Category: Contemporary Korea

Dr. S. Heijin Lee is Assistant Professor at New York University, focusing on Transnational Feminist Cultural Studies; Asian/American Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Digital Media and Popular Culture. Dr. Lee’s research explores the imperial routes of culture and media. In addition to her book, The Geopolitics of Beauty, which maps plastic surgery in South Korea, Asia, and Asian America, Lee is co-editing two anthologies. Dr. Lee’s works include Other Pop Empires, Bollywood to Hallyuwood, and Fashion and Beauty in the Time of Asia, which tracks fashion and beauty as formations of Asian modernities. Lee has been published in Women and Performance: Journal of Feminist Theory and Frontiers: Journal of Women’s Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in American Studies and Certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan; a M.A. in Asian American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies/Spanish at the University of California, Berkeley.

Lai Frances, whose real name is Allyza Umali, is freelance journalist and producer whose work has been featured in Billboard, Allure, PopCrush, KpopStarz, The Boombox, and many more media outlets. A self-proclaimed Kpop girl group enthusiast, Lai can be found on panels at KCON and New York Comic Con while contributing to podcasts and digital projects on arts, entertainment, and culture. Frances earned a B.A. in Journalism and Video Production from Rutgers University-Newark with a focus on music, entertainment and multimedia journalism.

Beatrice Vantapool is a Content Insights Associate and runs K-pop partnerships at Tumblr. She works on Tumblr’s Fandometrics and specializes in fandom’s influence across social media. She has been featured in Billboard, Forbes, and Soompi, and interviewed artists including Pentagon, Infinite L, Tiffany Young, and Momoland.

Sarah Han is a BuzzFeed writer who loves gushing about K-Pop and all things related to makeup and skincare. Some of the artists she’s interviewed include: BTS, Red Velvet, Pentagon, NCT 127, K.A.R.D, Stray Kids, and Eric Nam. While she’s waiting for Red Velvet to recruit her as their sixth member, you can find her binging various K-dramas, watching K-pop stage mixes, and going down rabbit holes of variety shows/artist interviews/Vlives.

Devon Abelman is Allure’s digital beauty reporter, covering viral makeup trends, rainbow hair, K-beauty and more. Since joining Allure in 2016, she has made a mark as the first reporter to interview members of K-pop groups like BTS, NCT, Monsta X, and EXID about their skin-care routines for a Western audience. When she’s not writing, you can catch Devon shopping at her favorite Brooklyn thrift stores for outfits to fit her signature Boca Raton grandma aesthetic, smiling at dogs, and covering her face with the most colorful makeup she can find.