The world is now divided into the “push-and-press” generation and the “touch-and-slide” generation. The former always tries to solve problems they face by pushing something, for example their luck, or other people, or even nuclear launch buttons. On the contrary, the latter almost always attempts to solve the problems they encounter by touching and sliding their fingers across a screen. The chasm between these two radically different generations seems to be despondently unfathomable and unbridge

Foreigners often wonder why political revenge and personal vendettas are rampant in Korean society. Indeed, whenever a new president is elected in Korea, retribution immediately begins. There is a compelling reason for this regrettable phenomenon. For 500 years during the Joseon era, regime change often came about as a direct result of Confucian factional feuds, which meant that as soon as the throne was occupied by a new king the purging of political opponents ensued. In order to root out the r

When I studied at the State University of New York at Buffalo 40 years ago, I learned English poetry from the famous poet Robert Creeley. At the time, a host of celebrated American and Canadian poets visited the university for poetry readings. Whenever Bob Creeley introduced me to them, he almost always added after the formal introduction, “Mr. Kim is a reliable person.” It made me happy because I knew it was one of the best compliments an American can give. Indeed, if you are labeled as an unre

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2018 is the year of the dog. It is believed that those who are born in the year of the dog are independent, faithful, and loyal. Dogs are man’s best friend who can understand the human mind better than any other animal. Indeed, there are many stories of a loyal dog saving his master’s life at the cost of his own. No other domestic animal would or could do it. Perhaps that is why Koreans, who value loyalty, prefer dogs to cats. This sign has its downsides too. The

The UN soldiers who fought in the Korean War will remember the unbearably cold weather on the Korean Peninsula at the time. During the Jan. 4 Retreat, for example, numerous UN soldiers, especially those from warmer climates, died from the severe cold weather in North Korea. It is not a coincidence that the title of Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam’s book on the Korean War is “The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War.”In the book, Halberstam reveals that the United States was not at a

In Han Kang’s prize-winning novel, “The Vegetarian,” the protagonist Young-hye, a weak, helpless vegetarian woman, is surrounded by ferocious and carnivorous men. She has to endure all sorts of violence from self-righteous men who do not tolerate her because they think they are absolutely right and she is wrong. They even grab her and force her to eat meat. It never occurs to them that they are exercising violence because they firmly believe that they represent justice. To make matters worse, th

The title is a riff on Tennessee Williams’ prizewinning play “A Streetcar Named Desire” and the internationally-acclaimed British movie “A Street Cat Named Bob.” The former brilliantly portrays the conflict between fantasy and reality represented by Blanche and Stanley. The latter movingly depicts the beautiful friendship between a street musician and a street cat he accidentally picks up and takes care of. Both the play and the film have touched the hearts of many international readers and movi

Recently, while browsing the internet, I came across a review of my recent book, “The First Time I Ever Saw a Film.” The reviewer wrote, “Kim’s interpretations of Hollywood movies are often better that the films themselves.” Then the reviewer added, “But he seems to be trying to enlighten us that film is an excellent cultural text, which we already know quite well.”The reviewer, presumably young, obviously did not know that the book was a revised and enlarged edition of “Essays on Film” which ha

Recently, I watched the Korean film “Train to Busan” with great enthusiasm. Initially I thought the movie must be one of those low-budget horror movies, or a cheap imitation of Hollywood zombie movies at best. I know the genre quite well. Therefore, nothing is new or fresh to me when it comes to zombie movies. To my surprise, however, I found “Train to Busan” refreshing and mesmerizing. Of course, the format was familiar and there had already been a foreign movie about a runaway train full of zo

Humans are weak and helpless. We have neither thick skin nor fluffy fur to protect us from severe cold. We lack the sharp teeth or claws that are necessary to hunt or fight predators. Fortunately, we have fire to warm us in winter and scare off beasts in the wilderness. Although fire has evolved into gas, electricity, and nuclear power in the modern age, it still is something we humans cannot do without. In Greek mythology, Prometheus steals fire from Zeus to help the weak and helpless humankind

Experts agree that literature and film are excellent cultural texts as well as important social documents that faithfully record and vividly mirror the contemporary society from which they originate. Therefore, while reading Korean literature and viewing Korean films, we can find and understand the cultural phenomena and social milieu they try to depict and convey.Reading Hwang Sok-young’s gripping novel “The Guest,” for example, we can imagine the atrocities of the Korean War, at a time when th

In the popular American TV series, “Game of Thrones” noble families, divided by north and south, and also by east and west, fight to control the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. Meanwhile, an army of the zombie-like white walkers is coming from far north to annihilate the entire realm. To make matters worse, the impending severely-cold winter threatens the realm. Indeed, throughout the entire episodes, there is a constant warning: “winter is coming!” The mesmerizing drama was inspired by Georg

The hero of Kim Kyung Hyun’s novel, “In Search of Lost G,” is a bewildered Korean American named Kyung Hoon who wants to restore his original name, a symbol of his original identity that he has lost since his arrival in America as an immigrant. On his first day at school in the States, Kyung was instructed to write his name on the board to introduce himself to his classmates. Unfortunately, however, he was so nervous that he was not able to finish writing down his full name before the class ende

Reading nineteenth century American literature, we encounter a number of memorable characters. Among others, Rip Van Winkle, Huckleberry Finn, and Hester Prynne come to mind as they are unforgettably charming protagonists.Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle is known to be an archetypal American man who “was a simple, good-natured man; he was, moreover, a kind neighbor, and an obedient, hen-pecked husband.” Mark Twain’s Huck Finn, too, is a typical American man who constantly wants to explore the

Recently I came across an intriguing book titled “Superficial Korea” by Shin Gi-wook, a professor of sociology at Stanford. The book diagnosed and illustrated various strange phenomena and social maladies in Korean society with reference to American society and global standards. In his illuminating book, Shin perceives that Korean society enjoys “a feast of its own” that is not inviting to outsiders. He argues that in Korean society you can survive only through the “super network” formed by your