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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Photography - forgotten history storyteller

Lee Kyu-sang, founder and publisher of the Seoul-based independent photobook publisher Noonbit Publishing, poses with his arms wide in front of a paper board featuring the timeline of the publishing house's 30-year history at SPACE 22 in southern Seoul in November. Courtesy of Byun Soon-cheolPublishing house serves as career launch-pad for unknown photographersBy Kang Hyun-kyungVarious people claim their roles as storytellers of Korea's turbulent modern history. Historians have long been praised for chronicling a series of milestone events and key historical figures who initiated or triggered tipping points at critical moments in the past. Books ― historians' preferred storytelling tool ― have been touted as one of the best sources to learn about history. In modern times, filmmakers chipped in and took part in educating viewers. Historical movies unravel catastrophic moments and major sociopolitical events that shaped Korea's modern history, stirring soul-searching in audiences about what went wrong.In the digital era, social media influencers are also emerging as storytellers. YouTu

Dec 6, 2018By Kang Hyun-kyung
Photography - forgotten history storyteller

How feminist book 'Kim Ji-young' became million-seller

By Kwon Mee-yoo"Kim Ji-young Born in 1982," a novel describing the life of an ordinary Korean housewife on a career break, has sold 1 million copies as of Nov. 27, just over two years after its release in October 2016. This is the first Korean novel to have sold over 1 million copies in nearly a decade, following Kim Hoon's "The Song of the Sword" in 2007 and Shin Kyung-sook's "Please Look after Mom" in 2009. The success of "Kim Ji-young Born in 1982," authored by Cho Nam-ju, isn't surprising, looking at the global #MeToo movement and increased awareness of women's rights."Kim Ji-young Born in 1982' by Cho Nam-juKim is the most common family name in Korea and Ji-young is also a very common woman's name. Cho chronicles the life of a woman born in the early 1980s, claiming all kinds of sexual discrimination and sexual harassment the average Korean woman would face in every stage of life, through this ordinary ― almost anonymous ― name. The novel was not critically acclaimed because the writer rather drily enumerates such events, backed with statistics and news articles, but it succeede

Dec 2, 2018By Kwon Mee-yoo
How feminist book 'Kim Ji-young' became million-seller

Read books in the morning, check emails later

Psychiatrist offers tips on time management to maximize performance By Kang Hyun-kyung"God's Tactics for Time Management: Working 4 Hours, Resting 8 Hours" by Shion KabasawaShion Kabasawa, a psychiatrist and author of dozens of books, is one of the busiest Japanese intellectuals. Besides his day job as a psychiatrist and founder of the psychology research institute, over the past seven years, he has published three books every year, uploaded daily posts on his blog, Facebook and YouTube to educate some 400,000 subscribers about brain activities and mental health. He takes part in seminars or gives lectures two or three times a month.Despite the busy schedule, he manages to spare enough time to do something good for himself. Kabasawa, 53, exercises regularly ― four or five times at a fitness club. He reads 20 books per month. He watches two movies a week. He hangs out with his friends, alumni or teammates and has dinner with them every other day. He is overseas for 30 days or more every year.Despite his hectic schedule, the psychiatrist, author, lecturer and social media influencer sa

Nov 30, 2018By Kang Hyun-kyung
Read books in the morning, check emails later

'Absurdimals' teaches children to accept individuality

By Jin Yu-young“Absurdimals” by Gwendolyn JavorIn her recent picture book “Absurdimals: Lola Goes to School,” author Gwendolyn Javor teaches children the importance of accepting others and more importantly, themselves. The story revolves around Lola, who is half bunny-half elephant and is bullied at school for being a hybrid animal and looking different from the rest of her animal classmates. Ashamed, Lola seeks the advice of her principal who helps her understand that despite appearing different on the outside, everyone is in fact, similar to one another. “No matter what type of different, there's love in us all. That's what connects us! Love yourself, and the other animals will too,” he says. These words guide Lola towards self-acceptance: she becomes confident in her unique identity and sets an example for the other students to love themselves as well. With colorful and lively illustrations by Melissa Aker Spears, who received a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and Illustration from the University of Central Oklahoma, the book teaches young ch

Nov 30, 2018
'Absurdimals' teaches children to accept individuality

INTERVIEW Let's keep talking about feminism: Webcomic artist spotlights women in family

Self-caricature illustrated by Soo Shin-jiBy Jung Hae-myoungAwareness and discourse about feminism could continue to spread with the help of several fictional characters and some skillful storytelling. With an Instagram account called “min4rin,” Soo Shin-ji, the creator of webcomic “Myeoneuragi” shows feminism through everyday scenes related to society, school and work amid the patriarchal family system in Korea. “Myeoneuragi” ran from May 2017 to January this year through the “min4rin” Instagram account. This fictional ― but incredibly relatable ― story earned over 410,000 followers, and was published as a book with more than 20,000 copies sold.According to Soo's definition, Myeoneuragi is a period during which a married woman feels a certain “aura” or pressure to become a good daughter-in-law. It can last several months, years or forever, depending on the person. In the series, Min is a recently married woman who used to be a clever and responsible student representative in college. After she marries Moo Goo-young, Min fin

Nov 16, 2018
[INTERVIEW] Let's keep talking about feminism: Webcomic artist spotlights women in family

Book gives rare peek into Obama's 'Mail Room'

Obama read 10 letters daily from constituents By Jin Yu-young From the years 2009 to 2017, the United States of America was led by one of the most revolutionary presidents in its history, Barack Obama. He was unprecedented in his ideals, forward action, and deep compassion for his country. In an effort to establish an intimate connection with the people of the nation, Obama vowed to read ten letters a night out of the ten thousand letters sent daily to the Office of Presidential Correspondence (OPC), which is responsible for dealing with all of the incoming mail addressed to the president of the United States. He was the first president to devote himself to such a practice. In a comprehensive and deep look into both the OPC and the letter writers themselves, Jeanne Marie Laskas has compiled the stories of the American people and the OPC staff in her newly released “To Obama: With Love, Joy, Hate, and Despair,” published by Bloomsbury Publishing. Jeanne Marie Laskas, author of “To Obama: With Love, Joy, Hate, and Despair”/ Courtesy of Scott GoldsmithThe book ha

Nov 16, 2018
Book gives rare peek into Obama's 'Mail Room'

Digital era casts shadow on newspapers, but not books

British social media influencer and podcaster Emma Gannon, left, says the digital era won't necessarily hurt book sales and social media influencers can play a role to increase book sales. Sitting next to her is Tony Mulliken, right, CEO of Midas Public Relations. / Korea Times photos by Kang Hyun-kyungBy Kang Hyun-kyungGrowing up online, millennials are more comfortable with accessing information online, rather than reading printed books or newspapers.The digital era is a source of concern for people in the publishing industry because they believe it will negatively affect book sales and newspaper subscriptions.British social media influencer and podcaster Emma Gannon said such digital woes were exaggerated, as far as books are concerned. “In U.K., book sales are on the rise,” she said during the digital revolution session at the Sharjah book fair on Nov. 5. “I think people are craving having physical objects that can represent their identity. If you look around someone else's house, you look at their bookshelf. Their bookshelf sums up who they are as a person. Som

Nov 15, 2018By Kang Hyun-kyung
Digital era casts shadow on newspapers, but not books

'The Soju Club' author fights to keep traditional alcohol alive

By Kang Aa-youngTim FittsAn American writer's interest in makgeolli traditions inspired him to write a novel based on his love for the traditional alcoholic drink.Tim Fitts, a writer based in Philadelphia, says “artificially sweetened” makgeolli is not “really” a makgeolli. He sees the traditional drink’s “connection to Korea’s culture and past that can and should be compatible with the future of Korea.”When it comes to trendy Korean alcohol beverages, there is a high tendency for it to be on the “very” sweet side. Most mass-produced versions of traditional drinks, including makgeolli, a rice-based alcoholic milky-white color beverage, as well as cheongju, which is filtered from makgeolli, and even soju, a clear, colorless distilled beverage, are often sweetened by adding sweetness with artificial flavors or altered with a fruity twist, to meet current trends.Fitts, whose stories and photography have appeared in journals such as The Gettysburg Review and Granta, is better known to Korean readers as author of the novel &ldquo

Nov 13, 2018
'The Soju Club' author fights to keep traditional alcohol alive

Michelle Obama memoir is next pick for Winfrey book club

Former first lady Michelle Obama begins her book tour with a stop at the Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., Nov. 12. ReutersMichelle Obama's ``Becoming,'' already expected to sell millions of copies, now has the official backing of Oprah Winfrey. ``This book is everything you wanted to know and so much you didn't even know you wanted to know. I believe it's going to spark within you the desire to think about your own becoming,'' Winfrey, who on Monday told The Associated Press in a statement that she had selected ``Becoming'' for her book club. ``It's so well-written I can hear her voice; I can hear her expressions; I can feel her emotion. What she allows us to see is how she was able to discover, define and then refine her voice.'' In ``Becoming,'' Obama shares such deeply personal revelations as suffering a miscarriage and sharply criticizes President Donald Trump for promoting the false ``birther'' rumor that Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen. The former first lady's book comes out Tuesday and is among the most anticipated political memoirs

Nov 13, 2018
Michelle Obama memoir is next pick for Winfrey book club

Serafina's adventure to risky world to capture child kidnapper

By Jin Yu-young Written by Robert Beatty and recently translated into Korean by Kim Ji-yeon, “Serafina and the Black Cloak” is the first of the Serafina Trilogy. The story is set in 1899 in the time of the opulent Gilded Age. Serafina, a 12-year-old girl, is unlike other kids her age: her petite figure allows her to fit into tiny spaces and her favorite pastime is catching rats around the Biltmore Estate, where her father works as a maintenance man. According to her father, no one must know of her existence, and so Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the manor.“Serafina and the Black Cloak”by Robert BeattyWhen one day Serafina sees a man in a black cloak kidnap a young child, she makes it her mission to capture the man before more children go missing. She teams up with Braeden Vanderbilt, who lives at the estate, and the two hunt down the mysterious figure. In the surrounding woods, in which her father forbids her to venture, Serafina comes across a family of lion cubs. She feels an immediate and strong affinity towards them and this connection inspire

Oct 26, 2018
Serafina's adventure to risky world to capture child kidnapper
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