The unknown wartime celebrationImperial Japan at its ZenithBy Kenneth J. Ruoff(Cornell University Press, $39.95)In spite of its war with China along with deteriorating relationship with the U.S., Japan was more than excited to commemorate the year 1940. It was the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Empire of Japan. There were new public monuments, visual culture, and carefully choreographe

Love, life and deathBetween Heaven and EarthBy Yun Dae-nyeong(Jimoondang, 5,000 won)The winner of the Yi Sang Literature Prize in 1996, Yun Dae-nyeong’s “Between Heaven and Earth” delves into themes of life and death through a story of two strangers. The protagonist, who is on his way to attend his aunt’s funeral, runs into a young woman. Somehow feeling the “shadow of death” on her face, he decid

Trent Reedy was an American soldier providing security for the reconstruction of Afghanistan when he saw her. The girl was 13, her cleft lip so deformed that her teeth stuck out straight from her mouth. Her upper lip was split in two. Her nose was distorted.Shock was Reedy’s reaction when he first saw the girl he came to know as Zulaikha ― a girl who became the inspiration for, and centerpiece of,

W Seoul-WalkerhillThe hotel offers two special romance packages. The “W Dreams in Romance” package includes one night stay in the Wonderful room – with balloons and a set-up bath -- a course dinner at the buffet restaurant Kitchen or the Japanese restaurant Namu, and a Ralph Lauren perfume gift set for two. The price starts from 465,000 won. For those thinking of proposing, the “Who’s Tying the Kn

This image provided by Riverside County Animal Services shows Animal Services officer, Kim McWhorter, holding a 5-foot long Monitor lizard animal controls officers found wandering around a condo complex in the city of Riverside, Calif., Tuesday Jan. 25, 2011. Black-throated Monitor lizards are carnivorous and native to the grasslands of Africa (Photo: AP)

The Shinmoedake Volcano erupts on the Southern Japanese Island of Kyushu on Thursday. (Photo: AP-Yonhap)

 Professor Myers of Dongseo Univ. expects third nuclear test in 2011, but not direct assaultRelations between North and South Korea were not at a particularly low point when “The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters” hit bookstores at the end of 2009. In the summer before, former U.S. President Bill Clinton had gone to Pyongyang to successfully negotiate the release o

서울의 한 소식통에 따르면 소말리아에서는 지식인들이 해적단에 가담하며, 해적들은 소말리아 여성들에게 일등 신랑감이라고 한다.또한 2008년 BBC와의 인터뷰에서 한 소말리아 주민은  해적들은 20세에서 35세 사이의 젊은이들로 이루어져 있으며, 돈을 위해서 해적에 가담하고 있다고  말했다. 그들은 가장 아름다운 여성들과 결혼하며, 큰 집과 자동차, 새로운 총을 구매하고 있다고 한다. 해적들은 몸값으로 평균 2백만 달러에 해당하는 금액을 받으며, 각 해적들에게 돌아가는 금액도 선진국의 연봉을 넘는 수준이라고 소식통은 밝혔다.파이낸셜 타임즈는 글로벌 거버넌스를 위한 One Earth Future NGO 재단의 자료를 인용하며 2010년 소말리아 해적들이 받은 인질 몸값은 평균 540만 달러에 해당한다고 보도했다

Yoo Jeong-bok, agriculture minister (Yonhap News)  South Korea's farm minister offered Friday to step down over the severest foot-and-mouth (FMD) outbreak in the country's history once ongoing quarantine efforts arrest the spread of the highly contagious animal disease.   Yoo Jeong-bok said in a news conference that he plans to take full responsibility for the outbreak that forced the government t

China is planning to integrate nine cities to create the world’s largest metropolis with a population of a staggering 42 million, the Daily Telegraph reported.The project, “Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One,” will encompass an urban area of 25,749 square kilometers.The area will cover a large part of China’s major industrial center, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhu