Kim Min-jae is a veteran sports photographer who has covered many international sporting events, including the Asian Games and Olympic Games, for more than 30 years.  Photographer Kim Min-jae (Courtesy of Kim Min-jae)The experience has led him to settle in Kuwait at the invitation of Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, president of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Association of National Olympic Committees. Kim, who started his career with the South Korean Ministry of Sports in the 1980s, now wor

“Korean Philosophy: Sources and Interpretations” Edited by Youn Sa-soon, translated by Sohn Yoo-taek (Korea University Press) “Korean Philosophy: Sources and Interpretations,” edited by professor Youn Sa-soon and translated into English by Sohn Yoo-taek, is a comprehensive, chronological outline of Korean traditional philosophy. Over 39 scholars of Korean and East Asian philosophy have participated, highlighting different theories from ancient to modern periods.This book aims to reveal the orig

Literary translator Sora Kim-Russell points to humor and complexity buried under ‘han’ in Korean literature

 “10 Selected Topics from Korean Traditional Culture: Stories, Images and Lyrics”By Kim Suk-hyon(KoreaStory)　In “10 Selected Topics from Korean Traditional Culture: Stories, Images and Lyrics,” Kim Suk-hyon gives an overview of those things that have now become symbolic of Korea’s traditional culture -- the spicy fermented cabbage dish kimchi, the Korean alphabet Hangeul, the martial art taekwondo and the flowing hanbok gown -- explaining snippets of their history, current usage and references i

This year’s Korean Literature Translation Awards went to French, Spanish, Italian and Vietnamese translations of Korean novels, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea announced Wednesday.“This year, the European-language translations excelled in quality, were released through prominent local publishers, and received praise from the local media,” said poet and head of the awards panel Moon Jung-hee in a statement on the reasons behind the selection. Three out of the four recipients were Eu

Poet Mah Chong-gi (left) and novelist Hwang Jeong-eun, winners of the 2015 Daesan Literary Awards (Daesan Foundation)Poet Mah Chong-gi and novelist Hwang Jung-eun have been named this year’s awardees for the 23rd Daesan Literary Awards, Korea’s largest annual literary accolade.Mah’s collection of poems “42 Shades of Green,” which deals with different colors the speaker encounters during a train ride, and Hwang Jung-eun’s “Let Me Continue,” a story of persistence through life’s hardships for one’

Lawrence Tabak’s young adult novel “In Real Life” is coming-of-age story for digital age

Sales of the Korean-language edition of “The Great Escape,” written by Angus Deaton, this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, have been halted due to “changes that are not approved by the author.” Princeton University Press, the book’s original publisher in the U.S., requested the Korean publisher Hankyung BP discontinue sales, citing “changes (in the Korean edition) that do not accurately reflect the original work.”A new edition -- which will be “independently reviewed, to accurately

Since the early 2000s, South Korea welcomed a new group of writers who delved into their unique experiences as Korean millennials, as well as the horrors and joys of modern Korean life.Among them, one of the most prominent writers is Kim Ae-ran, who rose to instant literary stardom in 2003 when her short story, “No Knocking in this House,” won the Daesan Literary Award.Kim Ae-ran (Yes 24)It depicted the life of five young women who live in separate rooms at a boarding house but have minimal cont

Library-style cafes rarely spur reading, but provide new cultural hub

How homegrown novels have become a rare find on best-seller lists

When R-rated flick “Fifty Shades of Grey” opened in theaters here in February, the box-office score was a big disappointment with only 364,410 tickets sold. However, the story was different in the e-book market. The eponymous title, written by E.L. James, nabbed No. 1 in March for several consecutive weeks on major e-book charts, including Yes24, Kyobo Bookstore and Interpark, while the paper copy didn’t even reach the top 10 list. The book’s latest sequel “The Grey” also ranked high on e-book c

26 scholars share insight on future of Korea Inc. in ‘Time of Accumulation’

“Way Back into Korea” By Choong Soon Kim(Ilchokak) Cover of “Way Back into Korea” (Ilchokak)　There is always the danger, with introductory books into Asian culture, of stereotyping and the spraying of names, dates and footnotes that seem almost impossible to remember. 　Some of the earlier descriptions of Korea, such as the “hermit nation” and “land of morning calm,” fall short of portraying Korea’s fast-changing here-and-now. On top of that, the love-hate relationship between the flow and inform

　“Introduction to K-pop History”　By Zhang Eu-jeong, Suh Byung-kee　(Sung An Dang)  Cover of "Introduction to K-pop History" (Sung An Dang)　Listeners of K-pop may be surprised to find that the content of a book titled “Introduction to K-pop History” goes all the way back to the year 1907. The term “K-pop” has become so synonymous with the global phenomenon of idol groups, dance music and fandoms that it seems hard to imagine anything before that as being Korean pop.The new book, planned by the Kor