the PM’s biological father, Park Go-yong.
The last openly acknowledged illegitimate child in Corean high society was none other than the traitor Lee Lim, Prince Imperial Geum.
The positive outcome of that was non-discrimination laws for illegitimate children and unwed mothers. As expected, society was slow to accept and adapt, but by the time PM Koo was born, her mother wasn’t turned into a pariah like what would have happened in previous generations.
PM Koo often said she was proud and happy to bear her mother’s name.
If circumstances had been different, where would the country be without their PM?
But like the traitor, PM Koo grew up in relative normalcy, even if there were whispers about her parentage.
And unlike the traitor, PM Koo is loyal to the royal family.
Asked about her friendship with the queen, the PM was tight-lipped. “It’s a friendship just like anyone else’s. And what kind of friend would I be if I talked about my friends? You know enough about the queen to be going on with. It’s up to Their Majesties what else they decide to make public.”
Is it true she influenced the queen’s leg-displaying outfit and short haircut?
The PM laughed uproariously at this. “As if I could influence Her Majesty about anything. You have to admit she has nice legs.”
See the photo here in our recap of queenly photos.
This author was lucky enough to have this quick interview with the PM, so I certainly didn’t waste time being a nuisance (and risk losing the same privilege in future).
The PM is too much of an impressive figure to irritate. She doesn’t have the usual and quite annoying air of humility many women in power sadly find the need to project. No, the PM Koo is unapologetic about her position and her excellence. And every woman needs to be.
The King is surrounded by strong women: he has the queen, his cousin the Lady Se-jin, and the Prime Minister. He was also raised by Head Court Lady Noh and assisted in all his work by the formidable Secretary Mo, pictured above with PM Koo.
The PM delivered this message to the women of Corea.
“It’s quite painful when you’re not spending your days to realize your full potential.
“I’m not saying women in non-political or non-ambitious lives are in pain. You can be perfectly happy as a mother. As a wife. But if you happen to have a passion or ambition, as a mother, as a wife, or in whichever career you are in, or in another niche entirely, then by all means, go after it.
“Don’t just sit there dreaming it or thinking you’ll do it later. Make time. Make it happen. Because if you don’t, it hurts.
“And this is what makes some women catty. For heaven’s sake, just go after what you want. Make yourself happy. When you see other women going after their ambition, don’t resent them. The knee-jerk reaction is, “Who does she think she is?” Flip that around. Recognize that you can succeed like her. Who do you think you can be? The only thing stopping you is yourself.
“As for the rest, we’re working to fix things and make things easier for you-- the way it has been easy for men.”
With a smile, the PM signaled that she was done, and that was quite a closing, referring to the laws she and the queen are working on for gender parity and equality across all industries in the kingdom.
Thank you, Prime Minister.
Go here for our report on Zero Discrimination Day
Go here for our coverage of all the International Women’s Day programs and festivities across Corea
Outstanding Royals: Their Majesties at the CNU on World Day of Social Justice
This kingdom just makes me love it more and more every day.
As if its lovely, perfect, magnanimous royals weren’t enough, these beautiful people also continue to impress and inspire.
February 20 is the World Day of Social Justice
The king and queen stunned everybody by going to Corea National University on Saturday, amid the university’s various activities for World Day of Social Justice
Dressed so much down they could have passed for students themselves, the king and queen spoke to a packed auditorium about what the Royal Court are working on with the Parliament to ensure social justice in the kingdom.
Social protections continue to be improved. The queen’s Eomoni Foundation is tackling issues faced by all parents.
New laws on accessibility are also now passed, following revisions last Dec 3 on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Screens for captioning, more books in Braille, and funds for elevators and ramps for buildings and public transport are being disbursed as we speak.
The Prime Minister, along with the Minister of Trade and Industry, has also announced several million jobs awaiting graduates of the school year.
Only the king can still look so good even in a rumpled linen shirt (that I bet still cost several hundred thousand won). To encourage signups for the course, the king announced that the Queen’s Office is offering a sizable monetary gift to every student who completes Sign Language. Teachers will receive an annual stipend in addition to their salaries.
Her Majesty the Queen, now less than three months away from the most blessed event awaited by the kingdom. Still no word on whether we expect a prince or a princess.
Looking so young and fresh and adorable in her blue quilt jacket sans makeup, the queen thanked the students for being vocal supporters of equality, and told them to continue being vigilant and vehement against injustice of any kind. They’re the hope of future generations.
Her Majesty looked quite proud of the students. The whooping that followed was loud enough to be heard across the entire capital.
Following the subdued elegance of the Corean Awards, we’ve seen and heard precious little of Her Majesty.
His Majesty the King’s office has also been quiet, although the king’s statements continue in the news.
The palace website now has a static banner that the queen and the baby are well.
And then glorious day! The exclusive telecast message of Their Majesties’ holiday greetings.
This is a late report about those messages, because unlike certain monarchies with territories across the world, Corea is a small (but wealthy) kingdom, and as such, the messages from their king and queen remain local.
We were only allowed to publish certain photos. For complete disclosure, this author did scream in the powder room again, like usual, when confronted with these beautiful royals.
Greetings came from the Winter Palace both for Christmas and the solar new year, and the Lunar New Year, Seollal, which has more significance for Coreans.
December 31st was rather mind-blowing. Previous holidays saw the king make his greeting from the throne room or the Audience Hall.
But now Coreans would remember this beige couch forever.
The King and Queen delivered their speech without fuss and without pomp, just two people so happy and also wishing their people the same happiness.
Unlike Chuseok and Seollal, Christmas and New Year didn’t come with the usual formal greeting from the king and queen in their royal regalia.
This one was sweet and very modern. It was published exclusively on the palace website with the very simple, “Have a happy Christmas and new year. We wish you joy and health.”
This just whets our appetite and excitement for the family photos we’d get once these modern royals have children.
And then just to mess with us, there was also this photo, venturing past sweet and into sizzling hot, which you wouldn’t get from any of the European royals in their stodgy suits and dresses.
Whether this was a mistake, calculated or not, remains a hot speculation to this day. This photo disappeared from the website about an hour after it went up.
We have sanction from the Royal Public Affairs Office to publish it here. But we would delete it if they change their minds, so save this photo if you haven’t yet!
For Seollal, the king and queen published this intimate photo from Gyeoulgungjeon alongside their formal greeting in the royal regalia. Also exclusively posted on the website.
Winter Palace tidbits
The people of Pyeongchang, particularly Gyeoulchon (literally “winter village”), the village adjacent to the palace, adore the queen.
We’ve had reports that Their Majesties had excursions to the village, but if smartphones ended up capturing photos and videos, the villagers are being very possessive about them.
I suppose I’ll just have to visit to see any photos. Probably framed, I’m certain!
We’ve heard talk of the king going to a public sauna. Now THIS is a crime for being undocumented in photographs, although I understand Corea’s men just sweat through their shirts instead of taking them off.
I wonder if it was connected to the king being spotted several times running around the winter palace? Why? Photo below!
We’ve also heard talk of the queen and several ladies having a moonlight sleigh ride. Why do these things happen when I’m not there?
This time, the armed forces of Corea didn’t deploy (like they did when the queen was lost in Seoul-- see our report here) but light flooded the palace and Gyeoulchon, and the Air Forces have been called to assist.
Introducing Soryeong (Major) Kim Jeong-han, who’s in charge of the ground combat force and military police under the Corean Air Force securing Their Majesties.
In this photo, holding the gold plaque from Corean Century Awards for Excellence in the Armed Forces, which he received in 2019.
We did get several delicious photos! Some from the villages, and some from the Royal Public Affairs Office.
Go here for our report on the queen’s accident in November, which led to a shakeup in Corean laws and an old family going into exile.
From the Royal Public Affairs Office: Her Majesty being shown Pyeongchang’s wildlife monitoring and preservation statistics for the winter.
From an unverified source, circulating online: The queen spotted in Gyeoulchon
From an unverified source, circulating online: The photographer is apparently enamored of the queen’s face. I am, too. She’s flawless.
On that note, while the villagers are keeping their royal photos to themselves, they did post about chatting with the queen. She asked about their children, their work, and they’ve asked her about her skincare.
YES! Thank you, Gyeoulchon!
Reports have been consistent that the queen’s answer to questions like this was washing her face with soap and applying moisturizer and sunblock. She also drinks a lot of water.
I would love to get my hands on the queen’s dresser for a more specific dish on what the queen uses. Her Majesty’s soap is probably not like what we mere mortals know as soap. We have heard rumors of the organic, palace-milled soaps, formulated by the Lady Hae Soo, harking back to the reign of Gwangjong of Goryeo.
Speaking of kings… here’s His Majesty looking very… well, fit, demonstrating the benefits of a fitness regimen.
Ajhummas have told me that there’s a very archaic tradition of giving your wife your sweaty shirt to give her strength for her labor.
Well, the king always looks like he smells good, even in this sweaty photo. And as someone who has reported on events attended by the royals, this author can honestly report he does smell good.
And I think this is as good a place as any to end these tidbits. More to come soon!
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CoreaNews is back. Posting all the pent up posts. So sorry for being inactive. Hello, new followers! I’m more active on Twitter @CoreaStories, but also not much. I’m so awful with social. But I do reply there (takes me some time), and I’m still writing. I will finish these. Everything is outlined. Work just bit me in posterior hard. :) Check on CoreaStories on AO3 and Wattpad too.
With very fond thanks to @di-elle for the image edits.
Bonus points for everyone spotting the references to other K-dramas I've watched since I last updated. :)
By insistent public demand (lol), the continuation of The Heartbeat.
Their days and nights in Gyeoulgungjeon. A babymoon in the Corean Alps.
Like all one-shots in Days and Nights, this stands alone, but best with:
Corea News: The Queen of Corea stuns in London
Corea News: A dark day for Corea
The Heartbeat (duh)
Corea News: Queen in recovery, villain in jail
Corea News: Corean Awards Night
Little Bean Part 3: A Gift From the Koos
Happy new year!
I realized I had enough to release so I polished these bits and here they are.
I feel bad that this has been in draft since September. For those who aren’t on Twitter where I’ve whined about it in replies to people, my work came back with a vengeance in September, and then kept going until the insane holiday rush of Thanksgiving and BFCM and then Christmas. I think I've moaned about this here, though, right?
I’m thankful for the work, but man.
I went full hermit for Christmas. I only talked to a few people, and all the Christmas greetings from family and friends are still unread in my inbox. I slept a lot.
Do let me know if you’re still there and still enjoying this. I put a lot of effort into these. Probably too much, but it’s good practice.
A few notes:
Lady Han is Youn Yuhjung in my head. KGE’s grandma in Canola.
The cats are ragdolls. My dream cats. They’re so sweet and they’re gorgeous.
Tae-eul’s cape is inspired by R.E.D Valentino capes so look those up for the visual, but Tae-eul’s is custom-made by the Royal Wardrobe.
The pajama top outfit is inspired by THIS. I love KGE in jeans. Images of KGE in jeans from @/love_goeun on IG
DO NOT take any of the clinical advice here as advice. This is a work of fiction, and while I did research what I mentioned here, this is fiction. Consult your therapist (or OB-gyn-- I feel silly for having to include this one).
Tae-eul's first gruelling experience of being queen, her first jewelry as queen, and her first bad swing as a wife. She didn't like the last bit. So she made a rule about it.
For greeneyedchick's request: Tae-eul as bridezilla. "Cute fight."
Connects to:
Pieces of Paper (the engagement and the fourteenth rule)
He laid Tae-eul’s scarf on his bed. His eyes were drawn to the sword, the scarf and back.
Two things that represented his fate.
Making things right.
Tae-eul.
The same calm he’d felt when he was in Tae-eul’s arms came back to him. He knew what he had to do, and he would do it. God was on his side. He had to be. After all, He gave him Tae-eul.
