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'North Koreans' provides rare glimpse of mundane life in DPRK

Elderly women hang out on an apartment stoop on Munsu Street in Pyongyang in 2011. It is a familiar sight in South Korea, except one of these women appointed to monitor visitors according to the publisher. / Photo by Martin TutschBy Jon DunbarThe cover of “The North Koreans” shows two North Korean women transporting goods by bike along the Pyongyang-Nampo expressway in 2008. One woman makes a face as she notices the photographer.  / Photo by Martin TutschThree women wearing joseonbok (North Korean traditional dress) walk through Pyongyang in 2009. / Photo by Martin TutschThe internet is flooded with galleries of "rare," "secret" and "forbidden" pictures "smuggled out of North Korea" that "Kim Jong-un doesn't want you to see," but most are from tourists taking the same five-day group tour of the secretive country. But "The North Koreans: Glimpses of Daily Life in the DPRK" easily lives up to its promise.  The 252-page book, published by Dutch publisher Primavera Pers in November, gives an extensive, almost exhaustive overview of the side of North K

Jan 6, 2017
'North Koreans' provides rare glimpse of mundane life in DPRK

Sign of book industry's collapse?

By Yun Suh-youngThe bankruptcy of Songin Books, the country’s No. 2 book wholesaler, Tuesday is taking a toll on the already staggering publishing industry.Concerns are growing that its insolvency will trigger chain collapses of many other companies in the industry. Songin failed to honor 37 billion won ($31 million) in matured debt owed to smaller publishing companies and other creditors.Its collapse reflects poor management, and a reduced role of the wholesaler in the industry due to a decreased number of offline bookstores, and the increase in online purchases. The dwindling educational publication market amid the reduced student population was also another contributing factor.Those hit hardest by Songin’s bankruptcy were small- and medium-sized bookstores that are dependent on wholesalers for their supply.Excluding large scale book stores, such as Kyobo Book Store, many smaller bookstores in the city and in provincial regions receive their books from wholesalers such as Songin. With the company’s bankruptcy, around 2,000 clients who have done business with Songi

Jan 5, 2017
Sign of book industry's collapse?

Religious book found

The undated reproduction shows a religious book which was found in library of the abbey in Altomuenster, southern Germany. The impending dissolution of a 15th-century monastery in Bavaria is pitting scholars against Catholic church officials. The library in Altomuenster Abbey, accessible only to the monastery’s nuns for more than five centuries, contains precious illuminated manuscripts and other treasures. Scholars worry the “holy grail” for Bridgettine Order research could be damaged, broken up or sold off before it can be catalogued and studied. / AP-Yonhap

Dec 30, 2016

Poet tells people to embrace imperfections

By Choi Yearn-hong“Evening Glow of Jerusalem” by Kwon Taek-myungThere are many famous and not-so-famous poets in Korea, and I have come to know a few of them, including Kwon Taek-myung, from a distance. I am glad to have read his most recent poetry book, “Evening Glow of Jerusalem.” As a poet, he is also known for translating famous Japanese poems into Korean and for advocating poetry and cultural exchanges between Japan and Korea.I figured out his Christian belief from the title of the book. He is known as a church elder and became the Korean representative of the Pearl Buck Foundation after his retirement from the Foreign Exchange Bank in Seoul. I paid attention to his poems because he was a protege of the late poet Park Mok-wolI, whom I admired a lot and with whom I became acquainted and communicated with in the 1960s during my days at Yonsei University. A lecturer at my university, Park read and complimented my poems that were published in the Yonsei Annals. Back then, the caring seasoned poet invited me to his house at Wonhyo-ro near the Han River, the la

Dec 30, 2016
Poet tells people to embrace imperfections

Devils 'really' wear Prada

The cover of “Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion,” written by British author andsocial activist Tansy E. Hoskins.British writer and social activist Tansy E. Hoskins. / Courtesy of tansyhoskins.orgBy Kim Jae-heunAmerican comedy-drama film “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006), starring Meryl Streep as powerful fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, portrays a demanding boss tormenting her new co-assistant Andrea Sachs about her dowdy fashion from the first day of work.According to British writer and social activist Tansy E. Hoskins, fashionistas like Meryl Streep can perhaps be devils. She argues the industry is all about exploitation of labor, destruction of the environment and sex and gender discrimination.Her book “Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion,” first published in Britain in February 2014, has just arrived in Korea and went on sale at local bookstores on Friday. The book addresses various social issues about the fashion industry that were rarely captured in the media. Throughout the 10 chapters, Hoskins rai

Dec 23, 2016
Devils 'really' wear Prada

'Inca Woman' wins Yoon Dong-ju award

Reviewed by Jung Sun-heeCover of "Inca Woman"Choi Yearn-Hong’s latest poetry book, “Inca Woman,” became the first recipient of the Yoon Dong-ju Poetry Award   last month at Dongkuk University  ."Inca Woman is a collection of poems about Choi’s travels to Peru, Brazil, Alaska, England, Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain, Morocco and China, as well as to Jeju, Ullungdo and Hansando Islands  .In the short prelude to this poetry book, Choi confessed that he has pursued travel after retiring from a long teaching career, and his travel experiences have been the inspiration for many of his poems. Visiting foreign countries and cities, meeting and seeing different people while listening to different languages made him live  . While the language barrier prevented him from full comprehension, he experienced each native language akin to listening to a poetry reading.Here is his poem “Inca Woman” in his own English translation. “Inca Woman”Two long braidsHung on her back, and       &nbs

Dec 16, 2016
'Inca Woman' wins Yoon Dong-ju award

'Wimpy Kid' author meets Korean children with 11th Diary

Jeff Kinney, author of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” speaks during a press conference at a cafe in central Seoul, Tuesday. / YonhapBy Yun Suh-youngJeff Kinney, author of the international children's bestseller, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," visited Seoul to introduce his 11th book published in Korean and to meet with Korean children.“I’m excited to be in Korea. For an American like myself, I never imagined I’d come so far,” he said during a press conference held at a cafe in central Seoul, Tuesday, a day after his arrival.Kinney is the author of the 11 “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series which have been published in 48 countries, 52 languages and have sold 180 million copies. It was first published online at Funbrain.com in daily installments which was read 20 million times and was later published as a hardcover book in 2007 after demands for an offline publication.The book series has remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 450 weeks in total since the publication of the first book in 2007 and remains on the bestseller list on U

Dec 13, 2016
'Wimpy Kid' author meets Korean children with 11th Diary

Korean major leaguers share baseball life in 'Thanks, Baseball'

Baseball players Lee Dae-ho, from right, Choo Shin-soo and Oh Seung-hwan promote their book, “Thanks, Baseball,” at Kyobo Book Centre’s Gwanghwamun branch in central Seoul, Dec. 3. / YonhapBy Baek Byung-yeulCover of “Thanks, Baseball” co-authored by Choo Shin-soo, Lee Dae-ho and Oh Seung-hwanThe Los Angeles Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda once said, “The saddest day of the year is the day the baseball season ends.” Baseball fans seem to be gloomy after the baseball season ends.To comfort fans, three Korean major leaguers ― Choo Shin-soo, Lee Dae-ho and Oh Seung-hwan ― recently co-published essays in “Thanks, Baseball” to share their life stories.The trio, all born in 1982, haven’t been on the same team since the beginning of their professional careers, but they met in the same league, Major League Baseball (MLB) this year as Lee and Oh play for the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals, respectively, while Choo has been playing for the Texas Rangers.Slugger Lee, who received the MVP award in Japan’s Nippon Professi

Dec 9, 2016
Korean major leaguers share baseball life in 'Thanks, Baseball'

PEN aims to globalize Korean literature

Sohn Hae-il, vice president of the Korean branch of PEN International and director of the Korean Writers’ Association of Korea, gives an introductory speech at a PEN International forum at Hamchoon Hall in Daehangno, Seoul, Nov. 30. / Courtesy of PEN International.By Yun Suh-youngPEN International, a literary organization aiming to globalize Korean literature overseas, held a  Globalization of Korean Literature Forum for the first time in Seoul, Nov. 30.The organization also published the book "World PEN Friends Together," which is an anthology of collected poems and writings of the co-representatives of the forum. The six representatives of the forum were the poets and writers Sohn Hae-il, Kim Yong-jae, Lim Byeong-ho, Oh Kyung-ja, Chung Yong-won and Jeon Kyung-ae who selected their representative works to be published in the PEN book. The book contains poems, children's poems, essays and fiction."I hope this can be a chance to enhance the recognition of PEN Korea and Korean literature," said Sohn Hae-il, vice president of the Korean branch of PEN International and directo

Dec 2, 2016
PEN aims to globalize Korean literature
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