Most Popular
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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Ador CEO denies allegations, accuses Hybe of mistreating NewJeans
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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Medical reform committee kicks off despite boycott from doctors
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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Over-50s, men, single-person households take up majority of those filing for bankruptcy
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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Bryson tours Britain again in ‘The Road to Little Dribbling’
LONDON (AP) -- Bill Bryson loves Britain. Really. The Iowan-born writer, who takes an affectionate if sometimes exasperated look at his adopted country in “The Road to Little Dribbling,” cherishes Britain's landscape, its history, its architectural heritage, its people. He’s not so keen on its reality: TV shows, its litter and -- this is a shock -- its beer. With a touch of embarrassment, Bryson admits that he is no fan of real ale, the cask-conditioned beer that for many is iconically English.
Jan. 21, 2016
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Ethnic Korean Janice Y. K. Lee publishes second novel 'The Expatriates'
Janice Y. K. Lee, a Korean-American novelist, has recently published her second book "The Expatriates"seven years after her debut novel "The Piano Teacher."Lee has become an acclaimed novelist when her first novel shot to 11th on the New York Times fiction bestseller list less than two weeks after its publication in January 2009."The Piano Teacher" is a gripping tale of love, betrayal, safety and survival set in war-torn Hong Kong during World War II. The book, first offered at the German Frankf
Jan. 19, 2016
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Ta-Nehisi Coates among finalists for book critics awards
NEW YORK (AP) -- Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ “Between the World and Me” and Lauren Groff’s “Fates and Furies” are finalists for the National Book Critics Circle prize.New Yorker literary critic James Wood, memoirist Helen McDonald and poet Terrance Hayes also were among the 30 nominees announced Monday. The NBCC selected five finalists in each of six competitive categories, ranging from fiction to autobiography.The poet, fiction writer and environmentalist Wendell Berry is to receive a lifetime achievemen
Jan. 19, 2016
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Bohjalian explores light and dark side of upper-middle class
A well-heeled Wall Streeter, generally considered a good guy, agrees to throw a bachelor party at his suburban Westchester house for his slightly sleazy younger brother. With his wife and daughter in the city for the night, he allows -- despite his own uneasiness -- strippers at the bash. This will not end well. But we can‘t predict just what a disastrous turn the party will take. Within the first few pages of “The Guest Room,” the latest novel by prolific author Chris Bohjalian, the booze-fuele
Jan. 14, 2016
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The saga of the resilient beaver
Reading natural history is fraught with a particular kind of peril. The typical progression from “here are amazing facts” to “there used to be [X] million of these majestic creatures, until humans wiped them out” is a disappointing road. "Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver" by Frances Backhouse(ECW Press) Frances Backhouse’s “Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver” starts down that path, but the story ends in a slightly more upbeat place. The once ubiquitous beaver
Jan. 14, 2016
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Kalman pays tribute to the dogs of life
Noted illustrator and author Maira Kalman‘s thesis statement couldn’t be clearer: “You, reading this book, most likely have, or had, a dog, You certainly know that your dog is, or was, the dearest, funniest, lovingest, loyalest friend you ever had.” "Beloved Dog" by Maira Kalman (Penguin) Oddly enough, Kalman grew up in a family without dogs, in part because her family feared the way the animals were used against Jewish people in their ancestral Belarus, and in part because her mother, and her g
Jan. 14, 2016
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Local publisher Hangilsa seeks to revive interest in novels through ‘My Struggle’
Confronting growing problems in the Korean literary landscape, such as a continuing decline in book reading, plagiarism and the unpopularity of novels, Hangilsa Publishing, a Korean publisher based in Paju, Gyeonngi Province, seeks to turn the tide with a new book from Norway.In celebration of its 40th anniversary this year, the company has published the first volume of the Korean translation of autobiographical novel “My Struggle,” by Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgard. Hangilsa is known for h
Jan. 13, 2016
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Children‘s books on class and Winnie the Pooh win prizes
NEW YORK (AP) -- Matt de la Pena‘s and Christian Robinson’s “Last Stop on Market Street” nearly made history twice Monday. The illustrated exploration of race and class through the eyes of a boy and his grandmother won the Newbery Medal for the best children‘s book of 2015, making de la Pena the first Hispanic writer to receive the 94-year-old prize, one of the most cherished among children’s writers. “Last Stop on Market Street” came close to another rare coup by finishing as a runner-up for th
Jan. 12, 2016
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Hotelier reveals his passion in photo essay book on Korea
My Korea: Musings with a Camera and Pen by Baek Seung-woo (Canopus)Baek Seung-woo may have worked more than 30 years as finance director for Hyatt Hotels Corp., but his real passion is photography. His new book, “My Korea: Musings with a Camera and Pen,” an English photo essay book, features a variety of photographs introducing Korean sites foreign tourists would be interested in knowing more about.Baek’s photographs of the Deoksugung Palace, Sareung or the Royal Tomb of Queen Jeongsun and a jj
Dec. 17, 2015
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Economist Jang tackles inequality in new ‘Capitalism in Korea’ series
Why We Should Be Angryby Jang Ha-sung(Heybooks) Jang Ha-sung, who is widely known in the fields of corporate governance and shareholder activism, tackles one of the most urgent problems rising in Korea – inequality.The Korean economy, which rose from rags to riches at a remarkable pace, now faces the fallout from the quick rise where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer as the country’s fully adopts capitalism.The root of the problem is the widening income gap between empl
Dec. 10, 2015
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A different look at Korea’s economic miracle
The Spirit of Korean Development by Sang-young Rhyu(Yonsei University Press) There has been much debate surrounding the analysis of the economic success and political transformation of South Korea. However, the interest of this book does not lie in the tangible factors behind its development. What is puzzling to non-Koreans is the intangible factors that enabled tangible factors to work together and thereby enable development. In other words, this book offers an explanation for Korea’s miraculou
Dec. 3, 2015
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OCA photo book receives printing award
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
Dec. 3, 2015
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Comprehensive textbook on Korean philosophy
“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
Nov. 26, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Humor under gloom
Korean literature, along with Korean cinema and art, is typically known to be full of doom and gloom, reflecting the country’s struggles with Japanese occupation, postwar poverty or, more recently, post-IMF depression. Translator Sora Kim-Russell, however, believes that underneath “han” -- which, roughly translated as “angst and sorrow,” is an emotion that has come to exemplify the Korean arts -- there is a subtle but rich undercurrent of humor.“I think that different readers and translators see
Nov. 10, 2015
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New bilingual book explains traditional Korean culture
“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
Nov. 5, 2015
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European-language translations of Korean novels win big at awards
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
Nov. 4, 2015
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Mah, Hwang win Daesan literary awards
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’
Nov. 2, 2015
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[Herald Review] Novel follows gamer Kansas teen to Korea
(Tuttle)For the many Korean young adults who have come to dub Korea “Hell Joseon” for its intense competition and bleak opportunities, it would be hard to imagine their country as a fantasyland.But in Lawrence Tabak’s novel “In Real Life” -- which might be described as a Judy Blume book for game geeks in the digital age -- Korea is the place where 16-year-old Seth Gordon imagines his wildest dreams will come true. An American teen obsessed with gaming and living in Kansas, Seth hopes to one day
Oct. 29, 2015
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Publisher halts sale of book by Nobel economics winner over mistranslations
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
Oct. 27, 2015
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[Weekender] Up-and-coming writers test fiction’s boundaries
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
Oct. 23, 2015