Culture Briefs

Drama professor Kim passes away

Kim Hyo-kyung

Former Seoul Institute of the Arts and Seoul Arts College (SAC) professor Kim Hyo-kyung died of pancreatic cancer, Wednesday.

The 70 year-old theater director participated in nearly 100 different productions over 40 years, including his very first play “Hamlet” in 1975. Kim also directed the musical “Annie,” the opera “The Marriage of Figaro” and the dance drama “Ganggangsulae.”

Kim also worked as the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Musical Theatre from 2010 to 2012, directing Puccini’s famed opera “Turandot” in the form of a modern musical title “Turando.” He won a production prize at the 17th Korea Musical Awards.

While at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, Kim taught the nation’s top actors including Ahn Jae-wook, who will be the chief mourner at Kim’s funeral, Ryu Seung-ryong and Kim Soo-ro.

Kim became the dean of the Department of Acting at SAC in January 2013. Despite his illness, he was preparing for the play “Medea,” which was slated for opening in March.

‘The Great Jungle’ most popular at national library

Korean literature legend Jo Jung-rae’s latest book “Jungle Manli,” or “The Great Jungle,” topped the list of most-read books at the National Library of Korea in 2014.

According to an analysis on use patterns for 2014, novels and books appearing in the media continued to be widely read.

In “The Great Jungle,” Jo portrays China as a kind of Jungle. He realistically depicts a fierce competition among Chinese businessmen to survive in a severe environment.

The second most read book was philosopher Kang Shin-joo’s “Lecture on Emotion.”

Many of the so-called “screen sellers” or “media sellers” also took place in the ranking, proving the influence of media on the public’s preferences. Swedish journalist and writer Jonas Jonasson’s novel “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window And Disappeared” and Korean writer Kim Ae-ran’s 2011 novel “My Palpitating Life” regained public attention after being adapted as films.

Traditional music books available online

The National Gugak Center is featuring 277 original copies of books related to Korean traditional music on its website for free.

According to the national institute dedicated to “gugak,” or Korean traditional music, the original copies available online include Treasure No. 1291 “Daeakhubo,” a 1759 document which contains court music during the King Sejo era of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), and “Akhak Gwebeom,” a nine-volume 1493 book compiling data of court music in the Joseon Kingdom.

Song Ji-won, head of research at the National Gugak Center, said, “We hope the research data provided on the website will broaden research related to gugak in the future.”

The documents are available at www.gugak.go.kr.