Lifestyle - The Korea Times

'Everybody has a story to tell': Irish author Sinead Moriarty inspires Seoul readers

Are you an avid reader who dreams of writing but doesn’t know where to begin? Renowned Irish author Sinead Moriarty has simple advice: “Everybody has a story to tell. so just write. I mean just sit down and just see what comes out. You don't have to have a big plan. You don't have to have an amazing original fantastical idea. Just write what you're interested in saying and you will be amazed what comes out. It's just about exercising the creative muscle.” She also offered a practical tip: “When you wake up and you're still not fully awake — you're still kind of a little bit asleep — just sit down and write and just see what comes out because you don't have time to think about it or process it and that can be a great way to start. That's an exercise that lots of people do when they're starting to write." Moriarty is in Seoul this weekend at the invitation of the Embassy of Ireland in Korea, which co-hosts an annual book talk for Irish authors at the Seoul Metropolitan Library. Alan Nolan, another Irish author who writes children’s books, was invited as well. Many in the aud

Sep 13, 2025By Kim Se-jeong

'Everybody has a story to tell': Irish author Sinead Moriarty inspires Seoul readers

Why novelist Yan Lianke chooses anxiety over sleep

For Yan Lianke — the Chinese novelist whose searing satires of modern China have been both banned at home and celebrated abroad — being a writer is to live under a constant weight of unease. “It is anxiety that makes you swallow sleeping pills night after night. It’s a torment,” he said at a press conference in Seoul Thursday, on the eve of his scheduled appearance at this year’s Seoul International Writers’ Festival (SIWF). “I wouldn’t recommend surrendering peaceful nights to sleepless anxiety just for literature.” Yet the Franz Kafka Prize-winning author has chosen that path for himself. What power does literature hold that makes it worth giving up his tranquil slumber? “The experience of a writer, of any one person, is always limited. And yet from these limits we try to reach toward the limitless,” he said. “The truth of literature lies not only in what can be seen and touched, but also in what remains unseen: a truth that withholds itself, a truth that in its very unreality still feels real and a truth veiled in mystery.” For Yan, writing means transformin

Sep 11, 2025By Park Han-sol

Why novelist Yan Lianke chooses anxiety over sleep

LTI Korea connects Korean literature, global publishers

Despite rising global interest in Korean literature, connecting with foreign publishers remains a big challenge for local publishers, particularly for small and medium-sized presses. That’s where the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) steps in. Its K-Literature Fellowship 2025, happening through Thursday, demonstrates its ongoing efforts to support Korean publishers in introducing their titles abroad and facilitating international copyright sales. On Tuesday at Coex Magok in western Seoul, 18 translators of Korean literature into English took the stage one by one. Each presented a synopsis of a work they hope to fully translate, introduced the author and spoke briefly about themselves. The authors highlighted included Jeong You-jeong, author of “Seven Years of Darkness” (2011) and “The Good Son” (2016); Choi Eun-young, who wrote “Shoko’s Smile” (2016); Kim Soom, author of “One Left” (2020); and Sung Hae-na, who wrote “Summer Left Behind” (2023). Among the translators were Joheun Lee, Sung Ryu, Lisa Kim, Kim Soyoung, Lee Kyung Min, Snigdha Gupta,

Sep 10, 2025By Kim Se-jeong

LTI Korea connects Korean literature, global publishers

Rare Joseon woodblock recognized as early manhwa added to comics archive

Rare historical artifacts tracing the origins of Korean comics, including a 17th century Joseon-era woodblock print widely regarded as a precursor to modern manhwa, have been acquired by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Manhwa Contents Agency (KOMACON). KOMACON announced Tuesday that it has secured “Uiyeoldo,” a woodblock print produced in the 1600s, as part of a 636-piece collection deemed crucial to understanding the early development of Korean comics. The acquisition also includes original manuscripts by the late master cartoonist Kim Jong-rae (1927-2001), obtained through purchases and auctions. “Uiyeoldo” was printed in Seonsan, in what is now North Gyeongsang Province, during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) to promote the values of loyalty and faith to the public. It features stories with illustrations such as the tale of a loyal ox that saved its owner from a tiger. Each illustration includes a description and the names of the characters, leading many to regard it as the first known Korean comic. The acquisition also includes the late cartoonist Kim’

Sep 9, 2025By Baek Byung-yeul

Rare Joseon woodblock recognized as early manhwa added to comics archive

REVIEW 'Victory in Shanghai' chronicles unsung epic of Korean American family

No more than a month after Japan’s defeat in World War II, a team of 10 men representing every U.S. intelligence organization in China arrived in Japanese-occupied Shanghai to evacuate "the last living remnants of colonialism…and return the city to an independent and free China. "One man stood out from the others for an obvious reason: he was the only Asian among them. His name was Peter Kim," reads a newly published book, "Victory in Shanghai: A Korean American Family’s Journey to the CIA and the Army Special Forces." "No one could have imagined then that eventually Peter Kim’s name would be acclaimed in the halls of the U.S. Congress," the passage continues, "and that his actions in Shanghai in August 1945 would help win his entire family’s admission to the United States [and] that the Kims would become a founding family of modern U.S. intelligence and special operations…” Thus begins one of the most fascinating life stories in Korean American history that has come to my attention, a story recounted in "Victory in Shanghai," for which author Robert S. Kim (no relation to

Sep 6, 2025By Bruce Fulton

[REVIEW] 'Victory in Shanghai' chronicles unsung epic of Korean American family

REVIEW Julie Lee's novel remembers migration during Korean War

The 1950-53 Korean War is arguably the least-remembered of wars that involved the U.S., and in both academia and the popular imagination it is sometimes called the "Forgotten War." Commencing not quite two years after the division of the Korean Peninsula into the South and North in August and September 1948, respectively, the war claimed the lives of millions of combatants and civilians alike, as well as prompting migration of countless refugees from North to South, most of them never again to see family members who remained in the North. "Brother’s Keeper" by Julie Lee is a fictional account of one such journey, based on the author’s mother. The novel opens in a mountainous village 50 miles north of Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, on the evening of June 25, 1950. The schools have closed until further notice and 12-year-old Pak Sora and her 8-year-old brother Youngsoo are having dinner with their parents and a neighbor couple. The neighbors wish to escape to the South, knowing that their privileged background will render them vulnerable to the North's staunchly anti-elite ideol

Sep 5, 2025By Bruce Fulton

[REVIEW] Julie Lee's novel remembers migration during Korean War

'Love doesn't have to be perfect': Insights from monk behind viral temple dating program

A Buddhist monk behind the popular temple stay dating program "I Am Jeollo" has advised young people to let go of the idea of finding a perfect partner, stressing that imperfect love can be the most beautiful. "My hope is that people find a partner when both sides are a little imperfect," said Venerable Myojang, the planner of the program, in a recent press briefing. "If you keep wandering around trying to perfect yourself or looking for a flawless partner, time will just pass you by. Love doesn't have to be perfect to be meaningful." A hit temple stay for singles Myojang served as the head of the Jogye Order's Social Welfare Foundation, which has been hosting temple stay couple-matching programs since 2013. Inspired by the SBS reality show "I Am Solo," the program was rebranded to "I Am Jeollo" in 2023. Since then, the program has drawn huge interest among young adults seeking meaningful connections. The upcoming session, set for Sept. 13 and 14 at Sinheungsa Temple in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, has recorded its highest application rate yet, with 2,620 applicants vying for just 24 spots.

Sep 2, 2025By Hankookilbo

'Love doesn't have to be perfect': Insights from monk behind viral temple dating program

Forensic doctor who has examined 3,000 bodies: 'Preparing for death is preparing for life'

After completing four autopsies in a single day, Yoo Seong-ho, a professor of forensic medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine, sat down to discuss what he has learned from 27 years of examining the dead. As a contracted forensic pathologist for the National Forensic Service, Yoo performs body examinations and autopsies twice a week. Unlike most doctors, he is, in his words, “a doctor you meet only after death.” Over the past three decades, he has examined more than 3,000 deceased individuals. Yoo’s role is to uncover the stories that bodies tell, determine the cause and manner of death and restore dignity to the deceased. Far from becoming numb to his work, Yoo has spent 14 years writing an annual farewell letter — not out of despair, but out of a belief that imagining and preparing for death allows one to live each moment more fully. His reflections are collected in his recent book, “Forensic Pathologist Yoo Seong-ho’s Farewell Notes,” where he also published his own will for the first time. Yoo says the bodies that arrive on his autopsy table reflect

Aug 30, 2025By Hankookilbo

Forensic doctor who has examined 3,000 bodies: 'Preparing for death is preparing for life'

Marketing consulting firm CEO publishes new guidebook on B2B campaigns

Jeong Min-a, chief executive officer of Allison HyperM, a marketing consulting firm, has published a new book titled “Essential B2B Campaigns: A Practical Guide for Marketers to Leap from Marketer to Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) in the AI Era.” The book follows the 2024 publication “Essential B2B Marketing,” which became a widely regarded resource for business to business marketers in Korea. While the first volume focused on strategy and business survival, the new book addresses the practical execution of marketing campaigns. Jeong’s latest work tackles the question, “We implemented customer relationship management (CRM), but why are our customers not automatically increasing?” The guide offers detailed methodologies for four core campaigns — brand, demand generation, lead generation and CRM — supported by case studies and actionable checklists. The book encourages marketers to evolve from practitioners to CROs, a role overseeing marketing, sales and customer success to drive company revenue. While this role is common in global firms, it remains less familiar in Korea.

Aug 8, 2025By Kang Seung-woo

Marketing consulting firm CEO publishes new guidebook on B2B campaigns

More Korean fiction finds its way to global shelves

Korean literature was admired by a wider world last year as overseas sales of translated titles more than doubled, buoyed by the Han Kang’s Nobel Prize and a broader range of genres being published, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) said Wednesday. Korean literary works published with the help of grants from the state-run agency sold more than 1.2 million copies abroad in 2024, a 130 percent leap from 520,000 the year before. Both the volume of published books and total sales saw a dramatic rise. The average number of copies sold per title reached an all-time high of 1,271, with 24 books surpassing the 10,000 threshold — a rare feat for translated literature. Among the biggest international hits were the English editions of Han Kang’s “Greek Lessons” and Kim Ji-yun’s heartwarming “Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat,” the French edition of Lee Mi-ye’s enchanting “The Dallergut Dream Department Store” and the Russian translation of Sohn Won-pyung’s “The Majestic Fox Tail.” Han’s Nobel Prize win in October 2024 marked a watershed across

Aug 7, 2025By Park Han-sol

Books