Recent Books

Kim Yu-na’s 7 Minute Drama

Kim Yu-na; Joongang Books: 288 pp., 15,000 won

Figure skating champion Kim Yu-na is meeting her fans off the ice this time. The 19-year-old skater managed to squeeze in some time to write her first memoir, `` Kim Yu-na’s 7 Minute Drama,’’ which is in stores right now.

It’s been 13 years since the ``Ice Princess’’ laced up her ice skates for the first time and she has come a long way since then. The book covers numerous episodes in her career, from her beginnings as an aspiring figure skater to the grueling training sessions to the sweet taste of victory.

``I wrote the book as if I was writing a journal. My thoughts became clearer and I started to believe in myself even more. I always thought I had so much to tell my fans and young skaters, and I’m happy that I finally got the chance,’’ Kim wrote in the preface.

Famous for her impeccable expressions and movements, Kim explains how she realized the importance of such details. To understand the piece ``Scheherazade,’’ she needed to appreciate the sad story of the Persian queen, while she had to watch ``James Bond’’ movies to understand their theme songs.

The book is a delightful read about the famous skater and her past, present and future.

-Han Sang-hee

Marketing PR Story

Nancy Choi; Lux Media; 288 pp., 12,000 won

The modern era is often dubbed as the era of self-promotion. Public relations (PR) are already taking a bigger role in making profits not only for corporations but also for individuals.

The author, a PR specialist, tells all about public relations and marketing strategies through her various experiences.

She defines a PR professional as an all-around player who can write a press release, a feature story, market and host workshops and seminars.

This book is full of information that offers a diverse spectrum of the world. She takes Mozart and northern Santa Claus as good examples of global marketing using own culture and history.

The author also introduces the concept of ``world public relations,'' which are conducted between countries. For world PR, the specialist should understand the culture, history and tradition of the respective nations and apply this to the tastes of their counterparts.

World PR improves communication between countries by building a bridge through a widened scope of activities.

-Chung Ah-young

The Colonial Era's Movie Censorship (1910-1945)

Korean Film Archive: 462 pp., 25,000 won

What kind of censorship did local filmmakers face during the 1910-1945 Japanese occupation? Discussion on the subject has for the most part been limited to popular discourse about Korean cineastes revolting against oppressive colonial authority, without much hard evidence.

The Korean Film Archive thus looks into the era with a more scrutinizing eye and presents a book that can become a more objective basis for research.

``In discussing film policies such as censorship during the colonial era, it is necessary to examine them in light of relationships between the industry and policymakers or civilian and governing bodies, rather than measuring it against conflicts between the colonizer and the colonized,'' the book says.

It thus analyzes the connection between the film industry and the Japanese authorities in the context of overall censorship policy at the time, and compares local censorship rules to that of other contemporary Japanese colonies.

The book includes important documents such as a full Korean translation of the original text outlining film censorship rules published in 1935 by the local Japanese governor.

-Lee Hyo-won

The Way of the VC: Having Top Venture Capitalists On Your Board

Tan Yinglan; John Wiley & Sons: 288 pp., $34.95

This book guides venture investors and their partners to better understand the venture capital world, one of the fastest growing sectors that to date has been largely misunderstood.

The author introduces the values that the best venture capitalists share and shows how the world's top practitioners obtain profit.

The book shows readers the success models of premier venture capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins, Draper Fisher Jurvertson, and Flagship Ventures.

The book introduces innovative methods to produce better performances, a guide to coaching start-ups and an entrepreneurial development manual, as well as insight and advice through interviews with dozens of top venture capitalists.