''Haps Magazine'', also known as "HAPS", is an English online magazine located in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

that focuses on lifestyle, entertainment and expat life on the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

. It was founded in 2009 and has become one of Korea's most popular English resources for news and information. While the focus of the magazine is mostly on events and happenings around the Busan and southeastern areas of Korea, the magazine has claimed some international fame for some of its articles. Editor-in-Chief Bobby McGill's report on

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

singer Psy 's past anti-American actions saw numerous international media outlets including

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' help break the story which made the "

Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" () is a K-pop song by South Korean singer Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term "Gangnam Style" is a n ...

" legend apologize for his actions. HAPS also received more international attention when a report about South Korean baseball player Kim Tae-kyun made insensitive remarks towards African-American pitcher Shane Youman. The report helped contribute to the

National Human Rights Commission of Korea The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (abbreviated to NHRCK; ) is the independent commission for protecting, advocating and promoting human rights in South Korea. This commission, by law, is guaranteed the independent status regarding al ...

demanding sensitivity training education to prevent similar racial discrimination remarks among sports professionals in Korea.

History

''HAPS'' was established in June 2009 in the

Haeundae District Haeundae District () is a district (Administrative divisions of South Korea, ''gu'') of Busan, South Korea. Haeundae has a population of about 423,000, the most populous district of Busan with 11.6% of the city population, and covers an area of ...

in Busan. The print publication ceased to exist in November, 2016 and now focuses only on online content, including adding a Korean language section. The site changed from busanhaps.com to its new domain a
hapskorea.com
in May, 2017.

Awards

''HAPS'' was voted the "Best City Magazine" in Korea at the 2014 K-blog awards held by the ''Korean Observer''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
2009 establishments in South Korea City guides Lifestyle magazines Local interest magazines Magazines established in 2009 English-language magazines published in South Korea Bi-monthly magazines Mass media in Busan