Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Yoo Hong-jun pens travelogue on Japan

Yoo Hong-jun, the former director of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), rose to literary stardom through a series of travelogues. Inset: The latest addition to "My Survey of Cultural Heritage" series covers Korea-related sites in Japan. / Korea TimesBy Baek Byung-yeulYoo Hong-jun will release a new edition of his bestselling travelogue, “My Survey of Cultural Heritage,” which introduces a slew of hidden picturesque of the Korean Peninsula, covering both southern and northern parts. This time, Yoo broadened his interest to overseas ― Japan.Yoo stressed that he wanted to estimate how cultural exchange between the peninsula and Japan have been conducted and shed light on how Japan has developed their peculiar culture in a recent interview with Yonhap News. The Japan edition is comprised of two volumes; Yoo traveled to Kyushu in the first volume and Asuka and Nara region for the second.In the Kyushu part, entitled “The light comes from the Korean Peninsula,” Yoo sheds light on how the Korean Peninsula affected the cultivation of ancient Japan’s

Jul 19, 2013By Baek Byung-yeul

Recent Books

The End is Where it Starts Park Chan-ho; Woongjin Jisikhouse: 320 pp., 13,000 wonBaseball icon Park Chan-ho, the first Korean athlete to have a successful career in Major League Baseball (MLB), has always talked with the humbleness of a man who couldn’t believe what he has become of.In his candid biography, Park seems to devote more pages in describing his struggles as an overlooked college pitcher in Korea and a struggling minor leaguer than his illustrious career in the majors, where he chalked up 124 career wins."The experience of living as a minor leaguer means that you are always being reminded of your limitations, of what you can’t do," he writes."The chip on your shoulder is what drives you and keeps you stimulated. I still manage my life like I am a minor leaguer."Park retired from baseball last year after a 17-year-career following a stint with the Korean club Hanwha Eagles.He is now the inspiration of an art exhibition at the Seoul Museum, featuring paintings, sculptures and video art interpreting Park’s legacy. A series of Park’s own abstract p

Jul 12, 2013

Quack doctors abound

By Baek Byung-yeul “81 Reasons You Must Not to Go to Hospital”A 57-year-old woman with the surname Kim, recently underwent a mastectomy to remove cancer in one of her breasts. Her doctor is angry that she didn’t visit him sooner.She initially found a lump in the right hand side of her chest after performing a breast self-examination. Kim is a manager at a large-sized restaurant in western Seoul, so she was able to pay for cancer treatment.As strange as sounds, Kim was hesitant about going to a hospital because she was unsure this would be in the best interests of her health. This was despite common knowledge that early diagnosis and treatment is critical in a successful fight against cancer.Regrettably, Kim gave unnecessary weight to quack theories described in a slew of books written by self-appointed health experts.These opportunistic authors claim to be exposing flaws in modern medicine without medical expertise. This causes some people to make tragic decisions. Just ask Kim, who actually was more worried about the small level of radioactivity transmitted by

Jun 28, 2013By Baek Byung-yeul

Seoul's 'international' book fair wasn't quite

By Baek Byung-yeulThe 19th annual Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF), which completed its five-day run at COEX southern Seoul, Sunday, is the country’s biggest publishing industry event and celebrated its biggest fair ever.But despite the record number of participants, the lack of people from major English-speaking nations shows that the SIBF hasn’t fully earned its stripes yet as an international event.This year’s one was participated in by 610 publishing houses from 25 countries, compared to last year’s 580 firms from 20 countries. Still, the presence of domestic publishers and authors was predominant.According to the Korean Publishers Association (KPA), about 200 companies among the participants were foreign firms, including 20 publishers from India, this year’s “Guest of Honor” nation that was brining more representatives than usual.“Major publishers in English-speaking nations, which obviously are the biggest movers in the global market, haven’t been joining the event. This prevents SIBF from being taken seriously as an int

Jun 23, 2013By Baek Byung-yeul

Minding your own business

There are a lot of coffee shops in Seoul, but not all of them are financially successful. / Korea Times fileAuthors offering differing tales of surviving Korea’s self-employment hell By Kim Tong-hyung “Struggles of a Backstreet Businessman,” Paul Kang, Encounter“Establishing a Business for Free in the Republic of Korea,” Lee Seon-yeong and Hong Nan-yeong, Myungjin BooksIn these tough economic times, more and more people are becoming self-employed. And the majority of them are marching blindly into retirement poverty.After reaching historic highs in previous years, the share of self-employed people in the country’s workforce dropped sharply to 22 percent in April, the lowest monthly figure since 1983. This is despite more than a million people taking a stab at opening their own business every year, suggesting that bankruptcies have practically caught up to the pace of new entries. Statistics show that nearly half of self-employed businesses, including coffee shops, fried chicken pubs and convenience stores, derail within three years and nearly

Jun 21, 2013By Do Je-hae

Recent book

A Man Who Goes to the Ballpark Everyday Jung Woo-young; Hans Media Publishing: 317 pp., 12,800 won This is a baseball book written by television sports presenter Jung Woo-young that isn’t concerned with the game itself. The stars of this book are the ballparks and the people that fill them every day during the long baseball season. Jung says he’s attempting to explore the cultural impact of ballparks and how they continue to change the way people spend their leisure time, drawing from his observations as a lifetime baseball fan and sports journalist. But it’s hard to say if the book reaches the intellectual depth it aims for and is more useful as a traveler’s guide to the best ballpark food and recommendable restaurants and attractions near the stadiums. Jung’s choices for the country’s best ballparks will be controversial to baseball fans. He defends Daegu Stadium, notorious for its shabbiness and aging facilities, simply because the broadcast booth is located close to the batter’s box, giving Jung a stunning view fans will never b

Jun 21, 2013

Seoul book fair starts 5-day run at COEX

 Visitors congest the halls of the COEX convention center in southern Seoul during the first day of last year’s Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF). / Courtesy of Korean Publishers AssociationBy Baek Byung-yeulThe 19th annual Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF), the country’s biggest publishing industry event, will begin its five-day run Wednesday at the COEX convention center in southern Seoul.More than 600 publishing houses from 25 countries are expected to take part in this year’s event, which is expected to be the largest ever. Established in 1995, the SIBF, organized by the Korean Publishers Association (KPA) and financially supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has been a critical event for local and international publishers and the reading public.The trade fair will be complemented by special events, like a special exhibition commemorating the works of late novelist and poet Kim Dong-ri, whose definitive works like "Munyeodo’’ were influential in shaping Korean literature in the early 20th century.More than 20 of the cou

Jun 18, 2013

Seoul book fair starts 5-day run at COEX

The Last Days of Kim Jong-il

The Last Days of Kim Jong-ilBruce E. Bechtol, Jr.Potomac Books221 pagesGiven Pyongyang’s bluster since its young leader Kim Jong-un took power, it’s easy to forget the mercurial ways of his late father Kim Jong-il. According to respected American expert Bruce Bechtol, however, it is essential for the international community to review the details of his final years to better understand the Kim dynasty.The former senior analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency contends that Kim, who died in 2011, used foreign and domestic policies in his final years to exacerbate multifaceted threats so that the family regime could survive after his death. These included, he says, not only its conventional threats but also its efforts at proliferation involving Middle Eastern states such as Iran and Syria as well as non-state actors that engage in terror.The book is unique in its analysis of the late Kim Jong-il era from a security perspective and touches on the issue of the North’s conventional forces, which are often overshadowed by attention to its nuclear program.Bechtol, an a

Jun 14, 2013

Taxidermy of memory

The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History has been a target of criticism since its opening last December./ Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soonAn ‘anti-guide’ for the new contemporary history museum The latest edition of “Historical Criticism,” apeer-review journal of historiansA copy of an extra version of the Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, published on Oct. 28, 1979, to report the assassination of late President Park Chung-hee, is one of the items displayed at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. / Korea TimesBy Kim Tong-hyung Just six months into its existence, the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History has been all but declared a monumental failure.I must confess that at least some part of the institution’s shortcomings, sloppiness and the massive intellectual vacuum it fills its massive central Seoul building with had something to do with me.It was in late September when the museum’s organizing officials approached me to take part in a reviewing process of inte

Jun 14, 2013

Recent book

The Jobs in the Third Sector Park Sang-pil; Hanul Books: 256pp., 15,500 won Amid a desperate job seeking situation, getting a position in a big company that can provide a high salary or becoming a civil servant that guarantees a stable government pension after retirement are the most sought after jobs for young Koreans.But, this book highlights that there are worthier objectives in our lives other than considering an annual salary or company welfare benefits, introducing 15 creative jobs that have sprung up by the so-called “the third sector,” the non-government organizations (NGOs).The jobs introduced in this book include a curator of a museum which was established by an NGO, an instructor who is helping people prepare for a peaceful death, an activist who is fighting for elderly citizen’s rights and a director of public botanical garden that provides a venue for education and relaxation.The author Park Sang-pil, vice president of the Korean Association of NGO Studies and professor at the Sungkonghoe University, claims the operation theories of the third

Jun 7, 2013By Do Je-hae

Books

Books

Yoo Hong-jun pens travelogue on Japan

Recent Books

Quack doctors abound

Seoul's 'international' book fair wasn't quite

Minding your own business

Recent book

Seoul book fair starts 5-day run at COEX

The Last Days of Kim Jong-il

Taxidermy of memory

Recent book

Most Read in Lifestyle