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45th Translation Awards Commendation Awards: Poems by Choi Seung-ja

Written by Choi Seung-jaThe following is an excerpt from the translation by Kim Sun-kyoung.From the BeginningFrom the beginning I was nothing:Mold on a dried-up loaf of breadA long history of urine stains on the wall A thousand-year-old corpse still covered in maggots. Sketch of translator Kim Sun-kyoungPoetess Choi Seung-jaNo parents raised me.Falling asleep in a rathole and eating fleas’ liversHelplessly fading away everywhereFrom the beginning I was nothing.So don’t say you know meWhen we brush past one another Like falling meteors.IDon’tKnowYou IDon’tKnowYouYouYourYourself, happinessYou, your, yourself, loveThat I am aliveIs just an everlasting rumor.Bullshit AutumnBullshit autumn invades.Syphilis autumn.And death, it comes For the dusk with one leg paralyzed.Everything loses its moisture andEvery road edge decomposes.The old singer’s voice etched on the record withersHello, is this Juk-sun? Yes, Juk-sun? Hey Juk-sunThe telephone line fails the receivers in mid air andThe lovers, once gone, never come back, even in dreams. And then from where the was

Nov 19, 2014
[45th Translation Awards] Commendation Awards: Poems by Choi Seung-ja

45th Translation Awards Commendation Awards: 'Monsoon'

Written by Pyeon Hye-youngThe following is an excerpt from the translation by Fred Bottley and Jeong Mi-gyeong. The electricity was to be cut off for two hours, from 8 to 10 p.m.   The previous summer there had been a problem with the supply.     A typhoon had caused an unexpected power outage.   Although power was quickly restored to normal the same problem arose with the next typhoon. Translator Fred BottleyTranslator Jeong Mi-gyeongAuthor Pyeon Hye-youngPyeon Hye-young’ s “Monsoon” was among the winners of this year’s Yi Sang Literary Award.With the equipment they had it was feared it would be the same this year.  It had been seen to over the past few weeks, and all that remained to be done was one final close inspection.   The power supply and the circuit breakers would be gone over one more time.   This would be after dark.   Meanwhile the apartment management asked several times for their understanding.Before the work a residents' meeting was held.   At the mee

Nov 19, 2014
[45th Translation Awards] Commendation Awards: 'Monsoon'

45th Translation Awards Commendation Awards: 'Nana Before Dawn'

Written by Park Hyeong-seoThe following is an excerpt from the translation by Amber Hyun Jung Kim. Leo stopped and turned around. Someone had touched him on the shoulder, not accidentally but intimately, as if the person knew him and needed to speak to him. But behind him were nothing but rows of flickering neon signs, stray dogs stretched listlessly on the pavement, wads of hot, sticky cash exchanging hands, and the anonymous people he’d just passed on the street. Far beyond lay Thailand’s smoldering night, a greasy swath of ebony that cloaked the street. Translator Amber Hyun Jung Kim Author Park Hyeong-seoPark Hyeong-seo’s “Nana Before Dawn”Rain, lukewarm and unexpected in the middle of the dry season, was falling softly over the tropical city, turning everything into a muddy mess. The entrance to Sukumvit Soi 4, the street better known as Nana, was crowded with prostitutes wearing plastic smiles vying for the same customers as street peddlers hawking roasted bananas, grilled chicken satay, pad thai and deep-fried water bugs. It was pas

Nov 19, 2014
[45th Translation Awards] Commendation Awards: 'Nana Before Dawn'

45th Translation Awards Grand Prize: 'On Slowness'

Kim Soom’s “On Slowness” is included in her collection of short stories “The Fighting Dog”Written by Kim SoomThe following is an excerpt from the translation by Kim Jin-ah and Seth Chandler. Every night I managed to find an excuse to go into my older brother’s room. I said that I had come for a radio that I would not listen to or a novel that he had already read as I knocked on his closed door. He was lying down in the dark room with the fluorescent light turned off. Sometimes he cried out sharply, 'What?' as if he felt that his peace of mind, the serenity in which he lay pondering something, was interrupted by my sudden appearance. As I looked for the radio or the book and, having found it, finally left the room, he stayed just as he had been, still and silent. But each night I knocked at his door, and sometimes I would even just sneak up and open the door to look in.Translator Kim Jin-ahTranslator Seth ChandlerWhat could he have been doing in that dark room?That was what I had started wondering by the time I reached the sixth grade of elemen

Nov 19, 2014
[45th Translation Awards] Grand Prize: 'On Slowness'

45th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards

Judge's report  By Brother Anthony, Jung Ha-yun, Min Eun-kyungBrother Anthony, professor emeritus at Sogang UniversityJung Ha-yun, professor at Ewha Womans UniversityMin Eun-kyung, professor at Seoul National UniversityEach year as we set out to review the entries for this contest, we harbor anticipation of not only discovering new talent, but also of being introduced to unknown work that surprises and excites us, and to new ways of reading familiar writers. Translation, as the poet Robert Pinsky put it, is the most intense form of reading, and translators bear the responsibility of being the most engaged readers and interpreters of the work that they take on.This year, the works chosen by the participating translators represented a broader spectrum than in previous years, ranging from a story by Oh Chung-Hee and poems by Choi Seung-ja, both leading female voices of the 1980s and 90s, to fiction by two of the latest arrivals on the literary scene, Yu Go-eunand Kim Jong-ok.But once again, the most popular among the translators were a familiar handful of contem

Nov 19, 2014
45th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards

Korea Center for Cervantes holds inaugural meeting

Korea Center for Cervantes Studies President Park Chul, fourth from left, poses with ambassadors to Korea and members of the center during itsinaugural meeting at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Imun-dong, Seoul, Friday. /  Courtesy of Korea Center for Cervantes StudiesBy Lee Min-hyungThe Korea Center for Cervantes Studies held an inaugural meeting Friday, with the aim of increasing awareness about the literary works of Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes.“The center is a non-profit organization established to introduce Cervantes’ literature, such as ‘Don Quixote,’ to the public here as well as those who are interested in the humanities,” said Park Chul, president of the center, in an interview with the Korea Times Monday.Park said the center, located in Suseo-dong, in southern Seoul, will focus on spreading the spirit of Don Quixote, the most famous character in the fiction of Cervantes who sought justice and freedom. Don Quixote is one of the 17th century’s most beloved classic Spanish novels replete with humor and heroism.Park, 65, s

Nov 19, 2014
Korea Center for Cervantes holds inaugural meeting

'More support needed for North Koreans living here'

Kim Jeong-hyeBy Yi Whan-wooThe government should increase and diversify support services for former citizens of North Korea living here in order to help them settle successfully, according to Kim Jeong-hye, a counselor for them.“The defectors tend to seek tips in terms of finance and employment, as well as emotional stability, and we need to come up with appropriate support to fulfill their needs,” she said in a telephone interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday. “Such services are crucial for them to overcome cultural differences and become self-reliant.”Kim, 41, is one of 90 counselors hired by the Ministry of Unification to help former citizens of the North better cope with cultural differences they encounter in South Korea.Kim said that she decided to become a counselor to share her experiences of being a former North Korean citizen as well.Kim is also one of 15 counselors who came from the repressive state. Born in Pyongyang, she settled in Seoul in 2002 after fleeing the dynastic regime.Kim majored in nursing at a four-year college after arriving here. Sh

Nov 19, 2014By Yi Whan-woo
'More support needed for North Koreans living here'

Choi Bool-am, Song Hae conferred cultural merit

Song HaeChoi Bool-amBy Kwon Ji-youn Veteran actor Choi Bool-am and TV host Song Hae were conferred Eungwan (Silver Crown) Orders of Cultural Merit,  the second highest artistic recognition, for their contributions to Korean popular culture, Monday. “I’ve always thought that if the broadcasting is good, it will help make the country a better place to live,” choi said. “I’ve expressed anger at the way in which broadcasters focused on raising viewer ratings with sensational ideas. Korea is now a great country, so I hope that all those sitting here will work to live up to the country’s reputation.”“I would also like to thank my wife for all her support,” Choi added. Choi’s wife Kim Min-ja is a renowned actress who appeared in hit dramas like the 1995 “A Place in the Sun” on KBS. They have been married since 1970.Choi, 74, has appeared in films like “Armageddon” (1996) and “Le Grand Chef” (2007), as well as dramas including “You and I” (1997) “Happy Ending&rdquo

Nov 18, 2014
Choi Bool-am, Song Hae conferred cultural merit

Commendation Award Expand business horizon with mergers, acquisitions

By Victor Philip CornetThe financial sector in Korea is lacking major players comparable to Hyundai and Samsung in the automotive and electronics industries. Korea’s financial institutions are mostly focused on domestic and Asian markets and not enough on international ones.The argument is that Korean financial companies can open up tointernational skies and become global players by developing a corporate culture open to the world, growing their domestic assets and expanding internationally.South Korea is short of nonnative manpower to assist its financial companies’ transition into global markets.To successfully compete with established global financial firms, Korean financial companies need to hire more aliens who are essential in coming up with rival product offerings and bringing a more diverse vision that other countries’ financial companies already have.In other sectors, Korean global players like Samsung have benefited from outsourced R&D centers all over the world; even though the foreign talents are not necessarily located in Korea, the companies still

Nov 18, 2014
[Commendation Award] Expand business horizon with mergers, acquisitions
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