Lifestyle - The Korea Times

YG is different

YG Entertainment's Big Bang performs during a concert at Kyocera Dome in Osaka as a part of their Japan Dome Tour in January 2014. / Korea Times file“YG Is Different” by Son Nam-won; Influential; 283 pp., 14,900 wonBy Kwon Mee-yooYG Entertainment is one of the largest entertainment agencies in Korea. Helmed by former Seo Tai-ji and Boys member Yang Hyun-suk, YG Entertainment is a heavy hitter in the Korean music industry and a new book takes a look at the success formula of Yang, who thought outside the box to manage and support talented musicians."YG is Different," published by Influential, is written by veteran entertainment reporter Son Nam-won of Osen, an online news company, after a series of in-depth interviews with the singer-turned-music mogul.Yang rose to stardom in the 1990s as a member of band Seo Taiji and Boys, which caused a change in the dynamics of the Korean pop music scene. With his revolutionary experience as a singer, Yang founded YG and became Korea's top record producer behind Big Bang and 2NE1.The name of the company comes from "YangGun,"

Apr 17, 2015

Lee Si-young - poet for all walks of life

"Patterns" by Korean poet Lee Si-young, translated into Englishby An Son-jae and Yoo Hui-sok By Choi Yearn-hong Lee Si-young is a prolific poet who has published more than 11 poetry books.The book “Patterns,” translated into English by An Son-jae and Yoo Hui-sok, is composed of selected poems from his first poetry book,  “Full Moon” (1976), to his 11th book, “For Our Dead”  (2007). Since receiving a review copy of the book, I have read all 201 of the, an average of two poems a day during the last 100 days.It was quite a task for anyone to review a voluminous book., but I enjoyed it. These Before I proceed with the review, however, I first want to provide some background on the man who wrote them. He is known as a poet who captures a moment in his life, any moment, for his poetry. Any moment could inspire Lee to write a poem. He was certainly a talented poet.He endured the long authoritarian rule of former President Park Chung-hee.To many political scientists and economists, Park’s authoritarian rule was a pardonable m

Apr 10, 2015

Lee Si-young - poet for all walks of life

Pleasing the palates of the presidents

A scene from “Les Saveurs du Palais (Haute Cuisine)” / Yonhap By Yun Suh-young Public interest in gourmet food has noticeably increased these days as people have started to consider diet as the prime mechanism for leading a healthy life.Riding on the trend, more TV channels are programming cooking shows in a variety of formats. Movies about food and chefs have been released one after another in the recent months -- and they are, surprisingly, doing pretty well. Either the audience is constituted of cooking enthusiasts or those who'd rather be vicariously satisfied via the screen than actually cooking.Whereas "Chef" (titled "American Chef" in Korea), released January, about an American chef running a food truck, was a casual, mouth-watering film about American cuisine, the recently released "Les Saveurs du Palais (Haute Cuisine)" is a more graceful version screening eye-pleasing French cuisine. The latter is closer to a docu-drama portraying the struggles of the President's private chef at the Elysee Palace in France.The movie, based on the true story of Dani&egr

Apr 10, 2015

Why did Napoleon lose Waterloo?

Choi Hoon / Courtesy of Institute for Resources Evaluation‘Because of wine,’ connoisseur says in his bookBy Kim Jae-heunFormer public servant-turned-connoisseur Dr. Choi Hoon never expected to become an expert in wine when he earned a master’s degree in business administration and joined the Ministry of Transportation in 1961. But his overseas experience while studying in France in the late 1960s gave him a rare chance to experience diverse European wines.“I am a member of the first wine generation in Korea,” said Choi during an interview with The Korea Times. “While I was working at the tourist bureau, the French government offered me the chance to take a one-year hotel management course. Wine is major part of the French table, so I learned about it.”Choi fell in love with European fermented alcohols and it was natural for him to study more about the history of wine. As he became a wine aficionado, he felt responsible for spreading the wine culture in Korea, where the imported drink was only available at hotels in the 1960s and 1970s.Cover o

Apr 3, 2015

Chung Ho-seung holds poetry reading in D.C.

Poet Chung Ho-seung holds a poetry reading in Washington, D.C., on March 20. / Courtesy of Choi Yearn-hongBy Choi Yearn-hong Poet Chung Ho-seung held a poetry reading at the Korean Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., on March 20.In front of an audience, including many American poetry lovers, Chung read his poems and commented on Korean poetry. After the reading, many audience members stayed behind in order to chat with Chung about his poems and literary thoughts.Considered a strong candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature in the near future, Chung is extremely popular among Koreans, despite the waning popularity of poetry today.All of his poetry books are best sellers. He is often compared to Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, who offered comfort to Russian people through his poems. Poet Chung has been doing the same to Korean people who have been through pain and suffering in the so-called modernization process.Chung’s literary power is not going away any time soon. His poems are extremely popular among Koreans, some even say the most popular in the

Mar 27, 2015

Chung Ho-seung holds poetry reading in D.C.

Park Ji-sung's story: an album for football fans

Park Ji-sung, center, poses after signing a contract with Kyoto Sanga F.C. on May 15, 2000. The Japanese club was Park’s first professional team he signed at the age of 19. / Korea Times file“My Story” by Park Ji-sungBy Nam Hyun-wooFormer Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung's new volume of his autobiography, “My Story,” recounts how the calm speaking 33-year-old was inspired and pressured before and after every single game he played, rather than being Korea's beloved football star ― a perspective that people might have missed while focusing on his stats or performances he gave every weekend on the pitch.Inarguably, Park is Korea's most successful sporting export who pioneered the Asian infiltration into European football and his experiences there are worth three volumes (so far) ― the first two were “Never Ending Challenge” (2006) and “Throwing Myself Away” (2010). Sadly, however, “My Story” does not have as much an impact as Park had on the pitch.In the entire book, Park spends pages telling his many f

Mar 27, 2015By Nam Hyun-woo

Park Ji-sung's story: an album for football fans

'PyeongChang Olympics is chance to let world reflect on filial piety'

Kwon Hyuk-sung, author of “The Light of the World, Mother’s Love,” stresses the importance of filial piety or “hyo,” during an interview with The Korea Times. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Baek Byung-yeul In Korean society, filial piety towards parents, “hyo” in Korean, has for generations been encouraged as a primary duty to fulfill.As parents may well love their children, it has been regarded extremely important for each generation to respect parents and ancestors.Amid growing attention on the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics, which will take place at the resort town PyeongChang in Gangwon Province, one former journalist Kwon Hyuk-sung, stressed that this spiritual virtue held most dear by Koreans should be propagated during   the Olympic coverage.“Of course, across the ages and in all countries of the world, being respectful to parents has been a core obligation of every generation,” Kwon said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.“However, Koreans, in particular have emphasized the value of

Mar 22, 2015

'PyeongChang Olympics is chance to let world reflect on filial piety'

Evolution of 'manhwa' cafe

Visitors read “manhwa” or comic books at a manhwa cafe in Hongdae area in Seoul on March 13. Equipped by thousands of manhwa collections and barista-styled espresso drink counter with a cozy and charming interior, manhwa cafes emerge in crowded areas of the city./ Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeulBy Baek Byung-yeulChung Jin-hyun, a 33-year-old Seoulite, loves to read “manhwa” or comic books.The business woman, who likes to read free online comics, said she now often visits “manhwa cafes” in Hongdae to meet her friends.“With coffee and sweet shortcake, we enjoy reading comic books and feeling cozy in the comfortable seats there,” she said.Chung added that this is a big change from the typical image of manhwa cafes she previously had.“When I was young, I thought manhwa cafes were places for middle-aged men as the cafes I sometimes visited were filled with cigarette smoke and mildew smell from old comic books.”“But, things have changed a lot since then. Now the cafés are occupied mainly by females,” s

Mar 20, 2015

One war photographer's harrowing memoir

Seen above are soldiers carrying the body of their sergeant in the Korangal Valley following a Taliban ambush. / Courtesy of Lynsey Addario/Getty Images ReportageLynsey AddarioBy Kwon Ji-younLynsey Addario’s powerful memoir, “It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War,” does not provide an unequivocal answer to why journalists risk their lives for a photograph or story, but it more than explains why this 41-year-old war photographer “does what she does.”Addario’s first book, published on Feb. 5 by Penguin Press, gives readers a glimpse of the writer’s career, which took the plunge as the 9/11 attacks led her to some of the world’s most dangerous regions to document truth and record history.Addario goes straight into raw detail as she opens with her work in Libya during the 2011 civil war.Her description of an air-struck vehicle that had “human remains … splattered all over the back seat” is disturbing ― she does not blue-pencil any of the specifics. She also recalls her hands and feet being

Mar 13, 2015

My favorite book (1) The Thorn Birds

The popular 1983 ABC mini-series "The Thorn Birds" starred Rachel Ward, left, and Richard Chamberlain. / Korea Times fileBy Do Je-haeThe Thorn Birds by Australian novelist Colleen McCullough(1937-2015)A few weeks ago, I was sad to learn that the 'The Thorn Bird's author Colleen McCullough had died after a long illness.  The news of her passing was a reminder of how much I had enjoyed reading her signature work ‘The Thorn Birds’ as a teenager. As people become older, they tend to lose touch with the special books of their youth. Although I was deeply attached to the novel, I had not read it in a long time. When McCullough’s death was reported in the media, I suddenly had an urge to read the ‘The Thorn Birds’ again. I had bought several copies of the book since my first encounter with the book in the early 1990s.My very first copy of the novel was purchased during a visit to a used bookstore in Montreal, a city that was about two hours drive from where I was living at the time. I lost this copy so I bought another one at the Kyobo Bookstore

Mar 6, 2015By Do Je-hae

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