Experience

• Book : Squid Game, les règles du jeu pour mieux comprendre la série

  Writer

  Published in April 2022

  Analysis and exploration of the most watched Netflix show in the world.
  
  Summary: When Squid Game hit Netflix in September 2021, it took the world by storm. Its unique colorful visuals contrasted deeply with the dark social and political message they carried. The atypical show broke all the platform records and was soon on everyone's lips. Had Hwang Dong-yeok, the director, found the receipe to a global phenomenon? The questions was on all lips but, as innovative as the show may seem to the Western eye, Squid Game used many elements of the creative energy that South Korea has been cultivating... for the last 30 years!
  With Squid Game as a guiding thread, Ophelie Surcouf takes us on a journey into the culture, history and spirit of the Land of the Morning Calm. Discover this exhaustive overview, essential to better understand the series and its success, but also to broaden your k-culture horizons.
  
  Published by Gründ Hors Collection.

• WaAU Team (Architecture Competition)

  Consultant Communication & Korean Culture

  Jan 2022 - March 2022

  Participated with WaAU team (architecture agency) to the 2025 Osaka Expo Korea Pavilion Theme/Concept Competition.
  🏆 Won 2nd Prize.
  
  First Stage:
  

  • Actively advised the team at the ideation level. Found pop-culture references, gave feedback and participated to the conversation around the Korean cultural aspect of the pavilion.

  
  Second Stage:
  

  • Facilitated the relationship between the international team and the Korean partners in Seoul
  • Facilitated part of the trip to Seoul
  • Advised the team about Korean culture
  • Wrote and Edited the final text for the 20 page proposal
  • Wrote the script and recorded the voice for a concept video
  • Prepared the final defense
  • Presented the project in front of the jury in Seoul

• Book : Pourquoi la Corée ?

  Writer

  Published in October 2021

  Research, interviews and stories on why foreigners all around the world are engaging so deeply with Korean pop culture content.
  
  Summary : How did the Korean wave reach the entire world in barely 20 years ? What is it in this current that fascinates people from all origins and all ages in K-pop, K-dramas, K-movies, K-food or K-beauty ? Why did it become a new promised land for millions of fans all over the planet - to the point they lean the language, watch videos and get into Korean history and traditions ?
  In this book, they are 13 to share this dream, from Chile to Israel, through France, the USA and, of course, Korea.
  
  Published by l'Atelier des Cahiers

• Freelancer (Science & Vie, Heidi News, Korii, Phosphore)

  Tech Journalist

  Apr 2020 - Current

  I write feature articles about tech and science all over the world.
  
  Here are a few of my personal interests:
  

  • VR, AR, Mixed reality
  • Future of travel (on earth, in the sky or in space)
  • South Korea awesome tech ecosystem
  • Digital nomads and the remote work grand transition
  • Weird (but cool) gadgets

  
  
  Most Recent Online Work
  Science & Vie
  Heidi News
  Korii

• K-Society

  Co-creator, Journalist and Editor

  March 2019 - ongoing

  K-Society analyses Korean society through its culture - mainly tv shows (K-dramas), movies and lifestyle. The magazine is published every three months. Writing of deep-dive feature articles on Korean culture, interviews with key actors in the industry and reviews of Korean TV shows.
  In charge of organizing, directing and hosting Livestreams with the community on Twitch.
  
  K-Society

• Science & Vie

  Science & Tech Journalist

  Jan 2020 - March 2020

  Full-time junior reporter writing feature articles for the monthly magazine Science & Vie - the first science print publication in France.
  
  

  • Hacking with Sound & Light
  • Flying airships with just air

  
  
  All work at Science & Vie

• Freelancer (Science & Vie, Korii, The Asia Times, Numerama, La Revue des Médias, Maddyness, Eglises d'Asie, Billboard, Startup Guide)

  Journalist in Seoul

  Nov 2018 - Dec 2019

  Feature articles on new technologies and popular culture in french and english.
  
  Click if you're curious about:

  • Drone Soccer (english version) // (french version)
  • Korean cute stickers (english version) // (french version)
  • The Sex-tech revolution

• Lycée Français de Séoul

  Workshop Teacher

  March 2018

  For a journalism week event, I was invited to hold various workshops to classes from primary school to highschool levels. We covered how to make a magazine with the youngest and how to research sources and spot fake news with older students.
  
  Lycée Français de Séoul

• Le Figaro

  Video Journalist

  Oct 2017 - Oct 2018

  As a video journalist for the news website of Le Figaro - the first news website in France -, I curated, filmed and edited videos daily.
  
  My team taught me to handle every step of the production process, from filming on the field with a large array of conditions and equipments, to editing and animating the footage. I also created and directed livestreams weekly for five months.
  
  Highlights of that year were:

  • A deep analysis of the receipe of K-pop music videos and the Korean cultural Wave
  • A series on Korean gastronomy
  • Creating a monthly live-conversation with members of the book club of Le Figaro
  • Co-hosting a crosswords game on Facebook live
  • Organising and hosting workshops with all the web teams (from directors to interns) to unify video processes and bridge communications between services.

  
  
  All work at Le Figaro

• Le Monde

  Intern at Pixels

  July 2017 - Aug 2017

  Two months internship during which I mainly wrote longforms on:

  • Star Trek early fans
  • The geopolitical power of TV shows between China and South Korea
  • MTV's show Teen Wolf reinvention of the Werewolf figure
  • The superstar of Game of Thrones: its world
  • Netflix's (terrible) Death Note and its amazing source material

  
  All work at Le Monde

• Freelancer (Science & Vie, Numerama)

  Journalist in Seoul

  Aug 2016 - June 2017

  First journalism hire while studying in Seoul.
  
  Writing of multiple long-forms for Science & Vie and Science & Vie Junior on Virtual Reality and the futuristic city of Songdo. Curation of a beginner's guide to Korean tv shows and coverage of Busan Film Festival for Numerama.

• Science & Vie

  Intern

  June 2016 - Aug 2016

  Two month intership for the print magazine during the Pokemon Go summer. Wrote a seven pages feature piece on how AR and VR technologies are meant to change how we perceive the world (in many years).

• i-Tourisme / Tourmag

  Intern

  Jan 2015 - March 2015

  Three month internship during which I wrote various article and interviews popularizing tech to tourism professionals.
  

  • Assumed the chief-editor role for a week over the website
  • Covered two press trips (travel blogger convention in Corsica and tourism convention in Deauville)