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Sat, December 15, 2018 | 00:23

Opinion > Columnists > Kim Ji-myung >

Champion of the Rose of Sharon

By Kim Ji-myung Last week, I picked up a bundle of rose of Sharon cuttings downtown at the Ministry of Forestry and handed them out to citizens in a campaign to plant Korea’s national flower around Arbor Day. Rose of Sharon, or Mugunghwa in Korean, reminded me of a pioneering champion of a rose-of-Sharon planting campaign some 100 years ago. Namgung Eok (1863-1939) served as an able government official, a prominent journalist, a high school English teacher and an insightful leader for independence in his final days.He belonged to an academically blessed generation in Kor...

Kim Ji-myung | 2014-04-11 17:11

Sad, romantic story of Dilkusha

A beautiful young British actress was travelling in Japan where she met a smart and gentle American entrepreneur from Korea. At the time she lived in India. When she visited an old 19th century park named Dilkusha Kothi in Lucknow in northeastern India, she resolved to give that name to her own house one day. The two young people fell in love and later married in India.

Kim Ji-myung | 2014-03-14 17:04

A born photographer

He can no longer talk. He can eat and walk only with the help of his wife; only she can communicate with him through his sounds and gestures.

Kim Ji-myung | 2014-02-14 16:59

Forward or foreword?

I was lucky to have my first contact with a native English speaker several decades ago, in my first year of middle school. A once-weekly English conversation class was organized by some insightful parents, outside the regular school schedule; the teacher was the wife of an American embassy employee.

Kim Ji-myung | 2014-01-17 17:07

Globalizing Korean humanities

A few days ago, I made a presentation at a seminar. This is a rare, once-in-2-years kind of event; I seldom accept an invitation to make a presentation. However, this one seemed important.

Kim Ji-myung | 2013-12-20 17:15

The world of cultural heritage

What did you think about the news that the Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) was fired because some cracks in the wooden pillars and peeling of paint were found in the newly-restored Sungnyemun, better known as the South Gate?

Kim Ji-myung | 2013-11-22 17:07

The humanities reborn

Against the popular belief that we Koreans are not a people particularly fond of record-keeping, our ancestors actually left an astonishing amount of detailed records compiled by the royal court.

Kim Ji-myung | 2013-10-25 17:20

Korean names in English matter

A high school teacher called Michael Herbert Dengler, living in North Dakota in the United States, petitioned the state district court for permission to change his name to “1069” some decades ago.

Kim Ji-myung | 2013-09-27 17:20

The art of giving

When a friend of mine asked people around her to donate a certain amount per kilometer she would run in a marathon race, many were amazed. She runs and people donate for that? This concept was new to the Koreans.

Kim Ji-myung | 2013-08-30 17:18

Korea to fly above the radar

A new book on Korea is always welcome, especially when it is in English and even more so when it is written by a foreigner. I do agree that the latest tome “Korea, the Impossible Country,” by the Economist correspondent Daniel Tudor, serves Korea by opening her secrets to the world.

Kim Ji-myung | 2013-08-02 17:15

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Santa is everywhere