Opinion - The Korea Times

'The Korean Mind' revised

By Kim Ji-myung Reading my column of Aug. 29, 2015, I find my article was a quite undiplomatic and blunt criticism of the unthinkable and unpardonable mistakes made in “The Korean Mind,” published in 2012 by Tuttle Publishing. At that time, I asked my readers to help me locate and contact the author, Boye Lafayette de Mente, who also authored more than 30 books on Asia, such as “Korean Business Etiquette,” “Survival Korean” and “Etiquette Guide to China.”“The Korean Mind,” subtitled "Understanding Contemporary Korean Culture," is a 466-page dictionary with has some 230 entries of very Korean concepts and words, both in English and in Korean, relating to 11 themes of diverse contemporary world. I won't repeat the terrible errors in detail again. Most of the translated English words seemed to well represent the core concept and culturally loaded meaning of the words. But the hangeul part was sheer nonsense, and no Korean language at all. Anyone who has the slightest knowledge of Korean script will know immediately that somethi

Jul 1, 2018By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

What to do in unified Korea?

By Kim Ji-myungThe on-again off-again June 12 talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump are just nine days away. The venue is chosen and the main agenda is under discussion.However, we know that anything can happen before the meeting actually takes place in Singapore as planned.In my Feb. 10 column, “Post-crisis prophecy of unification,” I introduced forecasts on national unification made by famed figures. A famous 1975 prophecy of a Buddhist master-monk was that Korea would have a lady president; and then near the end of her presidency, unification would come. Recently another renowned fortuneteller predicted that unification is just around the corner. Looking back, numerous international symposia were held to learn lessons from the German experience and to prepare Korea for unification since the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1990. Are we ready to face the reality of a unified Korea? As of now, even if unification is realized, not many Koreans would portray a country where people from the North Korea and South Korea will move imme

Jun 3, 2018By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

US and Korea: then and now

By Kim Ji-myungIf things had been normal, ex-president Park Geun-hye would have visited Washington D.C. in the spring of 2013 to open the Korean Legation Museum on Logan Circle on her first presidential visit to America. The building was re-purchased by Korea in 2012, after more than a century when it was unjustly seized from Koreans. But this initial plan was not realized, as renovation work took much longer. Yet, at last, on May 22, the Korean national flag again will be officially hoisted atop the three story Victorian-style brick Korean Legation building ― now a museum ― for the first time in 113 years. The building symbolizes both the desire of Koreans to establish strong and positive diplomatic relations with the United States since the end of the 19th century. The Korean Legation in Washington D.C. and the American Legation in Seoul were the first and only diplomatic buildings to be purchased overseas at that time. In May 1883, the American Legation was established in Jeong-dong, Seoul, and Lucius H. Foote was dispatched as the first U.S. Minister to Korea.The establishment of

May 4, 2018By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Stable national leadership

By Kim Ji-myung“History never looks like history when you are living through it.” This is a statement by American educator John W. Gardner. Quoting this famous sentence, Forbes explained this means history is always confusing, messy and uncomfortable. The history we are now living through, especially around Seoul, indeed looks confusing, messy and uncomfortable. As a senior citizen, I cannot agree more with this statement. If anyone disagrees with this, then he or she must have some information which is not available to the elderly. It so happens that today's leadership in the four strong powers surrounding us, the United States, China, Russia and Japan yield extraordinary charisma. In many aspects, they defy the traditional shape of predictable and reliable statesmen.On the other hand, in South Korea, the speedy and radical measures, based on the ideology and philosophy of this administration are welcomed by some but not all of the population. Both domestic and international policies of President Moon Jae-in and his staff, such as relations with North Korea, industrial r

Apr 6, 2018By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Time for k-thrillers?

By Kim Ji-myungWhen Barbara Zitwer asked me the statistics on Korean thrillers and their translated English versions last week, I could not find answers through searching. Why? Because Korea’s literary classification system does not have “thriller” as an independent category. Barbara heads a New York-based agency for literature and films. She has helped create many of the recent success stories for translated Korean novels in the global market.The astonishing news that “The Plotters” by novelist Kim Un-su was recently sold to Doubleday for a six-figure sum may signal the new discovery of Korean thrillers abroad. “The Plotters” set a new record at an enthusiastic global auction in the U.S.A European publisher at the auction called Kim “the Korean Henning Mankell,” after the legendary Swedish crime writer. Mankell (1948-2015) was best known for his Kurt Wallander mysteries, which are global bestsellers. A more interesting story followed. Since December last year, Kim has been on a long-term research trip for his next novel ― an

Mar 9, 2018By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

In defense of intrusive interviewing

By Kim Ji-myungThis argument may look like playing the devil’s advocate against the much publicized and praised practice of “blind interviewing” or “blind hiring” or even “background-blind hiring,” challenging one of the aggressive Moon government’s policies. The Presidential Office has recently announced that six specialists were recruited through a blind recruitment method, which resulted in employing six ladies. According to the announcement, their positions are: employment statistics expert, translation/interpretation expert, cultural interpreters (2 persons), video expert, and photo editor. It even added that the Ministry of Personnel Management evaluated their blind recruiting process as “the most exemplary of all the blind recruitment cases.” Well, no one would raise an objection against the righteous purpose of providing a chance for “fair competition” in job interviews by removing potential biases based on the personal information of the applicant. As early as 2003, the national Human Rights Commission s

Jan 12, 2018By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Dark horses of literary translation

By Kim Ji-myung The three winners of the 2017 Global Korean Literature Translation Award ― Agnel Joseph, Sung Eungee and Janet Hong ― beamed at the award ceremony on December 11 in front of the judges (except for one in New York), gurus and friends of the community for Korean literature in English. Among participants in the ceremony were Dr. Kim Seong-kon, president of LTI Korea, Prof. Ross King of the University of British Columbia, Prof. Wayne de Fremery, Prof. Krys Lee, Prof. Chung Eun-gui and Prof. Sora Kim-Russell. Novelist Bae Suah came to the ceremony to meet her translator Janet Hong, who flew from Vancouver. Announcing the final winners of the prize, Prof. Lee Young-joon, chief of the screening committee, said: “Suggestive of the diversity that defines Korean literature today, the final selections for the Literary/Translation Prize reflect an astonishing breadth of experience and variety of styles.” “Close,” written by Park Min-gyu and translated by Joseph, won the grand prize for its “subtle, humane storytelling,” the judges’ stat

Dec 15, 2017By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Sweeping problems under the rug

By Kim Ji-myungBehind a problem child there are always problem parents, my counselor friend told me. Traditional Korean custom, as far as I remember, was to hide a family member with mental or psychological problems from society. Those handicapped or mentally-troubled members of the village were taken as signs of curses from goblins or punishment from above. The family usually tried to discount the seriousness of the problem as a temporary drop of energy or a lack of spirit. They were not welcome nor accepted as full members of society. But they did not seem to have accumulated anger and frustration, which may have been absorbed by the extended family system. Seldom do we see aimless shootings out of rage or religious convictions here. Lone-wolves in Korea don’t have pistols, and only military veterans know how to shoot them. Korea is wise in that killing machines are not in the hands of ordinary citizens. However, the world is changing.Dreadful signs are appearing, shadowing the future of Korean society. Let me tell you a story of a small girl, her problem and her school&

Nov 17, 2017By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Wartime family 'meeting point'

By Kim Ji-myung“There are 3,919 underground shelters in this city including the underground floors of public buildings, local administration offices, large buildings and metro stations. The shelters can accommodate more than twice Seoul’s current population of about 10 million.” So said a Seoul city spokesman, not recently, but back in 2010 after the North Korean bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island that killed two civilians and two soldiers.I don’t know exactly how anti-raid or anti-missile attack facilities across the nation have been improved by the central and local governments since then. Kim Jong-un has succeeded in incessantly threatening southerners with his successful nuclear arms program. However, for no reason, many Koreans seem to have no serious concerns about a possible nuclear-weapons attack by the North.It is clear that if there is an attack using nuclear weapons by the North, shelters may mean nothing because of radioactive fallout and other deadly substances.I forgot to mention that the official also revealed that there are 23 nuclear-proof

Oct 20, 2017By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

On literary translation awards

By Kim Ji-myungIn 1970, The Korea Times celebrated its 20th anniversary of its foundation as the first English daily in this nation. Around that time, “Snow Country” by Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. To most Koreans, it was shocking news, as the prize had been deemed as targeted to the Western hemisphere. The news inspired editor-in-chief Hong Soon-il with a vision to establish an annual contest for literary translation as a celebration of The Korea Times anniversaries of foundation. Hong thought the best Korean novels needed to be translated first, to get the attention of the global audience.Since then, the translation of Korean works of literature has come a long way. Many efforts are being made by public and private institutes and individual writers and translators. A big success story was the English version of “Please Look After Mom” (Knopf, Random House) and “Please Look After Mother” (Orion Publishing Group in the U.K.) in 2011.Winning an internationall

Sep 22, 2017By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Read more

'The Korean Mind' revised

What to do in unified Korea?

US and Korea: then and now

Stable national leadership

Time for k-thrillers?

In defense of intrusive interviewing

Dark horses of literary translation

Sweeping problems under the rug

Wartime family 'meeting point'

On literary translation awards

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