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Award winners, judges question what good translation is

The winners of the 47th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards pose for a photo during an award ceremony at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul, Friday. From left are juror Brother Anthony; Commendation Award for fiction winner Kim You-jeong; Korea Times President-Publisher Lee Chang-sup; KB Financial Group Managing Director Shin Hong-seob; Lee Gil-sung on behalf of Commendation Award for fiction winner Stella Kim; and Commendation Award for fiction winner Steve Capener. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Kwon Mee-yooThe winners of the 47th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards by The Korea Times were honored at an award ceremony at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul, Friday.Organized by The Korea Times and sponsored by KB Financial Group, the award recognizes budding translators of Korean literature into English who support Korean literary works to reach a wider audience and transcend the language barrier.There was no Grand Prize winner for either fiction or poetry this year, but three Commendation Award winners in the fiction category.Steven Capener won for his translation of

Nov 18, 2016
Award winners, judges question what good translation is

Denture

Written by Choi Jeong-hwaThe following is an excerpt from the translation by Stella Kim  Stella KimHe opened his mouth and grabbed his top front teeth. As he began to rock his hand slowly back and forth, she noticed a sign of misfortune that would soon befall her. She immediately regretted what she’d said to him seconds ago. If she could, she would have taken her words back. Now she had no choice but to keep her wits about her and make sure her face didn’t betray her emotions.Finally, he took out his denture. Slumping slightly forward, he exhaled deeply. In his right hand was a partial set of false teeth attached to a semicircular frame. He smiled at her. Was he expecting me to compliment him? She hesitated, not knowing where to place her gaze. Disgusting. He seemed like a messenger of death. She wanted to scream and run away. But she was well aware that she shouldn’t even look away. She couldn’t embarrass him. She had to reassure him first, so she took a deep breath and curled the ends of her lips into a smile. Her husband started wearing a den

Nov 17, 2016
Denture

Where No One Had Ever Been

    Amy Russ  Kim you-jeongWritten by Hwang Jung-eunTranslated by Kim You-jeong and Amy RussNo one… said it would take this long. He twisted himself around once again in his cramped seat. The seat belt buckle that he had unfastened poked his left buttock. He fumbled for the buckle under his bottom and put it aside. The flat, hard metallic part felt warm because of his body temperature. How could I not notice that I was sitting on this for so long? Feeling that his ears popped, he swallowed. Higher air pressure seemed to dull his hearing, and thus his other senses. His wife, wrapped in a blanket, was watching a movie on the screen that was attached to the back of the seat in front of her. They were off to Europe. The flight would take eleven hours, even without the layover time. I thought I was prepared for this, but it feels like forever. The plane was flying across the border between Mongolia and Russia. While he was watching a movie to pass the time, he repeatedly glanced at the play time at the bottom of the screen and calculated how much longe

Nov 17, 2016
Where No One Had Ever Been

47th Korea Times Translation Awards 2016 Judges' Report

By Brother Anthony, Jung Ha-yun and Min Eun-kyung Brother Anthony, professor emeritus at Sogang UniversityJung Ha-yun, professor at Ewha Womans UniversityMin Eun-kyung, professor at Seoul National UniversityLiterary translation is a process of endless negotiations between the foreign and the familiar. The process requires interpretive transfers that are not limited to issues of language but of culture, aesthetics and theme.A good translation should sound natural in the target language but not to the point of sounding clichéd, especially if the source text is making attempts to use language in a way that is fresh and captivating, as is the case with all good writing. The same goes for the cultural, aesthetic and thematic elements in a work of literature. We expect a good translation to interpret these elements to the readers in a way that is as specific and as universal as has been intended in the source text.  In judging the entries for this year’s Modern Literature Translation Award, as in other years, we looked forward to discovering at least one tr

Nov 17, 2016
47th Korea Times Translation Awards 2016 Judges' Report

Oppa Came Back

Written Kim Young-haThe following is an excerpt from the translation by Steven CapenerOppa came back. And he brought an ugly girl with him. She was wearing make up but that couldn’t hide the fact that she was really young. Maybe seventeen or eighteen? If my guess is right, she’s no more than three or four years older than me.“We’re going to be living here for the time being.”ppa took off his worn, pointy black shoes and stepped up onto the veranda. Entering a strange house is never easy. The girl was hiding shyly behind oppa’s back. He pulled her by the arm, telling her to come up onto the veranda.  My dad just stared at them in disbelief for a moment before rushing at oppa with a bat he had retrieved from his room, shouting,“Why you son-of-a-bitch!”His initial attack was a success, the first blow finding its mark on oppa’s thigh. Caught completely off-guard, he fell to his knees with a scream. The ugly girl covered her head in her hands and screamed, too. But oppa was not one to take this kind of thing lying down. As dad was

Nov 17, 2016
Oppa Came Back

Park should follow freedom fighters' will

Rep. Lee Jong-kulLee Hoe-yeongBy Park Jae-hyukRep. Lee Jong-kul said President Park Geun-hye should follow the will of independence activists who fought for the nation and the people at the cost of their property and even their lives.He deplored that Park and her followers including confidant Choi Soon-sil have been selfish and greedy instead of serving for the betterment of the people’s livelihood.Rep. Lee, who served as floor leader of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea ㅡ now Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) ㅡ for a year, urged Park and her administration to stop extorting taxes from hardworking citizens.The four-term lawmaker of the DPK is a grandson of Lee Hoe-yeong, a famous independence activist and anarchist.“The President and authorities who keep lying should end their crimes, at least for the sake of the founders of this country,” Lee said during an interview with The Korea Times.“I attended yesterday the premiere of Do-ol Kim Yong-ok’s movie filmed in Manchuria and heard him talk about the blistering cold there. Anti-Japan fighters joined the

Nov 17, 2016By Park Jae-hyuk
Park should follow freedom fighters' will

Film director Hong seeks divorce after 'affair' with actress

Film director Hong Sang-soo, left, and actress Kim Min-hee after winning the Golden Leopard at the 68th Locarno Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland, on Aug. 15, 2015. / YonhapBy Ko Dong-hwanKorean film director Hong Sang-soo’s alleged romantic relationship with actress Kim Min-hee ― despite a 22-year age difference ― appears to have deepened as he has started divorce proceedings.Hong, 56, filed for divorce from his wife only referred to as Cho, 56, at the Seoul Family Court, Nov. 9, according to media reports.An associate of Hong told News1 Korea that Hong and Cho’s marriage “has already been destroyed” and Cho has been avoiding Hong, who has been trying to persuade her to divorce.The settlement did not mention alimony or property division, which, according to the associate, will be discussed later.Hong met Cho in the U.S., where he went to study, and married her in 1985. Netizens have said that Cho helped a lot with Hong’s life in America. The two have a daughter who is a college student.News of Hong’s affair with Kim erupted in June this y

Nov 17, 2016
Film director Hong seeks divorce after 'affair' with actress

Essay awardees suggest advice for banks

Korea Times President-Publisher Lee Chang-sup, third from left, and Woori Bank President and CEO Lee Kwang-goo, fourth from left, pose with winners of the 12th English Economic Essay Contest at an awards ceremony held at the Lotte Hotel, Wednesday. From left are Kim Ye-won, representing Commendation Award winner Lee In-hyung; Grand Prize winner Kim Hong-il; Korea Times President-Publisher Lee; Woori Bank CEO Lee; Runner-up Award winner Lee Joo-young; and Commendation Award winners Lee Won-hyong and Cha Jee-hong. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Nam Hyun-wooAdvice on strategies for domestic banks amid the rapidly changing financial environment dominated this year’s English Essay Contest hosted by The Korea Times and sponsored by Woori Bank.Six winners of the 12th annual contest were awarded during a ceremony at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. In their essays, the awardees emphasized that no bank is 100 percent sure about what will happen in the current financial environment and urged banks to take approaches more close to their customers’ point of view.Also, fore

Nov 16, 2016
Essay awardees suggest advice for banks

Foundation to establish award honoring late lawmaker Kim Geun-tae

Kim Geun-taeBy Yi Whan-wooA non-profit organization aimed at honoring the late lawmaker Kim Geun-tae who fought against military dictatorship in the 1980s said Wednesday it will establish an award named after him.The Kim Geun Tae Foundation for Hanbando Peace and Integration said it will take applications for the award until Dec. 3. The candidates must have contributed to building and consolidating democracy in Korea and can apply via the foundation’s website or Facebook account.The award ceremony will take place at Sogang University on Dec. 29 to mark the fifth anniversary of his death. The winner also will receive 10 million won ($8,500) prize money.“The purpose of this award is to constantly remember the life of Kim as a pro-democracy activist and encourage those who have dedicated themselves to growth of democracy,” the foundation said in a press release.It said Kim consistently held on to protecting human rights although his life was full of ups and down.As a civic activist, he was accused of leaking information to North Korea and underwent 22 days of torture d

Nov 16, 2016
Foundation to establish award honoring late lawmaker Kim Geun-tae
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