Lifestyle - The Korea Times

K-LIT REVIEW Bora Chung's 'Your Utopia' offers the breath-giving sci-fi we needed

As a university student, I needed a third-year art elective. Another science major had told me about a class that was popular among our cohort — a comparative literature course with a focus on science fiction. I needed no further convincing. I was already a fan of science fiction, and the course taught me new tools to enjoy and understand it further. The reading list was a great introduction to new works and authors, including Philip K. Dick, who I now count among my favorite authors. "Your Utopia" by Bora Chung is a collection of eight short stories. Its nomination for the Philip K. Dick Award — one of the "Big 3" science fiction awards, along with the Nebula and Hugo awards — seems appropriate, as Dick was himself a prolific short story writer. It was the first Korean nomination for the award — fitting, since breaking new ground is something Chung does very well. Truly impressive science fiction requires a willingness to break down the barriers between the present and future, not just in technology but in perception, culture and experience. "Your Utopia" impresses with its u

Apr 16, 2025By Arlo Matisz

[K-LIT REVIEW] Bora Chung's 'Your Utopia' offers the breath-giving sci-fi we needed

Forgotten bosses: Women entrepreneurs in Korea's postwar economy

The Korean War forced Lim Hyung-seon and her young daughter to flee Seoul for Busan — a harrowing journey marked by poverty and despair. As she struggled to care for her sick child and survive the war’s economic fallout, Lim even considered suicide. However, amid the chaos, Lim found an unexpected opportunity. She had hairstyling skills she had honed over the years — skills few women possessed at the time. "After just three months of work, I managed to buy a shanty house in Yongdusan (a region in Busan), with two rooms and a kitchen," Lim recalled. "I had arrived with nothing. Even professors were working the docks then, so for a beauty salon owner to afford a home in that area — that was extraordinary." With millions of men drafted to the front lines, countless women stepped into the workforce to support their families in a country left impoverished by the war. In 1953, just after the armistice, Korea’s per capita gross national income was only $67. Kim Mee-sun, a research professor at Ewha Womans University’s Korean Women’s Institute, tries to offer a different lens throu

Apr 12, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo

Forgotten bosses: Women entrepreneurs in Korea's postwar economy

K-LIT REVIEW Cheon Seon-ran's 'A Thousand Blues' explores human robot connection in near future

Imagine walking into your part-time convenience store job to find you’ve been replaced by Betty, a cutting-edge robot worker unfazed by long hours or rude "ajeossis" (middle-aged men). When you visit the convenience store a few months later, the robot is already past its prime, dented from bored teenage boys repeatedly kicking it as hard as they can. This is the world explored in "A Thousand Blues," the 2020 science fiction novel from Cheon Seon-ran, now available in a new English translation by Chi-young Kim. "A Thousand Blues" is set in 2035, just 10 years from now, in a Korea that is in many ways recognizable as our own. The story centers on Yeonjae, a teenage robotics enthusiast, and her sister Eunhye, an animal lover who uses a wheelchair. When not helping out at their mother’s "samgyetang" (ginseng chicken soup) restaurant, the girls like to spend time at the racetrack. This is where they meet Coli, a robot jockey who has been damaged and slated for destruction. When they learn that Today, their favorite racehorse, is due to be sent to the knacker’s yard, they hatch a plan

Apr 1, 2025By John A. Riley

[K-LIT REVIEW] Cheon Seon-ran's 'A Thousand Blues' explores human robot connection in near future

Korea stages its biggest showcase at Bologna Children’s Book Fair

The Korean pavilion at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy will be staged on its biggest scale yet. Now in its 62nd edition, the Bologna event, running from Monday to Thursday, remains the world’s largest international book fair and trade show dedicated to children’s literature. The Korean pavilion, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, will bring together 40 domestic publishers alongside a diverse lineup of authors. A special “Authors from Korea” section is set to feature 69 original illustrations and standout titles from 15 Korean picture book creators. Among them, Kim Dong-soo (“To Do List”), Luly (“They Never Made It to Bremen”), Bamco (“Prepping Anchovies”), Seo Hyun (“Rice Cake House of a Tiger”) and Ahn Kyoung-mi (“Masked Nights”) will engage with readers on-site through book talks and signing sessions. Also in the spotlight are other acclaimed works and writers — Lee Geum-yi, a nominee for the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award; “If You Want to Eat a Red Ap

Mar 31, 2025By Park Han-sol

Korea stages its biggest showcase at Bologna Children’s Book Fair

'Molly Makes a Mess' offers Frankenstein tale for children

Daniel Daugherty has created a monster. His first children's book, "Molly Makes a Mess" tells the tale of Molly, a girl who is brash, brainy and messy. She attempts to deal with her messy bedroom by creating her own monster. And this tale goes disastrously wrong, all told in rhyming quatrains. "This book is a Frankenstein story for kids," Daugherty, an American resident of Jeju Island, told The Korea Times. "It's about creating a 'monster' with the best of intentions in mind. It's about solving a problem that didn't really exist in the first place and, in so doing, causing a new set of problems. Did I mention it's just a silly rhyming poem? It's just a silly rhyming poem." Molly's age is left ambiguous, although the author said the book is aimed at second and third grade English speakers who aren't afraid of encountering new vocabulary. Daugherty self-published the book after running a successful crowdfunding campaign last year. The book is available for purchase online. The book's titular character, Molly is a formidable figure — despite her laziness — and the kind of person who wou

Mar 19, 2025By Jon Dunbar

'Molly Makes a Mess' offers Frankenstein tale for children

Reading 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' in London

Participants of Korean Book Reading Day discuss Cho Nam-joo's novel "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982" at the Korean Cultural Center UK (KCCUK) in London, Tuesday. The reading event is part of a new initiative by the KCCUK aimed at encouraging the exploration of Korean literature in its original language. The program selects two Korean books annually, with participants meeting on the first Tuesday afternoon of each month for discussions. Cho's acclaimed novel, centered around the life of a young woman born in late 20th-century Korea, addresses themes of systemic misogyny and institutional oppression that resonate globally. Courtesy of KCCUK

Mar 12, 2025By Kwon Mee-yoo

Reading 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' in London

Seoul Int'l Book Fair faces another year without state funding

This year’s Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) and the operation of the Korean pavilion at overseas book fairs will once again proceed without direct government funding, as the dispute between the culture ministry and the event’s organizer, the Korean Publishers Association (KPA), stretches into its second year.

Mar 5, 2025By Park Han-sol

Seoul Int'l Book Fair faces another year without state funding

K-LIT REVIEW June Hur's 'A Crane Among Wolves' takes young adults on journey to past

The current decade has witnessed a renewed blossoming of literary works by Korean American and, increasingly, Korean Canadian writers. Prominent among the fiction of these writers are novels targeting a young adult (high school and up) and juvenile (middle school and up) readership. Some of these novels are set in the present day — at least three deal with the lives of K-pop trainees in Seoul — while others take place during cataclysmic events in the past — for example, the 1950-53 Korean War. Almost all contain a strong coming-of-age element. As a reader of mysteries that offer a strong sense of culture and place — consider, for example, the Sueno/Bascom mysteries by Martin Limón featuring two Eighth U.S. Army criminal investigators based in Seoul's Yongsan Garrison — I was delighted to come across June Hur’s young-adult mysteries set during the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty. I had the pleasure of studying Joseon history under James Palais during a graduate program in Korea Regional Studies at the University of Washington in the early 1980s, and the very first book he assigne

Feb 25, 2025By Bruce Fulton

[K-LIT REVIEW] June Hur's 'A Crane Among Wolves' takes young adults on journey to past

'If You Want to Eat a Red Apple' becomes 1st Korean winner of BolognaRagazzi Opera Prima Award

The South Korean picture book "If you Want to Eat a Red Apple" has won a prestigious BolognaRagazzi Award for debut works, the award's website showed Friday, making it the first recipient of the highest honor in the category.

Feb 21, 2025By Yonhap

'If You Want to Eat a Red Apple' becomes 1st Korean winner of BolognaRagazzi Opera Prima Award

New book advocates 'insightful management' amid shifting paradigms

What defines the Korean approach to business management? Lee Seung-han, a veteran with over 50 years of combined experience at Samsung Group and the founding CEO of Korea’s major supermarket chain Homeplus, highlights two key principles: patriotism and glocalization.

Feb 18, 2025By Park Han-sol

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