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Kim Ji-myung

Japan's cultural robbery

Recent news from Japan has again enraged Koreans by adding still more evidence that Japanese authorities have lied. The Japanese Foreign Ministry’s statement to a local court has revealed that Japan produced an intentionally distorted list of Korean cultural properties in her possession during bilateral negotiations as part of the 1965 diplomatic normalization treaty. Based on this partial list, Japan returned 1,431 Korean cultural objects in 1966. In 2011, Japan also returned 1,205 books from the royal Joseon court after keeping them for a long time at the Imperial Household Agency in Japan...

2014-08-01 17:07

'Midnight in Seoul' tour

By Kim Ji-myung Most people just don’t understand why I am now taking the trouble of attending classes and writing term papers again at my age. But I am enjoying this doctorate course as a luxurious after-retirement experience, although I am not fully retired yet. My happiness as a student after a professional career comes from the fact that my many years of professional experience are a good resource for my research.I am curious about the new intellectual horizon of the “digital humanities” and am voluntarily groping to grasp the gist of this relativel...

2014-07-04 17:07

National Music Day 2014

Remembering the Sewol ferry and how the tragedy changed Korea will be a topic of discussion for years to come. Some will continue to criticize the government for not changing rapidly enough, while others will find signs of the improvements that have been made since the accident. Although totally different in nature, the recent ferry incident has hit Koreans in much the same way the 9/11 terrorist attacks impacted Americans.

2014-06-06 17:07

24 questions of Samsung founder

The sinking of the Sewol ferry has thrown all Koreans into an unprecedented sincere reflection about life and death, and love for family. Parents are now grateful for the simple fact that they can eat dinner together with their children. The tragedy has awakened many Korean parents to some very basic truths. Many fundamental questions are now boggling our minds. It reminds me of the 24 questions that were raised by the late founder and chairman of the Samsung Group, Lee Byung-chul, just before he died in 1987. Chairman Lee wanted to know answers to these questions but he did not raise them o...

2014-05-09 17:08

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

2013-11-22 17:07

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