'the narrative equivalent of thrashing frantically with a spade in a deep hole'. Well said!
And I worried about that one. The author did a plot set-up which was unnecessary to the plot (I thought) and then had to be clumsily explained away late in the novel to no purpose. But it was pretty good on the whole.
I haven't read the book so cannot confirm or deny, it but it was a fun turn of phrase.
Something exciting is brewing up in South Korea. Not long ago there was a wave of articles about Korean feminism - the backlash against the beauty industry (I think they are no.1 in the world for the number of cosmetic plastic surgeries), the women who choose not to have relationships with men at all (despite being heterosexual)...I see this as part of that wave. Very interested to see what comes next.