Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Korean author's gripping stories fascinate European readers

Author Lee Jung-myung / Courtesy of Lee Jung-myungAward-winning author Lee Jung-myung speaks about his latest novel 'Broken Summer' By Kang Hyun-kyungBest-selling author Lee Jung-myung's daily habits are quite different from those of other Korean novelists. Unlike many other writers, he's not a night owl. Waking up early in the morning, like a full-time salaried worker, he works from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in his studio near his home in Seoul, researching topics that interest him to get inspiration for future book projects, writing stories and editing drafts.Prior to his career transition into a full-time author in 1997, Lee worked as a journalist for daily newspapers and a monthly magazine over a decade.“It's interesting to know that the two-word Chinese characters referring to a reporter means a person who writes. So writers and reporters are basically doing almost the same work,” he told The Korea Times. The soft-spoken man said his career transition was so smooth that he himself didn't have any difficulties in adapting to being a novelist after leaving journalism.Lee is the

Sep 10, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Korean author's gripping stories fascinate European readers

Letters of Korea's first Catholic priest published in English

Cover image of the book “The Letters of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon” Courtesy of Research Foundation of Korean Church History By Park Ji-wonMarking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon (1821-46), the Research Foundation of Korean Church History under the Archdiocese of Seoul has published an English translation of “The Letters of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon,” one of the three memorial books on his activities as an important early figure in the Catholic Church in Korea.“He was such a strong and interesting person. He was even cool with his execution. He scolded the executioner to cut his head well. There are so many interesting and inspiring episodes in this historic letters,” Rev. Cho Han-gun, director of the foundation, told The Korea Times Wednesday. Records show that Kim, Korea's first Catholic priest, wrote up to 21 letters dating from February 1842 to August 1846 when he tried to return to Korea from Macao where he had attended a seminary

Sep 9, 2021By Park Ji-won

Letters of Korea's first Catholic priest published in English

Author of 'Dooley' animation publishes new black humor comic book

A new comic book with the roughly translated title of “Game of Death” in English, by Kim Soo-jung, author of “Dooly, the Little Dinosaur.” Courtesy of DoolynaraBy Park Ji-wonThe cover of the new comic book, “Game of Death,” by Kim Soo-jung / Courtesy of DoolynaraKim Soo-jung, author of the animation, “Dooly, the Little Dinosaur,” has published a new comic book under a title roughly translated as, “Game of Death,” in English. This new comic book is the first Kim has released in about 20 years.The book consists of four black humor stories and answers the questions, “How to live” and “How to die,” according to a press release. One of Korea's leading animation authors in the 1980s and 1990s, with the animated series, “Dooly,” Kim drew the book in an old-fashioned way, without using an animation tablet, and added finishing touches using pencil, pen and watercolor paint. Kim defined the style of the book as seeking what he called, “B-list” sensibility, or kitsch subculture, as he say

Sep 1, 2021By Park Ji-won

Author of 'Dooley' animation publishes new black humor comic book

Seoul International Book Fair contemplates post-pandemic life through humanities

An official poster for the Seoul International Book Fair 2021, featuring author Chung Se-rang, left, lead vocalist Hwang So-yoon of the band Se So Neon and ecologist Dr. Choe Jae-chun / Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism By Park Han-solThe Seoul International Book Fair 2021, known as the largest book and publishing trade show in Korea, will kick off next week at S Factory in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, and online. The event will include 75 publishers and more than 200 authors and experts as guest speakers.Hosted by the Korean Publishers Association (KPA), the hybrid event, from Sept. 8 to 12, will be held under the theme of “Punctuation,” to ponder ways to move forward from the coronavirus pandemic via a humanities-based perspective, through a series of lectures, seminars and exhibitions.The lectures will be led by speakers including author Chung Se-rang of “The School Nurse Files,” actor Moon So-ri and pansori musician Lee Ja-ram. Other artists and ex

Sep 1, 2021By Park Han-sol

Seoul International Book Fair contemplates post-pandemic life through humanities

1st full-length Korean novel written by AI to be published next week

gettyimagesbankSouth Korea's first full-length novel written by artificial intelligence (AI) will hit the shelves next week, its publisher said Friday. Parambook publishing company said the novel, written by an AI writer named Birampung, will be published Wednesday under a title roughly translated as "The World from Now On" in English.Birampung has been co-developed by local AI startup Dapumda and natural language processing company Namaesseu.Kim Tae-yeon, a writer and a computer science expert, directed the AI to write the novel through deep learning process after he outlined the novel's theme, background and characters, according to the publisher. The book will be the first feature-length novel written by AI for Korean readers, it said. The world's first-ever AI-written novel was published in Russia in 2008. "Until now, only ultra-short stories have been written by AI in South Korea and Japan," the publisher said, suggesting the upcoming novel may be the world's first AI-written novel with a "proper narrative."The novel tells the story of five protagonists ― a disabled mathematicia

Aug 20, 2021

1st full-length Korean novel written by AI to be published next week

INTERVIEW UK economist calls for redirecting capitalism to make it more inclusive

Guy Standing, author of “The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class” / Courtesy of Guy StandingGuy Standing, author of 'The Precariat,' touts benefits of basic income, a populist idea that is unpopular in Korea By Kang Hyun-kyungThe COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a serious blow to the already-staggering global labor market which was reeling from the fallout of the 2008 global financial crisis. Across the globe, job insecurity has worsened with a sharp increase in employment. In Korea, the self-employed people and temporary workers in the services sector have been hit hardest by the pandemic as heightened social distancing pushed many of them out of business or to lose their jobs. Guy Standing, a professorial research associate at SOAS University of London and author of “The Precariat: the New Dangerous Class,” observed that rising job insecurity across the world is the result of neo-liberals' ceaseless pursuit of a flexible labor market and their allegedly wrong remedies have paved the way for unbridled capitalism that only benefits the haves at the expense of the ha

Aug 13, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

[INTERVIEW] UK economist calls for redirecting capitalism to make it more inclusive

Book review: 'Modern Girl' anthology series features Korea's early modern feminists

Covers from the three-part 'Modern Girl' anthology series (2021) / Courtesy of txt.kcalBy Park Han-solHow were women represented in the works of modern Korean literature a century ago? Do these stories have anything in common with their contemporary counterparts, which revolve around women and their struggle for equality?It's no surprise that in the early 1900s, when the Korean literary circle was heavily male-dominated, as were most other sectors of Korean society, the voices of female writers and their trailblazing roles in their campaign for the liberation of women from patriarchal social norms were not properly heard.But their cause-driven literary works remain worth revisiting. The selected works of a total of 21 writers and poets ― including feminists Rha Hye-seok, Baek Shin-ae and Kang Kyeong-ae ― have been published recently in the three-part “Modern Girl” anthology series. The series consists of an essay collection titled, “Blue Deer in My Head”; poem anthology, “Capital Way”; and short story collection, “Girl of Suspicion.”By

Aug 11, 2021By Park Han-sol

Book review: 'Modern Girl' anthology series features Korea's early modern feminists

'Zitwer factor': Before her, few readers outside Korea heard about Korean thrillers

New York-based literary agent Barbara Zitwer / Courtesy of Barbara ZitwerNew York-based literary agent recently inked a flurry of deals with big Western publishers to release Korean novels globally By Kang Hyun-kyungExporting Korean novels is a delicate and time-consuming job that requires network with big Western publishers as well as a significant level of knowhow in pitching translated books to them. Adding to the complexity, several different groups of people become heavily involved in the pre-publication process before the translated books eventually go on sale in local bookstores.Literary translators are the first batch of specialists taking part in the pre-publication process. Unlike other translators who convert Korean into foreign languages verbatim, literary translators are given some room to modify original texts to help readers of target languages easily understand the context of the novel.Once their partial or entire translation of the book is completed, the ball is in the literary agents' court.The role of literary agents is pivotal, partly because they are responsible

Aug 4, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

'Zitwer factor': Before her, few readers outside Korea heard about Korean thrillers

EXCLUSIVE Not your average thriller, 'The Consultant,' to be published in US, Europe

Novelist Im Seong-sun / Courtesy of Im Seong-sunBloomsbury UK purchased the World English Language Rights for award-winning novelist Im Seong-sun's debut novel, calling it a fascinating story By Kang Hyun-kyung“It's surreal.”That's what Im Seong-sun, author of the award-winning 2010 thriller, “The Consultant,” said when asked how he felt when he learned that his debut novel will be published in English for English-speaking readers in 2023.“I've never, ever thought that my novel might get translated into English and be sold in bookstores in the United States or other English-speaking countries, because I didn't know what kinds of novels readers there were looking for. To be honest with you, I still don't know whether my book will strike a chord with Western readers,” he said. “But I'm honored that such a globally renowned publisher like Bloomsbury was interested in my debut novel and thrilled to hear that they purchased its World English Language Rights.”In Korea, Im, 44, went on to say that there are many talented novelists other than h

Jul 30, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

[EXCLUSIVE] Not your average thriller, 'The Consultant,' to be published in US, Europe

INTERVIEW Korean girls' comic books reflect multifaceted female roles in society

Kim So-won, a comic critic and researcher / Courtesy of Kim So-won Korean girls' comics show differences in storylines from that of JapanBy Park Ji-won Cover for the book “Girls Portray Ages: A History of Korean and Japanese Girls' Comics” by Kim So-won / Courtesy of Somyungbooks From the late 1950s to the 1990s, female-targeted comic books known as “sunjeong manhwa” were popular among female readers in their teens and 20s. Many would expect these stories to revolve around a starry- and wide-eyed Barbie-like lead character who struggles her way through a tough life situation but ends up falling in love with a handsome male character and living happily ever after. Also, some would think those comic books are simply a copycat of Japan's “shojo manga,” literally meaning girls' comics. But Kim So-won, a comic critic and researcher who earned her Ph.D. in

Jul 24, 2021By Park Ji-won

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