Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Baseball legend recalls shattered Major League dream

Sun Dong-yeol, a retired baseball pitcher and the former national baseball team manager, speaks during a news conference for his new book, “Sun Dong-yeol, the Baseball Incarnate,” at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapFormer Tigers' pitcher Sun Dong-yeol releases memoir 'Baseball Incarnate'By Kang Hyun-kyungKorean baseball legend Sun Dong-yeol, 56, is one of the greatest pitchers of all time and undeniably an unrivaled athlete, particularly in the late 1980s when his arch-nemesis Choi Dong-won's career had declined. As his nickname “Mudeung Stealth Bomber” suggests, hitters of rival teams were devastated whenever he took to the pitcher's mound and dominated with his iconic fastballs. Mudeung is the name of a mountain in his hometown Gwangju and his nickname shows he was a source of pride for the locals. It recently became known that his stardom came at the expense of his shattered Major League Baseball (MLB) dreams. Sun broke the silence about the price he paid as a star athlete in the 1980s at a news conference for his memoir, “Sun Dong-yeol, the

Oct 25, 2019By Kang Hyun-kyung

Baseball legend recalls shattered Major League dream

Award-winning Albanian writer critical of Austrian Nobel laureate

Ismail Kadare, 83, looks out at the press conference held at Press Center Seoul, Wednesday./ Courtesy of Toji Cultural Foundation.By Jung Hae-myoung Ismail Kadare, an Albanian writer based in France and the winner of the 2019 Pak Kyong-ni Prize, said Wednesday he was honored to be chosen for the literary award in Korea. “I am very happy to accept this award. I am from Albania which is a country far from Korea, so receiving the award has grabbed much attention from the Albanian public too,” Kadare said during a news conference at the Press Center in Seoul.Kadare escaped from Albania in 1992, years after his country was torn apart following the communist regimes, seeking asylum in France. His asylum was later granted. Since his literary debut, he has produced plenty of satirical works. He shared his insight into the latest developments of his home country. Although communism fell in the early 1990s in the wake of students-led protests, the writer said the fact that one is free doesn't necessarily mean that one has gained existential freedom. “Of course having no freed

Oct 23, 2019

Award-winning Albanian writer critical of Austrian Nobel laureate

Cartoonist's durable popularity revisited

The late cartoonist Park Bong-seong / Korea Times fileBy Kang Hyun-kyungPark Bong-seong (1949-2005) was one of the highest in-demand cartoonists during a cartoon boom in the 1980s, and one of the few to see his popularity survive the daunting days of the 1990s and afterwards. As his nickname, “a hitter with a batting average of 1.00,” suggests, all comics Park released after his hit cartoon “Young Business Mogul” went popular. In terms of influence in the cartoon industry, Park was neck and neck with two other star cartoonists ― Lee Hyun-se and Huh Young-man. Lee became a household name for the phenomenal success of his 1982 comic book “A Dauntless Team,” and Huh saw his career leap forward in 1986 with the success of “Chameleon's Poem.”Jeong Jae-hyeon, a visiting scholar of mass media at Temple University in Philadelphia and author of “Park Bong-seong” published by Communications Books, defines Park as a cartoon entrepreneur, saying the late cartoonist was quick to respond to the ever-changing business environment.“He

Oct 18, 2019By Kang Hyun-kyung

Cartoonist's durable popularity revisited

Explore 500-year-old books, cultural treasures

Designated as the Korean government's Treasure No. 524-1, this book published in 1513 lists the names of successful candidates and supervisors of the Classics and Literary Licentiate Examinations, which was the Joseon Kingdom's civil service state examination. Courtesy of National Library of KoreaBy Anna J. ParkA rare and precious opportunity to see dozens of books and cultural treasures that date back more than 500 years; the National Library of Korea begins a special exhibition for two months, starting Tuesday to mid-December on the first floor of the main building of the state-run library. The exhibition displays some 50 antique documents, books and relics of Lee Eon-jeok, a high-ranking civil servant who lived from the late 15th to mid-16th century during the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. Lee (1491-1553) passed the dynasty's highest civil service exam at the age of 23, and assumed prestigious government roles, including minister of the interior and Gyeongsang provincial governor, among many others. Rare government-issued documents and books are displayed at the special exhibition on

Oct 14, 2019By Anna J. Park

Explore 500-year-old books, cultural treasures

Gastronomic gaffe goes unchecked

The origin of Korean chilies has been a topic of debate recently after food scientist Kwon Dae-young debunked the long-held view that Japanese traders brought the chilies during the invasion of the Joseon Kingdom in 1592. / GETTYIMAGESBANKIn “Humanity of Hansik,” food scientist voices worry on culinary misinformationBy Kang Hyun-kyungGastronomy is an emerging field that lends itself to massive misrepresentation of history. Driven by the popularity of TV food shows and the popping up of "unqualified" food columnists, culinary misinformation has become widespread, from country of origin in ingredients to culinary culture. The problem it poses is so grave that much of what we know today or what is believed to be true is inaccurate at best. Sadly, the wrongdoers are among us. Experts, news agencies, scholars and even state-sponsored institutes are creating and spreading fake news about Korean food. In his new book “Humanities of Hanksik: Praising the Diversity of Korean Food Based on Science” published by Health Letter, food scientist Kwon Dae-young raises suspici

Oct 11, 2019By Kang Hyun-kyung

2 Nobel literature prize winners expose Europe's fault lines

Olga Tokarczuk poses during a photo call after being awarded the 2018 literature Nobel Prize, in Bielefeld, Germany, Oct. 10, 2019. ReutersAustrian writer Peter Handke poses in Chaville, in the Paris surburbs, on Oct. 10, 2019, after he was awarded with the 2019 Nobel Literature Prize. Handke, one of the most original German-language writers alive, who once used his famously sharp tongue to call for the Nobel Prize in Literature to be abolished, was awarded with the Nobel Literature Prize. The prize brings its winner "false canonisation" along with "one moment of attention (and) six pages in the newspaper," he told Austrian media in 2014. AFPNobel Prizes for literature were awarded Thursday to two writers enmeshed in Europe's social and political fault lines: a liberal Pole who has irked her country's conservative government and an Austrian accused by many liberals of being an apologist for Serbian war crimes. The rare double announcement _ with the 2018 prize going to Poland's Olga Tokarczuk and the 2019 award to Austria's Peter Handke _ came after no literature prize was awarded la

Oct 11, 2019

2 Nobel literature prize winners expose Europe's fault lines

Author goes to Korea's darkest corners for mystery stories

The cover of "GI Confidential" by Martin LimonBy Jon DunbarAuthor Martin Limon has taken his readers to some of Korea's shadiest corners. Last year's book “The Line” brought us right up to the demarcation line at the Joint Security Area where South and North Korea confront each other. His latest book, "GI Confidential," doesn't get that close to the edge, but it still delivers some pretty substantial twists. Limon's stories of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) criminal investigators George Sueno and Ernie Bascom provide a vivid look at the Korea of the past, the way he remembers the country from his service here in the 1960s and 1970s. His characters visit real places across Korea, supported by a colorful cast of characters with names such as Kill and Strange.Sueno and Bascom's adventures, of which this is the 14th published novel, often involve an A-plot and a B-plot, as their superiors give them conflicting orders and send them on fool's errands and black market patrols, all the while demanding the investigation results that they want. But this one goes a step farther, bringing

Oct 10, 2019By Jon Dunbar

Kimchi paradox

GETTYIMAGESBANKKoreans' staple dish popular overseas, yet 'so-so' at home By Kang Hyun-kyungIn July, Park Jong-cheol, a professor of herbal medicine resources at Sunchon National University in South Jeolla Province, discovered “something unexpected” in a cafeteria on a passenger ferry en route to the small Baltic state of Estonia from Sweden. There was kimchi in a container, along with Western side-dishes, at the buffet-style restaurant. “It was a nice surprise to find kimchi there,” Park said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.Amused at seeing Koreans' staple dish there, Park, a kimchi expert, decided to watch how the European passengers reacted to it. “Some just saw it after opening the lid of the container without trying it; some smelled it; and some placed it on their plates to try it,” he said. “I had never thought Swedish or Estonian people would eat kimchi. Sweden and Estonia are far from Korea, so I presumed people there would have had few chances to try it. That's why I didn't expect the Korean side-dish would be served i

Oct 6, 2019By Kang Hyun-kyung

'Medical Pioneers' delves into Korea's medical advancement

Book cover of Medical Pioneers of KoreaBy Jung Hae-myoung Over 2.2 million foreign patients from 190 countries have traveled to Korea for medical treatments since 2009 when the country opened its doors for medical tourism. Chinese visitors topped in the number of foreign medical tourists in Korea, followed by Americans, Japanese, Russians and Mongolians. The number of foreign patients coming to Korea has been growing year after year.The publication of “Medical Pioneers of Korea” is timely, as the book traces the rise of Korea's medical industry by shedding light on 50 leaders in the fields of leadership, research and business. Two co-authors, Korea Times reporter Jung Min-ho, and Kim Eil-chul, sat down with the 50 pioneers in their areas of specialization to cover their stories, which were published in The Korea Times in a year-long series from August 2015 to August 2016, before being compiled in the book. “We thought it would be meaningful to shed light on how the country's healthcare industry has evolved to what it is today as it takes steps toward the next phase,

Oct 4, 2019

'Medical Pioneers' delves into Korea's medical advancement

'Sam Soon-ee': Victims of urbanization remembered

A nanny, a female bus conductor called “bus girl,” and a sweatshop worker were called collectively “sam soon-ee.” Nannies were called “shik (food) soon-ee,” female bus conductors (bus girl), “cha (vehicle) soon-ee,” and sweatshop workers, “gong (manufacturing) soon-ee.” They were called this partly because back in the 1950s, Soon-ee was one of the most common names in Korea. Korea Times file Author pays tribute to nannies, 'bus girls,' sweatshop workers By Kang Hyun-kyungStarting the 1950s in the wake of the Korean War (1950-53), there was a rare employment boom for women which continued until the 1980s. The story, however, is not as encouraging as it sounds. The bloody war had left some 100,000 orphans. With the shortages of orphanages, some girls were sent to families as maids and did various chores in return for food and a place to stay. The post-war urbanization in the 1960s, meanwhile, triggered massive labor migration from rural areas to big cities, creating three types of jobs for less educated young women ― nann

Oct 2, 2019By Kang Hyun-kyung

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