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Lee Hae-rin

Korea Times K-Culture Reporter

Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.

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Arts & Theater

Han Kang's 'We Do Not Part' finds intimate voice on Seoul stage

On a stage stripped of almost everything but white, actors Isabelle Huppert and Lee Hye-young summoned a snowbound island. There were no trees, no hospital bed and no visible parrot to rescue. Yet as the French and Korean actors read from Han Kang’s novel, their voices and languages supplied the scenery: severed fingers ache and snow gathering around an unseen house. “Oiseau,” a bilingual reading play drawn from the Nobel laureaute's “We Do Not Part,” made its Korean premiere at Sogang University’s Mary Hall on Saturday — exactly two years after Han won the Nobel Prize in literature, a date Korean literature fans affectionately call “Han Kang Day.” Presented through Sunday as part of the Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF), the production brought July’s Avignon Festival premiere from the roughly 2,000-seat outdoor Cour d’honneur at the Palace of the Popes into a 500-seat indoor theater. The smaller space sharpened its defining quality: intimacy. Dressed in white, Huppert and Lee stood amid white fabric in front of reading stands. Huppert voiced Kyung-ha in French

Oct 13, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Han Kang's 'We Do Not Part' finds intimate voice on Seoul stage
Books

Korean literature needs translator autonomy to reach global readers

INCHEON — Korean literature’s growing international recognition must be matched by sustained translation funding and greater autonomy, translators said Thursday, warning that global success cannot rest on individual passion. Speaking at “Translation: Text in Transit,” an international colloquium organized by the National Museum of World Writing Systems, Debora Smith, Anton Hur and Choi Mi-kyung called for support that enables translators to discover overlooked works while defending the human judgment behind literary translation. Smith, who translated the 2016 Man Booker International Prize “The Vegetarian” by Han Kang, recalled choosing to learn Korean when its literature was barely available in British bookstores. “Now it’s a completely different story. I see Korean literature and translation everywhere,” she said. Smith and Hur emphasized that the breakthrough reflected years of work by translators across many languages, rather than a single award or author. Han’s Nobel Prize, Hur said, arrived amid Korean literature’s ascent, not before it. Hur, whose translations

Oct 8, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Korean literature needs translator autonomy to reach global readers
Travel & Food

Foreign envoys discover Sejong's appeal beyond Korea's administrative capital

SEJONG — For those accustomed to Seoul’s density, Sejong, the nation's administrative capital approximately 130 kilometers south of Seoul, offers an unfamiliar Korean cityscape: cyclists follow streams to work and visitors from across the country stroll through the giant rooftop garden atop Government Complex Sejong or along wide boulevards with no utility poles or curbside parking. Founded in 2012 as Korea’s administrative city, Sejong has grown into a community of roughly 400,000 residents, shaped in large part by the civil servants and their families who moved south as ministries were relocated from Seoul. Thirteen officials from 12 foreign missions in Korea joined a two-day tour of Sejong on Sept. 29 and 30, arranged by the Sejong Culture and Tourism Foundation to introduce the planned city’s tourism assets. Kenyan Ambassador Emmy Kipsoi, one of the participants, said the visit exceeded her expectations of the city as a strictly functional government hub. “Before the visit, I knew Sejong mainly as Korea’s administrative capital, the home of government ministries and a cit

Oct 8, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Foreign envoys discover Sejong's appeal beyond Korea's administrative capital
Arts & Theater

6 dots that opened a world: Korean braille turns 100

INCHEON — An elephant without a trunk invites visitors to learn with their hands before their eyes at an exhibition marking 100 years of Korean braille. Artist Oum Jeong-soon’s “Elephant Without a Trunk no. 7” opens “From Dots to the World: 100 Years of Korean Braille” at the National Museum of World Writing Systems, challenging the convention that museum objects are for looking at, not touching. “We kept explanations to a minimum so visitors could experience the exhibition through touch,“ curator Gu Dan-bi said during a press preview, Tuesday. The approach introduces its central message of “a world everyone can read together.” Jointly organized with the National Hangeul Museum and Songam Braille Library, the exhibition celebrates and seeks to raise awareness of the Korean braille system's 100th anniversary. The story began in France. Valentin Hauy’s 1786 “Essay on the Education of the Blind,” currently on loan for the exhibit from the National Library of France, argues for educating blind people through raised characters. Tactile replicas of the book allow visi

Oct 8, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
6 dots that opened a world: Korean braille turns 100
Films

'The Assassin(s)' lead actor vows firm response to protesters outside his home

Lead actor Yoo Hae-jin of the controversial film “The Assassin(s)” said he will take a firm stance against protesters who gathered outside his Seoul home over the weekend, his agency said Monday. VAST Entertainment said it was taking the matter seriously. “We will take a firm stance against any actions that violate the actor’s privacy, threaten his safety or tarnish his reputation,” the agency said in a statement. The agency added it was collecting relevant online posts and other materials and would take all necessary measures to protect Yoo’s rights and safety against illegal acts. On Sunday, members of conservative civic groups held a protest near Yoo’s home in Seoul’s Seongbuk District, calling for the film to be pulled from theaters and demanding apologies from its cast and production team. “The Assassin(s)” centers on the 1974 assassination attempt on then-President Park Chung-hee. Park survived the attack, while then-first lady Yuk Young-soo was killed. An official investigation concluded that Mun Se-gwang, a Korean resident of Japan, acted alone under instructio

Oct 5, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
'The Assassin(s)' lead actor vows firm response to protesters outside his home
Sports

2 Syrian refugees make historic Asian Games debut in taekwondo

From a refugee camp in Jordan to the taekwondo mats on the Asian Games, two Syrian athletes made history this month as the first competitors to represent the Asian Refugee Team in one of Asia’s largest sporting stages. Talah Alhassan Alhinide, 18, and Mahmoud Aljasem Almohammad, 24, competed at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, the first time the Olympic Council of Asia has fielded a refugee delegation at its continental event. Alhinide competed in the women’s under-49-kilogram sparring division while Almohammad entered the men’s under-80-kilogram category. Both were eliminated in the round of 16, but their participation carried a significance beyond the scoreboard. Alhinide lost 2-0 in rounds to China’s Ma Jingyue, while Almohammad fell 2-0 in rounds with South Korea’s Kang Jae-gwon. “Taekwondo became much more than a sport. It became my window to hope,” Alhinide said in a released statement by World Taekwondo (WT). “It gave me the opportunity to dream again and to believe that being a refugee does not define or limit my future.” For Almohammad, taekwondo offered a pat

Oct 5, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
2 Syrian refugees make historic Asian Games debut in taekwondo
Arts & Theater

K-ART FOCUS For Dew Kim, K-pop, faith and queer bodies meet onstage

JEONNAM-GWANGJU SPECIAL METROPOLITAN CITY — A pink microphone, a K-pop light stick and a glowing circular light each crown three white, soft-edged bodies that may be either collapsing into or growing out of the floor, entangled in chains and pierced by spindly metal structures with smartphone screens. The figure in Dew Kim’s “Legion, Nowhere Whole” (2026) evokes images of wounded idols, saints and soldiers. One form resembles a horse, another suggests a person or an animal caught in a moment of metamorphosis. Together, they form Kim’s response to a world in which people are continually asked to put themselves on display through social media, performance and the pursuit of recognition. “The title was inspired by Roman legions and soldiers,” Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times. “They were expected to fight until their bodies were no longer intact. I thought that was similar to how we are constantly required to show ourselves, to be recognized and validated, until there is almost no part of the body left whole.” The work is part of “The Look is A Li(k)e” at

Oct 2, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
[K-ART FOCUS] For Dew Kim, K-pop, faith and queer bodies meet onstage
Korean Heritage

BTS' RM donates $70,000 to National Museum of Korea for artifact acquisition

BTS leader RM has donated 100 million won ($70,000) to support acquisitions at the National Museum of Korea, extending his long-standing patronage of Korean art and culture. The museum said Wednesday that RM, whose legal name is Kim Nam-joon, made the contribution on Tuesday through the National Museum of Korea Foundation. The funds will be used to acquire objects for the museum’s collection. Appointed as the museum’s global ambassador in June, RM said he was pleased to offer support in the role. “I am happy to be able to support the museum as its global ambassador,” RM said. “I will continue to work with the museum to promote it and our culture.” The museum said it expects RM’s continued support of the arts and culture to draw greater public interest in Korea’s cultural heritage and museums, adding that it will respond with stronger exhibitions and programs. Known as an avid art lover and collector, RM has supported cultural institutions and built a collection focused largely on Korean modern and contemporary art. His collection will take center stage in San Francisco this

Sep 30, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
BTS' RM donates $70,000 to National Museum of Korea for artifact acquisition
Books

Korean epic fantasy 'The Bird That Drinks Tears' wins French literary prize

Fantasy writer Lee Young-do’s “The Bird that Drinks Tears” has won the 2026 Prix du livre Cultissime in France, a prize recognizing fiction deemed likely to endure as a future classic. The award went to the first French-language volume of Lee’s four-part fantasy series at the Cultissime Festival in Angers, France. The festival, which celebrates works with lasting popular appeal, announced the winners on Friday. The prize is decided through a vote split equally between the general public and a professional panel. Lee’s novel was selected from five finalists, alongside works by French author Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre, American writer Virginia Evans, Irish novelist John Boyne and French young-adult author Julia Thevenot. In a statement released by Korean publisher Golden Bough, Lee expressed gratitude for the honor and reflected on the solitary nature of writing. “Writers who express themselves only through words, without video or background music, can seem like steadfast artists somewhat ft behind in this luxurious age,” he said. ”But I believe we find strength because

Sep 28, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Korean epic fantasy 'The Bird That Drinks Tears' wins French literary prize
Korean Heritage

Seokguram's millennium-old Buddhist artistry to come to life in Paris exhibition

An immersive exhibition on Seokguram, Korea’s UNESCO-listed Buddhist grotto in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, will open at the Korean Cultural Center in Paris next month to mark 140 years of diplomatic ties between Korea and France. Titled “Seokguram: The Millennium of Mystery of Buddhist Art,” the exhibition will run from Oct. 2 through March 13, 2027, presenting the spiritual and artistic legacy of the eighth-century artificial grotto through photography, tactile displays, contemporary art and digital technology. The center is organizing the exhibition with Korea Heritage Service, Gyeongju City and the Korea National University of Heritage. Seokguram was built during the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C.-A.D. 935) on Mount Toham in its ancient capital by shaping and assembling granite stones into an artificial cave. It is known for its stone Buddhist sculptures, including its central Buddha, as well as the architectural precision of its domed chamber. Seokguram was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1995 along with nearby Bulguksa Temple. The exhibition will feature photogr

Sep 26, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Seokguram's millennium-old Buddhist artistry to come to life in Paris exhibition
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.