Frenchman recounts 10 yrs working at LG in memoir

“IS Report” By Samuel Laurent, Korean translation by Eun-Jung Felsner / (Hanul Publishing Group) Since it declared statehood about a year ago, the Islamic State, a jihadist militant group, has been making headlines with beheadings of hostages, terrorist attacks and other nefarious activities to push for its religious causes.Despite the U.S.-led fight against the radical group, the IS has been strengthening its clout in Iraq, Syria and beyond, as if to confirm the revival of a “caliphate,” a poli

In the field of political science, the issue of national identity has been marginalized due to its abstract, impractical and amorphous nature that makes it difficult for one to empirically back his or her analyses of international relations.For mainstream theorists -- be they liberalists or realists -- material power, trade volume, investment amounts and other tangible, thus, measurable, data are critical sources of research, while “soft” concepts like identity have largely been overlooked.This

“Beautiful Bonds: Friends of Korea.net,” a new book that tells the stories of 35 “Koreaphiles,” is a tribute to those -- both Korean and foreigner -- who have taken an interest in Korea, discovered its charms and helped spread its culture to the global audience.The 620-page book is a compilation of in-depth interviews given by an eclectic group of people, ranging from former Philippines President Fidel Ramos and farmer-singer Kim Baek-keun to James Hooper, British Everest climber and former cast

  “Democracy Delayed”By Daniel Tudor(Munhakdongne) 　For Daniel Tudor, a former Korea correspondent for the Economist, Korean politics seems a bit strange. 　With blurred ideological differences between the right-wing and left-wing parties, the left is mired in the past and lacks professionalism while the right has no concrete agenda other than a pro-conglomerate, me-first policy.　“Is Korean democracy in retreat?” Tudor, 33, asks in his latest book “Democracy Delayed,” which was recently published

“Dansaekhwa”/By various authors (The Grenfell Press) Amid the emerging interest in Korean monochrome paintings in the global art world, an in-depth examination on Korean abstract art has been published in English this week. The book titled “Dansaekhwa,” written by multiple art experts, traces the roots of the Korean monochrome painting movement called “dansaekhwa” and its historical context and developments in ideas and expressions. It also offers individual examinations of seven leading dansaek

“A Goodnight Kiss for My Daughter”/By Lee O-young (Yollimwon) Lee O-young’s new book, “A Goodnight Kiss for My Daughter” (unofficial translation), is a collection of anecdotes, essays, letters and poems in memory of the writer’s late daughter Lee Min-ah. She was a pastor who died in 2012 after battling with cancer, the death of her firstborn and near blindness during her lifetime. Lee is an esteemed writer and scholar who served as Korea’s first culture minister from 1990-91. The book, written i

Korean-American chef Corey Lee, the mastermind behind the three Michelin-starred restaurant Benu in San Francisco, has packed his debut book, “Benu,” to the brim. “It’s ultimately a cookbook first, but also a book that was trying to communicate the inspiration behind the restaurant and meditation on the menu,” he said.The book is stunning, a big, white hardcover with over 250 pages of recipes, essays, and breathtaking photography.  Corey Lee, chef and patron of Benu. (Phaidon 2015, www.phaidon.c

With almost 30,000 North Korean escapees calling South Korea home now, many of their stories have been printed in novels, essays or poems. In fact, there are so many that literary works by or about North Korean defectors now form a new genre in South Korean bookstores. North Korean refugee Jang Young-jin’s debut novel “A Mark of Red Honor” departs from the typical conventions of this genre. In the 368-page book, written in Korean, he narrates his own childhood, growing up and major events that l

Bae Suah’s fiction gives rise to the underrepresented voice of the young, female working class of South Korea. Her latest novella, “Nowhere to Be Found,” echoes her excellent short story “Highway with Green Apples” which also follows a young, socially displaced female protagonist who flits from job to job unable to find meaning in her life while the people around her strive for material love and success. Bae’s prose is stark and dreary, effectually framing the life of our nameless protagonist. W

New book examines Korea’s social fabric through lens of shamanism, Confucianism

20 years after ‘Native Speaker,’ Korean-American novelist discusses distinct Korean-ness in his works

A poem by a 10-year-old girl has stirred up a controversy in Korea that touches upon an array of thorny issues from the literary freedom of expression to the country’s obsession with private education. The poem, titled “Days I Don’t Want To Go To Hagwon,” depicts how the author would like to “chew up mom” as painfully as possible, “digging out her eyes and pulling out all her teeth” to escape hagwon, private educational institutes. Accompanied by an illustration, cruel words from the fifth-grade

Amid the rise of China in the economic and military domains, academic discourse has been focused on the waning U.S. power and a looming shift in the global order that America has led since the end of World War II. The growing Sino-U.S. rivalry has triggered speculation that the U.S.-led global system would be reshaped by the ascendant, revisionist power ― China. And the decline of U.S. power appears to be viewed by many as a fait accompli.However, “Pax Americana 3.0,” a new book published by the