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Icons & influencers

Sun, September 24, 2023 | 06:25

(42) Park Chan-wook: Director with blood-coated lens

(42) Park Chan-wook: Director with blood-coated lens

Tension and violence sell, but this may not be apparent to the vast majority of fans of “hallyu,” the much-discussed “Korean Wave” of pop culture that has swept outward from the shores of the peninsula since, roughly, the turn of the millennium.

2012-07-04 21:46

(41) Im Kwon-taek brought Korean tradition to screen

(41) Im Kwon-taek brought Korean tradition to screen

A master of pansori ― a form of vocal Korean opera ― leads his adopted son and daughter through the backwaters of rural Korea. The troupe scratch an increasingly precarious living as itinerant musicians while their master, refusing to compromise with modernity, strictly trains them in the traditional art which is his only skill and his motive passion.

2012-06-27 21:43

(40) Chung Kyung-wha ― pioneering concert violinist

(40) Chung Kyung-wha ― pioneering concert violinist

Few can refute that violinist Chung Kyung-wha was the first classical musician from Korea to achieve true international stardom in the 1970s and 80s.

Do Je-hae | 2012-06-20 16:31

(39) Yi Si-young ― independence and founding leader

(39) Yi Si-young ― independence and founding leader

Yi Si-yeong, (penname Sungjae) became an independence leader after the Eulsa Treaty, or Japan-Korea Treaty, signed in 1905, gave Japan power that led to the annexation of Korea under Japanese colonial rule in 1910. Yi was South Korea’s first vice president (1948-1951) and a member of the Yi family from Gyeongju that included six brothers.

2012-06-13 19:49

(38) Kang Chol-hwan: harbinger of N. Korean defectors

(38) Kang Chol-hwan: harbinger of N. Korean defectors

The North Korean resistance movement does not have many recognizable faces. This is understandable: a really brutal dictatorship would not allow any dissenter to stay alive. The fact that dissent was possible in Brezhnev’s Russia and, for that matter in Park Chung-hee’s South Korea, is yet another reminder that these two dictators were softies if compared to really serious pr...

2012-06-06 21:21

(37) 'Yonsama': Korean love god captures Japanese hearts

(37) 'Yonsama': Korean love god captures Japanese hearts

Some years ago, this writer climbed into a taxi in Seoul. As is commonly the case, the driver asked where I was from. On hearing “the United Kingdom” he responded, “Aha! Beckham!” Then, in excellent Konglish, he continued, “U.K. ― David Beckham! Korea ― Bae Yong-joon!”

2012-05-30 18:35

(36) Stalin had direct impact on Korea in 1945-53 period

(36) Stalin had direct impact on Korea in 1945-53 period

Like it or not, the history of Korea in the last 150 years has often been shaped by external forces and therefore by foreign political leaders. One of these leaders was Joseph Stalin, a brutal and charismatic dictator who led the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in March 1953. For many people, he became the embodiment of brutality and state terror on an unprece...

2012-05-16 19:02

(35) Hiddink: hero from Holland and Korea‘s football magician

(35) Hiddink: hero from Holland and Korea‘s football magician

It was a balmy early summer evening on June 4, 2002, as pre-match, the national anthems of Poland and South Korea blared across the Busan World Cup Stadium. But the heated atmosphere in the stands was not due simply to the weather.

2012-05-02 18:12

(34) Ahn Eak-tay: composer of national anthem

(34) Ahn Eak-tay: composer of national anthem

More or less every Korean has heard of Ahn Eak-tay, the composer who created the country’s national anthem. This is, indeed, his most remarkable achievement, but he should be remembered for many other things as well.

2012-04-25 20:04

(33) Hwang Woo-suk: rise and fall of Korea‘s most famed scientist

(33) Hwang Woo-suk: rise and fall of Korea‘s most famed scientist

For a nation in which educational attainment is massively respected and high technologies are passionately embraced, the Seoul National University professor stood, poised, on the brink of global superstardom. Not only was he smooth, charming, intelligent and charismatic, the nation rallied around the scientist who might be in line for a Nobel Prize and whose name might ― just...

2012-04-11 18:40

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