South Korea

More than 80 percent of people in South Korea live in cities. But in the past few years, there has been a shift. Tens of thousands of South Koreans are relocating to the countryside each year.

In recent weeks, NPR's Ari Shapiro has been reporting from Seoul. He's found South Koreans take great pride in their country's progress over the past 50 years, but it's often tempered by nostalgia.

In South Korea, Buddhist temple food is viewed the way spa food is in the U.S.: curative, cleansing, perhaps even medicinal. Buddhist nuns have preserved these cooking techniques for 1,600 years.

A half-century ago, Japan and South Korea normalized diplomatic ties. But to celebrate, both are having to put aside long-standing bitterness that has never completely gone away.

In Seoul, a parade that has gone on for 15 years is at the heart of a bitter standoff between organizers and Christian activists. Church groups threaten to stop the parade — in the name of God.

After a bungled initial response to the virus, South Korea's president has to win back public trust. Leaders are scrambling to keep the country's prized economy from struggling.

The government is trying to strike a balance between doing too little and doing too much to stop an outbreak of the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome. But has it stepped over a line?