[_list: Books from Korea] Vol.22 Winter 2013

Vol.22 Winter 2013

Vol.22 Winter 2013

Special Section

K-Moms Interviews

Poet Kim Hyesoon Writer Lee Kiho Spotlight on Fiction

“Garuda” by Yi Mun-yol Poetry

“Crow’s Eye View Poem No. I” by Yi Sang Theme Lounge

Korean Webtoons: Opening the Future with Comics on the Web The Place

Jeju Oreum

ISSN 2005-2790

LTI Translation Academy LTI Translation Academy Fellowship The LTI Translation Academy Fellowship is open to overseas applicants whose native language is one of the following five languages: English, French, German, Russian, or Spanish. This fellowship is designed to allow overseas students to fully devote themselves to their studies of literary translation during their stay in Korea.

Dalkey Archive Press in the U.S. Publishes the First 10 Books in

The Library of Korean Literature

The fellowship includes: Round-trip airfare / Monthly stipend of 1.6 million KRW Visa and health insurance / Tuition waiver

About the Program ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Languages: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish Eligibility: Foreign nationals interested in the translation of Korean literature Number of Fellowships: 3 for each language Courses: Korean Literature, Korean Language, Korean culture, Practice of Literary Translation and Advanced Translation - The program also offers other literary activities such as meetings with Korean writers and cultural excursions.

▪ Faculty: Professors of literature, translation, Korean language, and culture ▪ Duration: September 2014 to June 2015 - Fall Semester: September ~ December 2014 - Spring Semester: March ~ June 2015

How to Apply Kim Joo-young Stingray

Hyun Ki Young One Spoon on This Earth

Jang Jung-il When Adam Opens His Eyes

Jung Mi-kyung My Son’s Girlfriend: Stories

Jung Young Moon A Most Ambiguous Sunday, and Other Stories

▪ Application Documents: application form and personal statement written in Korean, a letter of recommendation, sample translation of the designated literary work, and certificate of Bachelor’s degree - The application form, the personal statement form, and the letter of recommendation form can be downloaded from the LTI Korea website. (www.klti.or.kr) - Foreign applicants may submit a certificate of registration and academic transcript in place of his or her bachelor’s degree certificate.

- The designated text will be announced on the LTI Korea website.

▪ Selection Criteria: application review, sample translation, and a telephone interview - Applications are accepted by email only (academy@klti.or.kr).

The applications should be received no later than 24:00 (Korean standard time) April 30, 2014.

Kim Won-il The House with a Sunken Courtyard

Lee Ki-ho At Least We Can Apologize

Yi Kwang-su The Soil

Park Wan-suh Lonesome You: Stories

Jang Eun-jin No One Writes Back

Selection Process ▪ Application Period: April 1 ~ 30, 2014 ▪ Telephone Interview: May 22 ~ 29, 2014 ▪ Final Result Announcement: June 9, 2014 Contact: Ms. Park So-youn (Tel +82-2-6919-7751, academy@klti.or.kr)

Call for Applications for the LTI Translation Academy’s Regular Course The LTI Translation Academy offers various courses for prospective translators of Korean literature from around the world. The regular course is a year-long curriculum composed of translation workshops, Korean language classes, and lectures on Korean culture and literature. The regular course is scheduled to begin in September 2014 for the academic year, 2014-2015.

We are looking for qualified applicants who will rise to the challenge of translating Korean literature, thereby contributing to the expansion of its global readership.

Foreword

K-Moms:

Between Continuity and Change

by Pyo Jeonghun

© Waiting for Mom, Kim Dong-sung, Borim Press

What is the meaning of motherhood in Korean culture and society? And how have mothers been represented in Korean literature? First of all, mothers in Korea represent sacrifice and dedication. Korean mothers are beings that live wholly for their children and family, completely suppressing their own desires. This kind of idea of motherhood originates, at least partly, from the tumultuous experience of modern Korean history. Korea was a colony under imperial Japan, achieved independence at the end of World War II, but was torn apart by war shortly after. Korean mothers had to be bastions of sacrifice and dedication to protect their children and families in the turmoil of a postwar society.

Literary critic Jung Hongsoo writes of Shin Kyung-sook’s Please Look After Mom, “[This] is a belated but ardent lament for all those mothers who, in the course of Korea’s turbulent recent history, have had to bury their own existence.” This sentiment is upheld by numerous Korean readers.

Secondly, Korean mothers are depicted as protecting their families at all costs, excluding any consideration for society as a whole. Mothers in this sense are generals marshaling their families to victory. All resources are used as they direct their children’s education as if they were running a military operation. Mothers are in charge of the family’s finances as well, including investing in real estate. Social responsibility is not the top priority in this process.

A Korean expression that refers to this zeal is that mothers rule with “the swish of a skirt.” This is particularly relevant to the effort that goes into the education of their children, a fervor that has achieved legendary status. The final aim of this uphill battle is to send their children to elite universities. Many Korean mothers compete furiously against each other towards this goal as if they were the ones studying for university, not their children.

Literary critic Jung Yeo-ul notes that in recent years, the representations of mothers in Korean pop culture appear to be trapped between love and obsession. Much of what is done in the name of love for their children, the critic says, is actually born out of obsession. This dilemma between love and obsession is represented in Korean children’s books as well.

Children’s book critic Kim Ji-eun says that there has been a noticeable change in the role of mothers in children’s books from the mid-2000s onwards. Once a symbol of sacrifice, mothers in children’s books have begun to seek their own identity. Mothers in recent children’s books are depicted in conflict over what extent they should meddle in their children’s affairs even as they do so.

Poet Shim Bo-seon argues that Korean mothers have lived a life more accurately described as consultants to their children. Based on his relationship with his mother, the poet suggests that it is time for Korean mothers to build a new kind of relationship with their children. The authors of this special issue all agree that the idea of Korean motherhood is changing from the rigid standards once upheld by Korean society. How will K-Moms adapt to this change? This question is tantamount to asking how Korean society and culture will change in the years to come. It is also a question of the ways motherhood is evolving in Korean literature.

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Vol.22 Winter 2013

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Contents Winter 2013 Vol. 22

Reviews

42 Fiction

34

01 04 05 06 08

Foreword Trade Report News from LTI Korea Bestsellers Publishing Trends

Special Section

10 13 16 19

Between Love and Obsession: Mothers in Popular Culture Dignity in the Face of History Finding Mother Through Heidegger The Changing Mother in Children’s Literature

Interviews

K-Moms

22 Poet Kim Hyesoon 28 Writer Lee Kiho

Excerpts

26 "Dear Choly, From Melan" by Kim Hyesoon

"Saturn’s Sleeping Pill" by Kim Hyesoon 32 "Prisoner" by Lee Kiho

The Place

34 Jeju Oreum

Theme Lounge

38 Korean Webtoons: Opening the Future

with Comics on the Web

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Vol.22 Winter 2013

The Great Jungle The Third House Night Cello What Is Baseball?

How a Murderer Remembers Tragicomic Miss Teletubby Sweet, Cold Night Passes Goodbye, My Everything A Forest That No One Has Seen The Proposal

64 Nonfiction Rivals in the History of Literature

The Romantic Future of Koh Jong-sok How To Appreciate Korea’s Traditional Paintings Wanderings Through Landscapes Chaebols: The Transnational Capital That Rules Korea Traces of Crimes Seen Through Scientific Investigation A Variety Show of Parasites Korean History Through Korean Food Untamed Land of Nomads Super Junior’s Experience Korea The Years

72 Children’s Books Pikaia

Uncle Is Here!

Spring in My Hometown The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician There Was a Child Let’s Play and Have Fun More Red

Spotlight on Fiction

45 “Garuda” by Yi Mun-yol

Steady Sellers

61 Yi Sang’s short story “Jongsaeng-gi”

(Diary of a Lifetime)

Vol.22 Winter 2013 A Quarterly Magazine for Publishers

PUBLISHER

Kim Seong-Kon

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Kim Yoon-jin

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Jung Jin Kwon

EDITORIAL BOARD

Bok Dohoon Literary Critic Kang Yu-jung Critic Kim Ji-eun Children's Book Critic Kim Mansu Professor, Inha University Pyo Jeonghun Book Columnist

OVERSEAS EDITORIAL ADVISORS

Choi Kyeonghee University of Chicago Bruce Fulton University of British Columbia Christopher P. Hanscom UCLA Theodore Hughes Columbia University Kim Yung-hee University of Hawai'i David McCann Harvard University Michael J. Pettid SUNY-Binghamton University Janet Poole University of Toronto Dafna Zur Stanford University

DOMESTIC EDITORIAL ADVISORS

Brother Anthony Sogang University Steven D. Capener Seoul Women's University Horace J. Hodges Ewha Womans University Charles Montgomery Dongguk University Emanuel Pastreich Kyung Hee University

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kim Sun-hye

77 Recommended by Publishers

MANAGING EDITORS

Cha Youngju Park Mill

EDITORS

Krys Lee Kim Stoker

ART DIRECTOR

Choi Woonglim

DESIGNERS

Jang Hyeju Kim Mijin

PHOTOGRAPHER

Lee Kwa-yong

PRINTED BY

NAMSANPNP

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Poetry

64

62 “Crow’s Eye View Poem No. I” by Yi Sang

New Books Meet the Publishers

82 Munhaksasang

Overseas Angle

84 Hwang Sok-yong's Baridaegi Published in France

Afterword 86 So Far Yet So Close: Korea and Back Again 87 Contributors 88 Featured Authors 91 Index

Date of Publication December 3, 2013 list_ Books from Korea is a quarterly magazine published by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.

All correspondence should be addressed to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea 112 Gil-32, Yeongdong-daero (Samseong-dong) Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-873, Korea Telephone: 82-2-6919-7714 Fax: 82-2-3448-4247 E-mail: list_korea@klti.or.kr www.klti.or.kr www.list.or.kr Cover Art © Cha So-Lim Multi-reality, 130 x 162cm oil on canvas, stickers, 2002

Copyright © 2013 by Literature Translation Institute of Korea ISSN 2005-2790

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Trade Report

Super Junior's Experience Korea Snapped Up by Chinese Publishers

Super Junior’s Experience Korea (2 vols.)

Super Junior, Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd. 2013, 320p, ISBN 9788901158990 (Vol.1)

Foreign rights for Super Junior's Experience Korea 1&2 have been sold to Chinese publishers in both Taiwan and mainland China for six-f igure deals. The book combines a photo collection and travel guide, featuring the idol music group that has spearheaded the Hallyu (Korean Wave) boom throughout Asia.

Even before forma l publ ic at ion, the book attracted keen attention from

publishers in Southeast Asia.

During the Beijing International Book Fair in August, Chinese and Taiwanese publishers staged a fierce competition to obt a i n r ig ht s for t he book . T he final winners turned out to be Phoenix Publishing & Media Group Qiangaoyuan in mainland China and Kadokawa Media Co. in Taiwan.

A publisher in Thailand also made an

offer, so negotiations are now under way.

The Korean publisher is actively pursuing opportunities in the Latin American and South American market, including Brazil and Mexico, on the strength of Super Junior’s growing popularity.

Super Junior's Experience Korea is the third installment of the Travel Episode series jointly developed by WoongjinThinkBig Co., Ltd. and SM Entertainment, Super Junior’s talent agency. Over the past three years, Super Junior members traveled the nation extensively: north (Gangwon Province), east (Gyeongsang Province), west (Chungcheong and Jeolla Provinces) and south (Jeju Island), as well as metropolitan Seoul and neighboring Gyeonggi Province.

The book captures beautiful images of the country, and comes with AR (augmented reality), a technology that can take fans on a virtual tour with Super Junior members.

The incorporation of AR into the book is the first-ever attempt for a Korea travel book.

The first and second installments of the Travel Episode series—Onew, Key, and Taemin of SHINee in Barcelona, Hong Kong, and Macau—have already been sold to Chinese publishers, reflecting the red-hot popularity of Hallyu-related books in the Chinese market.

by Richard Hong

New Translations Set to Draw Keen Interest from Publishers Jo Jung-rae’s new trilogy The Great Jungle, which knocked Haruki Murakami’s latest novel from the top slot on the bestseller list in Korea, has sold its simplif ied Chinese translation rights to a publisher in mainland China. This development is a positive sign for Korean publishers given that Jo’s novel was previously expected to draw unwelcome attention from Chinese readers due to its critical depiction of China. Additional foreign rights sales are likely, as publishers in Taiwan are also reviewing Jo’s novel.

Jeong You-jeong’s latest novel 28, which showcases her distinctive talent following the success of Seven Years of Darkness, had its rights sold to a Chinese publisher. A round t he sa me time, a Taiwanese publisher bought the traditional Chinese translation rights for Seven Years of Darkness. This marks the fourth entry into overseas markets for Jeong’s first novel following Thailand, Switzerland, and 4 list_ Books from Korea

Vol.22 Winter 2013

China.

Hw a n g S u n -m i 's T h e H e n W h o Dreamed She Could Fly recently sold its rights to publishers in Turkey, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. As of early October, the rights for The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly has been sold to 18 countries.

Hwang’s previous works Into the Orchard and Jangbal, the Blue Hairy Dog are also beginning to attract attention from foreign publishers, a sign of her solid position in the international publishing market.

Translation rights sales are expected to gain stronger momentum in late November when U.S.-based publishing giant Penguin publishes the English edition.

S h i n Ky u n g - s o o k , w h o g a i n e d international recognition with the English edition of Please Look After Mom, is poised to publish I’ ll Be Right There for Englishspeaking readers in January 2014. Rights for Shin’s new novel have already sold to 13

countries, including the Czech Republic.

by Joseph Lee

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly Hwang Sun-mi; Illustrator: Kim Hwan-young Sakyejul Publishing Ltd., 2002, 200p, ISBN 9788971968710

News from LTI Korea

Korean Writers in France From October 24 to 28, LTI Korea held Korean literature events in Aixen-Provence, in Portiragnes, and at the specialist foreign literature library Bibliothèque Universitaire des Langues et Civilisations (BULAC) and the bookshop L'Ecume des Pages in Paris.

Writers Eun Hee-kyung and Apple Kim, whose books, A Trap in the Woods One Fine Spring Day (Qui a tendu un piège dans la pinède par une journee fleurie de printemps?) and Mina, respectively, have recently been published in France, attended the forums. They were joined by author Jung Young Moon, who published the French version of Pierrot on the Moon (Pierrot en mal de lune) and is currently living in Aix-en-Provence as part of LTI Korea's Overseas Residency Program for Korean Writers.

1 1. Aix-en-Provence City Library 2. BULAC, Paris

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Korean Literature Tours Spain A series of Korean literature events was also held by LTI Korea in Málaga, Madrid and Salamanca, Spain, from October 26 to November 2. The events were attended by author Cheon Un-yeong, currently living in Málaga as part of the institute's Overseas Residency Program for Korean Writers.

Cheon and novelist Kim Insuk took part in a series of Korean literature book review award ceremonies and seminars.

The Korean literature seminar held in Málaga on October 28 was part of the 4th Korean Annual Festival, an event held by the University of Málaga's Korean department. Lectures by the two authors were followed by an award ceremony for the 2013 Spain Korean literature review competition. Both authors also took part in a debate with Spanish author Consuelo Triviño Anzola at the Korea Cultural Center in Spain (Centro Cultural Coreano en España) in Madrid on October 30 and gave lectures at a Far East Studies postgraduate seminar at the University of Salamanca the following day.

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2 1. the University of Málaga 2. Korea Cultural Center in Spain, Madrid

LTI Korea Joins the 1st China's Shanghai International Children's Book Fair 1

2

1. Shanghai Mart Exhibition Center 2. CCBF seminar

From November 7 to 9, LTI Korea took part in China's Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) at the Shanghai Mart Exhibition Center. The fair was attended by 150 leading children's book publishers from around the world, introducing children's books of various genres and holding meetings on foreign rights. The seminar on the current state of the Chinese children's book publishing industry and the country's bestselling children's books offered plenty of thought regarding opportunities for Korean children's books in the Chinese market. list_ Books from Korea

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Bestsellers

What We’re Reading

The Ultimate Child

Give Them Lindy Hop

Fiction Pottery Museum Yun Dae-nyeong, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 318p, ISBN 9788954622165 The seventh collection of short stories since Yun Daenyeong’s debut, the book contains a number of works that show us what it means to age nobly. There are times when one can sense his gaze has grown colder.

"Just once in my life," "retrospection," "destiny," "apple groves," and "kites," are among the lyrical images throughout the collection.

Nonfiction Ultimate Child. The themes of secrets and murder effortlessly carry the story and have caught the eye of many readers.

Moonlight Tales Shin Kyung-sook, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 212p, ISBN 9788954620666

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Reading a book by Shin Kyung-sook is akin to listening to the voice of a close friend. Moonlight Tales is a perfect example. Shin's skills make her words stand out, staying with her readers long after they have turned the final page.

Jeong You-jeong, EunHaeng NaMu 2013, 496p, ISBN 9788956607030

Goodbye, My Everything

Jeong You-jeong's novel represents an exceptional turn in Korean fiction. 28 is a novel about the spread of an imaginary zoonotic epidemic but the boundary between animal and human is not merely transgressed by the disease. What does it mean to live like a human?

How a Murderer Remembers Kim Young Ha, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 176p, ISBN 9788954622035

Kim Young Ha's novel is stateless. The protagonist is universal, as is the subject matter of murder. Kim's polished writing fills the novel with impressive, weighty reflections. Kim’s reinterpreting of time as memory has created a stir among readers.

The Ultimate Child Jang Yongmin, Elixir 2013, 552p, ISBN 9788954620680

Alice, Michel, and Korean Shin Gaya—three characters that seem too far apart share a secret. The process of unraveling that secret is the plot of The

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I Want to Enjoy Life Till the Day I Die

I Want to Enjoy Life Till the Day I Die Lee Geun-hoo, Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd. 2013, 319p, ISBN 9788901154091 The author spent 50 years as a doctor before retiring, having lost the use of his left eye. He now lives day to day with a range of ailments like diabetes, high blood pressure, and disc problems. However, at 76 he graduated at top of his class as the oldest ever graduate of Korea Cyber University. He said: “It's important to find the joy that comes with the stage of life you are at.”

Design Your Perspective

Jeong Yi-hyun has a special talent for recalling the 1990s. Two events are central to the novel. The first is the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 and the other is the death of Kim Jung-il in 2011. Taking us back to the 1990s with the major events of the time and much more minor details, the writer gives 1997 a whole new meaning.

Park Yong-hu, Frombooks 2013, 334p, ISBN 9788993734300 The author, a PR consultant, calls his line of work that of a “Perspective Designer.” Changing perspectives creates the power of new thoughts and encourages the formation of new ideas. To gain a new perspective you must direct questions at everything. A recommended exercise is to note down words of importance and try to come up with your own definitions.

Give Them Lindy Hop

The Power of Studying

Jeong Yi-hyun, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 252p, ISBN 9788936434052

Son Bomi, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 272p, ISBN 9788954621519

If you want to keep up with contemporary Korean literature, Son Bomi is a name to remember. She has a superb ability to knit together actual places and the world of imagination while the strength of her narrative holds her readers' curiosity to the very last line. This collection of short stories contains her work to date from her debut "Blanket" to "Ad Balloon" written in 2012.

Hwang Nong-moon Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 288p, ISBN 9788960866140 Studying is not a means to something else. Study itself is happiness, success, and self-realization. The author calls this kind of study “immersion studying.”

Is there a way to study happily for long periods at a time? How can you increase your level of immersion while multi-tasking? How can studying make our lives more fulfilling?

These totals are based on sales records from eight major bookstores and three online bookstores from july to september 2013, provided by the Korean Publishers Association.

The books are introduced in no particular order.

Design Your Perspective

My Cat Copies Only Me

What Kind of Seed Are You?

Children's Books Parents Growing Up with Their Child Seo Cheon-seok, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 320p, ISBN 9788936472269 There is no such thing as a perfect parent. One can only accept their shortcomings and become more mature in the process. Children of course are naturally immature. Genuine love for your child begins when you accept them exactly as they are. The author, a child psychologist, says to give up trying to make a problem-free environment.

Eight Questions Park Woong-hyun, Bookhouse Publishers 2013, 237p, ISBN 9788956056531 The author uses eight words to find answers to important questions about existence. The eight words he has chosen are pride, essence, classic, seeing, now, authority, communication, and life. Why do we each need to set out our own criteria for life? Why must we refrain from deferring the happiness of the present and truly live in the moment?

If I Were to Raise My Children Again Park Heran, Nasimsabooks 2013, 240p, ISBN 9791195030507 In order for a child to be happy first their parents must be happy. Is there a way of educating that can make both parents and children happy? Most parents in Korea fuss over their children. The author advises such parents to raise their children like guests, giving them space to become happier.

Jiwon and Byeong-gwan Series Set (8 vols.)

Ko Dae-young; Illustrator: Kim Young-jin Gilbut Children's Publishing Co., Ltd. 2006, 32p, ISBN 9788955820461 (Vol. 1) A picture book series that brings together all the things kids get up to like taking the subway, getting pocket money, and learning to ride a bike, through the eyes of Jiwon and Byeong-gwan. Books in the series have already sold 400,000 copies and now have been packaged into an eight-volume set.

The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician Heo Kyo-bum; Illustrator: Ko Sang-mi BIR Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 184p, ISBN 9788949195193 This children's detective story recounts the suspense and conflict that arise when the 20 questions detective, who can solve any mystery with 20 questions and answers, meets a child magician. The book received the grand prize in the first Story King Literary Award, where the winner was chosen by a jury of young readers.

My Cat Copies Only Me Kwon Yoon-duck, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2005, 30p, ISBN 9788936454104

A picture book from leading Korean writer Kwon Yoon-duck. A child used to being left home alone becomes friends with a cat. This story follows how she forgets her fears by copying the cat's light and easy movements. Using attractive traditional patterns and colors, the book succeeds in expressing a child's inner thoughts.

What Kind of Seed Are You? Choi Sook-hee, Bear Books 2013, 40p, ISBN 9788993242812 This picture book encourages readers to think about what kind of person they could become in the future. Presenting the process of how seeds grow into different plants gets readers thinking about human growth. The folk painting style illustrations bring a nostalgic feel to the book.

Time Shop Lee Na-young; Illustrator: Yoon Jeong-joo Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 204p, ISBN 9788954620260 The main character steps into a shop where she can buy 10 minutes of time to use however she wants, but she must pay with a happy past memory. It is when she decides to sell one of her memories that the trouble really begins. The book was awarded the Munhakdongne Children's Literature Prize.

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Publishing Trends tightly-woven plot, and terse, elegant prose. Yet something should be kept in mind: the story is told from the first-person point of view by an Alzheimer’s patient. The unreliable narrator is what gives the story its charm and enables its plot twists. Intellectually, the novel delivers a message and gives cause for reflection; but more than that, it affects readers on a visceral level, with a quickening pulse that keeps you up at night.

If Tradesman represents a kind of uniquely Korean literature, How a Murderer Remembers demonstrates universality. For readers who want to understand Korea through its literature, both of these novels will be fascinating reads.

by Uh Soo-woong 1

Nonfiction

1.

Tradesman (10 vols.)

2.

How a Murderer Remembers

Understanding Hostilities

Kim Joo-young Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 344p, ISBN 9788954621083 (Vol.1) Kim Young Ha Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 176p, ISBN 9788954622035

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Fiction

Novels with International Appeal We are always wondering how Korean literature can best reach an international readership. Should a work targeting foreign readers be essentially Korean, or should it deal with universal themes?

In the third quarter of 2013, novels have been released that match each of the descriptions above: Tradesman by Kim Jooyoung and How a Murderer Remembers by Kim Young Ha. With the issuance of the 10th and final installment, the novel Tradesman is now complete. It took a total of 34 years to finish what began in 1979 as a serialized novel in a newspaper.

Tradesman explores the formation of modern capitalism by focusing on the lives of peddlers in the late Joseon era.

In terms of its literary significance, Tradesman can be read as the first historical novel to shift its focus away from royalty and feature common people as its protagonists and merchants as its subject matter. The work is also a treasure of old Korean terms and proverbs, and sometimes bursts with bawdy tales alive with the spirit of folk romance.

On the other hand, anyone, regardless of nationality, will find How a Murderer Remembers to be suspenseful. The main character is Kim Byeong-su, a serial killer who has Alzheimer’s.

After committing murders continuously for 30 years, Kim, now in his 70s, suffers a humiliating loss of memory. At this time, the neighborhood where Kim has stopped killing is hit by a new wave of murders, and he cannot help but feel it is an insult to his honor.

How a Murderer Remembers draws the reader in with its 8 list_ Books from Korea

Vol.22 Winter 2013

Perhaps overseas observers think tensions between North and South Korea will come to a head at some point. In fact, they might believe that occasional skirmishes actually break out in regular intervals. But in the 60 years since the armistice was signed, these have been exceedingly rare. One region has seen armed conflict, however, and that region is the West Sea. Why has conflict broken out in this one area? The Korean West Sea War delves to the roots of the conflict and identifies problems that occurred during the outbreaks. Kim Jong-dae, a military analyst, reviews five instances of hostilities between North and South over a 10-year period, from the first Yeonpyeong clash in 1999 to a recent attack on Yeonpyeong in 2010.

Kim states that until the second Yeonpyeong incident in 2002, economics was primarily responsible: blue crabs in the sea meant war, while jellyfish meant peace. Rather than there being particular grounds for a military clash, the worth of the West Sea was reevaluated over time due to changes in the fishing industry.

At these times, parties seeking national profit came swarming into the region from North and South alike, and contributed to the crisis. Of course, hostilities wouldn’t ignite over this alone.

After establishing this as the backdrop, Kim then reviews the factors in the South that caused tensions to escalate. He criticizes the navy guarding the waters along the Northern Limit Line, the Joint Chiefs of Staff that gave the orders, and the presidential Blue House which gave final authorization, for incompetence, and evasion of responsibility.

At the time of the sinking of the navy submarine Cheonan in particular, inexperienced troops were participating in the joint military exercises being held by South Korea and the United States. And at the time of the bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island, the President, Defense Minister, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff seemed to be exchanging meaningful official communications when in reality they were confused as to whether it was possible for the air force to provide support or not. Using these examples, Kim warns us that if an organization is not functioning smoothly, then it will not be able to respond effectively when hostilities arise.

This interesting book contains interviews with over 30 generals, with much information that has never been announced or reported, so its subtitle, “Secret Files” cannot be called an

The Korean West Sea War Kim Jong-dae, Medici Media 2013, 348p, ISBN 9788994612751

young female heroine. Since 2008, Jung has been steadily writing detective stories, and over time she has become very skilled at depicting child protagonists who reach a new level of maturity by solving mysteries.

Seong Wan’s Sherlock in the Attic is part fantasy and part detective story. The detective hero visits a dokkaebi or goblin village right out of an old folktale and solves mysteries there. And Heo Kyo-bum's The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician was selected by a jury of children as the winner of the inaugural Story King Literary Award. The Twenty questions detective, who solves cases by asking himself 20 questions, and a magician who says he can read people’s minds, provide readers with great enjoyment.

by Shin Soojin

exaggeration. But more importantly, the author emphasizes that by knowing the reality of what happened as is laid out in this volume, we can prevent an outbreak of war or contain it. His suggestions are as follows. We must have top leaders who are able seek peace, stability, and cooperation in the West Sea, even if it means sacrificing their own political popularity. Also, we need competent officials and an efficient system in order to effectively mobilize diplomatic and military intelligence in the interests of the country.

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by Kim Beomsoo

Children's Books

Compelling New Mysteries Detective stories have recently generated a lot of buzz in children’s literature. Examples include Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Ghost and Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Monster by Ko Jaehyun; Audrey, the Great Sleuth and Detective Yeong-seo with the Braided Hair by Jung Eunsuk; Sherlock in the Attic by Seong Wan and The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician by Heo Kyobum.

Traditionally, Korean children’s fiction tended to deal with ordinary subject matter and real-life problems. Of course we need children’s books that grapple with historical issues and social troubles, but young readers also crave books from a wider variety of genres. Until recently they slaked their thirst for fantasy, mystery, or horror novels by reading foreign books, but now stories with detective heroes that could be their own neighbors are also being published.

In Ko Jae-hyun's Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Ghost and Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Monster, four children, including the detective, solve small cases in their neighborhood. They chase a criminal who has stolen someone’s pet and catch someone stealing farm produce in a village. The characters also face realistic school issues such as theft and runaways.

Two mystery stories by Jung Eunsuk were published in quick succession. Whereas Audrey, the Great Sleuth features an adorable puppy detective, Detective Kim Yeong-seo with the Braided Hair takes place during the Japanese occupation of Korea and features a

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1. Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Monster Ko Jae-hyun; Illustrator: Cho Kyong-gyu Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 204p, ISBN 9788936442729 2. Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Ghost Ko Jae-hyun; Illustrator: Cho Kyong-gyu Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 236p, ISBN 9788936461324 3.

Audrey, the Great Sleuth

5. The Twenty Questions Detective

and the Magician

Heo Kyo-bum; Illustrator: Ko Sang-mi BIR Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 184p, ISBN 9788949195193

6. Sherlock in the Attic (2 vols.)

Seong Wan; Illustrator: So Yunkyoung BIR Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 92p, ISBN 9788949161648 (Vol.1)

Jung Eunsuk; Illustrator: Bae Hyeonjeong Barambooks 2012, 140p, ISBN 9788994475271

4. Detective Kim Yeong-seo

with the Braided Hair Jung Eunsuk; Illustrator: Lee Young-rim

Danielstone Co., Ltd. 2013, 180p, ISBN 9788958074601

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K-Moms

Dae Jang Geum (2003) Mother (2009)

Between Love and Obsession: Mothers in Popular Culture In the past mothers were depicted as self-sacrificing, nurturing characters, and modern depictions still show them working hard to help their children realize their dreams and goals.

“Don’t trust anybody. I will protect you.” This line from the movie Mother reflects the role of mothers in modern society.

The protagonist Do-joon is a murder suspect under trial with nowhere to turn for help. An impoverished young man who is mocked by his neighbors for his learning disability, the only person who can help him is his mother. With the wealth gap growing wider and social security networks collapsing, the socially marginalized have increasingly fewer places to turn.

Director Bong Joon-ho’s Mother is a movie about a man that finds himself in a situation where only his mother can 10 list_ Books from Korea

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come to his aid. It is also the story of a mother who believed that she was the only one who could protect her son, only to discover that her son had betrayed her. Do-joon (Won Bin) is a mentally handicapped young man whose behavioral difficulties have plagued his mother (Kim Hye-ja) all his life, but he is now in danger of being convicted of a murder he did not commit. His mother has no connections or power, but searches desperately for anything that can prove her son’s innocence.

Everyone else, however, sees Do-joon as an easy scapegoat because of his disability. The mother finally succeeds in

"The importance of a mother’s role is only increasing as true independence from one’s parents becomes more difficult in modern Korean society."

proving Do-joon’s innocence at the risk of her own life, only to discover that he really was a murderer who killed a schoolgirl he was trying to rape.

It is not hard to see supermoms in TV dramas these days who manage to be great mothers while also being successful working women. In reality, however, many mothers struggle to raise their children while juggling careers. This is not by choice but out of financial necessity. At the same time there is an increasing tendency for adults to remain chronically dependent on their mothers. While most women dread meeting a mama’s boy, the importance of a mother’s role is only increasing as true independence from one’s parents becomes more difficult in modern Korean society. Needless to say, mothers occupy an extremely significant place in Korean pop culture.

In an episode of the television drama Dae Jang Geum, one of the shows that sparked a global Korean culture craze known as the Korean Wave, the main character comes up with an interesting riddle. Jang Geum, a former cook in the palace who becomes a physician to the royal family, faces her toughest challenge ever when one of her patients refuses treatment. As the patient in question is the king’s mother, the entire palace goes into an uproar. Jang Geum is only a lowranking physician, but makes a daring proposal to the king’s mother. The dare is that if the king’s mother cannot answer Jang Geum’s riddle, then she must submit to treatment. The king’s mother hardly wishes to bend to a lowly physician, but is too proud not to take the dare. Jang Geum then asks her the following riddle: “This woman is the taster to the crown who tastes and inspects all food consumed in the palace. Her post originated in China when the Chinese emperor appointed a taster to sample all his food. This woman was born a house slave, but she is actually wiser than anybody in the house. Legend has it that when she was alive the world was surrounded by mountains, but after she died a great flood covered the entire

Marathon (2005)

world.” Who is this woman? The answer to this riddle is: a mother. A mother takes care of her family without ever stopping to rest like a house slave, but when there is a family problem she is everyone’s wisest confidante. As long as she is alive the family has nothing to fear, as if they were in a land protected by mountains, but when she dies they will weep so much that they will barely see through their tears. The king’s mother in Dae Jang Geum finally guesses the answer to this riddle but agrees to Jang Geum’s treatment, as the king wishes, instead of punishing the insolent physician. Jang Geum’s reasons for posing this riddle to the king’s mother was not to win a dare, but in the hopes that the king’s mother would remember what it truly means to be a mother and not cause her children pain.

Dae Jang Geum is a period drama set in the Joseon era, yet features a maternal character that is very progressive even for modern standards. That character is Lady Han, a senior ladyin-waiting who becomes Jang Geum’s mentor. Lady Han is not Jang Geum’s biological mother, but looks after her as warmly as if she were. Her love for Jang Geum is more complex than simple devotion, however. Lady Han is also an excellent teacher who does not hesitate to reprimand Jang Geum at times, but is the first person to recognize and encourage Jang Geum’s talent. While waiting patiently for Jang Geum to realize her own shortcomings and curtail her curiosity so as not to ruin her chances at achieving something great, Lady Han displays a list_ Books from Korea

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silent trust in Jang Geum rather than berate her. This patient, understanding type of mother was the first representation of its kind in a Korean drama. Sometimes chatting with Jang Geum like a best friend, sometimes comforting her like a lover, Lady Han’s motherly love plays a pivotal role in Jang Geum becoming a good physician. Lady Han was a progressive character that showed that maternal love was not restricted to people related by blood, but could be applied to those who are technically strangers.

The movie Marathon features the mother of a man named Cho-won (Cho Seung-woo) who is 20 years old but has the mental capacity of a five-year-old. Cho-won’s mother Kyungsook (Kim Mi-sook) knows that her autistic son is better at running than most able-bodied people, and encourages him to become a marathon runner. With the mental age of a five-yearold, Cho-won is an irrepressible troublemaker. He embarrasses his mother by passing gas in front of crowds and dancing wildly like a child anytime he hears music. But Kyung-sook never gives up on Cho-won’s future. She believes that when Cho-won is running, he is more admirable than anyone in the world. However, Cho-won’s coach Jeong-wook does not share Kyung-sook’s enthusiasm, and accuses her of forcing her own dreams on her son. Kyung-sook begins to have her own doubts as well. Cho-won cannot express himself as well as other people; what if he was only running because she told him to?

Yet Cho-won truly does love running. It may have initially been at his mother’s behest, but now it has become Cho-won’s dream too. The movie, based on the true story of Bae Hyungjin, a man with autism, touched many people. In the end Chowon overcomes the doubts and concerns of well-wishers and completes a full marathon in good time. By never doubting Cho-won’s ability and believing in him to the end, his mother's actions help many overcome the prejudices that they have towards the differently-abled. As someone who must take care of her son’s every need and never leave his side, Kyung-sook

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has just one wish: “My wish is that Cho-won will die one day before me.” She always trails her son like a shadow, and wishes to continue to do so until Cho-won’s death.

Mothers have long been an important subject in pop music as well. Korean boy band "god"’s song “To Mother,” for instance, stole the hearts of many with its lyrics expressing the regret of a man who belatedly realizes the depth of his mother’s love. With its powerful message told like a story, the song remains a favorite among many Koreans long after the group disbanded.

"When I was young we were so poor/we never went to a restaurant I swore/when mother went to work/ I ate instant ramen by myself, always./One day I was so tired of instant ramen/I begged to eat something more./Mother took out some money she had saved and ordered jajjangmyeon from/a Chinese restaurant, I was so happy./But mother didn’t eat any./Mother said she didn’t like jajjangmyeon./Mother said she didn’t like jajjangmyeon."

In the song, the ever self-sacrificing mother lies and says that she does not like jajjangmeyon (a popular Korean-Chinese dish of noodles in black bean sauce) so that her son can have more. Few words can capture the collective guilt that Koreans bear towards their mothers and how they miss them when they are no longer there than the lyrics, “Mother said she didn’t like jajjangmyeon.” The mother in the song finally opens a small shop after a lifetime of worrying over her son who she raised as a single parent, but passes away barely a day after her moment of happiness. This song by a son who only realizes the depth of his mother’s sacrifice after she dies brought many to tears back in the day. “I loved you./I never told you so./But I do./Rest in peace./In a world without me,/forever.”

by Jung Yeo-ul

Special Section

K-Moms

Dignity in the Face of History Korean mothers demonstrate strength despite harsh treatment throughout Korea's modern history.

In contemporary Korean fiction, the place of the father is seriously at risk. In a work by Hwang Jeong-eun, a father suddenly turns into a hat while lying in one corner of the room; in one of Sohn Hong-gyu’s tales, the father becomes the subject of a game called "invisible man" that the rest of the family invents on a whim, a role that he gradually resigns himself to.

It has already been quite a while since not only the father who devotes himself to nation seeking or discovering an ideal new world, but also the emblematic father who boldly occupies a position as domineering patriarch, have become hard to find in Korean fiction. At present I am inclined to think that the socalled embodiment of fatherhood in life and in literature has become a matter for archeological excavation.

Even though we might say that the trend in the Korean fiction of previous decades—obliged as it was to focus on such weighty social and historical topics as the division of Korea, ideological conflicts, or democracy—inclined to highlight the role of the father, in actuality tales about the absent father (very often those wonderful fathers were guerilla fighters or in prison or roaming the world or had died early) were at the same time tales of the mother who stayed home and ran the family. Much as earlier modern Korean fiction faithfully told tales of ideology and history through the father, equally it did not forget the tale of the mother who, in the father’s shadow, confronted suffering with a maternal heart and the devotion of Mother Courage.

However, Korean fiction did not rush to construct a myth of long-suffering, self-sacrificing motherhood out of such stories about mothers. Instead it seems to have begun to ask questions: what was the inner strength that sustained Korea’s mothers amidst the double ordeal they were obliged to endure, both the oppressions of a deeply-rooted patriarchal culture that did not easily abate, and the pressures of poverty in real life? It might be thought that Korean fiction answered this question in the

shape of the mother who was obsessed with family and blood relations, and demonstrated virtually blind love to her children.

But on closer examination, within that blind, instinctive love, Korea’s mothers discovered a wider ethical dimension which we may term dignity and grace. In a masterpiece of Korean fiction, we find the highest example of such a mother. If the discovery of such a model was so extremely valuable, it may be because modern Korean history has treated its mothers so harshly.

In Korea, the pain caused by war and division is an ongoing reality. Inspired by her true family history, Park Wan-suh’s trilogy Mother’s Stake (part 1, 1980; part 2, 1981; part 3, 1991) tells the story of a mother and daughter who were obliged to lose their only son and brother, who reached maturity during the Korean War. With a uniquely skillful style, the author tells of the sad times when, in order to provide her son and daughter with an education after her husband dies early, the mother takes them from their home in Gaepung, Gyeonggi Province, which lies to the north of the 38th parallel. She stakes out a new home in a poor hillside neighborhood in Hyeonjeo-dong, in the unfamiliar city Seoul. Despite experiencing poverty, scraping a living together by sewing, and maintaining her selfrespect as a member of a high-class Gaeseong family while providing her children with a decent education, the mother looks strong and tenacious enough to overcome the storms of history. But when the madness of an ideological war snatches away her young son, she is found to be nothing but a helpless woman. The son’s body is buried temporarily in the fields beyond Muakjae pass, then after Seoul is liberated again, his remains are cremated at her insistence and scattered in the sea off Ganghwa Island, from where their former home now in North Korea is visible. Parts 2 and 3 of Park's trilogy evoke scenes prior to the death of the mother who has spent her list_ Books from Korea

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whole life mourning her lost son.

Having broken her pelvis in a fall, the 80-year-old mother asks her daughter: “If I die, you must do for me what we did for your brother.” To her daughter, her mother seems to be “a handful of dust and wind attempting to fight something huge.”

It seems as though, as her son had said when he was brimming with vitality, this wish to be reduced to a handful of dust and scattered in the sea off Ganghwa Island was “the only way of opposing the monster called division, which had trampled over mother, robbed her of everything, that she could absolutely not understand.” At that point, the mother attains the dignity of a human being standing up to the tyranny of history.

In part three of Mother’s Stake, the mother lives another seven years while confined to the home because of her ill health, before dying. When the nephew who was head of the family insisted that they could not hold a funeral to satisfy her longing, she was buried in a cemetery in Paju. Forty years had passed since the war. When they return to the grave on the third day after the funeral, instead of a proper gravestone they find a wooden stake inscribed with the mother’s name marking the grave. As she is reading the Chinese characters of her mother’s name, the daughter who is the narrator of the story seems to hear her mother’s voice whispering, “Daughter, it’s alright, it’s alright. What difference does it make where a body like mine is laid? Whatever place you prepare will do for me to sleep in.” Her mother’s name is Gi-suk (己宿 ). The character for “suk,” one rarely used in women’s names, means “sleep,” and combines with the “gi” meaning “body,” to yield the sense of “the place where the body sleeps.” This scene may be the moment when peace and happiness come at last to the Korean mother who lived through the years of war and division, and may be the most dramatic and sincere lament for that mother’s generation in Korean literature. There is no monument to the mother that shines with a dignity that any hero’s monument can equal.

The short story “The Snowy Road” by Lee Chung-joon that was published in 1977 tells of a woman whose poverty prevented her from functioning fully as a mother. Yet when that mother reveals a secret that had remained hidden through years of destitution and contempt, and remorse and self-blame, we realize that within her remains a world of self-respect and dignity that the years of poverty had been unable to subdue.

The widespread poverty that reigned in Korea in the later 1950s after the war, when the country was struggling to rise again, is a familiar topic.

The narrator of “The Snowy Road” lives with relatives in town while he attends high school and the sole remaining building of the family home in his native village passes into other hands. But his mother, uncertain when her son might come back home, goes every day to clean the now empty house where she has left bedding and a chest for clothes in the main room. When the narrator returns to the village during winter vacation, his mother makes him sleep in their old home that now belongs to someone else. The next morning she accompanies her son to the bus stop at the marketplace on his way back to town. All of this remains clear in the memories of the son, who narrates the story. But he could not know 14 list_ Books from Korea

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"What was the inner strength that sustained Korea’s mothers amidst the double ordeal they were obliged to endure, both the oppressions of a deeply-rooted patriarchal culture that did not easily abate, and the pressures of poverty in real life?"

anything about the anguish of his mother, who was obliged to walk back along the snowy road to the village where she had no house to live in.

“The Snowy Road” tells how the son, now grown-up and settled in Seoul, belatedly hears the tale in his mother’s singleroomed hut when he comes with his wife to visit her. As his mother walked back to the village where she no longer had a house, she could not help crying freely at the sight of her son’s footprints still remaining clearly in the fresh snow. When she reached the top of the hill above the hamlet, she says, she was forced to sit down for a while. Why? The end of the story reports her explanation: “Why I was unable to go straight back down the hill to the village? It wasn’t that I had nowhere to go.

So long as I was alive, even in those times, I would surely be able to find somewhere to lodge, even if it was just a tiny outer room in a building. (. . .) But my eyes were sore and I wanted to avoid the sunlight, so how could I go on down among the houses? Since the bright sunlight made me feel ashamed, I never so much as gave it a thought.” Indeed so. Her shame, which she cannot bring to the light of day, was her last trace of self-respect. Fighting off her looming sorrow, she is determined to remain her son’s proud mother. This lofty-minded living can be seen as a synonym for human dignity. Lee Chungjoon’s “The Snowy Road” testifies to the purity attained by the mother.

Shin Kyung-sook's novel Please Look After Mom has done much to raise the reputation of Korean literature in the countries where it has been published. Shin does not forget the dignity and grace of the mother found in Park Wan-suh and Lee Chung-joon’s works, but attempts to discover a mother's private existence and desires from a more modern point of view. The sudden disappearance of the elderly mother forces

1

1. Mother’s Stake Park Wan-suh, Segyesa Publishing Co., Ltd. 2012, 596p, ISBN 9788933801840

2

2. The Snowy Road Lee Chung-joon, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2012, 421p, ISBN 9788932020938

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title that should rightly be restored to and accepted by all the Korean mothers of the past. And above all, all those mothers must have longed throughout their lives for their own “mom.”

In the last scene of chapter four, her spirit visits the house in which she was born and grew up. There she sees herself as a baby mother in her mom’s arms. Her mother is bandaging her wounded feet. “Did Mother realize? That all my life I had needed a mother?” Shin Kyung-sook’s Please Look After Mom is a belated but ardent lament for all those many mothers who, in the course of Korea’s turbulent recent history, have had to bury their own existence.

by Jung Hongsoo

© Choi Yeon-ju

her family to endure pain as they reconsider the existence of the mother they had forgotten. Daughter, son, and husband recall memories of the mother they now address as “you,” and reach the miserable conclusion that before her disappearance they had forgotten her. During that time, instead of being an individual named “Bak So-nyeo,” behind the title “Mom” she had been nothing but someone consigned to oblivion like a shadow.

Yet she had not been born as “Mom.” She was not solely a homemaker nor an unfailing source of love for the family.

Born in 1938 in a village near the unidentified Korean city “J,” she lost her father when she was only three, and in order to survive the chaos following the end of the Korean War, she had become some man’s wife. She was just 17 at the time. Never finding time to learn to read and write, she had lived in a dark world, but this Bak So-nyeo had taken exceptional care of her husband and children, staying in the kitchen and preparing food for the six ancestral rites they celebrated every year. The yard around the house had always been bright thanks to her labors; she would raise and care for every kind of living thing.

She had to endure her husband’s indifference, his affairs and desertions, and keep buried in her heart grief for a stillborn child and the death of the brother-in-law she was so fond of.

Living as an emblem of silent devotion and endless affection, her real name, Bak So-nyeo, was erased, and she was left with the sole title of “Mom.” Yet at times she experienced anger at her fate and resisted it. And above all she found love. Not that she crossed certain lines, but there had been a man she had cared about and with whom she had experienced shared desires. Shin calls the narrator of the fourth chapter, where this lifelong secret is revealed from the mother’s point of view, “Another Woman,” a

3. Please Look After Mom Shin Kyung-sook, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2008, 299p, ISBN 9788936433673

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K-Moms

Finding Mother Through Heidegger Poet Shim Bo-Seon reflects on his relationship with his own mother and what it means to be a mother when they no longer hold domain over the home as their children seek public lives.

I recently made my mother a suggestion: Let’s read and discuss Heidegger’s Being and Time together. I have never read this book, and neither has she. I’d always wanted to read Being and Time but it wasn’t in my field and it was infamous for being a difficult text, so I’d been putting it off time after time. But this time, I was resolved. So why read it with my mother? Frankly, I wanted to do a sort of experiment with her.

My mother’s initial response to my suggestion was “What?”

She asked, “Heide-who?” “Being what?” and seemed befuddled.

“You’ve almost exclusively read fiction so far. How about something different this time?” I tried to convince her. “Why shouldn’t you read a philosophy text? If you read and discuss the book with me, it’ll be easier to understand and fun. And you’re already familiar with Buddhist books. There are some overlaps between Buddhism and Heidegger. The translated terms and theoretical concepts might be a little confusing, but we should give it a go.”

“Okay, let’s give it a try,” my mother agreed reluctantly.

I am very much looking forward to this little “project” of mine. Of course, mother could throw her arms in the air midway crying, “Enough! This is no fun! It’s too hard!” but there is also the possibility that something very interesting might come of this. In Being and Time, there is a term called “Das Man,” which a friend of mine explained to me as the type of human being who lives as they are told. In other words, these are people who only think about the image of themselves as reflected in the eyes of others. This very concept is what I 16 list_ Books from Korea

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© Choi Yeon-ju

most look forward to discussing with my mother. I would like to see my mother discuss her existence through her own words, and not through how other people portray her. I will also be able to discuss my dilemmas about existence with her. We could even establish common grounds as two contemplative beings rather than as simply mother and son. Isn’t it enticing?

My mother is your typical Korean mother. I’ve recently learned from Kim Hang of the Yonsei University Institute for Korean Studies that in the past, there was an interesting culture of collecting dishware sets among most middle class Korean mothers. The mothers liked to buy expensive dishware and display it, but never use it, instead hoping to pass it down to their children as wedding gifts. It was conspicuous consumption meeting traditional gift-giving culture. After hearing this, I went home and asked my mother if she collected dishware. She produced some crystal from the cupboards. I asked her why she collected dishes she never used.

“Everyone collected dishware back in the day,” she said. “It was a popular hobby. Married women liked to show off their dishware, and they gave it to their children when they got married. I would have given it to you if you got married, but oh well,” she sighed. “I’ve no use for them now.” This was her thinly veiled exasperation over her unmarried children.

One could say that Mother’s dishware collection is the modern man’s pursuit of petit bonheur. According to Hannah Arendt in The Human Condition, the modern man’s obsession with “small things” signifies the collapse of the public realm:

"Since the decay of their once great and glorious public realm, the French have become masters in the art of being happy among 'small things,' within the space of their own four walls, between chest and bed, table and chair, dog and cat and flowerpot, extending to these things a care and tenderness…

This enlargement of the private, the enchantment, as it were, of a whole people, does not make it public, does not constitute a public realm, but, on the contrary, means only that the public realm has almost completely receded, so that greatness has given way to a charm everywhere."

Collecting dishware is a sort of conspicuous consumption practiced by Korean mothers whose identities are confined to the private—more specifically domestic—sphere. But the dishware embodies something more than economic value.

Because it is collected and given away as wedding gifts, the mothers’ dishware collection helps maintain and strengthen its place in the family. Korean mothers have reconconfirmed the value of their existence through dishware collections.

Then what about the present day when the figurative dishware collection—the indicator of one’s economic status and family relations—has disappeared? The collecting and bequeathing of dishware served to build family relationships and sense of belonging. In the past, mothers were curators who collected, maintained, and displayed the dishware sets. It wasn’t just dishes. Mothers were able to assert their leadership list_ Books from Korea

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“I would like to see my mother discuss her existence through her own words, and not through how other people portray her.”

and authority in the house through household affairs and chores. But in the contemporary Korean family, such activities and intra-familial manifestations of power no longer exist.

Everything exists outside the house now. Chores have been outsourced. Children are raised by after-school programs, volunteer activities, vacation camps, family restaurants, PC rooms, and smart phones. Mothers get to spend time with their children in the years before the children start school and in the early elementary school years, but as the children grow older, the mothers’ problems become irrelevant to the lives of their children because the children’s domains are gradually moving to places outside the home. A mother’s worries are practical— which neighborhood would most benefit my children? Which school? Mothers are no longer curators or counselors. They’ve become their children’s consultants.

But this does not mean that mothers today have it easier than mothers of the past. I once asked my mother, “Mom, have you ever been happy?”

“I’ve never thought about it,” she responded. “Think about it. You children and your father were all there was to my life. I didn’t have my own life.” The “small happiness” of activities such as collecting dishware did not afford my mother happiness. My mother, and the majority of mothers in Korea, have never had the luxury of their own, palpable, unique existence.

“What about now?” I asked.

“It’s too late now,” she said. “I’ve given up on things like happiness.”

“That’s not true,” I answered, somewhat taken aback. “That is entirely not true. What about your knitting?” I spotted the half-finished vest and yarn and needles sitting next to my mother and pointed at them as though I had found the Messiah.

“The instructor in my knitting group says I have a talent for it. She says other people take longer and need more guidance, but I get it on the first try. Even the more difficult techniques.”

Mother knits hats, sweaters, and bags and gives them away as gifts to her children and friends. Come to think of it, one of them was sent to my poet friend who lives in New York.

Last winter, my friend sent me a hat she had knitted herself. In return, I sent her a hat that my mother knitted. As I asked my 18 list_ Books from Korea

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mother to knit this hat for me, I told her about my poet friend.

“She’s over 60, but she still writes poems, paints, and devotes her time to helping the poor.”

Mother began to knit the hat as she listened. Through my mother’s knitting, the friendship between me and the poet was expanded to include my mother. In this case, is knitting just another “small happiness?” Or is it a stepping stone to a greater happiness that lies beyond the little pleasures?

I will read Being and Time with my mother. Mother and I will engage in a serious debate on what it means to live as a woman and a mother in Korea, and what it means to be a man and a firstborn son in Korea. I will find another side to my mother, and she will find another side to her son. We will become friends. Not just friends who are fond of each other, but friends who converse and challenge each other. I don’t care if this project fails, as long as I am given the opportunity to form a friendship with my mother.

by Shim Bo-seon

Special Section

K-Moms

The Changing Mother in Children’s Literature Beyond their identities as mothers, moms emerge as women with complex lives of their own.

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, a major work of Korean children’s literature that has sold over 1.5 million copies, is a story about a mother.

Sprout, a hen who has spent her whole life laying eggs on a chicken farm, escapes from the farm to brood an egg and see the birth of a chick. The egg she hatches, however, is the egg of a mallard duck. Sprout raises the duckling, Greentop, as she would her own offspring, caring for him with her entire heart and soul until he can stand on his own two feet. In the end, Sprout decides to sacrifice her own life to protect Greentop and his baby.

Facing death, Sprout looks back on her life and says, “My child, I was a hen who could do nothing but lay eggs in a coop. I never got a chance to brood my own egg. And when I could no longer lay eggs, I was taken out of the coop. I was meant to die then. But then I met you, I became a mother at last.”

“Being as happy as a mother” is a theme often found in Korean children’s literature. A mother is content with everything because she is able to be a mother. She gives everything she has to the child who has made motherhood possible for her. For a mother, a child is not a burden but a purpose she must defend to the end. Such mothers with instinctive love for their children, mothers who take responsibility for their families and dedicate themselves to raising their children, are typical in Korean children’s literature up to the early 2000s.

A strong, self-sacrificing mother appears in Kwon Jeong-saeng’s The Cotton Jacket and Mother as well. The mother, who raised seven children on her own with her entire soul and will, is left with nothing but cobweb-like wrinkles, hair like white threads, and thin arms with blue veins standing out from working in the fields. But thinking of her son on the battlefield, she never lets go of the hoe. The seven children come flying like a dream, riding a rainbow, to the dying mother’s cotton jacket, and she makes her way to heaven, rubbing her cheeks against theirs. Children instinctively know of their mother’s love. Lee Tae-joon’s Waiting for Mom is a portrayal of a child list_ Books from Korea

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"Mothers are strongly tied to their children in a new way, different from earlier representations in children’s literature."

who stands all day at the train station, waiting for his mother to come home from work. What gives the little child the strength to stand all day in the snow is his longing for his mother.

The love between mother and child goes beyond blood ties. In Korean children’s literature, “mother” is a sacred word signifying powerful solidarity and sacrifice, as Sprout, the hen, demonstrated. Patjui’s Mother in Lee Geumyi’s Keundori’s Place in Bamti Village is a mother who embodies such values. The nickname, “Patjui’s Mother,” comes from the wicked stepmother of the old Korean tale, “Kongjui Patjui.” Patjui’s stepmother, who is newly married and must take care of the Keundori siblings, is at first met by strong resistance from the siblings. She was a lonely woman who lost her mother when she was young, but wants to raise the siblings so that they don’t grow up feeling as lonely as she did. Patjui’s mother cares for the siblings with great love. The siblings, who originally questioned her motives, finally open up and accept the love of their new mother.

In the mid-2000s, mothers in Korean children’s literature, symbols of sacrifice, began to change. Choi Namee’s My Mother’s 40th Birthday is where it all began. Gayeong’s mother, a stay-athome mom taking care of her children, announces on her 40th birthday that she’s going to get a job of her own. The 13-year-old Gayeong thinks her mom is being selfish. But as she works out her conflict with her mom, Gayeong comes to understand that her mom has a life of her own, more important than taking care of the family and children, and decides to support her.

The story made headlines at the time of its publication by dealing with a feminist issue through the topic, “mothers in the workforce.”

The mothers in children’s literature who had adapted to the patriarchal system, staying at home around their children, began to come out into the world in search of their own identity. In The Worrying Boys a mother appears who is unshaken in carrying through with her beliefs. Generally, mothers in Korean children’s literature become strong for their children, but in this work, Sangwu’s mother becomes strong for herself. Regardless of what her family thinks, she states clearly what she wants to do, and 20 list_ Books from Korea

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carries through. The independence of mothers in children’s books brings about changes in the children as well. They grow up to be self-reliant, no longer depending entirely on their mothers.

In children’s literature since 2010, a new aspect of the relationship between children and their mothers is being emphasized. Mothers are strongly tied to their children in a new way, different from earlier representations in children’s literature.

In Korea, where academic competition is fierce, mothers are something like “academic managers” for their children. The obsession of mothers to perfectly manage the learning and growth of their children is embodied in the expression “helicopter moms.”

They show up whenever their children need help and resolve difficult problems for them, but their actions are contradictory.

Their interference impedes their children’s growth, though it begins with a desire to raise their children well. Above all, this interference is met with violent resistance from the children, since children, just like adults, dislike having their autonomy violated.

Such mothers control their children, wanting to be exemplary mothers, but become confused to the extent of involvement they should have in their children’s lives.

Choi Sook-hee's bestselling picture book, Mom’s Mad! is a work that skillfully depicts the dilemma of mothers. San’s mother scolds him in order to teach him table manners, how to clean up, and how to focus. But San, who wants to try out different things, leaves his mother’s side because he doesn’t like it when she meddles in everything he does or gets mad at him. The book received a great response from readers by speaking for children who want to send a strong warning to their mothers who don’t understand how they feel, and also by speaking for mothers who feel wronged because their intentions are misunderstood. The notion that mothers win only by raising their children to be smart is a tremendous burden on Korean mothers. By almost losing her son, San’s mother realizes that everything she had clung to was meaningless. It’s been said that the book served as a source of comfort more for mothers who were tired of the constant pressure to be an exemplary mom than for children.

Kim Seong-jean’s How To Use Mom is even more provocative.

The story is set in a futuristic society where mothers are bought and sold, and where mother-child relationships are reversed.

Hyeonsu, a boy who’s never had a mom, succeeds in getting his dad to get him a “mom,” a living toy. He opens the box, reads the instruction manual, and puts the toy together, anticipating his first moment with his mom. This can be compared to a mother waiting for the birth of her child. The mom, who is “born” through Hyeonsu’s efforts, does what she has to do mechanically, and doesn’t comfort or hug him as he wishes. Hyeonsu, flustered at first, nurtures the little mom, as if raising a child. The work is a signal for help from children who are tired of their mothers acting like robots, and a message from children on how they want to be raised.

There is also a greater questioning of feminist issues regarding mothers. Song Mi-kyoung’s short story, “Daddy Comes Out of the Bag” is a story about children raising their fathers in a bag because their mothers have left them. In this way, young authors of late have been questioning the meaning of the mother. It remains to be seen where mothers of Korean children's literature are headed in the future.

by Kim Ji-eun

4 1. Mom’s Mad! Choi Sook-hee, Bear Books 2011, 40p, ISBN 9788993242447 2. Waiting for Mom Lee Tae-joon; Illustrator: Kim Dong-sung Borim Press, 2013, 36p, ISBN 9788943309725

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The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly Hwang Sun-mi; Illustrator: Kim Hwan-young Sakyejul Publishing Ltd. 2002, 200p, ISBN 9788971968710

4. How To Use Mom Kim Seong-jean, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2012, 108p, ISBN 9788936451332

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Interview

Poetry or Letter To the Other of My Inside-Outside

An Interview with Poet Kim Hyesoon Shin Hyoung-cheol: You have published 10 volumes of poetry since your debut in 1979.

Kim Hyesoon: I never look at my previously published books.

Whenever I see my poems cited somewhere, I feel awkward and embarrassed.

Shin: In something I came across published abroad, you are introduced as “a prominent woman poet who has received two awards named after poets Seo Jeong-ju and Kim Su-young, who are representative of pure poetry and engaged poetry, respectively.” I was thinking that it may come as a surprise to readers abroad that one poet alone could traverse and dismantle these two opposing poetic trends.

Kim: It feels embarrassing and awkward to receive awards, but then it would be even more awkward to draw attention to myself by refusing them, so I end up accepting them. I think the debate about “pure poetry” vs. “engaged poetry” was inevitable and essential to Korean poetry. I think Kim Su-young is a poet who went beyond the confines of the structure that surrounded him. Who would have known that his wailings, in everyday language, would amplify so much? I may be someone who belongs to both sides, or I may be a dual national who doesn’t belong anywhere.

Shin: This term “woman poet” shows up above. In your case, I think that term has rarely been used negatively, but still you must be tired of it. I wonder if your book of criticism, To Write as a Woman: Lover, Patient, Poet, Me (2002), represents a koan, the endless questions you ask and answer in your lifetime. I want to get your take on this, and also do you think categorization of poets by gender is meaningful or meaningless within contemporary poetry, and in what way?

Kim: No one fails to ask me about the term “woman poet.” And even if I’m not asked about it, I always insist that I’m a “woman poet.” The consumer of poetry has categorized me as a woman, differentiating me, and so I howl that the inside of that category is the place of paradoxical poetry.

When I was younger, I was active in a feminist group called Another Culture, and I observed then that the ideology of the women’s liberation movement was in discord with my poetry. In my everyday life and in my essay writing, I was engaged in feminist thought and activism, but my poetry covered my contentious 22 list_ Books from Korea

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5 1. Your First Kim Hyesoon, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2008, 176p, ISBN 9788932018492 2. Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream Kim Hyesoon, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2011, 186p, ISBN 9788932022413 3. To Write as a Woman: Lover, Patient, Poet, Me Kim Hyesoon, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2002, 264p, ISBN 9788982814525 4. All the Garbage of the World, Unite!

Kim Hyesoon, Action Books 2011, 135p, ISBN 0983148015 5. Mommy Must Be a Fountain of Feathers Kim Hyesoon, Action Books 2008, 93p, ISBN 9780979975516

Interview

"I frequently imagine civilization as a makeshift stage or art installation, and a scene in which it all collapses."

critic Shin Hyoung-cheol and poet Kim Hyesoon

thoughts with a sheath that was bright and alive, like something woven with vapor. Not only “woman” became blurry, but also “me”—this blurry state of being is poetry. My poetry tells me to bring the life-giving water that will save father’s life as the songs of a woman heading to the afterworld, my poetry tells me to become a ghost.

When I was writing To Write as a Woman, I wanted to say that the ignition point of a genre called poetry is a feminine position. I wanted to say, regardless of a poet’s gender, poetry is where night is, where absence is, poetry begins where mother is (who has lost herself to me), it’s where I “do poetry.”

Shin: Poetry differs from prose, so I think that in many cases the subject matter, imagination, and speech may occur simultaneously. I would like to ask about these three in the order above. What is the main passage through which the things that are perceived as poetic come to flow into your body?

Kim: The point of ignition for poetry is multiple, but the material to ignite is one. My body has to be in a poetic state. No matter how great my ethical or feminist rage may be, no matter how much another text resonates with me, no matter if some dream smacks me and takes off, unless my body, the material for ignition, is in a poetic state, it is pointless. I am colored by the poetic state like some kind of bodily sign. As if I’m about to cry, as if my laughter is about to explode in giggles, I need to overlap with a blank paper-thin girl. And while I write, the girl becomes a witch or grandmother, but first I need to be in that state. I call it the “the state of something yet nothing.”

Shin: Much of Korea’s poetry is neatly written, depicting everyday experience along with an adequate message, yet your poetic texts provide inspiration to critics who are trying to theorize the role that imagination plays in poetry. In your poetry there is fairy-tale-like imagination, grotesque imagination, mythical imagination and so forth; in fact, there are multiple imaginations at play.

Kim: When I began writing in my 20s, I just wrote down any “poetic” thing that soared up in me. I wasn’t conscious of what I was writing or why I was writing it. Back then I didn’t even have 24 list_ Books from Korea

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friends or teachers. Meanwhile my imagination developed like the muscles of someone who exercises. Imagination is the process of moving muscle in sync with bone, to a place of freedom, poetry’s vast outer side. It activates something to nothing. Perhaps I should say it’s a cloud mill? The place where cloud (poetry) knows but poet (me) doesn’t know. With bone and muscle, I repeatedly call someone who disappears into the slippery crack of time and space, someone who becomes more unfamiliar and mysterious by the day. Lately I’ve been thinking that someone laid up in an intensive care unit, or “me” the woman, a few seconds before death, is dreaming for real “now, here, me.” You could say it feels like the observed and the observer, before they perish, are trying to move something together, inflating the muscle of the ignition point.

Shin: In the past, as well as now, whenever I read your poems, the first thing that strikes me is the sense of liveliness and liberation of your speech. What kind of relationship is there for you between what you will say and how you will say?

Kim: Language is conversation, so poetry also converses with someone. Of course, that someone is not tangible or definable, someone on other side of cognition. That someone is preferably a poetic inspiration or poetic other. Naturally, speech begins directed at the other. Like illness, which is a reply sent by the body, poetry is also a reply in regard to inspiration or the other. Therefore, language or speech changes according to the one who is receiving the letter. And so each poem can only be spoken in a particular way, while striving first for the impossible communication with the other, rather than communication with the reader.

Shin: In connection to the previous question, as a poet who writes in Korean, what kind of freedom does Korean allow for you, and, conversely, what structural aspects of Korean are suffocating to you and when do they occur?

Kim: When I write, I start to feel through my body that Korean has a “feminine language” and a “masculine language.”

When I begin to write, in whichever language, it feels as if I’m tugging down on my skirt in an uncomfortable seat. It’s not just

the Korean language, for I also simultaneously feel the suffocation and freedom in regards to Korean poetry. Adding an aphorism after describing something is the way Korean poetry speaks, something which has been continuously passed down from when Korean poetry was written in the style of classical Chinese poetry and traditional Korean sijo (three line poem). Maybe this is why I have extreme reservations about any explanatory statements in poetry. The Korean language has countless variations in adverb, adjective word endings, multiple onomatopoeia and mimetic words, and through them the Korean language is vibrant with ironies and fluid in syntax. And it’s a phonetic language rich in history, which allows for possibilities of rhyming through countless homonyms that are closely or directly related. In translation, it becomes difficult to reveal all these aspects of word play in Korean.

Shin: You have two books that have been translated in English. The selected poems, Mommy Must Be a Fountain of Feathers came out in 2008 and the collection of recent work, All the Garbage of the World, Unite! in 2011. Please introduce me to any new criticism of your work that you haven’t encountered in Korea.

Kim: Johannes Goransson has used the term “gurlesque” to review my poetry. Perhaps he has heard my “grrl’s language.” I found it interesting because I was wondering at times why a girl is never absent from my poetry.

think about living out the rest of my life laughing meaninglessly a rhythmical laugh.

Shin: I think certain exceptional poets are also exceptional critics. I remember being deeply moved by a piece you wrote on poet Lee Seong-bok. What kind of qualities should one cultivate in order to reach an exceptional level of poetry criticism?

Kim: I think of criticism as something that reads the way thin yet resilient fibrous strings are found inside a sponge gourd after its flesh has been scooped out or something that reads the habitual movement of muscle and bone in the space between the hand and the handle of a broom after sweeping the courtyard of a Buddhist temple a thousand times. Criticism lets you know how a poem has tried to go against the destiny of poetry that is vast yet narrow, and, conversely, it lets you know that the poem has tried so hard to live inside the horizon of such destiny. I like it when a critic’s hand enters my poem, touches the bone then leaves. I like criticism that is written as though it’s completing another poem upon meeting a poem in which the critic is also part of the poem.

I think everyone knows more or less what the sponge gourd is used for after its flesh has been scooped out, why someone has to sweep the temple’s courtyard.

Shin: Would you choose the life of a poet if you were to be born again?

Shin: The poem, “All the Garbage of the World, Unite!” from your ninth book, Your First (2008), which is also the title of the book in translation, seems to have gotten a lot of attention from readers abroad.

Kim: I don’t want to be born again. I have never thought about being born again as a human who contains “me.” I have written in a poem that, if I were to be born again, I would be born without any borders, like certain adjectives. And if that is the poetic condition then I have no choice in the matter.

Kim: I was trying to express that perhaps my muse is inside the community of all things discarded after they’ve been used up.

I still remember writing it one afternoon in just one sitting.

Shin: For someone who has stepped into your world of poetry for the first time, especially readers abroad, would you please share several key words for your poetry?

Shin: Two poems, “Dear Choly, From Melan” and “Saturn's Sleeping Pill” from your tenth book Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream (2011) will be published with this interview, and it appears that the subject matter in both poems is melancholy.

Kim: Death, Woman, [South] Korea, You, Seoul, Absence, Illness, Rats, Poetry

by Shin Hyoung-cheol

Kim: I was trying to pick relatively easy poems, so I ended up selecting those two about melancholy. And it may also have turned out that way because the whole book is steeped in melancholy.

Shin: Such melancholy shows up particularly well in “Manhole Humanity,” but it also seems to organically embody a critical message of civilization.

Kim: I didn’t seek out such subject matter, but rather it just happened organically. I have a tendency to look first and think about the ending of things. This applies to civilization as well.

I frequently imagine civilization as a makeshift stage or art installation, and a scene in which it all collapses. But lately, I

Kim Hyesoon (b. 1955) began her poetry career in 1979 with the quarterly journal Literature and Intelligence. Her poetry collections include From Another Star; Hell Star; My Upanishad, Seoul; A Poor Love Machine; To the Calendar Factory Manager; A Glass of Red Mirror; Your First; and Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream. She received the Kim Su-young Literary Award, the Midang Award, and the Daesan Literary Award.

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Excerpt

Dear Choly , From Melan

by Kim Hyesoon

In November I was sleepless In November the stars on the ceiling all lit up In November my heart was so bright that I couldn’t close my eyes I was in a precarious state as the cold well rose above my head Melan and Choly lay in a blue bucket, making fists They clammed up like a cavity-ridden piano Melan covered herself with a cloud, Choly with a shadow Melan endured the wind, Choly clung to the sea Melan said It's flesh-scented, Choly said It’s water-scented Melan disliked sunlight, Choly’s feet were cold Melan didn’t eat, Choly didn’t drink I was absent when Melan ate, also when Choly drank water Melan is a Frag, Choly is a Ment Melan is a Dis, Choly is a Perse My skin cracked like a jigsaw puzzle Melan said Long ago, Choly wept ages ago Melan ate soap, Choly became laundry I swirled the wet laundry around my neck like one of Saturn’s rings Melan has a tongue of ice, Choly has eyes of ice My shoulders hurt from carrying ice A woman appeared with a yoke loaded with Melan on her left shoulder, Choly on her right Heaven hell, heaven hell, continually binary like a Tibetan grandma’s spinning prayer wheels The woman poured beneath my skin a bucketful of Melan then Choly and left Kim Su-young is Kim Su-000 Kim Chun-su is Kim Chun-### Kim Jong-sam is Kim Jong-333* Step left then step right After 0 is 1, after 2 is 3 After Melan is Choly A night when all the mathematics of the world appear The poets I admire are still clinging to death’s umbilical cord Dear Melan, from Choly Dear November, from December Melan combed rain streaks, Choly plowed them Melan put a white running shoe on her left foot Choly put a white running shoe on her right foot I covered up a pair of white birds, with strings cut, on my feet I couldn’t come and go as such

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Saturn’s Sleeping Pill

by Kim Hyesoon

A place where my shadows visit when I close my eyes There, I put on a belt made of smoke When my soul buzzes like the mosquitoes at night my shadows swarm like a pride of lions on the plains A place where my ashes get up and dance after I’ve been burnt today Saturn has 60 moons therefore, I have 60 shadows I have 120 eyes, of course I don’t get to open all of my eyes whether the sun rises or not Therefore, how many bodies do I have?

How many more bodies can die?

The ground is soft-soft and my footsteps are limp-limp The air is sticky-sticky and my heart heaves-heaves A place where your ghost snatches my soul away like a spider web I pray for my own soul I sit on my dead bodies and put to sleep a few remaining live bodies Longings are asleep doubts are asleep even the throats that have not yet opened are asleep all asleep What do you want to be when you die?

I’m going to be something that has no borders A place where the moons rise continuously continuously A place where teeth poke-poke out even if you press them down with a thick blanket A place where the dark sooty lions perch on the faint horizon their eyelids keep keep falling on the glowing rays from their eyes When you part with the shadows there you also part with the weight of my body here translated by Don Mee Choi

* translator's note:

Kim Su-young, Kim Chun-su, and Kim Jong-sam are the names of prominent contemporary male Korean poets who are all deceased. The last syllables of their names “young,” “su,” and “sam” are treated as homonyms for numbers.

Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream Kim Hyesoon, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2011, 186p, ISBN 9788932022413

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Interview

Dear Reader, I Leave Us a Void, Let Us Fill It Together!

An Interview with Writer Lee Kiho Han Eun-hyeong: You’ve changed residences from Wonju to Seoul and then again from Seoul to Gwangju. Do you feel a great difference? For example, in your most recent short story collection Who Is Dr. Kim?, which you wrote while living in Gwangju, you didn’t just write “To Me, A Very Ethical Piece of Underwear” there, and you were actually thinking of leaving that short story out.

Lee Kiho: I do really feel a difference. Since it’s a change of space, the people you meet are different, and even my writing seems to have changed. Whenever I publish a new book I see how I’m changing— maybe as a kind of finishing of one stage and moving on to another.

“To Me, A Very Ethical Piece of Underwear” seemed like it really went better with my second collection. I don’t think it was just a question of where I wrote that story.

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Han: It seems like it plays a transitional role between your second collection, Fumbling, I Knew I’ d End Up Like This, and your third.

Lee: Yes, I was hoping it would have that effect. Actually, after the second collection was published I was in a strange place. At the time I was writing a novel, and there was always one thing or another that interrupted the process. Since I kept trying to work on the novel I wasn’t able to work on my short stories, and so it took about three years for me to write one again. As I was putting this collection together it really made me think about that time.

Han: In “Flagpole Romance,” the f lagpole gets reimagined as a sexual allegory, and there’s this connection between Kim Ilsung’s death, undergarments, and boxers. As the reader encounters these contradictions there’s an emotional reaction. This also seems a manifestation of your creativity.

Lee: Also in “Prisoner” the process of reunification is haphazard.

It’s the result of a radioactive explosion. Political realities like division, things that are sacred like a flagpole or the great leader (a figurative father)… linking these things with the absurd, I think, can demystify or emasculate them. Exposing their falsehoods or breaking down the myths, I think, are acts of resistance.

Han: When reading a Lee Kiho novel, you get the image of a writer

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1. Earnie Lee Kiho, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2004, 334p, ISBN 8932015449 2. Fumbling, I Knew I’d End Up Like This Lee Kiho, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2006, 325p, ISBN 9788954602280 3. Who Is Dr. Kim? Lee Kiho, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 404p, ISBN 9788932023939 4. At Least We Can Apologize Lee Kiho, Hyundae Munhak Publishing Co., Ltd. 2009, 224p, ISBN 9788972754503

Interview

"I began to wonder if perhaps the core of literature wasn’t somewhere in the margins, in that unwritten space." writers Han Eun-hyeong and Lee Kiho

torn between the premodern and postmodern. The notion behind the story is quite traditional, but the way in which it’s dealt with is distinctly postmodern, and there’s a very interesting reaction that takes place there. It even creates some great humor.

has always been this question of “How do we get people to write stories together?” I wanted to break out of this idea that novels could only be written by particular people. There comes a point where the division between reader and writer disappears, and I’ve experienced that kind of writing myself.

Lee: I don’t consciously write that in. I mean, what is modern? It’s the rational. I’m from the provinces, I was there until high school. The people I’ve met over the course of my life have either been rational or irrational. So I’ve been influenced by those people. As all of these things come in contact with this genre we call a story, you have this feeling that things are bumping into each other, brushing up against each other by chance. It’s hard to completely separate writer and reader, and I think that since these are works I wrote while I was young, that’s even more the case. Why do novels have to be so rational and level-headed? There were also elements that were just inexplicable. Because we’re talking about the canon, I wanted to follow a path that would counter canonical works, thereby resist the canon itself. I thought that that was the only way I could maintain my identity as a writer. But after I wrote At Least We Can Apologize—that is, before writing Who Is Dr. Kim?—I went through this period of reflection regarding my novels. I wondered: “Have all of my works just been fights with the works that came before?” I was angry at my old books and it felt like I was quarreling with them. It would have been better if I’d been fighting with myself. This time I felt as though I was examining myself as I wrote.

Han: It seems that with each of your books your style of writing changes. In your first collection, Earnie, we saw a style reminiscent of madangnori (folk theater), and your second, Fumbling, I Knew I’ d End Up Like This, was quite confessional. Your third, Who Is Dr. Kim? What kind of writing style might you call that? Something to do with the skeptical?

Han: The point at which that spirit of rebellion becomes extreme is with “Bad Story,” which has the subtitle, “A story someone reads for someone aloud.” Did you write your novel in a spoken, colloquial form specifically to counter ideas that the contemporary novel isn’t to be read aloud?

Lee: Oh certainly. I’ve never liked reading novels silently.

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Lee: You could call it that. I think such changes come from changes in plot. Just as in poet Kim Su-young’s prose in “Poetry, Spit!” I think I felt something similar to his “pushing yourself, moving your body with your body.” It was never my intent to polish it up so that it was perfect. Maybe I would say I trusted my senses and was moved along by them?

As that happened I just ended up liking what came of it. I really liked the way the characters talked, how they moved.

With these more recent works, only after I’d finished the manuscripts did I feel like starting again. After some time passed I just felt as though I was editing what I’d written.

Han: I can really sense the change. A former version of Lee Kiho once said, “It’s ridiculous to force causal relationships in novels, our lives are so serendipitous!” So, whereas the relationships between characters and the story were once more important than the plot, in Who Is Dr. Kim? the importance of the plot seemed much greater.

Lee: I think that before, I felt as though I had to really push to make the stories convincing. Maybe you could say I was stubborn, mulish even. But then at some point I feel as though I talked myself down from pushing these kinds of causalities. I guess I might say that as these serendipities

accumulated, certain things just became inevitable. As writers change, so do their novels, and of course that’s just how today’s novels are. I started thinking that I needed to be more true to life’s inevitabilities.

Han: Might you say that this crossing over from the world of serendipity to the world of inevitability is due to having tried everything you wanted to try?

Lee: I think maybe it’s something more akin to what I said before about the people I met being different. I also have this feeling: After 2008 the atmosphere in Korea seemed different.

It seemed as though this generation itself was more mulish. But I wasn’t able to write mulish in a comical way, so that’s where a lot of the dialogue came in. Emotionally, it was difficult, and I think at some point my worldview turned tragic. Of course, maybe that was just because I started working. (Laughs) Paperwork is not a writer’s friend!

Han: So this tragic worldview was what brought you to write a short story like “The Administrative Building?”

Lee: These days I have a regular job, a child, a car. I’ve settled down in an apartment, but to say that my writing went down the same path would be a bit disingenuous. That was something that kept bothering me as I wrote this latest collection. On one hand I had this feeling that I had to meet the expectations of those who enjoyed my former books, and part of me really did try to write that way, but I just wasn’t able to. With this collection I really tried to put “that me” into it as much as possible.

somewhere in the margins, in that unwritten space—if maybe what literature can give the reader is the room to imagine the possibilities. And yes, this imagination happens in the margins, so to speak. If the reader can actively fill that space, I wonder if that’s exactly what we mean by a collaborative text.

Han: The stories in your latest work, Who Is Dr. Kim? tend to stop at the point at which these margins are discovered. The meaning behind those margins isn’t explained, and you can really sense that that was your intention.

Lee: If I’d written more at that point it would have made the work more palatable to readers, but that would have only limited their capacity to imagine. The breadth of emotion that a story gives you grows larger the more you leave out. It’s not that I wasn’t able to write more, it’s that I just didn’t, and I think that’s kind of the ethics of writing.

Han: Do you feel that your writing changes your life, or that as a writer your life changes what you write?

Lee: I think it’s the former. Granted, there are also a lot of times when I worry that that’s not the case. And, if possible, I’d like things to stay that way—that novels change who I am.

by Han Eun-hyeong

Han: You said yourself that your novel At Least We Can Apologize stood at a kind of crossroads of change. The characters Si-bong and Jin-man in At Least We Can Apologize are the result of a sort of extreme, Lee Kiho-type obsession. For Choi Soondeok in Earnie, if the question “How did this woman get like this?” is important, you don’t need to ask that for Si-bong and Jin-man. Was this a conscious decision?

Lee: Actually, I did a lot of reworking. You know, it started as a daily series. As such, the parts that explained the causes and effects came out pretty boring. (Laughs) Even then I hadn’t sorted out my thoughts on cause and effect and probability.

So I thought, how about a “strong causality?” I think I wanted to use some extreme examples. I think I had a belief that there were also new allegories and symbols that would come about as situations grew increasingly extreme, things I hadn’t even imagined.

I took this line of thinking as my motto as I was writing the stories for Who Is Dr. Kim? I wanted to leave the causes in the margins, someplace unwritten. When I tried to get an overall impression of At Least We Can Apologize, all of these ways of contemplating the reasons behind the events were different— all sorts of reasons that I hadn’t even imagined came pouring out. So I began to wonder if perhaps the core of literature wasn’t

Lee Kiho (b.1972) made his literary debut in 1999 in the monthly magazine Hyundae Munhak with the short story “Bunny.” He is the author of Earnie; Fumbling, I Knew I' d End Up Like This; Who Is Dr. Kim; and At Least We Can Apologize. He is a Kim Seungok Literary Award winner.

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Excerpt

Prisoner

*

by Lee Kiho [ ] It hadn’t been two months since Su-young had gone to the abandoned house when something terrible happened in the South.

Two nuclear reactors, one in the southeast, one in the southwest, exploded, two hours apart. As with every human catastrophe, this one came without warning, at random. Its cause was not the primary issue of concern. Rather, the real problem was that the damage was so great, it was beyond recovery.

As soon as the incident occurred, the majority of residents within a 40-kilometer radius of the reactors died instantly. The radiation spread more than 400 kilometers in every direction, the fallout covering 70 percent of the country. Taken by fear, people hid in basements. To escape the radioactivity, the flight North, North for refuge, began.

The government was unable to implement emergency measures in the face of the catastrophe. There were only empty statements. Do not fear. We will quickly assemble a special relief task force. Illegal actions will be sternly punished. But the government that once was, had already been completely erased from the people’s minds. By that point the only thing controlling them, the only thing commanding them, was the gray fallout.

One week after the incident the Military Demarcation Line was breeched. With no regard for fences, none for ideologies, people made their ways to Cheorwon, Paju, and Hwajinpo, traversing into the North. Countless people lost their lives when they trod on landmines, but those were the smaller sacrifices. A system of division that had lasted more than 50 years had been brought down all but naturally—nihilistically—by radioactivity. No one, not the government of the South, not the government of the North, could stop those fleeing in their paths.

Countermeasures from the UN came a month after the catastrophe. By that time, both the governments of the South and North had fallen into a state of turmoil and dissolved. First, the United Nations decided to dissolve the government of the South, sort its citizens, and relocate around the globe. Countries around the world made decisions regarding how many and whom to take with great speed China decided to take the largest number of refugees, and Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Australia followed. The UN immediately dispatched hundreds of examiners to sort the refugees.

Those dispatched spent 17 hours a day interviewing examinees in the bunker below the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan.

After nearly nine months, close to 35 million South Koreans had been selected by countries around the globe according to profession, education, and sex to be scattered across the globe.

Each day at Incheon and Gimpo international airports and at Incheon and Pyeongtaek harbors, tens of thousands spat on a homeland to which they didn’t know if they would ever return and loaded themselves onto planes and transport vessels. Those who failed their examinations ran through the dilapidated city screaming, howling.

And then there was Su-young. He was completely unaware of all of this, sitting in an abandoned house halfway up Mt. Taegi. There, there were no people fleeing to be seen, no UN broadcasts to be

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heard, and no fallout covering the sky like spring pollen. (Although a fact he would only learn later, the reason the fallout did not reach Mt. Taegi was due to the peculiar Föhn phenomenon of the area around Daegwallyeong.)

Su-young would sit in front of his laptop day in and day out, thinking about writing. His plan: Let’s just write one, one novel and we can go back down. I’ll step out of reality for that long—just that long—then we can look for a job… He had no thoughts of earning money by writing. He didn’t think of making a living out of it.

Instead, he swore to himself: Just one year, I’ve done so well over the past two, if I can just trudge through and manage for one more …

With those thoughts he sat in front of his laptop day in and day out.

“So what is this amazing novel you’ve written?” The clerk spoke with one hand under his chin.

The examiner pulled a cigarette from his desk drawer. After lighting it, he switched on the air purifier atop his desk. The glow of the lighter lit the examiner’s face for a moment. He was a man in his early thirties, with gold-rimmed glasses.

“Ah, yes...” Su-young took an HD diskette from his bag and approached the clerk’s desk.

“What’s this?”

“Uh, well … it’s the novel I’ve written.”

The clerk looked at him blankly for a moment, then accepted the diskette. He took a good look at the front and back, then handed it back to Su-young. At a loss, Su-young took the disk back with one hand and stood in front of the clerk.

“Have a seat.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said have a seat. We don’t have much time.”

“Oh, yes…”

Su-young returned to the steel chair and sat down. Rather than place the diskette back in his bag, he placed it on his knee.

“Good. So we understand your basic situation … Let’s start off by going over some of the other details,” said the clerk, looking at the monitor. “First off, I’d like you to keep in mind that due to your late registration for the examination process your range of options will not be as wide as others’. Also understand that this is according to the details of the international convention.”

Su-young nodded slightly.

“Okay. First: There’s a country looking for people who have a commercial driver’s licenses. It’s Chile. Does this apply to you?”

“No, I don’t have one.”

“A lright. The Republic of Georgia is looking for a data processing specialist. Can you do that?”

“No, I can’t.”

“The Vatican is looking for someone with a small motor vehicle driver’s license. However, it’s restricted to baptized followers.”

“I’m not a believer.”

“Okay. The Ghanaian government is looking for five plumbing experts.”

“I can’t do that, either.”

“Hmm… The United Arab Emirates says that if you have a chicken sexing certificate they’ll help you settle in Dubai.”

Su-young didn’t speak, only shaking his head.

“Looks as though this may be difficult. In that case, let’s do it a different way: Why don’t you tell me what countries you’d like to go to and what kind of certifications you have, then we’ll try to figure something out. Let’s start there. Is there any country in particular you were hoping for?”

The clerk’s question gave Su-young pause. Then, he said in a low voice, “Um … is there any chance there might be a place in …

France?”

“France? Hm … France … France … Here it is. France has already staffed the positions it was looking to fill. And they’ve already taken 800 people extra.”

The clerk fiddled mechanically with the keyboard as he spoke.

As he did, he let out a short yawn. Su-young’s head lowered and silence filled the examination room. The tapping of the clerk’s keyboard, the motor of the air purifier, and the generator were the only sounds.

“May I have a look at that novel?”

It was the examiner. He had a low, deep voice so perfect it brought Su-young to shrink further in his chair. Su-young, his head down, handed the examiner the diskette.

“Is there any particular reason you’d like to go to France? If there’s something they might find particularly appealing, we could put in a request.” He placed the diskette in his desk drawer as he spoke.

“I mean—There isn’t any particular reason, I don’t really care what country. It’s just …”

“Just what?”

“If there were a place where I could keep writing … somewhere I could keep doing that … If it were that kind of place it would be nice.”

Su-young fumbled for words. He was being honest. After coming down from Mt. Taegi, despite having seen the grim aftermath of the catastrophe for himself, despite having experienced the weight of seeing the entirety of his country disappear with his own two eyes, the more he thought about it, the more entrenched he became in the novel he had spent the last eleven months writing.

How could he get that out in a diskette? How could he put that into print, get others to read it? Those were the thoughts he had as he wandered the deserted streets of Seoul. How could this novel be made into a book…?

“Interesting. So even if you go abroad you’d like to keep writing novels?”

“Yes …”

As Su-young said that, the corner of the clerk’s mouth turned up. The examiner put out the cigarette he had been smoking. The smoke wafted from him, lingered under the light of the lamp, then disappeared over Su-young’s shoulder. The examiner placed another cigarette in his mouth.

“Do you … speak French?” he asked.

“No, I don’t.”

“What about any other languages? English is fine, too.” “…”

“So you’re saying that you’re going to keep writing novels in Korean … Won’t that be a bit … counterproductive?”

“No matter where I get placed, I’ll make the effort to learn the language as quickly as possible.”

“Well, really it’s a question of who will take you—if there is a country that could offer such a possibility. Might that not be … a waste of an investment?”

Su-young rubbed his hands on his thighs.

“Well, that’s just it … Novels, they’re an art … I mean, what I’m saying is …”

“You’re saying that because novels are an art, even if the investment doesn’t pan out, there’s still some value there?”

“Yes …”

“Is that so…?”

The examiner opened the drawer to the desk once more and took out Su-young’s diskette. Su-young felt uneasy. It seemed to him he’d said something wrong, as though he’d stirred the examiner’s temper. The clerk was absorbed in picking his earwax.

“Isn’t that also a kind of invention?”

“I beg your pardon?” Su-young responded.

“What I mean is, this novel that you’re writing, if you think about it, isn’t it an invention, like a light bulb or a radio?”

“Nn … no, well, it’s a little different…”

“It is? Really?” He laughed. “Well you certainly think highly of your work. Still—” the examiner paused and put out his cigarette.

Su-young stared down at the smoke coming out of the examiner’s mouth.

“This novel you’ve handed me … here, now, it has no meaning, does it not?” “…”

“Why do you think that is?”

“That’s …”

“It’s that it’s just a pipe dream, isn’t it?” “…”

“A m I not correct? In a place with no work, novels are meaningless as well, aren’t they?” “…”

There was nothing Su-young could say. The examiner’s words seemed steeped in logic. He wanted to get out. But he’d been hurt.

He was unable to contemplate his situation, all he could think about was this hurt feeling. Whatever it would take, all he wanted to do was heal that wound.

“That’s not … completely the case.” Su-young opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Really? In what sense?” The examiner folded his arms as he asked.

“Well, because the novel that I already wrote is still in bookstores. It came out four years ago, and even though it didn’t sell all that well … Still, it’s at least still on the shelves … that’s something that would be unimaginable with other first inventions …”

“You’re saying that a novel that you wrote four years ago is still on the shelves? It didn’t sell very well but it’s still there? Are you certain?”

“Yes.” The examiner laughed. “Really? Alright, if that’s true, then I guess you do have a talent for novels.” translated by Chris Dykas

Fumbling, I Knew I'd End Up Like This Lee Kiho, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2006, 325p, ISBN 9788954602280

*A short story excerpt from Fumbling, I Knew I’d End Up Like This, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2006

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The Place

Jeju Oreum Jeju is a volcanic island located 90 km off the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula. Mount Halla stands in the center of the island at an elevation of 1,950 meters, and Baengnokdam (White-deer Lake), a crater lake, sits at the summit. One could say that the entire island of Jeju is one large mountain.

The Face of Jeju Island Jeju Island was internationally recognized when it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and UNESCO Global Geopark and Biosphere Reserve. The oreum represents the beauty and wonder of Jeju Island.

Three hundred sixty scoria cones, or oreum, as they are referred to in the Jeju dialect, of varying sizes are strewn across the slope from the top of Mount Halla down to the island’s coasts. The sight of Mount Halla sitting in the midst of 360 peaks is reminiscent of a mother hen embracing her brood of chicks.

There are as many shapes and sizes of oreum as there are numbers of them. They differ in height depending on their elevation. True to the characteristics of scoria cones,

they come in various shapes including the horseshoe, conic, spherical, and compound forms. Enchanted by the unique scenery and feeling of each oreum, many “oreum wanderers” go on a pilgrimage to the oreum in all corners of the island.

Oreum are present everywhere you go in Jeju. Jeju people are born at the foot of an oreum, rely on the oreum for their livelihood, and return to a spot of an oreum when they die. As lives are built and souls are laid to rest on the oreum, it is no wonder that the myths, legends, and history of Jeju were conceived and preserved in these hills.

According to the creation myth of Jeju, there was a spirit called the Seolmundae Halmang, or the Grandma

Seolmundae. She was so enormous that when she lay down with Mount Halla as her pillow, her toes would end up in the sea. People of Jeju had difficulty traveling back and forth between the island and the mainland, and so asked Grandma Seolmundae for a bridge. She agreed on the condition that they make her a dress. They needed 100 dong (50,000 meters) of silk to make her clothes.

While the people of Jeju procured the silk for her clothes, Grandma Seolmundae carried dirt in her skirt to make a bridge across the sea. The dirt that fell through a ripped seam in her skirt became the oreum. But in the end, they were short one dong so the bridge was never completed.

Yongnuni Oreum: The Curves of Mother Earth I can’t very well mention all 360 oreum here, so I’ll introduce just a few.

In the eastern side of Jeju Island, oreum big and small grace the expansive fields with their splendor. Yongnuni (Dragon-lying) Oreum, 248 meters tall, is undoubtedly the most exceptional among them. The Yongnuni Oreum is the most special oreum both in terms of its shape and beauty. Most oreum are conical with one crater, but the Yongnuni Oreum has three overlapping craters that were formed by multiple eruptions. Its ridge is low and shaped like undulating waves, and its peaks and craters are difficult to distinguish. The name Yongnuni comes from the shape of the ridge that looks like a lying dragon. From a distance, the oreum covered with grass and shrubbery is reminiscent of the curves of a woman.

Unlike with other oreum, you will not find yourself out of breath as you climb the Yongnuni Oreum. Its paths are smooth and easy to hike. Stroll up along the hill and you will arrive at the top where three ridges come together to form a horseshoe-shaped summit. To the east, you will

see the Seongsan Ilchulbong, or Sunrise Peak, and the blue ocean beyond, and Udo (Cow-lying) Island.

The Yongnuni Oreum can be appreciated all yearround. In the spring, wildflowers adorn the fields of the oreum, and in the fall, the waves of silver reeds form a breathtaking sight. Photographer Kim Young-gap, who frequently took pictures of the Yongnuni Oreum and let its various charms be known far and wide, describes the reed fields in his travelogue, I Was There On the Island: "You can see silver grass all year in the Jungsangan Meadow. Its red flowers bloom in October and turn white in November. In December, the flowers are carried off in the wind and only the scrawny stems remain. Even as they suffer through the snow and wind in the winter months, they do not remain bent in the direction of the wind. The wind teases the silver grass in the meadows until spring returns again."

When wind beats down hard on the silver grass, they dance ever more ecstatically. Strong winds may disturb the silver grass, but they never change. The grass remains the way it was. As large trees are uprooted in the wind and shrubs big and small fall in the direction of the wind, the silver grass is left unharmed.

Nokkome Oreum: Where Deer Once Played On the western side of the island, Nokkome (Deer-playing) Oreum (834 meters) is worth seeing. Located in Aewol, this oreum is your typical scoria cone and the counterpart of the Darangshi (Moon-lightening) Oreum on the east side of the island. As you can tell from its name, deer once lived on this oreum.

From a distance, the ridge that connects the two peaks

The Place

and the crater that looks like it burst on one side a re quite striking. While Yo n g nu n i O r e u m boasts a feminine beauty, the Nokkome Oreum has striking masculine lines. There is a horse ranch on the way to the trailhead from the parking lot. Ponies roaming freely graze in the fields and often look up to greet hikers. The friendly sight of ponies reminds me of a scene from Hyun Kiyoung’s “The Last Horse Herder”:

forest. The wide open view means you’ve arrived at the ridge.

Struggle up the mountain path with joritdae (sasaborealis) everywhere, and you’ll be greeted by a dizzying panoramic view.

At the summit, there is a rest area. As I sat there to look around and cool off, I got the sensation of sinking into a boundless scenery, followed by a peculiar feeling wrapping around me, like sleep. My eyes are taking in the view, but it feels as if my brain has been bleached white or just somehow emptied. I am one with nature, without a thought in my head. Maybe the reason monks and priests are able to withstand long periods of training is that they experience the ecstasy of this brief moment.

"The farm at the end of the season was undulating with the light of early winter. As the clouds moved, casting shadows on the ground, the beauty emanating from a fading life—the brilliant fields and oreum of gold, and the colonies of white silver grass shining like frost—brightened and dimmed as though it was taking its last few breaths. The old man turned his gaze to the bottom of the crater where two lone oxen were grazing."

Saebyeol (Morning-star) Oreum cannot be left out in the discussion of the great oreum of Jeju. At 519 meters, Saebyeol Oreum is located 5 km west of the Nokkome Oreum. Its pretty name comes from its isolated location, which makes it look like a lonely morning star in the early evening. Driving down Pyeonghwa (Peace) Road from Jeju City to Seogwipo, you can see the Saebyeol Oreum standing in all its majesty on your right.

The oreum is steeper than it seems and hard to climb, but when you finally make it to the top, you cannot help but cry out in awe. The magnificent Mount Halla sits far off to the east. The northwestern field is known as the battlefield where General Choe Yeong fought the Mongolian army in 1374. It was such a bloody battle that “swords and shields covered the sea and livers and brains covered the land.”

Saebyeol Oreum is famous today because each March, the Jeju Fire Festival takes place here. The festival, the largest in Jeju, is a ritual where the entire southern slope of the Saebyeol Oreum

The gaze of the old man in this story is connected to the “April 3rd Incident” that covered Jeju Island with blood 65 years ago.

Oreum are thus the present and past of the Jeju people.

Once you are on the hiking trail, you will be greeted with a forest so thick you can hardly see the sky. Thanks to the shade from the trees, the path can be chilly even in summer. The path will sometimes lead you to a passageway so steep that your back will be drenched with sweat. Continue your trek through the woods, and you will suddenly find yourself at the end of the 36 list_ Books from Korea

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Saebyeol Oreum: Festival of Fire

is set on fire to pray for peace and a good harvest for the year. The festival is a modern revival of Jeju’s farming culture that dates back to the ancient days.

Until about half a century ago, every mountain village in Jeju had a few horses and oxen for plowing the fields and transporting goods. When farming season ended, the horses and cattle were sent to communal ranches where they lived on the range. Maintaining feeding fields was important for such an arrangement, and villagers started a tradition of setting the fields on fire between February and March to get rid of the dead grass and pests.

The Jeju Fire Festival is a revival of this custom. Visitors come from all over the world to attend and enjoy the festival. They say the greatest spectacle is fire and the most entertaining mischief is playing with fire. Thus, setting a whole oreum on fire creates a thrilling spectacle akin to an erupting volcano.

Oreum are thus inextricably connected to the lives of Jeju people. As the true representation of Jeju, oreum are the face and the heart of the island.

by Kim Seokhee

As lives are built and souls are laid to rest on the oreum, it is no wonder that the myths, legends, and history of Jeju were conceived and preserved in these hills.

I Was There On the Island Kim Young-gap, Human & Books 2004, 254p, ISBN 9788990287335

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Theme Lounge

Korean Webtoons:

Opening the Future with Comics on the Web Webtoons have swiftly become everyone’s favorite pop culture medium, thanks to the freewheeling imagination of its creators, its prompt updates, and real time feedback, and has emerged as the source material of movies, dramas, and musicals.

The history of modern comics goes back some 120 years when they first appeared as fillers for the Sunday papers. Then comics became regular fixtures in magazines, followed by stand-alone comic books, often numbering dozens of volumes in a series, growing to occupy a major place in 20th century narrative art. Comics have changed enormously both in form and in content according to the medium where they are published. The next comics revolution is happening right now. The future is comics on the web.

The past decade has seen the entire world participating in this change. Few countries have made such a successful transition online as Korea, however.

In the late 20th century, both Korean pop culture and technology were undergoing radical change. Comic books and animated films, long dismissed as not being serious art forms, were lauded as the future of the cultural content industry, while the Internet revolution swept up newspapers, books, TV, and records in one go.

Webtoons, or comics that one reads on the web, were born at this turning point. Webtoons quickly became the mainstream of Korean comics and a fixture in the daily lives of Koreans. It is no exaggeration to say that in Korea, reading webtoons on portable media devices while commuting on the bus or subway, going between classes at school, or simply hanging out at a cafĂŠ, has become the starting point of conversation for many people.

With print comics struggling to stay afloat amidst the tidal onslaught of the Internet and computer games, webtoons have become the medium of choice for most comic book artists. While some have a hard time adapting to this new platform, numerous artists working exclusively with webtoons have emerged as

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stars such as Kang Full, Kang Do-ha, and Jo Seok. The following is a look at the major trends that have driven Korean webtoons for the past decade, and their potential as one of the most exciting narrative art forms of the 21st century.

Webtoons as a Diary Around the year 1998 online comics began cropping up on the web, before the name webtoons had become common parlance.

The artists were often not professional comic book artists but illustrators or graphic designers posting diary-like comic strips on their personal blogs or websites. Some of these amateur artists gained an immense following, scoring book deals and product lines like character toys and stationery. Kwon Yoonjoo’s Snowcat, Jeong Chul-yeon’s Marine Blues, Jung Oo-yol’s Old Dog and Nanda’s Acoustic Life were early webtoons from this era, pioneering the diary style that still dominates webtoons today.

One of the earliest webtoons, and one of the most popular characters to this day, is the Snowcat series created by Kwon Yoonjoo. Snowcat is the artist’s avatar, a cat character that enjoys a solitary life outside the in-crowds or the rigid hierarchy of the workplace, as evinced in the title of the first volume of the series, Snowcat: Playing Alone. This is the confessional of an introvert, about a character that actually enjoys spending time alone and is perfectly happy to be unmarried. Snowcat just wants to run away from the withering gaze of suit-clad job interviewers, and from parents that constantly nag Snowcat to get a job. What’s wrong about staying at home all the time, watching reruns and pretending to be characters from "The X-files"? Snowcat’s overwhelming apathy is encapsulated in a word coined by the artist, “gwichanism,” a combination of the Korean word for listlessness and the suffixism that quickly entered the zeitgeist of the young generation.

1

1. Snowcat – Playing Alone Kwon Yoonjoo, The Open Books Co. 2009, 115p, ISBN 9788932908632

2

2. The One! And Only! Jilpoong Advertising! (5 vols.)

Mollaginsaeng, Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd. 2012, 332p, ISBN 9788901134758 (Vol.1)

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Theme Lounge

The Great Catsby

Webtoons About Work: Satire and Remorse In the early 2000s, the long form of serialized comics lost their platform as many of the magazines that published comics went out of print. Artists turned to sports newspapers that ran funny, sometimes one or two-page comics that quickly gained popularity.

This paved the way for creators of such comics to make the transition to the web. Comics poking fun at or exposing the often absurd demands of office life gained a wide following such as Kwak Baek-su’s Gaus Electronics, Kim Kyu-sam’s Always Low Prices Cheollima Mart, Mollaginsaeng (Lee Hyun-min)’s The One! And Only! Jilpoong Advertising! Of course, not all workplaces are hellish, and some people have fairly undemanding jobs where they can show up at nine and leave at six on the dot. A considerable number of office workers, however, work like they are battling in the trenches every day. Advertising agencies, in particular, are one of the toughest companies to work for. The stars of The One! And Only! Jilpoong Advertising! are from Creative Team No.3, whose advertising battles resemble marital arts or action movies.

Office-themed comics work because everybody can relate to the exaggerated characters that represent every rung on the office hierarchy, or the “Oh, I know someone like that at my office” effect. The One! And Only! Jilpoong Advertising! falls in this category. There is Deputy Yi Ilsoon, a smiling young woman who, under crisis, solves problems with superhuman strength; Division Head Cho Hyuncheol, an excellent leader at most times but given to epic sulks when rubbed the wrong way; Deputy Song Chisam, a hot-tempered character easily provoked by the smallest mistake; Vice Division Head Park Palman, a usually silent character with a mischievous side…and Kim Byeong-cheol, the most junior character who, despite having a low-ranking job title, does not hesitate to make mistakes. Together the team forges through a variety of advertising adventures. While full of overthe-top exaggeration and jokes, the comic is also a compelling satire of the loss of fundamental human values in today’s fiercely competitive society.

A Nostalgic Sensibility An unexpected model of commercial success lifted its head in the early 2000s. The winning formula proved to be a combination of 40 list_ Books from Korea

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light, sketch-like drawings and short, sentimental essays, like Sim Seung-hyeon’s Papepopo series and Jung Hun-jae’s Poemtoon. The success of these artists was all the more surprising because they were close to amateurs when they started, and not established comic artists. The sentimentality of these comics crossed over to webtoons with longer stories. Kang Full’s Love Story and Kang Do-ha’s The Great Catsby are representative examples of this genre.

Kang Full’s Love Story appealed to readers with a nostalgic sensibility reminiscent of romance stories from 20 years ago.

The story revolves around two couples, a painfully shy and awkward office worker and a high school girl, and a woman with a broken heart and a high school boy who falls in love with her when he sees her sitting on a bench. Both couples overcome age and generational differences, not to mention overwhelming disapproval from everyone that knows them, to love and heal each other. In a world where people are matched by matchmaking companies that divide them into grades like pieces of meat, is it possible that this kind of old-fashioned love still exists? Clearly readers of Love Story still want to believe it does.

Kang Do-ha’s The Great Catsby starts with the first date of a couple set up by one of Korea’s ubiquitous matchmaking services, both classified as a grade C (grade A being the best). The protagonist Catsby, a cat-like character, meets with a woman who is not even given a name but is only referred to as grade C, and goes to a motel with her on that very same night. Is this love at first sight or a one night stand? The other protagonist, Hound, goes to a mansion to tutor a student, only to find himself kissing the student’s mother. Even more bizarrely, however, the aged husband of the mother hands him an envelope full of money, asking him to become his wife’s paramour. While experiences of modern love don't quite carry the weight of the past, both protagonists experience some extremely charged moments that threaten to alter their lives completely.

Rediscovering Long Form and Genre Comics Comics serialized in magazines used to be published for months, sometimes years, before their conclusion, a storytelling tradition that both reader and creators are eager to keep alive. While it is easy to laugh and relate to typically brief webtoon episodes, it would be a shame to give up the most unique quality of the comics genre: the unlimited freedom to tell whatever the creator imagines in pictures. In the early days of the Internet, technical limitations made it difficult to upload and view large image files.

The dazzling advances of technology since then, however, has opened up new possibilities for long form webtoons.

It is worth noting that as webtoons become longer, certain genres stand out. Webtoons are not like the comic books of yore in that it is not necessary to turn pages from left to right. Most webtoons make use of the scrollbar instead, with each panel stacked vertically in a long column. This form is very useful for building tension, and therefore lends itself particularly well to the thriller, mystery, and horror genres. Kang Full’s Apartment, Joo Ho-min’s With Gods, and kkomabi.nomabi’s Murderer’s DIEary are all webtoons that made use of this form to realize their visions of horror to great acclaim.

The action of clicking on a webtoon while surfing the web is completely different from picking up a comic book to read for fun. In this kind of unstable environment, webtoon readers want to be instantly gratified as well as to learn something useful. As a

result, another genre making a strong showing is the kind related to a profession. Webtoons like Choi Hoon’s MLB Cartoon are updated with real-time results and commentary on professional sports like baseball or soccer, creating an instant rapport with sports fans. Of course, sport is only one subgenre, with other genres taking a completely different approach. Ho-yeon’s Pottery, Vessel of the Heart shares the artist’s knowledge and love of traditional Korean crafts in simple line drawings, while Neon.

B (Lee Joo-hee) and Caramel (Oh Hyeon-dong)’s Dieter take a humorous approach to weight loss, that perennial question of modern living.

The future of the webtoon is undeniably surrounded by debate. While traditional print artists like Yoon Tae-ho have successfully crossed over to the web, serializing long stories like Moss and Incomplete Life to great success, there are few comics on the web with such ambitious, complex storylines. The fact that most webtoons are offered for free also comes with a plethora of problems, with attempts to introduce a pay wall to the benefit of webtoon creators currently in progress. The accessibility of the web, on the other hand, is an enormous boon to new artists bursting with ideas and looking for a platform.

It is also predictable that webtoons will change as e-book readers and tablets become more popular. These devices that allow readers to swipe pages with a tap of the finger are perfect for comics. Technological developments like mobile applications have huge potential for webtoon creators looking to self-publish, by passing big publishers or portal sites. The technical and artistic potential of Korean webtoons is already attracting considerable attention in the U.S. and Europe. Will Korea carve out a new place for itself in the cultural contents industry with webtoons, making full use of its advanced environment? That is the next challenge.

Moss

by Yi Myung-suk

3

4

3. Incomplete Life (9 vols.)

Yoon Tae-ho Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd. 2012, 300p, ISBN 9788960865563 (Vol.1) 4. The Great Catsby (4 vols.)

DoHa, Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 367p, ISBN 9788959137459(Set) 5. Moss (5 vols.)

Yoon Tae-ho

5

Incomplete Life

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Reviews Fiction

Reviews Fiction

Welcome to the Jungle The Great Jungle (3 vols.)

Jo Jung-rae, Hainaim Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 420p, ISBN 9788965744023 (Vol.1)

Korea has recently shown a heightened interest in China. Books that examine the past, present, and foresee the future of China have been published, and the media treats the questions related to China with great importance. Just as the U.S. had once established its global supremac y, will China surpass the U.S. in a power struggle 30 years later and dominate the world with Chinese values? If a new Chinese order actually becomes established in the middle of the 21st century, what will happen to Korea? However, there has yet to be a single work that portrays China with a detailed, dynamic narrative of characters that come to life.

The writer Jo Jung-rae is a novelist that has been dealing with modern and contemporary Korean history head on.

He has built a large readership with what is commonly referred to as the 20th century Korean modern history trilogy: Taebaek Mountain Range, which deals with the tragedy of ideological conflict and division; Han Kang, which portrays the miracle of the Han River; and now Jo has rendered the giant, complicated question called China in a three volume novel, The Great Jungle. In contrast, Korean novels have lately dealt more with descriptions of humble everyday life; Jo has instantly eliminated the crisis of narrative by raising the significant question of “What does China mean to us?”

In The Great Jungle, Jo offers a profound understanding and insight of China based on his wide knowledge of Chinese history: the turbulence that China experienced in the 20th century, the intuition of the current Chinese circumstances as a rising global power, and the ever yday life, culture, and mindset of Chinese people. His in-depth reasoning, along with an exciting plot and various characters, tells us this work is perfectly capable of being read as a living and breathing Chinese Studies textbook.

As the title of the work indicates, present-day China is compared to a kind of jungle. For instance, Shanghai, the main setting of this novel, is depicted as a densely packed, almost suffocating jungle of skyscrapers, higher than the sky itself. In other words, current Chinese society is like a thick jungle consisting of entangled human desires. Everyone struggles and competes against everyone else, or has a quid pro quo relationship for profit depending on the situation, a ll of which occur in t hat jungle.

In addition, the jungle, in which all kinds of trees are intricately entwined, symbolizes the incomprehensible and disorderly nature of Chinese society. A group of various characters appearing in this novel show that China is, in fact, not easy to understand even though many people say that they know the country.

Jo c o ol l y e x a m i ne s a C h i ne s e society that is prevalent with all kinds of capitalist desires, but at the same time, he asserts that China should be considered objectively with genuine interest and affection, not simply as a business partner or a means of making money. In order to do that, an extensive understanding of Chinese history and culture is necessary before one can reach the fundamental question, “What does a true neighbor mean?”

China and Korea, which are so near and yet so far, have been maintaining a relationship for a long time. It should go without saying that the two should acquire a deeper mutual understanding to strengthen the foundation of their relationship. In this context, the campus couple in this novel, Song Jaehyung, who is Korean, and Li Yeling, who is Chinese, carries particular significance.

B e c au se t he c onc lu sion h a s g re at implications relating to the future of China and Korea, the couple goes beyond the barriers of nationality and culture, overcoming biases against each other, and plans for the future with love.

We can at last proudly say that we have a profound novel that deals with China head on in Jo Jung-rae’s The Great Jungle.

by Park Sungchang

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Reviews Fiction

From North to South The Third House Lee Kyung-ja, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 260p, ISBN 9788954622219

The Third House starts with the journey of Sung-ok, who is a North Korean refugee settled in Seoul, visiting her father’s hometown of Port Moji in Japan. Through her journey, readers face an unfortunate family history that comes down from her grandfather, who was requisitioned to Japan, all the way to her father. The person who leads her through her journey is Inho, “the house builder,” with whom she falls in love in Seoul. Inho plays a role like a lighthouse.

He carries her life out of the fetters of a painful histor y where ever ything is connected—from the Japanese colonization when her grandfather lived through the Cold War era to when her father lived—as he helps her towards the future.

Born and raised in North Korea, Sungok had two different fathers: her biological father, Kim Dae-gon, and the father of the people, Kim Il-sung. She grew up being thoroughly brainwashed with the idea that Kim Il-sung was the leader of the people, but her father who was discriminated against in every case for being a “returnee,”

Whispering Into the Night Night Cello Lee Eung-Jun, Minumsa Publishing Group 2013, 276p, ISBN9788937487309

Lee Eung-Jun writes dark stories. Or rather, he used to write dark stories. For a while, however, for instance in The Private Life of the Nation or All About My Romance, he wrote in a lighter, or at least more accessible style.

Night Cello is a collection of short stories that breaks a long silence for Lee. The world that emerges in these deeply intimate stories is a throwback to a classic Lee Eung-Jun darkness. Its characters listen to the sounds of the night cello.

They live in the night, not the day, and their lives are governed not by lightness but by darkness. What shape does life take on for these characters, trapped deeply within a vortex of darkness? The pages of Night Cello are filled with this kind of inquiry, such as what darkness means in life or what makes people turn to God. The thematic centerpiece of the book 44 list_ Books from Korea

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is the short story “Cherry Tree Grove.” All the stories in Night Cello go through or are connected to “Cherry Tree Grove” in some way. It is also symbolic that Cherry Tree Grove is the religious retreat of choice for terminal cancer patients. The range of characters and places in the collection is wide and varied, from an artist that paints only self-portraits to the dusty plains of Inner Mongolia. The characters meet and part fleetingly, like pieces of a puzzle.

According to the poet Heine, death is the great equalizer. While death may be equal, the vortex that leads towards death is pain. Lee says to us that writing fiction is like a confession that comes from gazing into the depths of this vortex. To Lee Eung-Jun fiction is a kind of philosophy, a conviction. Night Cello is the kind of fiction that whispers solemn confessions about what fiction is into your ear.

by Kang Yu-jung

came to have a deep desire to revolt against the system. The young Sung-ok did not understand her father and thought he was an obstacle to her life.

However, as the North Korean economic condition dramatically declines, and people continuously die from famine, and as she experiences for herself extreme torment, escaping from North Korea for food several times only to be caught, she comes to understand the life of her father. Inho, an architect, is the only person who warmly embraces Sung-ok’s life, a life that has been torn into pieces because she is discriminated against as a child of a returnee in North Korea and is a poorly treated North Korean refugee living in South Korea. Inho, who thinks of her “neither as a traitor of his country nor as a commie,” wants to build for her a third house: “where all the same people live” in neither the North nor the South.

by Park Hyekyung

Spotlight on Fiction

Garuda (Excerpt)

a story by Yi Mun-yol translated by Brother Anthony of TaizĂŠ

Garuda Yi Mun-yol, Achimnara 2001, 392p, ISBN 9788988959947

Garuda Gojuk opened his eyes, feeling as if a powerful beam of light had suddenly swept over him. It seemed only a short while since he had heard the nearby church bell ringing for dawn prayers, yet now it was morning. The sun was shining directly onto the white paper covering the eastward-facing lattice door, and the wooden frame looked exceptionally black this morning. He turned his head to look about him and perhaps that little gesture stirred the air in the room, for a faint fragrance of ink crept into his nostrils. Was it Old Plum Orchard? No, it was surely Dragon Flying Phoenix Dancing, an ink from Taiwan that Professor Bak had brought back after a visit to South-East Asia last spring. The professor so valued the privilege of having been allowed into Gojuk’s studio several times a few years back that he had designated himself his special student. Since Gojuk was by then already confined to his sickbed, unable to wield a brush, the gift had inspired feelings of melancholy rather than of gratitude. The rather tactless Professor Bak had remarked: “At least, you can grind a little, place it beside your bed and savor the fragrance…” The words had been spoken quite sincerely yet he had scolded him, “What! For goodness sake! Am I already a ghost, to be offered incense?” but in the end that was what he had done. Taking as a pretext the colleagues or students coming to visit him, and not wishing to change the atmosphere that had surrounded him for nearly sixty years, Jusu ground the ink each morning at his bedside, and he enjoyed the fragrance of the ink as well as the admirable devotion of Jusu.

Judging by the smell of ink, Jusu had undoubtedly already been and gone. So the strong ray of light that had awoken him just before must have been the sunlight shining through the door she had opened on her way out. With those thoughts, Gojuk cautiously tried to raise himself. It was not easy, with one side of his body paralyzed. He was about to call someone, but changed his mind and lay back again. He had no wish to disturb the morning’s peace and quiet, and the solitude that was by now not in the least disagreeable, by formal greetings and unnecessary fuss.

Truly—Gojuk thought, staring absently up at the patterns of the plywood ceiling—how often have I experienced a morning like this in my life? With nobody, really nobody… He recalled countless such days, from far back in his now hazy childhood.

One morning when he had been five or six, lying all alone, he had found the sunlight shining fully on the door. Outside there had been a faint sound of muffled keening… then his mother, dressed in white, her hair disheveled, had embraced him before collapsing in an apparent swoon. She came in just at the moment when he

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was about to burst into a noisy storm of tears, feeling he had been abandoned for far too long. There was another such day. He must have been seven or eight; he had gone to sleep with his mother the previous night, but he found himself greeting the morning all alone. There he grew afraid of the silence reigning in the room and was about to go outside when his grandmother came in and began to cry, embracing him.

“Alas, my little child. What will become of this poor child?

That wicked woman! Unwilling to wait even until the three years of mourning are over.”

After that, once he had moved into his uncle’s house he usually awoke alone in the morning. His aunt was constantly ailing, lying in another room. His uncle spent more nights out than at home.

Inevitably, then, having fallen asleep alone in the room full of the smell of his uncle’s books, he likewise awoke alone each morning.

Once his thoughts turned toward his childhood, Gojuk could not help remembering the first day he had found himself projected, still a child, into a life like that which he lived now.

It must have been fifty years ago, or was it sixty? Anyway, it had been the day his uncle had dragged him off at the age of ten to Master Seokdam’s old mansion.

How strange! Was this unexpected recollection, clear and vivid, of long-gone, completely forgotten times in the distant past another sign of old age? Increasingly in recent years, Gojuk had been able to recall Master Seokdam as he had been that day, clearly and vividly. At the time he would have been in his early forties, but in appearance he already looked like a near-destitute, aging scholar-gentleman.

“What’s to be done? Seokdam, I reckon I’m going to have to entrust him to you. If I were to go on living here, I’d take care of him, sharing the same gruel or rice. But as it is…”

Such were the words his uncle spoke. Under some kind of pressure, he had decided to go into exile abroad.

“I don’t want this child to be another burden on my wife’s family; I’ve asked them to look after my ailing wife as it is. You take charge of him. He’s my elder brother’s only flesh and blood, after all.”

Ma ster Seokd a m, howe ver, who had been l isten i ng expressionlessly, instead of replying, asked: “You keep saying Shanghai, Shanghai, but do you have any idea of what’s really going on there? They call it the Provisional Government, but people say they’re at their wits’ end, unable to pay the rent, all the time fighting among themselves over trivial things. In addition, there’s no guarantee that Master Chungang is still there, is there?”

“Is there anything so wonderful about what’s here? Anyway, will you take him? Or will you not?”

At that, Master Seokdam looked at him in silence for a while,

then replied with a slight sigh: “His food and clothing... I’ll take care of that, somehow. But that’s not all there is to raising a child…”

“Thank you, Seokdam, that will be all that’s needed. Don’t worry about teaching him. There’s no knowing where this wretched world is headed, so what kind of teaching can you give him? He’s already mastered the three characters of his name, that’s enough.”

After saying that, his uncle turned to him: “Pay your respects to this gentleman. He is Master Seokdam.

You must behave toward him like a father until I come to collect you again.”

In the end, his uncle never came back to reclaim him. Later, well over twenty years after, he heard a report that his aged uncle was among the members of the Provisional Government returning home but at that moment he was occupied away from Seoul and when he went up to Seoul the following year there was no trace of him.

Master Seokdam, a classmate and long-time friend of his uncle, was descended from a renowned Confucian scholar of the southeastern region who was reputed to have inherited the mantle of Toegye. Seokdam was counted as one of the three great masters of the closing years of the Joseon dynasty on account of his vigorous calligraphy and elegant literati-style painting, but in actual fact he was more of a scholar than an artist, like the calligrapher Chusa, whom his teacher Chungang had admired all his life long.

“Have you learned your letters?”

Once his uncle had left, that was Master Seokdam’s first question.

“I have finished the Dongmong-seonseup primer.”

“In that case, read the Sohak. If you don’t read that, you’ll never be any good at anything” And that was all. After that, for several years he read the Sohak sitting among the master’s small number of pupils, but he never took any notice of him. Finally, in the year he turned thirteen, the master took him without warning to the nearby elementary school.

“The times are changing. You’re not too late; study this new learning.”

As a result, his only formal education came from that primary school. No matter what happened later, looking back, it was obvious that from the outset the Master had never intended to include him among his pupils.

Whenever Gojuk remembered his deceased teacher, his gaze would habitually linger over the specimen of Master Seokdam’s calligraphy that hung in a corner of his sickroom. Written

at a time when life was far from easy, it had long been stored unmounted, so that the paper was discolored and the red ink of the seal had faded to a pale orange color, but the power of the master’s brushwork lived on, sinuous as ever.

Gold-Wing cleaves oceans, Fragrant Elephant crosses rivers.

Unfortunately, Seokdam had lost his only son to cholera, and he had never chosen any of his pupils to be his designated successor; as a result, Gojuk, having looked after Seokdam’s house after his death, had inherited relatively many of his possessions.

But while he was roaming around freely in the prime of life he had taken no care of them, there had been the upheavals of the war, and now he only had a few pieces of calligraphy left.

Recently he had found himself lamenting: Soon I shall meet my master and what excuse am I going to offer for my blunders and unworthiness? Hidden within that there might also have been some repentance for his negligence of the Master’s works. But this framed piece of writing was one major exception. For the Master’s teaching, that all his life long he had disliked yet feared, had wanted to attain yet move beyond, was contained within it. Even now, when he could no longer wield a brush, he could feel Seokdam’s stern glare lurking between the strokes of the characters in the frame.

When he was twenty-seven, having grown impatient for achievement, he left the Master’s home without informing him. Putting it positively, it was in order to affirm himself, or putting it negatively, he was looking for opportunities to show off. And at least to himself the three months that followed were a successful grand tour. He was awarded the top prize in the Jeokpa calligraphy contest, received a warm welcome in the few remaining Confucian schools of the southeastern region, including those of Naeryeong, Cheongha, or Dusan and occasionally lodged in the homes of the rich where he was regaled with every kind of delicacy. As he made his way back home after three months away, loaded down with all the grain he had received in lieu of payment for his works, having left pages of calligraphy or painting behind him at each departure, his self-assurance was soaring sky-high.

Master Seokdam’s reaction was completely unexpected.

“Put all that down.”

Blocking the gate, Master Seokdam first made the porter put down all the things he was carrying. Then he addressed him.

“Take off your brush-bag and put it on top.”

It was a voice there could be absolutely no question of disobeying. Without understanding the reason, he took off his brush-bag and laid it on top of the packages of paper and grain.

Next, the Master drew from his sleeve a match and set fire to it all.

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“Master, what do you think you are doing?”

At that, Master Seokdam replied sternly to his agitated question.

“Since your uncle made the request, I will let you remain as a member of my household. But henceforth you are not to address me by the name of Master. I have never had as disciple a daubster who begins to hold the brush one morning then boasts of his skill the same evening.”

After that, a full two years passed before he received his offended teacher’s pardon. That was a testing time far harsher and harder to endure than when he had first been admitted as the lowest-ranking of his pupils. And the piece of calligraphy he was now gazing up at had been written and handed to him by Master Seokdam on the day he had finally received his moving forgiveness.

In writing, let your spirit be like that of Garuda who cleaves the blue ocean to grab at a dragon and soars with it in his clutch, let your intelligence be as thorough and solid as that of Gandhahastin who splits a stream from below, then crosses it…

When he looked back on it, even after a whole lifetime had passed, in Gojuk’s memory the immensely difficult period of apprenticeship was still enveloped in a light that closely resembled an indelible grief and regret.

Perhaps on account of some kind of premonition, Master Seokdam had treated him with icy precaution from the moment his uncle had entrusted him to him. Despite the distinction of his family line, after several generations of scholars, the Master’s inherited income had not been very great, and at that time he was mainly relying on the sacks of rice that his small number of pupils offered each spring and autumn, but nonetheless accepting this child had not represented such a financial burden that it could tax Master Seokdam’s mind unduly. Moreover, later, even when he was grown up and had taken charge of providing for Master Seokdam, unable to support himself, the Master’s attitude had not changed, suggesting that there was some kind of intrinsic problem.

The way Master Seokdam had obliged him to keep reading year after year the Sohak that other pupils finished in a couple of years and moved beyond, then had put him into the fourth grade of primary school at the age of thirteen firmly removing him to a place far distant from his own kind of learning, was surely linked with that attitude.

Yet equally incomprehensible had been his own feelings toward Master Seokdam. Throughout the Master’s lifetime, he had kept being entangled in contradictory emotions, inexpressible admiration and equally intense hatred toward him. On looking back calmly, such feelings were far removed from any kind of inevitable logicality, but he could locate more or less exactly

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the moment when they had begun to form clearly. It had been between the age of sixteen, after he had graduated from primary school and remained in Master Seokdam’s home, and the age of eighteen, when he had formally begun studies with him. In that period he had refused a relative’s kind offer to help with school fees, so turning his back on the rapidly changing world and any aspiration for the new learning that corresponded to it, had taken over the management of Master Seokdam’s unpromising household affairs. Since the sacks of rice brought by the pupils no longer provided enough food, he supplemented that by cultivating a few fields previously let out to a tenant, while sometimes walking twenty or thirty li to gather a load of firewood.

People found him laudable for doing so much, but in reality from that time onward an intense flame of love-hate had burned within him. Like the shade of a cloud passing over a spring hillside, like fields freshly washed by a summer day’s shower, like a stream in an autumn valley, like a winter sky clearing after a snowfall, Master Seokdam’s life had been calm, fresh, pure and quiet yet also tedious, forlorn and desolate, and had always inspired in him simultaneously an inexplicable admiration and an ominous premonition. When the Master was seated at his desk smiling vaguely and seemingly half-asleep, and his soul seemed to wander through some fluid world illumined solely by the twilight of past glories, or when, eyes flashing with surreal vitality, he wielded the large brush like a typhoon, or when in the shade of a musk-rose bush in the backyard with an unworldly dignity, far from any uproar, he fingered the geomungo, or painted orchids, he seemed to be the very model of a dedicated life; but when he reflected on the housekeeping, on how, unless he looked after him, within six months they would have a starved corpse on their hands, or on the dilapidated house that nowadays nobody visited in the course of a year except for a few old men and the pupils who were now less numerous than his ten fingers, or on seeing the helpless expression with which Master Seokdam greeted him on his return from hard work in the fields, he had the impression that it was all a kind of cursed fate he had to escape from at all costs.

Yet what had finally dominated Gojuk ’s life had been the admiration and the veneration. As if it had already been predetermined when he had suppressed the powerful temptations of the new world and renounced the new learning, he had finally set about imitating Master Seokdam with a fervor that he himself could not account for. Calligraphy models written by the Master and left behind by departing pupils, spoiled pages of writing or paintings the Master had thrown aside, literati drawings scrawled for exchange with fellow calligraphers then left behind, such were his main models, although sometimes he made bold to take things directly from the Master’s collection.

The paper and brushes he had used at first were such that

they stirred a chill wind in his breast when he recalled them even many years later. Smaller characters he practiced in a sand box or on a plank coated with oiled dust, using stubby brushes the Master’s pupils had discarded after use, large characters he used to write with a broom made of hair from a dog’s tail on the large stone tables for offerings lying in front of tombs, that he would then wash clean with water. The first time he obtained paper and brushes of his own was after he had given a bundle of pine-needle branches to the brush merchant and the paper seller, unknown to his master…

Later, Master Seokdam is said to have censured that as Gojuk’s cockiness, yet, in the light of their relationship, it is hard to believe that in the course of that difficult apprenticeship he not only never requested Master Seokdam to accept him as a pupil, but did not so much as give any indication of his ardent desire.

But perhaps that was his artistic pride, the instinctive arrogance found in certain kinds of great souls.

Then a day came when Master Seokdam left home early in the morning and he was left alone in charge; after tidying up the Master’s study, he suddenly experienced a strange urge. It was the urge to see clearly in a single glance how far he had developed.

The place where Master Seokdam had gone was a Confucian poetry gathering more than a hundred li away, he would surely be unable to return within the day.

He prepared the writing table, started to grind ink in the Master’s Duanxi ink stone. Following the Master’s instructions, he did not splash so much as a drop of ink; then once the hollowed space in the stone was full of ink he took up some brushes his master had left aside when preparing his bag, and some precious Chinese paper.

First he copied the Twin Cranes Inscription in the Yan style in square characters. Whereas the great calligrapher Chusa had considered Oh-Yang Sheun’s Inscription on the Sweet Spring at Chiu-ch'eng Palace to be the best model for learning the square characters, that was the model Master Seokdam encouraged his pupils to master. As he grew accustomed to the brush and paper, his brush strokes came closer to the original. Next he turned to writing, also in Yan style, the Monument to Good Etiquette... it was an ever more arduous task, yet slowly he fell into a state of high rapture.

He was finally brought down to earth by the sound of an unexpected shout just as he had finished writing, the opening lines of Wáng Xīzhī’s “Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion” which he had been practicing on his own.

“You scoundrel! Stop that!”

Lifting astonished eyes, he saw Master Seokdam standing there, looking down at him, in the room that had grown dark without his noticing. The shout had been loud, but his face

expressed inexplicable apprehension and resignation rather than wrath. At his side was Master Choi, known by the pen name Ungok but also by the nickname ‘Sevenfold Gentleman’ because of his all-round skills in poetry, calligraphy, painting, baduk, divination, medicine and music; he was looking mystified.

Covered in confusion, he scurried around gathering up the pages he had written, that lay scattered all over the room.

Contrary to what he had expected, Master Seokdam merely watched him absently. Ungok spoke.

“Leave what you’ve written.”

His words were addressed to Gojuk as he was about to go out carrying the pages he had written, after rushing madly about tidying up the room. Gojuk obeyed almost automatically. Driven by curiosity and excitement, he came back close to the men’s quarters and listened to the voices filtering from the room.

For a while the only sound to be heard in the room, where lights had been lit, was the rustling of paper, then Ungok spoke.

“So, Seokdam, did you really not teach him anything?”

“Maybe he studied by looking over my shoulder, I have never taught him anything.”

For some reason Seokdam’s reply sounded dejected and subdued.

“If that’s the case, it’s truly amazing. He must have the gift of heaven.

Seokdam said nothing.

“Why have you not accepted him as a pupil?”

“Transmission should not be made to one who is not yet a person—have you forgotten what Wang Youjun said?”

“Do you mean to say you reckon this young man so far from being a person that you are unable to teach him?”

“First of all, that youth has too much talent. He knows nothing of points and stokes, yet he can form characters; he has never learned the twelve principles of calligraphy, yet he knows harmonization and spacing and turning. He’s a born penman whose talent blocks the root of the Way.” “Such words are unexpected from so mild a person. Surely you can open up the root of the Way for him?”

“You think that’s an easy task? Besides, the boy is hardly likely to appreciate the fragrance of characters and the vigor of writings.

Yet I must say, this orchid is certainly composed with quite charming elegance.”

“Don’t you think he’ll develop those qualities after he becomes your pupil? Go on, accept him!”

“At the outset the only things I agreed to provide were his food and clothing. I’d hoped that he would acquire the new learning and find a way to support himself on his own...”

“Seokdam, why on earth are you being like this? Even someone with whom you have no relationship, if he comes asking

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for instruction, you can’t just send him away, you know. So what makes you treat so coolly this youth who has eaten at your table these last seven or eight years? I have heard that for several years past he has taken charge of supporting you. Don’t you feel touched by pity at such devotion?”

At that point, Ungok’s voice filled with indignation. It seemed that he had already heard talk of his strange relationship with Seokdam.

“Don’t blame me too harshly. To tell the truth, I myself do not know why that child troubles me. Every time I see him, my only feeling is that some evil fate has brought us together.

Master Seokdam’s voice trembled slightly.

“Then what about this? If he’s a burden to you, send him to me at least once every three days. It looks as though it would be wrong for him to abandon this path now.”

“There’s no need for that. I’ll train him.”

What could Master Seokdam have meant by evil fate? And what made him suddenly decide to accept him despite saying such a thing?

The next day, Gojuk’s name was formally included among the pupils of Master Seokdam. That is not to say that there was some kind of solemn admission ceremony. That day Gojuk was going out of the front gate with an A-frame on his back as usual when Master Seokdam called out to him.

“From today you are not to go working in the fields.”

He spoke as if making some kind of passing remark. Then, casting a sidelong glance at Gojuk who was bewildered by the sudden command, he insisted in a louder voice: “I’m telling you to take off that frame and go into my study.”

Such had been the ceremony marking the start of their destined relationship as master and pupil.

At the sudden sound of the door opening, Gojuk’s thoughts returned to present realities from the hazy past in which they had been roaming. Looking in the direction of the door with unfocussed eyes, he saw Maehyang coming in. He felt his back grow strangely cold as his sight cleared. How much resentment she must have felt, to come all this way... Gojuk, filled with a feeling similar to remorse, gazed at Maehyang as she approached. No, it was not her.

“Father, are you awake?”

It was Jusu. She approached silently to examine his complexion and her face, devoid of makeup, betrayed intense concern.

Summoning all his strength he tried to raise himself. Perhaps prepared for such a move, Jusu calmly helped him lean back. He could feel that raising himself was becoming more difficult with each passing day.

“Shall I bring you some fruit juice?”

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She addressed him again but, instead of replying, he dumbly scrutinized her face then abruptly asked in a weak, hoarse voice: “Do you remember your mother?”

Hearing his question, Jusu looked at him with a look of surprise. It might have been because, although she had been caring for him for more than seven years now, ever since the previous old woman had died, she had never once heard him ask such a question. In fact it had been longer still since his lips had last spoken Maehyang’s name.

“Only from photos...”

Of course, poor child, entrusting the newly born baby to her family and going back to the gisaeng house, then, less than two years later, committing that foolish deed...

“But father, why do you ask?”

“Just now I thought you were your mother coming in.”

Jusu said nothing.

“She was not the kind to make old bones, yet, there was no need for her to hasten things like that...”

Seeing her father’s face fill with grief as he spoke, Jusu’s face, that had unusually tightened for a moment, softened again to its normal state.

“Shall I bring you some fruit juice?”

She repeated her question as if she wanted to change the mood. He replied, shaking off the thought of Maehyang: “If you have some green tea ready, give me a sip of that.”

Jusu opened a window briefly to change the air in the room, then went out quietly.

What was that passion that spurred me on so violently... as he drank the cool tea Jusu had brought, Gojuk recalled the first time he had met Maehyang. At thirty-five he had left Master Seokdam for the second time and spent the next ten years wandering from place to place.

It was during the years just preceding the beginning of the war between Japan and China in 1931, a time when there were still Confucian scholars, traditional schools were still a living reality, and regular poetry gatherings, literary contests and competitions were regularly held. Perhaps because he had been formed by Master Seokdam, who was even known as the Triple Master, being equally outstanding in poetry, calligraphy and painting, or on account of the fact that he had, despite the Master’s scoldings, had works accepted at several National Art Exhibitions, his travels had been relatively luxurious for such a depressed and impoverished period. Once a month or so, somewhere around the country he would find himself invited to take the seat of honor at a gathering, and in every county there remained at least one worthy prepared to pay him enough for a single work to cover a whole month’s journeying.

It was during the same period that he had paid a visit to

Jinju. After ten days of partying during some competition, he was cleaning his brushes and preparing to pack his bag when a rickshaw unexpectedly arrived before the house that had served as the venue for the contest to take him somewhere. It was not the first time such a thing had happened, so he quickly got in and was taken to what was then Jinju’s finest restaurant. Waiting for him in a large room before a table groaning with food, he found half a dozen Japanese men and two Koreans. They were high public officials who appreciated calligraphy and enlightened local supporters of the Japanese.

Maehyang had been one of the gisaeng summoned to serve the group. When the party was at its height, the Korean manager of the government trading company who seemed to have organized it smilingly asked the gisaeng: “So who is going to accommodate this gentleman tonight?”

At that, a burst of coquettish laughter arose from the gisaeng for a while, and then one of them came gliding forward; standing before Gojuk, she raised her long red skirt, revealing a silk petticoat that was white like fine paper. She might have been about twenty-two, her face was not particularly beautiful, nor did she display any very sensuous coquetry, yet something about her was strangely enticing. As he undid his brush bag, that he had brought with him, he felt the liquor he had drunk go rushing to his head.

“What’s your name?”

“I am called Maehyang.”

She replied pertly, seemingly oblivious of those around. It was he, rather, who was embarrassed.

“Plum-blossom fragrance? Then I shall have to paint a spray of plum blossom.”

He made an effort to speak calmly, but he could not prevent the hand holding the brush from trembling. But what he could never understand was the picture of plum blossom that he painted.

Perhaps from a feeling of shame toward the Master he had left behind, what was spreading across the girl’s petticoat was not his own style of plum, but Master Seokdam’s. The trunk dry and bent, with two plum blossoms on a gaunt branch that were still scarcely flowering buds. The accompanying text was Seokdam’s, too: “Though its whole life is spent in the cold, the plum never sells its fragrance.”

At a cursory glance, the phrase might seem to derive from Maehyang’s name, but the statement that plum blossom refuses to sell its fragrance even though it spends its whole existence in bitter cold hardly suited the petticoat of an officially registered gisaeng toward the end of the Japanese colonial period. But it was

what followed that had engendered a shame that, unbeknown to anyone, endured until the present day.

“Why is this plum tree so cold and lonely?”

When Maehyang asked that as he was setting his seal to the painting, he replied in a low, grave voice that only she could hear: “Have you not noticed how Cheng Ssu-hsiao’s orchids all have their roots exposed?”

Then to the curious onlookers he explained that it was because such plum trees blossom while it is still winter, but it seemed clear that Maehyang had understood him correctly: the exposed roots of Cheng Ssu-hsiao’s orchids expressed his resentment and sorrow at the humiliation of his country under foreign occupation.

That night, Maehyang gave herself to him readily.

“You’ve made my petticoat wet like this on a cold evening, you’ll have to look after me tonight.”

After that, he spent four months with Maehyang. Those were months of which he only retained impressions of pleasure and sweetness, such as a memory of crossing a mountain pass bright with spring flowers, intoxicated with delight. Then abruptly their days together came to an end. Just as he was not a wandering scholar who consoled his humiliated country by art like Cheng Ssu-hsiao, so she was not a heroic gisaeng who leaped into a river embracing an enemy general as Nongae had done during an earlier Japanese invasion. If he was nothing but a mere dilettante traveling about under the impulse of a passion he himself did not understand, she was just a gisaeng with a family of eight to support, her parents and six siblings.

They separated without hatred or rancor, as if they were putting into practice something they had agreed at the start.

Maehyang went back to the gisaeng house. Gojuk set off for a friend’s exhibition that was due to open in Jeonju. It was their last parting.

The next year in the autumn he heard a report that Maehyang, after they had separated, had given birth to a daughter she said was his. At that time he was roaming from one temple to another on the western slopes of Mount Seorak, so without further thought he sent a note telling her to give the child the name Jusu [Autumn water]. Maybe the water in the mountain streams, limpid to the point of sadness, had inspired in him a premonition concerning the child’s future.

It was only some years later that he heard Maehyang was dead. It seemed that she had become a wealthy man’s concubine but, unable to endure his wife’s harassment, she had drunk four ounces of fresh opium juice mixed with water, putting an end to her youthful life. Perhaps he was heartless, but the fact was that on hearing the news of Maehyang’s wretched death, he felt no particular sorrow. His only thought was that a daughter of his had been born from that woman’s body, and he briefly wondered

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where she was, how she was faring.

However, he only saw Jusu’s face for the first time when she came to study in a girls’ school in the town where he was living.

Her uncle, provided with a fair income by reason of his sister’s unfortunate demise, expressed his thanks by looking after the child, his only niece. As a result, Jusu experienced no particular hardships as she grew up. From time to time Gojuk would call in at the girls’ school to meet his daughter. That was his way of consoling himself, as with the approaching of old age he was experiencing a growing need for affectionate relationships with his own flesh and blood.

After that, it was relatively late before father and daughter lived together in one house.

After the death of the old woman who had been living with him as his companion ever since he had settled in the town, opening a studio and moving into a small house, he found himself alone again and Jusu was also alone, having lost her husband in the Vietnam war, so she moved in with him. That had been seven years before, when poor Jusu was a mere twenty-six years old.

Gojuk swallowed down a bowl of gruel as if it were some kind of medicinal concoction, then struggled to his feet. Jusu, who was on her way out with the empty bowl took his hand as he stood tottering and asked: “Will you be going out today?”

“I must.”

“You went out for nothing yesterday. Today you should send Mr. Kim to make the rounds instead.”

“I have to go myself.”

Since leaving the hospital the previous summer, over the past four months he had made the rounds of the galleries in the town center without missing a single day. He was intent on buying back any of his own works that became available. When he first began buying, he had no clearly formulated plan but now he was nearing a conclusion.

That was linked to a clear premonition of impending death.

Doctor Jeong, the doctor treating him, had calmly declared that he was completely cured but judging by various signs, his discharge from hospital had been a kind of death sentence. There was something about the endless succession of visitors, and the somber expression of Jusu as she cared for him, close as his shadow. His stomach, too, unable to deal with food properly, was a long way from Dr. Jeong’s ‘complete recovery.’ There was none of the intense pain he had felt at the time when he was hospitalized.

Yet he could not shake himself free of a feeling that his cells were collapsing one by one, starting from the tips of his toes.

“Is there still no news of Choheon?

Choheon was the pen-name of the pupil Jusu had called Mr.

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Kim. The last pupil to receive a pen name from him, he was a young man who had been lodging at the studio for several years past.

“He said he would be here in half an hour’s time. But stay home today...”

“No, I’m going out. Get my things ready.”

He threw a rather stern glance at Jusu, who kept trying to dissuade him imploringly, then slowly walked back and forth in his room. He had only gone a few steps before everything grew blurred and he began to lurch about. Jusu watched him with anxious eyes until he was back sitting on the floor, leaning against his rolled-up bedding, then went out quietly. His eyes were filled once again with his master’s calligraphy.

Was their meeting truly doomed by evil fate, as Master Seokdam had said? Even after accepting him as a pupil. their strange relationship had continued unchanged. Seokdam had been so parsimonious in his teaching, that Gojuk could not be free from the resentment lodged in his breast until he was middle aged. He started by learning the standard, regular style all over again and before he took up the brush, Seokdam made him memorize Chusa’s Seogyeol (theory of calligraphy).

The rule governing writing requires one to become quite empty before moving. That is like the heavens, which have the north and south poles as their axis, then once the heavens are fixed round that unmoving point they move constantly. The rule governing writing is just the same. For that reason writing is affected by the brush, while the brush is moved by the fingers, and the fingers are moved by the wrist. So shoulder, forearm, wrist, all are moved by what we term the right side of the body…

Such was the start of the text, some four hundred characters in length, that Gojuk was forced to memorize without omitting so much as a single character. Next he handed him a copy of a manual of Yan Zhenqing’s style that he had in fact, unknown to the Master, already copied out.

“If you copy this one hundred times, you will acquire the basics; if you copy it one thousand times, you will hear people say you can write well; if you copy it ten thousand times, people may call you a great calligrapher.”

That was all his teaching. If anything at all had changed from before, it was probably only the fact that he could now practice openly and went once every two days to learn Chinese classics from Master Ungok. Then, three years later, he had added only one remark: “Hold your breath.”

That had been when he was lamenting that even after copying them out three thousand times, he still could not write the square

style of characters properly.

It was much the same when it came to painting the Four Gracious Plants (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo).

For example, when it came to painting orchids, he had simply handed him a copy of Seokpa’s volume of orchids he himself had made, saying: “You cannot hope to become a Buddha overnight, nor can you catch a dragon bare-handed. It is only possible after much practice.”

Once again, that was all. Although he would occasionally inspect over his shoulder the orchids he was painting, he never once said a word teaching him in detail what to do.

It was not until his orchid paintings were nearly satisfactory that he added: “Start on the left. You have to use the brush turned in the opposite direction for the rock.”

Besides, Master Seokdam took no particular pleasure at his pupil’s accomplishments. Nearly ten years after he had become his pupil, his skill gave rise to a quiet admiration even among his master’s friends. Yet whenever the Master heard such remarks, he would always reply briefly and sternly: “He’s barely learned how to imitate.”

It is possible that his decision to leave the Master’s house when he was twenty-seven was also a rebellious reaction to such a cold-hearted attitude. Yet, strange to say, the more he heard the applause of the outside world, the more he longed to receive his Master’s praise. It may well have been that which brought him back to Master Seokdam’s side, and was the reason that made him endure nearly two years of contempt and abuse before receiving the Master’s forgiveness.

After he had returned to the housekeeping tasks of earlier times, laboring in the fields and bringing in wood, for two years the Master refused so much as to look at him him. Once, driven by an irresistible impulse, he took up the brush unbeknown to the Master. It was done in great secrecy, but he detected it and spoke with the most cold-hearted severity: “Go outside and wash. The smell of ink coming from your body is more intolerable than the smell of a whore’s make-up.”

Later, even after he had been forgiven and was once again practicing in the Master’s study, there had been no great change in Master Seokdam’s attitude. Indeed, as he grew older and his calligraphy matured, a kind of unreasonable anxiety seemed increasingly to be manifest in the Master’s frosty expression. It was rather Gojuk who grew ever more relaxed. He had been subject to the Master’s hostility and cruelty for nearly half his lifetime; it was not just that he had grown impervious or accustomed to them; he had reached a point where he deliberately did things that distressed and upset the Master, taking pleasure in his anger

and complaints. His occasional participation in exhibitions and competitions was one example of that.

However, the day was approaching when their fraught relationship would f inally break down completely, as the inexplicable causes of Seokdam’s anxieties about Gojuk, as well as Gojuk’s uneasiness toward his teacher, gradually revealed their true nature with time.

Fundamentally, no unity was possible between them because of what might be termed their approach to art, their concepts of calligraphy and painting. Master Seokdam’s writing gave weight to strength, revered the inner spirit, the essential nature and principle. Whereas he esteemed beauty and strove to give expression to feeling and sense. In painting, too, Master Seokdam considered art to be an expression of the artist’s heart while he claimed it was a depiction of things, and aimed at faithfulness to the subject, rather than to his own inwardness. A good example of that can be found in their famous quarrel over the plum and bamboo.

Among the Four Gracious Plants, Master Seokdam had always prided himself especially on his paintings of bamboo and plum.

But with the annexation of Korea by Japan, a strange change occurred. Originally, in the paintings of plum and bamboo

by Master Seokdam, which has been admired by the Regent Daewongun himself as works of genius, leaves and flowers were thickly clustered, emerging energetically, but after the annexation they had gradually begun to wilt, grow parched and twisted. That became worse with age, until in the works of his last years there remained no more than three leaves on a stalk of bamboo, or five blossoms on a plum branch. To Gojuk, that was unsatisfying.

“Master, why have you plucked the leaves from the bamboo, stripped away the plum flowers?”

By the time he asked that, Gojuk was in the prime of manhood and Master Seokdam was no longer capable of his previous fastidiousness.

“What joy could the bamboos of a subjugated land have to produce thick foliage, what strength remains in the brush of a subject of a deposed regime to make plums blossom?”

“Cheng Ssu-hsiao painted orchids with their roots revealed to express the shame of occupied Sung China, Zhao Mengfu sacrificed his integrity and agreed to serve the Yuan dynasty, but I have never heard anyone say that Cheng Ssu-hsiao’s orchids alone were fragrant or that the works of Zhao Mengfu were base.”

“Writing and painting are expressions of the heart. Since we make use of outward objects in order to depict the heart, there is no need to be shackled by the actual appearance of things.”

“If writing calligraphy and painting pictures were merely the means by which a scholar expresses his righteous indignation, surely they would be pointless? In that case, it would surely

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be shameful to be born a man then to spend a whole lifetime grinding ink and soiling paper. I may be wrong, but if the nation is as precious as you suggest, it would be more honorable to join the ranks of the independence fighters and die killing at least one enemy. In any case, sitting quietly in one’s study plucking off bamboo leaves, stripping away plum blossoms, is to deceive oneself and deceive the thing itself.”

“Not so. When it comes to being faithful to things, the roadside artist surely does far better. But their pictures are sold for a farthing and are later used to cover a hole in the floor, because they are shallow and vulgar. You are trying to give some kind of value to painting and writing as such, but unless they incorporate some lofty state of mind, all you have is black ink and white paper.”

A similar contention arose concerning the nature of art. Once again, since Gojuk was now mature, it began with a question from him.

“Master, is calligraphy an art, a principle, or a Way?” “It is a Way.” “Why then do people talk of the art of writing and the principle of writing?”

“Art is the Way’s fragrance, principle is the Way’s clothing. If there is no Way, there can be no art, no principle.”

“It is said that when art reaches its height, it becomes the Way. So is not art the door opening on to the Way, rather than its fragrance?”

“Those are an artisan’s words. Everything has always to be within the Way.” “Then you mean that before learning to write and paint, there first has to be a purification of body and mind?”

“Yes indeed. That is why Wang Youjun said that transmission should not be made to one who is not yet a person. Do you see what that means now?”

Already in his sixties and visibly aging, Master Seokdam’s expression suddenly brightened and he gazed intently at the face of this pupil who had ever been such a worry to him. But to the very end Gojuk failed to fulfill his master’s expectations.

“If forming the person has to come first, why are children of six or seven given a brush and made to draw strokes? If the Way comes before writing, how many people are going to be ready to take up the brush before they die?”

“It’s a matter of practicing artistic technique while waiting to enter the Way. If someone remains a whole lifetime at the level of technique, that is craftsmanship; if someone is able to take one step along the Way, that is art; if someone achieves perfect union of art and Way, that is a supreme state of being in the Way of art.

“That means that art is first and the Way comes later. But surely putting the Way first and repressing artistic spirit is to put

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the cart before the ox?”

Such had been Gojuk’s complaint for over half a lifetime, ever since he had first become Master Seokdam’s pupil. The Master’s response was equally sharp, perhaps on account of a feeling that the anxiety he had harbored ever since accepting him into his house had finally been confirmed.

“You wretch. Are you trying to prevaricate with frivolous words when you ought to be striving to make up for your lack of the vigor of writings and the fragrance of characters? Study is the path leading to the Way. But you have never had any interest in the classics, have never enjoyed reading works of literature. You have merely been training the tip of your brush and your wrist, imitating in a spirited fashion the venerable achievement of the ancients, so how are you any different from a mere artisan? Now here you are, without the least sign of shame, daring to criticize your forebears’ lofty spirit of achievement, you shameless wretch.”

So, finally, the day came when the ill-fated master and pupil turned their backs on one another. It was the year when Gojuk turned thirty-six.

By that time, Gojuk had a variety of reasons for being fed up. He was in a wretched state after the eight years of extremely arduous training he had undergone since being readmitted as Seokdam’s pupil. He was so completely absorbed in writing and painting that he almost never left his seat; as a result, in the summer his buttocks would fester unbearably, while in the winter his joints were so stiff that it was hard for him to stand up to bring in the little table with his meals. Disregarding Master Seokdam’s silent rebukes, he saw nothing, heard nothing that was unrelated to calligraphy and painting. He had previously spent almost ten years in constant training but until late in his life Gojuk used to recall those eight years as the most precious years of his life. If those earlier ten years can be seen as ten years spent striving to reach Master Seokdam’s level, those eight years were eight years of struggle to get free of Master Seokdam.

Meanwhile, his technique matured and his public reputation slowly grew in due proportion. Critical opinions vary but even now there are those who reckon that the writing and paintings done in that period, scintillating with talent and inspiration, are the finest among his life’s accomplishments. But Gojuk gradually fell into an unfathomable state where everything seemed false and vain, rather like the solitude and emptiness that reign after a fire has gone out.

That sense of futility seemed to have a double origin. One was the way his prime of life had all flowed away to no avail amidst the dust of ink and paper. He had a wife, whom Ungok had introduced him to, and two children, but from the beginning he had seen them as necessities like a chest or a writing table, and not as objects of passion. His youth, his hopes, his love, his

aspirations, all had been entirely devoted to writing and yet more writing. But now his youth, fluttering pathetically at the tip of the branch like a single leaf left in late autumn, all that he had been pursuing, devoting everything he had, still seemed remote and perhaps for ever unattainable like a rainbow over a mountaintop...

The other stimulus for his sense of futility was the problem he increasingly encountered as he matured as a calligrapher, the question as to whether he deserved an objective self-approval or not. As he gradually awoke from his feverish state of absorption, there was a question he found himself asking himself mockingly: What have I been doing, what am I doing? The meaning of his repeated question was different now from in the days when he had been contending with his teacher. Is it acceptable for a man once born on this earth to spend his entire lifetime grinding ink and playing with brushes? There are those who, in the struggle for independence from Japan, have gone overseas, who have fought and died or been imprisoned; others have concentrated on finance, accumulated a fortune, then relieved their needy neighbors.

Others have enlightened their ignorant compatriots by cultural activities, yet others have devoted themselves to the new learning and served society by their knowledge. But what had he done with half his lifetime? His gaze had been entirely focused on himself, and even that laborious training of his earlier days, which he had previously considered sincere and significant, now seemed merely a flight from a dreary life, a subjective self-indulgence. An entirely self-centered life, alas, an entirely self-centered life...

Then came that autumn day, the same year. Master Seokdam was already so old and frail that he sometimes remained confined to his bed; on that day, as soon as he had risen from his sickbed he brought out paper and brush. The brush and paper were both of the large size, which by that time he scarcely ever used. Gojuk, who had not put brush to paper for several months past, felt an irrational fury at the sight of the Master’s tenacity and left the room as soon as he had finished grinding the ink. The true reason was that, somehow, the Master’s very tenacity seemed to imply scorn at the pupil’s irresoluteness. Still, after walking up and down in the courtyard for a while he was suddenly seized with curiosity as to how well the master was coping with his writing.

Entering the room, he found Master Seokdam panting, eyes closed, the brush laid down on the water holder. On the floor, apparently abandoned in the course of writing, was a page containing the first three characters of the saying [you should give equal strength to each and every hair of a brush].

“They say that at the age of seventy-eight Su Zhai, Weng Fang-gang wrote the four characters [perfect peace under heaven] on a sesame seed. I am not even seventy, yet I didn’t have enough strength to write those four characters in a single stroke...”

As he lamented, Master Seokdam’s face was filled with an

intense sorrow. But on hearing those words, Gojuk’s repressed fury came surging up again. To his eyes, the Master’s expression reflected not sorrow but rather self-confidence.

“Supposing that you had written that in a single gesture, and Garuda had arisen from it, Fragrant Elephant come sauntering, what advantage would that have been to you?”

Gojuk did not realize that, as he posed the question, his face harbored a sadistic smile. On first hearing those words Master Seokdam, who had been sitting exhausted, his brow pearling with perspiration, looked stunned. Then as soon as he had grasped the true sense of his words, he glared at him fiercely.

“What are you saying? That is a truly sublime state that any calligrapher aspires to experience even if it is just once in a whole lifetime.”

“But even supposing one attained that, what could it give us?”

Gojuk was relentless.

“You haven’t even begun to climb Tai-shan, and already you’re worried that once you reach the top there might not be yet higher mountains beyond it. Are you suggesting that the great sages who are revered by all the generations for their lofty attainments were all wasting their time?”

“They were deceiving themselves and they deceived others. If there is a Way in the act of daubing ink on paper, what on earth is it? If it’s some kind of recondite mystery, how wonderful is it?

If you are speaking of a Way, a butcher or a thief has a Way; if you are referring to complexity of meanings, there are recondite mysteries in the work of a craftsman or a blacksmith. Supposing one’s name is handed down from age to age, while the ‘I’ no longer exists, and one’s shell transformed into writing goes wandering amidst an unknown posterity, what use is that? Works may be preserved, but even the hardest inscribed stone is worn away by winds and rain, how much more then mere paper and ink? After all, when they were alive, such things could give their bodies no comfort, could offer no help to their naked, starving neighbors.

In order to conceal that futility, that distress, they established a state which no one could attain or demonstrate, so consoling themselves and bewitching their neighbors and descendants...”

At that moment, Gojuk, wracked by a sudden pain, fell prostrate, holding his head in his hands. Furious, Master Seokdam had seized the cover of his ink slab that was lying before him and thrown it at him. The maddened shouts of his old master rang in Gojuk’s ears as he mopped up the blood that was spurting like a fountain.

“Wretch, I recognized the vulgarity in you early on. Get out. You should have been sitting at the streetside from the very beginning. You cleverly disguised your vulgarity but today it is manifest; if you go out on to the streets now, you can earn a generous measure of rice for every character you write . . . .”

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In the end, that was their last encounter. Having left Master Seokdam’s house that day, Gojuk next entered it only after the Master’s body was already in its coffin.

That had happened more than ten years before, yet it was still with a vague feeling of pain that Gojuk touched the left side of his forehead where the scar, now covered with wrinkles, was barely visible. Yet the memory of the Master’s face that arose with that gesture evoked, not hatred or fear, but yearning.

“Father, Mr. Kim is here.”

Once again, Jusu’s voice awoke him from interminable reminiscing. With that, the door opened and Choheon’s round face appeared. W henever he saw him, this pupil awoke a particular feeling of affection, as if he were a late-born son. It might be because for the past year or so he had generously been managing the studio in his absence without asking for anything in return, but it was above all on account of his writing. Unlike other modern youths who, before they have learned to wield the brush correctly, scrawl in semi-cursive style, and write in cursive and seal styles although they do not know how to make points and lines correctly, Choheon deliberately spent three years practicing only the square style. Besides, he started calligraphy only seven years ago, but since he had spent every day of those seven years in the studio, it was no short period of time, yet at that spring’s collective exhibition by Gojuk’s pupils he had modestly submitted just two pieces written in square characters. His writing looked awkward yet it was full of a strange power, so that Gojuk was secretly moved by it. That was because it sometimes reminded him of Master Seokdam’s brushwork, which he found increasingly profound as he grew older, although in his own youth he had so stubbornly rejected it.

“Do you really intend to go out today, sir? I heard from your daughter that you seemed to be walking with some difficulty...”

Quite forgetting the customary morning greetings, Choheon groped hesitantly for words. If Gojuk had still been as he was in younger days, he would surely not have endured his way of speaking, inarticulate to the point that it made him seem devious, but now Gojuk took no notice and replied gently.

“I have to bring everything back, even if there’s only one left out there. The city library refuses to give up the piece they have, you said?”

“Because it was included in the list of works received from the previous administrator, they said it was quite impossible.”

“Even though I said I would give them a work by Maegye?”

“The director of the library said that it did not matter who it was by, they could not alter their list.”

“These people are quite impossible. I shall be obliged to go

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and meet him today in person.”

“Are you really going out?”

“Stop chattering; go and call a cab.”

As soon as Gojuk made his request, Choheon silently went out of the room. His expression indicated the usual curiosity, but today too he refrained from asking the Master why he was so intent on getting his works back.

About the Author Yi Mun-yol debuted in 1979 with the novella "Saehagok."His literary works allegorically reconstruct contemporary social issues and explore new possibilities. For the Emperor and “Our Twisted Hero” embody this style. Autobiographical works like A Portrait of Youthful Days and Farewell My Hometown illustrate Yi’s existential anguish in relation to identity, loss, and the collapse of community. His major works are Son of Man, A Portrait of Youthful Days, For the Emperor, Lethe’s Love Song, Our Twisted Hero, The Poet, The Song of Songs, and Lithuanian Woman. His short stories and novellas have been collected into the five volume series The Complete Short Stories of Yi Mun-yol. Six of his novels have sold more than one million copies each, and altogether his books have sold more than 30 million copies. Yi is both a literary and commercially celebrated storyteller. His novel The Poet is critically acclaimed in dozens of countries. The short story “An Anonymous Island” was the first Korean story to be published in The New Yorker (2011), and the short story "Garuda" won the Dong-in Literary Award. Yi is a recipient of numerous literary awards including the Yi Sang Literary Award, and the Hyundae Literary Award.

Reviews Fiction

Coming Home What Is Baseball?

Kim Kyung-wook, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 256p, ISBN9788954622042

Baseball is one of many games that involve identical starting and ending points. In order to leave the home plate, batters must strike the ball with great force, and to return to home plate, base runners must run as if their lives depend on it. Although leaving home plate is in the hands of the batter, returning to home plate is an endeavor that requires one's teammates to do well at bat. Ultimately, leaving and returning to home plate is no simple affair because it requires both skill and luck.

Ac c ord ing to K i m Ky u ng-wook, What Is Baseball? is not a novel about baseball but rather a tale of revenge. The protagonist lost his younger brother 30 years ago during the brutal suppression of the Gwangju Democratic Movement.

The troops sent to Gwangju to enforce martial law under the military dictatorship played dice games to determine whether their prisoners were communist partisans or not. The protagonist’s younger brother became a victim of the soldiers' cruel game. His family has trouble coping with

the brother’s death and slides toward ruin.

When his mother finally passes away, he vows revenge on those who caused his brother's death. Armed only with an old knife, a pair of dice, and a vial of cyanide, he goes in search of the soldier who beat his brother to death. He discovers the perpetrator in a hospital, but the soldier is brain dead as the result of an accident.

Although the protagonist has dreamed of vengeance for the past 30 years, now he realizes that the time for vengeance has passed and decides to return home and live his life. It's unclear, however, where home is. Is it even possible for him to return to a normal life?

What Is Baseball? A va riet y of inexplicable coincidences catches the protagonist off-guard, highlighting the unexpected nature of life. The author has purposely written the entire novel in the present tense to avoid a style of exposition akin to a personal chronicle. Just like the protagonist, all of us are struggling in the seas of life, somewhere between departure and arrival. Baseball uncannily resembles life in this respect.

by Cho Yeon-jung

A Master of Murder How a Murderer Remembers Kim Young Ha, Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 176p, ISBN 9788954622035

A serial killer retired after his last murder 25 years ago. He buried dead bodies in the forest of bamboo he bought, and adopted Eunhee as his daughter, who is actually the daughter of his last victim. Now he is about to kill again. A series of murders occur in a regional district and near the region, a suspicious man driving a jeep approaches Eunhee. Can this former serial killer save his daughter from a new serial killer?

Kim Young Ha’s latest novel, How a Murderer Remembers, reminds us of his first bestseller, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself. In I Have the Right to Destroy Myself, Kim has listed the “suicide instructor” who plans and assists with the suicide of clients as a new face in the history of Korean fiction. How a Murderer Remembers, which is based on the record of a person who presides over death, also

shows the protagonist who proudly recalls his past, at least, until after the first several pages. It makes sense because his poem “A Knife and Bones,” is not a metaphor, but literally as it is.

However, the writer asks again: who presides over death? After it is revealed that the protagonist has Alzheimer’s disease, readers meet more often a typical 70-yearold man who desperately fights against his collapsing memories. This novel, consisting of a series of chapters abruptly cut off like the protagonist’s own memories, sends the readers into chaos by turning everything back to the beginning in the end. The last part of the story creates a gripping scene when the perilous castle of memories he has built is swallowed up into oblivion and illusions.

Not only is this kind of miserable serial killer story unusual, but this level of introspection in a serial killer is also rare. What makes him endlessly small?

Kim, who has been skeptical about all of humankind and history, now tries to put

himself on the stage of doubt.

by Cha Mi-ryeong

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Reviews Fiction

Dreams of the Downtrodden Tragicomic Miss Teletubby Kang Youngsook, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 246p, ISBN 9788932024189

Tr a g i c o m i c Mi s s Te l e t u bb y i s K a n g Youngsook’s seventh published book and third novel; it is another excellent example of the author’s hardboiled point of view of the anxiety present in everyday city life.

In this work Kang depicts the romance of a man named Dong-seok, manager of the Korean branch of a multinational electronics company, and a 16-year-old girl named Hana, who carries a Teletubby doll everywhere. These two are not an ordinary couple, however, but locked in a material relationship based on money that is doomed to fail from the beginning.

While their relationship may look like a destructive coupling of the upper and lower classes of the urban society they live in, there is too much to it to be dismissed as an unethical, antisocial crime.

On the surface level Dong-seok and Hana are unquestionably engaged in underage prostitution, but between the two of them they create a private space that is invisible from the viewpoint of society. Needless to say, this relationship

Reciprocating One’s Hell Sweet, Cold Oh Hyun-jong, Minumsa Publishing Group 2013, 202p, ISBN 9788937473029

In Oh Hyun-jong’s Sweet, Cold, the world is basically hell; as Shinhye says to Jiyong: “Everyone says ‘I’m in hell.’ Everyone says that they’re in hell because of you, but you also cry out that you’re in hell.”

The bizarre relationship in this story portrays a place that has become a hell because it only operates according to the logic of exchange. Shinhye tells Jiyong, “There’s no such thing as free of charge.

Not even for a friend.” This comment echoes what Shinhye’s mother spits out when she makes her 11-year-old daughter prostitute herself for the first time.

Jiyong’s mother torturously steps into his life because she wants reciprocation for having provided excessive economic aid for her son. His mother neither asks nor is interested in what he wants. As a result Jiyong, touting it like it’s a natural conclusion, says: “The only way to punish 58 list_ Books from Korea

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evil is with evil itself,” which is also solely based on the logic of exchange.

In this novel, what is offered always requ ires compensation. Jiyong feels “sweet, cold” mellowness from Shinhye’s lips, but he soon turns into a murderer.

Shinhye, who helps turn him into one, is also miserably betrayed by her stepfather.

To begin with, the murder that Jiyong supposedly commits for Shinhye comes to light as an act that also benefitted him.

In the hell that Oh Hyun-jong creates, giving without wanting compensation makes no sense at all. Thus, “the person who has been truly used, the one who has been deserted” is everyone after all. If there is any truth left, it is solely the fact that “We’ll live in the same hell until the day we die.”

by Lee Kyungjae

is not a sustainable one. It can only end in disaster, but rather than investigate the knotty ethics of this relationship the author chooses to focus on Hana’s coping mechanism, namely her desire to write.

As the story traces Hana’s footsteps, it is revealed that writing helps her bear the crushing loneliness and deprivation in her life. She desires to imagine a world beyond her reality. Of course, the desire to write does not solve the problems of reality in one swoop. It does, however, hold a mirror up to the dehumanization of city living that makes up our everyday life, and forces us to reflect on the downtrodden dreams of those brutally excluded from the establishment.

Is it possible to imagine a different kind of future for mankind under this system of capitalism that shows no sign of change? Kang Youngsook’s novel dreams of a different kind of life beyond this reality, a vision driven by the celebration of female solidarity and a belief in the power of writing to connect and comfort.

by Kang Dongho

Reviews Fiction

On Night and Waiting Night Passes Pyun Hye-young, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 247p, ISBN 9788936437268

Some writers reveal the secrets of the world, while others create a world filled with secrets. If there are only two kinds of writers, Pyun Hye-young definitely belongs to the latter. She leaves a signature of authority on the world of her creation.

AOI Garden (2005), the author’s first collection of short stories, revolves around diseases banished by rationality, death, and the return of ghosts. She arrived at Night Passes after examining the crumbling of everyday life in To the Kennels (2007) and civilization built on the “hell of uniformity” in Evening Courtship (2011).

For the author, “night” refers to the demise of rationality, a silence from the stagnation of life, and the end of a civilization in which creation and destruction no longer exist. The old man in “Night Journey” awaits the end of the world by himself in an apartment about to be torn down. Locked in a bunker designed for emergency use, the protagonist in "Blackout" waits to grow accustomed to the darkness.

In “Waiting,” crouching amid the darkness, a man waits for morning to come. There is nothing that the man can do to bring forward the morning or block out the darkness. All that remains for the man to do is to wait for the night to pass. “Waiting” is about having faith that morning will come, to put up with the barbarism and violence triggered in the dark, and to have something else replace the anxiety. “Waiting” is not an act of passive evasion but an active process taken up by those who have not given up hope.

In the words of the author, night has fallen on the world, and it is passing. Man has to continue waiting for a long time.

by Suh Heewon

Reality Bites Goodbye, My Everything Jeong Yi-hyun, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 252p, ISBN 9788936434052

This book tells the story of a girl growing up in the 1990s when capitalism was at a new height in Korea. It is set in the middle of Gangnam, which is seeing a surge of capital, sex, authority, and desire.

Sampoong Department Store collapses as explosively as the growth of capitalism. A teenage girl and boy experience pagers, CD players, self-study after school, Chungking Express and video rooms, studying abroad, and family conflicts over real estate. The author reports the growth of the 1990s generation amid the reality and culture of capitalism.

Sae-mi is a female high school student who l ive s w it h her g ra nd mot her i n Hannam-dong. Her grandmother uses her wealth to help Sae-mi’s aunt marry a prosecutor. Sae-mi is left in the care of her grandmother after her father's second marriage. The story ends with her

grandmother’s sudden death. Sae-mi’s father and aunt, who have been eyeing the family property, sell the house after reporting their mother as missing.

Keeping everything a secret, Sae-mi says goodbye to her days as a teenager.

Realizing that everyone is alone in the end, she slowly becomes an adult.

The death of Sae-mi’s grandmother s y mb ol i z e s t he c ol l a p s e of K ore a’s capitalism. Sae-mi and her friends go their separate ways as adults. This book is a cheery yet dismal portrait of the third generation growing up under capitalism who had to share abundance, desire, and hypocrisy in their teens.

by Kim Yonghee

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Reviews Fiction

Sibling Survival A Forest That No One Has Seen Cho Hae-jin, Minumsa Publishing Group 2013, 192p, ISBN 9788937473012

A boy named Shin Hyun-su is declared dead because of his mother’s debts. When a large explosion occurs at a subway station in K city, the moneylenders try to get compensation by claiming that Hyunsu is one of the victims. Mi-su, who is seven years older than Hyun-su, is kept in the dark and saddened by the sudden death of her brother. Mi-su spends a lonely childhood and becomes a desk clerk at a building. She begins a relationship with Yun, a security guard, but it is not enough to make up for her loneliness.

Meanwhile, Hyun-su becomes a broker for forging documents. Having turned 18, he is almost an adult. But he cannot get employment since he is officially dead to society. Even so, he does not turn into a vengeful monster. He looks up his sister in her studio apartment and quietly watches over her. Hyun-su is engaged in an act of ultimate good will. This is when the reversal of roles begins. It is the abandoned brother who protects his sister. In the final scene, the siblings find each other at long last in the forest.

The forest is a place of good will. The

Confession from Afar The Proposal Bae Myung-hoon, Munyejoongang (Joongang Books) 2013, 260p, ISBN 9788927804550

A love letter arrives from afar. The letter ends with “I will be your star from across the universe.” This sentence will allow readers to imagine letters f illed with romantic, beautiful metaphors. But here, the author is not speaking metaphorically when he mentions the “universe” and “star.” The Proposal by Bae Myung-hoon takes the form of a sci-fi romance novel.

In space, distance is represented by time. The protagonist, an operations officer of the United Earth Surface, is battling an unk nown opponent. His girlfriend is still living on planet Earth, separated from him by 170 hours. He travels 170 hours to pay his girlfriend a short visit. His happiest memory is the moment when he says “I miss you” and it takes less than one second to hear her say, “Me too.”

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It is miraculous for two people to exist in the same space and time, and to feel the same way about each other. In this age, we can exchange our thoughts and emotions at any time with anyone. But are we sharing how we truly feel? Why is this not possible even when we are not eons apart and free from the threat of war?

The Proposal is filled with complex a st ronom ic a l t he or ie s a nd m i l it a r y knowledge. But the author shines most in his ref lections on authentic love and communication.

by Choi Sungmin

siblings have discovered a secret storage for the abandoned and the left behind. They do all they can to look after each other.

Their pure intentions are what help to keep the forest together. The author reminds us to think of the forest when our lives are threatened by the evil forces of the cruel world.

by Yang Yun-eui

Steady Sellers

Yi Sang’s short story

“Jongsaeng-gi”

(Diary of a Lifetime) name of his dead elder brother, He was deprived of his own identity without regard for his own wishes. The second was when he contracted tuberculosis at age 20. It was from that point that he began to write in earnest.

The image of children running up a blind alley pale with dread can be seen as a literary self-portrait.

What options could allow him to escape from a life in the grasp of fear? One was to pursue love affairs as a kind of game; another was to transform the fear of death into symbols. Transforming a fear of death into symbols and into games is the fundamental basis of Yi Sang’s work. As a result, he found himself obliged to change his own death into a symbol. "Diary of a Lifetime" is written as a fictionalized account of his own death. Yi Sang died on April 17, 1937, in Tokyo. The story "Diary of a Lifetime" was completed one month prior. Thus it may be called the ghost of writing or the writing of a ghost: “Aged twenty-six and thirty months, Master Yi Sang! Scarecrow! You are so old.

You are a skeleton with knees higher than your ears. No, no. You are your distant ancestor.”

© Munhaksasang

13ChildrenRushdownaStreet.

(AdeadendalleyisSuitable.)

This is the opening of “Ogamdo (Crow’s Eye View) Poem No. I” which Yi Sang published in 1934. Eighty years have passed since then and it is still not clear what the significance of the “13” is. He is the most abstruse writer in the histor y of early modern Korean literature. He is at the same time the most popular writer. Among Koreans with the slightest interest in literature, there is scarcely anyone who does not know two quotables from Yi Sang: the line about “13 children” from “Ogamdo” and the “genius turned into a stuffed specimen” from “Wings.” The fascination surrounding Yi Sang’s writings continues today.

Overlapping shadows of modernity and colonialism hang over Yi's life and work. He was born in 1910 in the city then known as Gyeongseong (Seoul). That was the year Korea became a Japanese colony. He grew up directly experiencing the transformation of Gyeongseong into a modern city; after entering Gyeongseong Technica l High School he studied architecture. His urban sensitivity and architectural studies combine with texts referring to cinema, advertising, art, and music, as well as symbols and geometrical diagrams to form a freely used background to his works.

Generally his works are considered to be surrealistic. He certainly felt an affinity with the films of Jean Renoir and the paintings of Salvador Dalí. However, his works are not the result of studying and imitating Western Surrealism. Yi Sang’s works originate at the point where he found his fear of death in geometry and treated it by playing with symbols.

Yi Sang twice experienced being seized by death. The first time was when he was adopted by his uncle at the age of two. Like Salvador Dalí who was forced to take the

the writer Yi Sang (1910-1937)

So far, the complete works of Yi Sang have undergone f ive updated revisions.

Today, research on Yi is being undertaken not only by practitioners of traditional literary studies but by mathematicians, psychoanalysts, media studies scholars, and art historians among others. This is because the games played with the ghost of an endlessly fascinating body of work known as Yi Sang have not ended, and because they are so fascinating.

by Kim Dongshik

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61

Poetry

Crow’s Eye View* Poem No. I

by Yi Sang

13ChildrenRushdownaStreet.

13Childrenwerejustgatheredtogetherlikethataseither

(AdeadendalleyisSuitable.)

frighteningorfrightenedChildren(Theabsenceofanyother Conditionwashighlypreferable.)

The1stChildsaysit’sfrightening.

The2ndChildsaysit’sfrightening.

IfAmongstthem1ChildisafrighteningChildit’sfine.

The3rdChildsaysit’sfrightening.

IfAmongstthem2ChildrenarefrighteningChildrenit’sfine.

The4thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

IfAmongstthem2ChildrenarefrightenedChildrenit’sfine.

The5thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

IfAmongstthem1ChildisafrightenedChildit’sfine.

The6thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

The7thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

(AsfortheroadevenanopenalleyisSuitable.)

The8thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

Evenif13ChildrendonotRushdowntheStreetit’sfine

The9thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

The10thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

translated by Walter K. Lew

The11thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

The12thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

The13thChildsaysit’sfrightening.

*The work entitled "Crow’s Eye View" consists of Poems 1 to 15, which were originally published in separate installments. The Chinese character for “crow” in the title "Crow’s Eye View" is widely known to be an altered version of the character for “bird.” A bird’s eye view (鳥瞰圖) is an expression referring to a representation of a building viewed from above, usually a blueprint. Yi removed a single stroke from the first character “bird (鳥)” to make “crow (烏)” giving the phrase a new meaning with darker connotations. The poems were published in the Joseon Joongang Ilbo over the period from July 24th until August 8th, 1934. With the aim of deconstructing poetic meaning and creating it anew, Yi departed from poetic convention, bringing symbols and diagrams into play, and using terse, repetitive statements.

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overseas publications by Yi Sang

Yi Sang

(1910-1937) is a well-known author of the Japanese occupation period. He was active in every genre, writing poetry, fiction, and essays. His poems and stories, in particular, exhibit the characteristics of modernism in the 1930s. In his poems, he showed us the desolate landscape of the modern human mind, and with the use of anti-realist techniques in works such as “Crow’s Eye View, Poem No.I,” he gave us a stark view of his subject matter: pure anxiety and horror. In his stories, as well, he deconstructed the formal conventions of fiction and laid bare the modern condition.

For example, in the short story “Wings,” he used stream-ofconsciousness to express the alienation of modern human beings, who are fragmented, commodified, and unable to function in their daily lives. All 80 or so of his works are compiled together in the collected works by Yi Sang.

The Complete Works of Yi Sang: Poetry (Vol.1) and Fiction (Vol.2) Yi Sang, edited by Kim Ju-hyeon Somyong Publishing Co., 2009, 407p, ISBN 9788956264400 (Vol.1)

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Reviews Nonfiction

Reviews Nonfiction

Rivalry Enriches Literature Rivals in the History of Literature Kim Yun-sik, Greenbee Publishing Company 2013, 367p, ISBN 9788976821560

The author Kim Yun-sik (1936- ) is a leading Korean researcher in the history of literature. His achievements, especially in the study of literary criticism, have set a high standard. In fact, he is part of the history of Korean literature himself.

In addition, he has written reviews for major literary works published in Korea. The depth and spectrum that he demonstrated in his literary criticism and reviews are reflected in this book.

But why does the title have to be “rivals in the history of literature?”

A writer is also a human being; he cannot escape from the logic of his surroundings. In this conflict, the fight for acknowledgment and for status— Prestigekampf—is inevitable. The author mentions the aspect of Hegelian insight, and suggests that writers find themselves in the same situation.

The topic of rivalry in the history of literature may invoke crude interest.

A rivalry in any field draws attention.

However, the author’s interest does not lie in the writers’ dramas or any literary scandal. His interest resides in how the sense of rivalry inspires competitors a nd how it h a s e n r ic he d K or e a n contemporary literature.

The author’s attention focuses on five different rivalries. First, he focuses on the rivalry between Yang Ju-dong (19031977) and Jo Yun-jae (1904-1976), who both fought against the academicism of

Kyungsung Imperial University under Japanese colonization. Secondly, he writes about the argument between the poet Kim Su-young of the 1960s (19211968) and the literary critic Lee O-young (1934- ) on so-called disturbing poetry.

Next he explores the rivalry between himself and Kim Hyeon (1942-1990), with whom he co-authored The History of Korean Literature (1973), and whose intellectual paths have since then taken different directions. Fourth, he covers the atmosphere of rivalry between the two leading Korean literary magazines Literature and Intelligence and Changbi Quarterly. Fifth, the writers Lee Mun-ku and Park Sang-ryung, as disciples of the giant in modern Korean literature, Kim Dong-ni (1913-1995), tried to overcome their teachers’ way. These five different riva lries ca me to form the critica l questions surrounding Korean literature and diversified and enriched the map of Korean literature ever since.

The most interesting relationship he writes about is between the author himself and Kim Hyeon. In the preface to The History of Korean Literature (1972), a book they co-authored, Kim Hyeon assessed that his “existential psychoanalysis” and K im Yun-sik ’s “positivist spirit” complemented each other. Nevertheless, he sharply criticized Kim Yun-sik. He even points out, that “He [Kim Yun-sik] expresses what can

be written in one line in 10 lines. Such expansion is banal and boring because there is no surprise, which is the subtlety of riddle.”

Kim Yun-sik admits that he could understand his true self at last through such criticism; he could understand that his “positivist spirit” was the product of an existential crisis from dilemma.

He says that Kim Hyeon’s method of analyzing Kim Yun-sik's inner self is not a form of psychoanalysis, but an expression of his love for him. This book is compulsory reading in order not to miss important periods of contemporary Korean literature.

by Pyo Jeonghun

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Reviews Nonfiction

Liberalism in Korea The Romantic Future of Koh Jong-sok Koh Jong-sok, Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd. 2013, 246p, ISBN 9788901159904

If the word “intellectual” still has any validity in the 21st century, then Koh Jong-sok occupies a unique position as a Korean intellectual.

Koh majored in linguistics at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and has written elegant critical essays on linguistics. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for close to 30 years and has had several novels published. His multi-genre writings are equivalent to the output of intellectuals who lived half a century ago.

Koh Jong-sok considers himself and is k nown by others as a libera l. The reason why I view him as a truly unique intellectual is because of the weak hold of liberalism in Korea. During the Cold War, South Korea, trumpeting a liberal Korea, was the complete antithesis of communism; therefore, liberalism could not possibly exist in a time of such intense confrontation.

In the past, military dictators were at

the vanguard of a liberal Korea; those who fought against them to achieve democracy were closer to warriors than freedom f ig hters or libera ls. T herefore bot h diametrically opposed groups contributed to the demise of liberalism.

From the perspective of so-called de veloped nations, Koh Jong-seok 's assertion on many issues in South Korea such as North Korea, patriotism, and ideological conflict may seem self-evident and non-debatable. This is because of the peculiar ideological circumstances in Korea. However, it is important to note that such views are held by relatively few people in Korea.

Only after one discerns that liberalism (which is arguably closer to a consensus or a commonly held view rather than an ideology) is still a minority viewpoint, can one have an accurate understanding of the nature of conflicts in Korean society.

by Bae No-pil

Understanding Painting How To Appreciate Korea’s Traditional Paintings Heo Gyun, Dolbegae Publishers 2013, 352p, ISBN 9788971995600

To understand Joseon era (1392-1910) paintings, one must know Confucian philosophy. The old paintings of East Asia are not simply landscapes or portraits but contain the essence of a philosophy. Yet, a philosophy is not merely a conceptual framework. Philosophy absorbs countless historica l experiences, growing ever deeper; in the process of developing these experiences, it adapts an aesthetic.

In order to fully appreciate East Asian paintings, which are the culmination of Confucian philosophy, one needs to have a basic knowledge of the Nine Chinese Classics that consists of the Four Books, including the Analects by Confucius and the writings of Mencius; and the Five Classics, including the I Ching; the Classic of Poetry; the Book of Documents; the Book of Rites; and the Spring and Autumn Annals. In particular, two texts are said to be very helpful: the Book of Documents, 66 list_ Books from Korea

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which records the political history of ancient China and the Classic of Poetry, an essential source of East Asian literature and poetry.

Ju s t a s it i s n e c e s s a r y t o k n o w C h r i s t i a n ic ono g r a phy i n ord e r to properly understand Western art, it is a prerequisite to be informed of what can be characterized as Confucian iconography to understand the art of the Joseon era, which was a reflection of a state that sought to embody a purist neo-Confucian ideology.

It would be wiser to view this book as a means to understand the Confucian system of thought, possibly through a single idealized representative picture, instead of being over whelmed in thinking one has to have a comprehensive knowledge of the entire Confucian canon.

It is a book that serves as an excellent aid in showing how East Asian philosophy is visually manifested. From the poetry of Su Dong Po, which says, “Within a poem there is the picture and within a picture is the poetry,” one simply needs to replace “poetry” with “Confucianism” to achieve a

more complete understanding.

by Bae No-pil

Reviews Nonfiction

The Familiar in the Unfamiliar Wanderings Through Landscapes Baek Jin, Hyohyung Publishing Co. 2013, 224p, ISBN 9788958721215

Many people say life is a journey. This is true in that we are constantly moving from one place to another, and that the memories of previous places continuously overlap with those of current places.

A rc h itec t Baek Ji n su m m a r i z e s t he common characteristics of life and travel as “wanderings through landscapes” and has published a beautiful book with the same title. We move constantly from one landscape to another. This is what life is and what the book conveys.

The author calmly scrutinizes ideas and thoughts that arise as he travels through cities such as Athens, Paris, Rome, Varanasi, Jerusalem, Philadelphia, Tokyo, and Osaka. These unfamiliar landscapes of foreign lands overlap with familiar scenery from his hometown. Jin says, “Looking back, I’ve been wandering between landscapes throughout my life.”

Therefore, the endless scenery included in this book represents the nature and façade

of artificial culture on the one hand, and the inner thoughts of an individual who continues life through travel, on the other.

Suc h wa nder i ng bet we en spac e s expands happily to temporal wandering between the present and the past, and t hen to intel lectua l wa ndering t hat crosses boundaries between architecture, philosophy, and art. In this sense, Jin’s travels are written differently from the views of an indifferent traveler and the views of a first-time traveler whose long reports are based mostly on curiosity. He wanders slowly between the “I” and “the Other” and between home and foreign lands with affection, which is what makes reading this book and following his travels such a joy.

by Kim Su-yeong

What Power Means Today Chaebols: The Transnational Capital That Rules Korea Park Hyeng-joon, Chaeksesang 2013, 445p, ISBN 9788970138503

One of the fundamental questions in the field of political economy is how the mutual relationship between politics and the economy has unfolded throughout h istor y. T here a re ma ny compet ing theories that try to explain why politics and economics have developed in their present direction.

Today many scholars are beginning to acknowledge the theory of capital as power as a compelling hypothesis. This theory was developed by professors Jonathan Nitzan and Shimson Bichler. According to their theory, in capitalism, money is the measure of power and companies represent the premier power institutions in this system.

The author became familiar with the theory of capital as power through the works of Nitzan, and has written the meticulously-researched Chaebols:

the Transnational Capital That Rules Korea t h rou g h t h is t heoret ic a l lens while analyzing the history of Korean capitalism. According to author Park, “For the past half-century, the direction of change in Korean society has followed the principles of capital as power." Viewed in t his context, t he major trends in Korea's modern history have reflected the evolution of capital and power.

T he big gest milestones in t his evolution were the 1987 transfer of power from a military to a civilian government and the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The former marks the beginning of modern Korean society and politics, while the latter marks the most important economic turning point in modern Korea. Park uses the theory of capital as power like a magnif ying glass to illuminate the meaning of these two milestones through meticulous analysis and a compelling narrative.

This reviewer would like to congratulate Chaeksesang for this latest addition to its Global Political Economy

(GPE) series, which further broadens the horizons of political economy books available to Korean readers.

by Kim Su-yeong

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Reviews Nonfiction

Crimes, Criminals, & Detectives Traces of Crimes Seen Through Scientific Investigation Yoo Young-kyu, Alma Publishing Corp.

2013, 260p, ISBN 9788994963853

Books on “crime” occupy large sections in overseas bookstores. Many popular foreign television dramas such as CSI (Crime Scene Investigation), are also mostly about crime. Their stories are formed by the criminal, the people who chase after the criminal, and the crime itself.

Yo o Yo u n g - k y u , t h e a u t h o r o f Traces of Crimes Seen Through Scientific Investigation, is a print journalist who reports on murder cases. After consulting forensic profe ssiona ls a nd f ront line detectives, a nd a na ly zing records of criminal investigations, he serialized a famous newspaper column on scientific investigation titled “Crime Leaves Clues.”

His writings have been viewed online more than 40 million times.

In contemporar y Korea n societ y, people have been murdered for insurance money and killed by drug addiction. As well, serial killers who commit ghoulish deeds have become a phenomenon. The sophistication of recent crimes has long since outpaced the crimes of the past

Hosting Parasites A Variety Show of Parasites Seo Min, Eulyoo Publishing Co. 2013, 329p, ISBN 9788932472133

The number of Koreans infected with parasites still hovers around 2.6 percent; therefore, it is important to be on the alert for parasites. But Seo Min, a research professor of parasites at a university, emph a si z e s how t he se pa ra site s a re sneaky but not greedy. Seo believes that parasites can serve a positive function; for example, the number of people that have been infected by parasites is noticeably low regarding skin diseases, asthma, and other allergic ailments. Moreover, he says that parasites can also be used to treat obesity. The author thereby applies the hypothesis of hygiene to the relationship of parasites to humans, with a reminder that an obsession with hygiene weakens the immune system.

Seo ha s rec ent ly made va riou s television appearances, and has now become a popular regular on one show.

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I find the author as storyteller, however, much funnier than the one seen on TV. If one were to ascertain the behavioral patterns of humans that overlap with parasites, then this book would provide double the enjoyment. Articles in the book were at one time the most popular series on the Naver portal site.

It was quite shocking to f ind out that some parasite specialists, given the opportunity, would not hesitate to host a rare parasite in their own bodies. And it is equally astounding that the author of this book has had such an experience.

by Kim Mansu

that were usua lly caused by extreme poverty. The methods of Korean scientific investigation have gone through amazing developments as well, and technology such as DNA testing in Korea are now on par with the world's best.

Yoo Young-kyu's book investigates the reality of Korean society's hidden side, where extreme competition for survival is on-going. His book deals with the stories of victims and suspects, the increasingly soph ist ic ated a spec t s of crime, a nd the legal order in Korea that is having difficulty keeping up with criminals.

by Kim Mansu

Reviews Nonfiction

Food’s Hidden Stories Korean History Through Korean Food Joo Youngha, Humanist Publishing Group 2013, 572p, ISBN 9788958626541

In general, certain dishes come to mind when one think s of Korea n cuisine: bulgogi, bibimbap, samgyetang, gujeolpan (platter of nine delicacies), and shinseonro (roya l hot pot d ish). B ibimbap a nd samgyetang, which are traditional Korean dishes, are very popular with foreigners.

But do these foods offer truly indigenous f lavors and when were they first made?

Korean History Through Korean Food prov ide s a n s wer s to t he se k i nd s of questions. Professor Joo Youngha, who has worked on unraveling the story of food from the perspective of history and the humanities, sets straight the history of 20th century Korean food.

Beef-bone soups like seolleongtang, a nd gomtang, chueotang (f ish ste w), and manduguk (dumpling soup), that one can easily find anywhere in Korea, represent the Koreans’ proclivity toward the combination of rice and soup. Soup and rice eateries became very widespread in the latter half of the 19th century, and

thus were popular among urban laborers seeking a simple meal. Only in the 20th century did Koreans begin mixing red hot pepper paste (gochujang) into bibimbap, a rice dish with a va riet y of cooked vegetables along with meat and an egg.

This coincides with the time period when the mass production of pepper was possible with the development of various different species through pepper cultivation.

So-called traditional food, which 21st century Koreans enjoy eating, was in actuality set in its present form only in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

These foods were influenced by Japanese, Chinese, and other foreign foods in the process of evolving to their current state. In other words, even “traditional” food did not appear out of the blue but rather, reflect the social culture and the vicissitudes of the history of the times.

Therefore, 21st century Korean food can only contain the past hundred years or so of Korean history. In short, history is very much alive on our tables.

by Han Mihwa

A Remote Beauty Unveiled Untamed Land of Nomads Seo Jun, MID 2013, 318p, ISBN 9791185104034

Vast meadows and deserts without a single soul in sight for days. The Central Asian region is made up of mysterious rocky mountains and sandy hills that make you feel as if you’re on another planet. The region, yet unfamiliar to the people of the world, is beautiful for its harsh natural environment and extreme bleakness. It’s a remote area untouched by outsiders, so unfamiliar that no materials can be found on it in books or the Internet.

Seo Jun, a producer who specializes in documentaries about remote areas and captures their beauty with his camera in works such as Mongolia, a Land of Ancient Times (2006), The Himalayas (2009), and The Steppes of Asia (2010), guides readers to unknown regions of Central Asia through his latest work. In it, he tells the stories that were left untold in his documentaries.

Stories about deserts where

temperatures range from 40 degrees below zero Celsius to 40 degrees above, steppes of Asia surrounded by the Himalayas, “the roof of the world,” and the dramatic reallife survival of nomads who have lived for thousands of years with wild animals in t hat ha rsh nat u ra l env iron ment, are filled with emotion and curiosity.

Above all, vivid photographs of the wild, differentiates this book from all others.

Untamed Land of Nomads, full of descriptions of the surreal beauty of the bleak desert, the pure sound of the wind on the meadows, extreme cold and heat, mountain sickness, and the author’s battle with mosquitoes that tormented him more than the unpalatable food, and other valuable experiences teach, once again, of nature's greatness.

by Richard Hong

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Reviews Nonfiction

Travels with an Idol Group Super Junior’s Experience Korea (2 vols.)

Super Junior, Woongjin Think Big Co.,Ltd. 2013, 320p, ISBN 9788901158990 (Vol.1)

Depending on who you’re wit h, t he same place can touch you in different ways. Depending on who introduces you to somewhere, the same place can feel different. Super Junior, one of the main players of the Korean Wave, stir up attention wherever they go. They tour all around the world—China, Thailand, France, Mexico—but traveling around the world has made them see just how attractive their home country Korea is.

In this book, Super Junior take readers to beautiful places all over Korea. The 10 members of Super Junior teamed up in pairs to travel to the north (Gangwon Province), the east (Gyeongsang Province), the west (Chungcheong Province and Jeolla Province), the south (Jeju Island), and the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions. Major sights, food, and attractions in each region are introduced in the book generously illustrated with vivid photographs.

T he t wo -volu me book beg ins in Seoul, the capital of Korea. Kangin and Sungmin, members of Super Junior, walk

Survival Games The Years (2 vols.)

Park Heung-yong, GimmYoung Publishers, Inc. 2013, 256p, ISBN 9788934964148 (Vol.1)

Park Heung-yong who has combined historical reality and the appeal of the graphic novel with solid artistry for a long time is a well-known graphic novelist in Korea. In My Blue Saber, he describes the life peasants that have passed through the raging waves of modern history by the medium of the bicycle, and reflected people seeking to survive the ruins when the state order has completely collapsed in His Country. His recent work The Years links the two themes.

Seokjeon-ri is a small village divided into North and South. When people living in other villages have a feast with music and food, the residents of Seokjeon-ri play an unusual game. They tie a stone to the end of a leather strap and throw it at each other. The slingshot fight continues without stopping even if someone’s head bleeds or a leg is broken. This fight has 70 list_ Books from Korea

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around Hongdae with its youthful energy, the quiet and peaceful Bukchon, and Gangnam, the stage for PSY’s “Gangnam Style,” as well as other hot spots of Seoul.

Siwon and Donghae invite you to areas in Gangwon Province, such as Jeongseon, Gangneung, and Pyeongchang, where you can experience nature in all its glory.

Shindong and Eunhyuk wax poetic about the food and arts in Jeolla Province and Chungcheong Province. Jeju Isla nd, designated a UNESCO’s World Heritage site, and Gyeongsang Province, are also presented with their different attractions for all four seasons.

The book is a special gift from Super Junior to people around the world, as well as an invitation to come to Korea.

by Richard Hong

die one by one. When a traitor is discovered, nobody trusts a nybody. The Years is a historical graphic novel, and at the same time, a survival graphic novel that skillfully weaves the two themes together.

by Yi Myung-suk

continued over time like a custom because the villagers believe that the winning side can have a good harvest even though some might get injured. The two villages represent the Korean peninsula divided into the North and South of today.

Ideological conflict that nobody wants divides them after the village is engulfed by the Korean War. Meanwhile, rumor spreads that military provisions are being hidden on an island located somewhere in the South. In times of scarcity, the provisions must become food that satisfies hunger, and at the same time, a treasure that creates life change.

The main character Kyung-hee, who was told where the island is, departs for the island with another group of people, and another group chases them to take the provisions. The two groups begin throwing stones at the enemy, and people

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Reviews Children's Books

Dog-eared Stories

Pikaia Kwon Yoon-duck, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 148p, ISBN 9788936454449

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Pikaia? What could it be? Many readers might be perplexed. But once they open the cover of the book, their hearts will be warmed by the delicate palette of the East Asian painting-like sketches. Then there is the subtitle, “Meeting the Children.” A large dog with a bright smile named Kiss runs with his white fur flying in the wind.

Wait, how could there be dogs in a library?

Readers will once again be thrown off.

What kind of a story is this book about?

There was actually a program at a Suncheon City library in South Jeolla Province where the neighborhood kids were assigned to read a book to a dog named Kiss. The author has adapted this real incident into the plot of the book.

“What could be stored in the heart of these children’s hearts?” Kiss asks.

Kiss hears stories from six different children: Seong-min, who lives with his

grandfather in a half-basement room and is often scolded or mocked by his friends for not being good at anything in “Human Beings and Cockroaches”; Mijeong, who is dragged from one cram school to another by her mother who is only interested in her daughter getting good grades in school, in “Living Together With People”; Yun-y, who lacks self-esteem and therefore feels more and more insecure about herself because of her parents who are always quarreling and are too busy to take interest in her, and her lewd older brother, who is only interested in her body, in “People Mature as They Heal”; Chaerim, who lives an unstable life because she has to look after both herself and her younger sister after their father gets laid off and goes on strike, in “People Build a Society”; Gang-an, who recalls the pigs that were buried alive because of foot and

mouth disease when he goes to have pork at a restaurant, in “Humans and Animals Are A ll Part of Nature;” and Hyeokju, who comes to the conclusion that all human beings are survivors after learning of Pikaia. Pikaia was not any more superior to other species but became an early ancestor of humans after surviving the Cambrian Period in “An Early Ancestor of Human Beings: Pikaia.”

There are some terrifying moments in these stories but the overall tone is warm, helped by the uplifting images that appear on the last page of each story. These images emphasize the theme of hope that runs through the book. In other words, human beings, especially socially deprived ones, are inclined to feel lonely and powerless. But what makes humans truly worthy is not the competition against each other but their harmonious co-existence.

Yet, bear in mind that human beings are a part of nature and therefore have an ability to heal themselves. Moreover, just as Pikaia survived eons ago, the story optimistically conveys that in nature there must be another principle besides the law of the jungle or the survival of the fittest, that ensures the continuity of existence.

by Kim Kyung-yun

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Reviews Children's Books

Making a New Friend Uncle Is Here!

Kim Jae-hee, Sakyejul Publishing Ltd. 2013, 40p, ISBN 9788958286868

Children in Korea are busy going from home to school, school to cram schools, and back home. When school vacation begins, they think that they can enjoy themselves to their heart’s content, but things usually don’t turn out the way they want. In most cases, there aren’t any friends to play with or there are even more cram schools to attend.

The same is true for Dong-hui, the main character of this picture book.

Though the summer vacation has begun, Mom monitors Dong-hui’s daily schedule by phone. Dong-hui’s cousin, who is staying with her family for the summer, won’t even play with her. Will the entire summer pass like this? No, it won’t because Dong-hui’s uncle who she doesn’t even remember has come to visit.

At first Dong-hui thinks her uncle is a monster. No matter how affectionate he is, she doesn’t want any interaction with him. But as she becomes more interested after seeing him shaving, they play jokes on each other and finally become friends.

Small Town Sentiment Spring in My Hometown Lee Won-su; Illustrator: Kim Dong-sung Bluebird Publishing Co. 2013, 36p, ISBN 9788961553957

Events of the past usually remain as happy, beautiful memories. With time, even painful and difficult experiences can become beautiful. Childhood experiences, in particular, are a source of memories that never dry out. If such is the case with ordinary people, imagine how a poet with a heightened sensitivity would feel about childhood.

To a poet, childhood memories must be like an eternally cool spring water that quenches one’s thirst and a warm ray of light that never fades. In the same vein, one’s hometown must not be just a place but a perfect world from a perfect time.

To author Lee Won-su, his hometown Changwon is such a place.

This picture book, Spring in My Hometown, which combines Lee’s text and 74 list_ Books from Korea

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Kim Dong-sung’s illustrations, restores the images of hometowns that live deep in Koreans’ hearts though they have long disappeared. The hometown is a village where pink azaleas and peach and apricot f lowers bloom; a village where green weeping willows dance; a village where adults work hard in one corner of the yard while children play in the other; a village where chickens and chicks roam while dogs and puppies play with children; and a village where children come outside in spring to run around and play on village paths.

Spring in My Hometown is a favorite song for Koreans. This book might also become a favorite picture book. The last scene where Lee Won-su is standing with his back turned, looking at a faint image of his childhood village, will remain in readers’ minds for a long time.

by Eom Hye-suk

Now her uncle is her best friend.

While looking at the stars in the sky, her uncle promises Dong-hui that he will take her with him when he travels to the stars. When he leaves, he tells her that he has left her a present. But Dong-hui can’t find it no matter where she looks. At last, she finds it: fluorescent star-shaped stickers that she can only see when she turns out the light at night. It was her uncle who stuck the stickers on the ceiling of Donghui’s room.

Dong-hui’s unconventional and funny uncle takes her along on a series of comical adventures that are complemented by humorous drawings. Fluorescent starshaped stickers are included in the book as a present to readers.

by Eom Hye-suk

Reviews Children's Books

Ask the Right Questions The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician Heo Kyo-bum; Illustrator: Ko Sang-mi BIR Publishing Co., Ltd., 2013, 184p ISBN 9788949195193

The greatest virtue of a detective novel is to keep the readers curious until the end.

Who is the suspect? How and why do the events occur? Following a story full of puzzles, we bury ourselves while reading with bated breath. Therefore, it is natural that children, natural-born enthusiasts of puzzles, love to read detective stories. It is very enjoyable to chase after a criminal who is having a battle of wits with the writer. Detective novels for children are always welcome, if provocative scenes of violence are excluded.

The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician is a story about the exploits of a brilliant 12-year-old detective. It is interesting enough to play a game of 20 questions in order to get closer to the correct answer. Moreover, the questions become a means of finding a solution to an event, as well as a means of adding interest. The detective and his client Munyang try to expose the secrets of a magician who wins his classmates’ money in a card trick. As befitting a book for children,

this novel doesn’t have any complicated conspiracy theories or unpleasant truths hidden behind the scenes. Instead, tiny, sweet desires such as wanting to have a limited edition toy or win a bet, set events in motion, and the ensuing challenges, force children to reflect on themselves in the process, solving problems with the detective of 20 questions. The scene when the magician appears before a villain and becomes a victim himself is a worthy moment as well.

The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician won the first Story King Literary Award, a competition that gained attention by introducing child judges during the selection process, who overturned the decision made by grown-up judges. This book is especially welcome by children.

by Kim Min-ryoung

Worlds Waiting To Be Seen There Was a Child Song Mi-kyoung; Illustrator: Seo Young-a Sigongsa Co., Ltd., 2013, 124p ISBN 9788952769787

This book includes five strange, sad, and hair-raising children’s stories, through which author Song Mi-kyoung makes things exist that cannot be seen.

In “There Was a Child,” one day a child leaves a note and disappears.

Through the clues he leaves behind, his family members realize that they have been living with the child for a year without being aware of his existence.

“Adult Younger Brother” tells the story of a five-year-old younger brother Miru who turns out to be a 34-year-old adult. It goes on to share the stories of people who are born as adults.

“Non-existent Me” vividly expresses the powerful existence of a child who was born as a “non-existent child.”

In “Laura Who Was Cute,” Laura, who has to maintain her small build as a

model for her mother’s online shopping mall, is jealous of a bunny rabbit doll that will never get bigger. During a shoot one day, both Mother and Laura suddenly turn into bunny rabbit dolls.

In “Father Comes Out of His Bag,” all the fathers in the narrator’s village live in their own bags. After meeting an adult one day, the children of the village decide to bring their fathers out of the bags in order to have caring and reliable dads.

These unique stories all have different themes and messages but repeatedly pose questions concerning existence. Is there more to what meets the eye? By crossing the boundar y bet ween what can and cannot be seen, these wonderful stories widen our view of the world.

by Yoon So-hee

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Reviews Children's Books

A Tale of Two Soccer Balls Let’s Play and Have Fun Hwang Sun-mi; Illustrator: Jeong Jin-hui Better Books, 2013, 136p ISBN 9788984887671

Let’s Play and Have Fun is a children’s book by Hwang Sun-mi, the author of The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, whose foreign rights have been sold in 12 different countries, including the United States and Japan. Hwang’s new book poses questions on the basic rights of children to play, to be happy, and to be educated.

The book provides parallel stories of two children who live in Korea and Pakistan. Gyeong-ju, who lives in Korea, has no time to play because of his mother who is always nagging him to study. By chance, he meets a football player on his school grounds and ends up running around the field like a wild child. After this, he begins harboring a secret wish to buy a football. His mind is filled with a passionate desire to play to his heart’s content.

Rahim is a nine-year-old boy who lives in a remote village in Pakistan. In contrast to Gyeong-ju, Rahim has had to work since the age of six sewing footballs to support his family because his mother went blind after his father disappeared.

In order to make a football, it takes 1,601 stitches, and Rahim can only manage to make three balls each day. He is able to buy only a small amount of rice with the money he makes. However, one day foreigners show up at his work place, protesting that the children are illegal child laborers. All Rahim can do is worry about how he is going to make a living if he's not allowed to work.

The circumstances of the two boys, who live far apart yet whose fates are tied to football, are considerably different. Yet they share the same dream. They want to play to their hearts’ content and be happy.

However, this wish remains only a wish in the book because Gyeong-ju and Rahim have little control over their lives. The book tells readers how taking an interest in these children, one who just wants to play football, and another who just wants to attend school instead of sewing footballs, is a step toward protecting their right to be happy.

by Han Mihwa

Family, Reconstructed More Red Kim Sun-hee, Sakyejul Publishing Ltd. 2013, 212p, ISBN 9788958286875

K im Sun-hee's novel More Red is the winner of the Sa k yejul Young Adult L it e r a t u r e Aw a r d . G i l- d on g i s t he protagonist of the story. His father injures his head in an accident, and as a result, his mental state becomes that of a sevenyear-old. Gil-dong's father, who once lorded over his family, starts to call his wife “mother” and speaks in honorifics to the same sons that he used to beat, speaking to them as though they were his older brothers. The macho father, having become a child after the accident, begins a new relationship with his family.

Meanwhile Gil-dong, obsessed with Internet porn, stricken with loneliness, and charged with sexual desires, develops a crush on Mi-ryung, the writer of a blog called More Red, which chronicles her hunt for spicy food. Even though he has 76 list_ Books from Korea

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no stomach for anything spicy, Gil-dong forces himself to eat spicy food so that he can get closer to Mi-ryung. As he does so, Gil-dong begins to understand Miryung's wounded psyche that obsesses over spiciness.

Gil-dong's older brother, whom Gildong has admired since childhood, and whom his family expected so much from, becomes like their violent tyrant of a father once his life does not turn out the way he had hoped. This son beats up the father, and then runs away from his family after stealing money from his mother to invest in a stock that fails, forcing the family into bankruptcy, then leaves behind a letter seeking their forgiveness. Soon afterwards, the father runs away, too. Only Gil-dong stays, not knowing what to do as his family is destroyed in front of him.

What will happen to 18-year-old Gildong, as he experiences his first love and sees his family in ruins? The greatest virtue of Kim Sun-hee's book is in how it shows, through one family's destruction, the

meaning of family.

by Yu Youngjin

New Books

Fiction

© Hummingbird Moth Jang Keoung-hwe, Sakyejul Publishing

Recommended

by Publishers Korean editors have handpicked their favorite titles from their own publishing houses. The following list contains hidden gems in Korea’s publishing industry.

For further information, please contact the agents directly.

Damaged Fruit

Some Countries Are Too Big

Koo Byung-mo, Jaeum & Moeum Publishing Co. 2013, 336p, ISBN 9788957077740

Yum Seoung-suk, Hyundae Munhak Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 248p, ISBN 9788972756767

Enter the life of a woman with a soul crushed like a badly damaged piece of fruit. Though she looks like a normal sexagenarian from the outside, she was in fact a hit woman named “Clawhorn.”

Now, though, change has come to her life of solitude. She has begun to notice others.

Copyright Agent: Yoo So-young jamoglobal@jamobook.com 82-70-8656-9583 www.jamo21.net

The protagonist manages workers known as bingos, individuals such as the homeless, long-term convicts, and orphans that are assembled by the state and used for purposes like publicizing government projects and appearing in positively-spun news stories. This novel depicts the asymmetrical relationship between the state and individuals.

Copyright Agent: Kim Hyun-jee laputa79@chol.com 82-2-2017-0295 www.hdmh.co.kr

A Son's Father

Yellow House

Minimal Love

A Modern Heart

Kim Won-il, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 386p, ISBN 9788932024486

Park Wan-suh, Yolimwon Publishing Co. 2013, 300p, ISBN 9788970637778

Jeon Gyeong-rin, Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd. 2012, 368p, ISBN 9788901148977

Kim Won-il has spent the past 50 years as a leading force in exposing the tragedies of the Korean War and national division. This is the first time he has made an all-out attempt to retrace the path of his father's life, a revolutionary who dreamt of building a new world in East Asia. He defected to North Korea when Kim was eight years old.

This anthology of fiction by the late Park Wan-suh covers a period from the early 2000s during which she lived and wrote in a yellow house in Achiul Village. The collection includes work first published in the quarterly journal Disaejip from 2001 to 2002, as well as previously unpublished works.

The book portrays the journey of Heesoo, who searches for her abandoned sister Yu-ran. Her dying stepmother asks her to track down Yu-ran, who turns out to be living in a border town. Heesoo, however, finds that her sister has already disappeared. Living in the empty house used by Yu-ran, Hee-soo begins to retrace her long-forgotten sister’s life.

Jeong A Eun Hankyoreh Publishing Company 2013, 296p, ISBN 9788984317154

Copyright Agent: Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Copyright Agent: Angela Koh angela.koh@yolimwon.com 82-2-3144-3700 www.yolimwon.com

Copyright Agent: Min Ji-hyoung penpen@wjbooks.co.kr 82-2-3670-1167 www.wjthinkbig.co.kr

This novel of manners vividly portrays the lives of lovers and the cultural landscape of the workplace in a megacity. A 37-year-old headhunter struggles through life in Korea's class-based society, where nobody is free from the various glories and stigmas attached to an educational background.

Copyright Agent: Lee ji-eun editorlee@hanibook.co.kr 82-2-6373-6710 www.hanibook.co.kr

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Poetry

Children’s Books

Snowman Hotel

Adventurous Summer Days

Know-it-all

Lee Byungryul, Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. 2013, 153p, ISBN 9788932024509

Kim Seon-jeong; Illustrator: Kim Min-jun Munhakdongne, 2013, 200p ISBN 9788954622004

Choi Seokyung Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

2013, 180p, ISBN 9788954622578

This book won the 14th Munhakdongne Children’s Literature Award, with the judges calling it “a true adventure in an era of no adventure” and “the paragon of a fairy tale.” The highlight of the book is an adventure to an island called Chilgeum-do, with cheerful, optimistic characters.

This book, which won the third Munhakdongne Youth Literature Award, portrays 19-year-old students who tackle the way of the older generations. The author wrote this work of the tender age lively and realistic dialogue, everyday routines, and thoughts, at the tender age of 18.

Copyright Agent: Won Sun-hwa kids@munhak.com 82-2-3144-3238 www.munhak.com

Copyright Agent: Won Sun-hwa kids@munhak.com 82-2-3144-3238 www.munhak.com

I’m Going to Lala Land

Hummingbird Moth

Why Do We Need Rules?

Kim Young-li, Prooni Books, Inc. 2012, 216p, ISBN 9788957983287

Kim Ki-jung; Illustrator: Jang Keoung-hwe Sakyejul Publishing, 2013 68p, ISBN 9788958286837

Seo Ji-weon; Illustrator: Lee Young-rim, Park Sunhee, Kwon Ohjune Hollym Corporation; Publishers 2013, 112p, ISBN 9788970943923

Poet Lee Byungryul has published three volumes of poetry since his 1995 debut.

Now, he embarks in search of a place where the particular brand of desperation exists at a level more fundamental than emotion or sentiment. This is about observing the entities that emerge from the vibrations when you gently pluck one of the strings hidden deep in your heart.

Copyright Agent: Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Ahn Yong-ha has narcolepsy. He suddenly falls into a deep sleep at any time without warning, especially when he comes under a lot of stress. The book shows how Yong-ha and his family try to defend the guesthouse inherited from his great-aunt.

Copyright Agent: Choi Jin-woo agency@prooni.com 82-2-581-0334 (Ext.117) www.prooni.com

Kim Ki-jung has written a beautiful tale based on Baik Suk’s poem “The Evening When a Hummingbird Moth Comes.”

The story revolves around a young grandson, who visits the house where his late grandmother used to live. This fantastic story will be a pleasant surprise for many readers largely due to the heartwarming illustrations by painter Jang Keoung-hwe.

Copyright Agent: Kang Hyun-joo kanghjoo@sakyejul.co.kr 82-31-955-8600 www.sakyejul.co.kr

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This book is the seventh installment of the Question Mania series, which contains interesting stories and questions on seven topics: death, friendship, lies, fear, greed, dreams, and rules. The latest topic is essential rules in society. Informal and lively stories explain rules while cute cartoons, customized for younger readers, and colorful illustrations grace the four chapters.

Copyright Agent: Lee Hyojin gohj@hollym.co.kr 82-2-735-7554 www.hollym.co.kr

The Secret of Ttolmang Ttolmang Kingdom Kim Mi-suk; Illustrator: Yun Ji-Young UriKyoyuk Publishing Co., 2013, 208p ISBN 9788980408696

A boy with poor eyesight sees all the things in the world when he puts on special glasses. One day his older brother dies and he tries to hide his sadness by pretending he’s fine and nothing has changed. But when he jumps into the Ttolmang Ttolmang Kingdom with his special glasses, he can express his emotions and face the sadness he is trying to avoid.

Copyright Agent: Joe Myung-suk msjoe@uriedu.co.kr 82-2-3142-6770 (Ext.323) www.uriedu.co.kr

Exploring the National Folk Museum of Korea Shim Jaeseok Hollym Corporation; Publishers 2012, 92p, ISBN 9788970943671

The seventh installment of the world’s famous museum series, this book offers insight into the lives of ancient Koreans on various topics through the artefacts displayed at the National Folk Museum of Korea. The book reveals the wisdom of Koreans as well as their comic sensibility.

A nice combination of exhibit items and pictures is also helpful.

Copyright Agent: Lee Hyojin gohj@hollym.co.kr 82-2-735-7554 www.hollym.co.kr

Wonderful Adventures of Doremi Lee Ban-di, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 156p, ISBN 9788936451400

Doremi is slow-witted but courageous and energetic. One night, a dreamcollector shows up and gives Doremi a special head—a head that never forgets.

With the new head, he falls into a strange world crowded with paper-people and animal-humans.

Copyright Agent: Choi Koeun copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com

A Boy Who Wants to Become Money Cho Sung-ja; Illustrator: Ju Seunghee Sigongsa Co., Ltd., 2013, 72p ISBN 9788952770103

Se-ji wants to be a happy man, just like his father. He doesn’t understand why his classmate Un-bo is so obsessed about collecting money. In the book, Un-bo is yearning to become “money” itself.

His clashes with Se-ji offer fodder for exploring what it means to be truly happy.

Copyright Agent: Amelie Choi amelie@sigongsa.com 82-2-2046-2855 www.sigongjunior.com

Long May You Live!

Yi Hyeon, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2013, 224p, ISBN 9788936442736

Hye-soo dies because of a mistake by the angel of death. In the netherworld, she realizes she’s dead on behalf of her brother. She also learns that her brother, a top student, is thinking about killing himself. She returns to the world of the living for a week to try to keep her brother from committing suicide. The book deals with a heavy topic through cheerful storytelling.

In the Bathroom for Three Years Cho Sung-ja; Illustrator: Lee Young-rim Mirae N Co., Ltd., 2010, 108p ISBN 9788937845819

In the Library for Three Years Cho Sung-ja; Illustrator: Lee Young-rim Mirae N Co., Ltd., 2013, 104p ISBN 9788937886164

Sang-a, a young girl, rarely speaks because her parents frequently fight. She just weeps and cries when she wants to see her father.

One day, she gets trapped in a bathroom.

For four hours in the bathroom, she remembers the past and heals the wounds deep inside her heart, setting off to a new path for growth.

The girl from In the Bathroom for Three Years, is now meeting new characters and marching towards her dreams. This time Sang-a gets trapped in the library and stays overnight. The library, with all the lights turned off, is scary, but she gets to have a wonderful experience as she encounters all the characters from the books she has read.

Copyright Agent: Choi Koeun copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com

Copyright Agent: Park Jiyoung rights@mirae-n.com 82-2-3475-3870 www.mirae-n.com

Copyright Agent: Park Jiyoung rights@mirae-n.com 82-2-3475-3870 www.mirae-n.com

The Diet School

Why Boys Are…?

Why Girls Are…?

Kim Hye-jung, Jaeum & Moeum Publishing Co. 2012, 272p, ISBN 9788954427142

Won You-soon; Illustrator: An Kyoung-hee Truebook Sinsago Co., Ltd., 2013, 68p ISBN 9788928307685

Won You-soon, Illustrator: Kang Yun-jeong Truebook Sinsago Co., Ltd., 2013, 64p ISBN 9788928307692

Boys always get hurt while trying to mimic characters from comics. They also go out to the playground and get sweaty whenever they get the chance. This book takes up the perspective of girls and shows how they respond to boys, a unique approach that will appeal to young girls and also help broaden their horizons to accept others as they are.

The central character in the book is a boy.

He never understands girls who often cry over small things and always move around in groups. But he learns something important when a girl helps him out of a crisis. He realizes that men and women are essentially different. Yet the book suggests that, regardless of sex, men and women can after all, be friends.

Copyright Agent: Park Hye-jung hjpark@sinsago.co.kr 82-2-3480-4163 www.sinsago.co.kr

Copyright Agent: Park Hye-jung hjpark@sinsago.co.kr 82-2-3480-4163 www.sinsago.co.kr

A girl wants to lose weight so much that she gets enrolled in a Diet School. But the 15-year-old finds herself abused by the school authorities and attempts to escape.

The motif of this initiation story is said to be based on the author’s own childhood experience.

Copyright Agent: Yoo So-young jamoglobal@jamobook.com 82-70-8656-9583 www.jamo21.net

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Children’s Books

Children Crossing the Border

Aliens Live in Our House

The Sea's Lullaby for a Boy

The Elephant Has Escaped!

Park Hyeon-suk; Illustrator: Han Soo-jin Sallim Publishing Co., Ltd., 2013, 208p ISBN 9788952221612

Kim Hyeyoung; Illustrator: Oh Jung-taek Sallim Publishing Co., Ltd., 2013, 172p ISBN 9788952226969

Lee Sang-kyo; Illustrator: Kim Jae-hong Bombom Publishing Co., 2013, 32p ISBN 9788991742475

Shim Sang-woo; Illustrator: Jo Tae-gyeom Bombom Publishing Co., 2013, 88p ISBN 9788991742482

There are people who dream of freedom and happiness across the border: North Koreans. This book details stories of North Korean youth. They risk their lives to cross the fortified border to reunite with their family members, and seek freedom to choose the jobs they want and pursue peace.

The Barua tribe lost its own planet and settled on Earth. The peace between the Barua tribe and humans dissolves when the virus Transtree Syndrome hits Earth. Those who get infected develop a fast-spreading tree in their navels. False rumors about the cause, namely the Barua tribe, pit humans against aliens. The story is a refreshing take on discrimination and outcasts.

This picture book takes its motif from the children’s song, “Baby on Island House,” about a scenic seaside village. In early spring with the icy cold still lingering, Dong-i’s father goes out to the sea to catch fish and his mother also leaves home to harvest oysters. The boy’s red cheeks and his mother’s beads of sweat are drawn in a way that pulls at readers' heartstrings.

This story draws its theme from a real incident: a few years ago, an elephant broke out of a zoo. The story depicts the elephant’s journey from the zoo to its turbulent life afterward through charming illustrations and entertaining writing.

The book takes readers to the very life of elephants and offers a chance to ponder why and how they have ended up in Korea.

Copyright Agent: Jina Park jina@sallimbooks.com 82-31-955-4668 www.sallimbooks.com

Copyright Agent: Jina Park jina@sallimbooks.com 82-31-955-4668 www.sallimbooks.com

Copyright Agent: Heo Sun-young bbsun@bombombook.com 82-2-2212-7088 http://cafe.daum.net/bbpub

Copyright Agent: Heo Sun-young bbsun@bombombook.com 82-2-2212-7088 http://cafe.daum.net/bbpub

Nonfiction

Who Should I Be When I Grow Up?

Across the Tumen (A North Korean Kkotjebi Boy's Quest)

Hwang Siwon; Illustrator: Lee Yuna Book21 Publishing Group, 2013, 256p ISBN 9788950951245

Moon Young-sook, Seoul Selection, 2013 260p, ISBN 9788997639328

Can a child readily say what they want to be when they grow up? Not what everybody else wants, or what will give them success, or what their parents want?

The book illustrates knowledge that helps children draw up their future plans. It also introduces a wide range of occupations from children’s favorites to promising jobs in the future.

As North Korea undergoes a devastating famine, Yeong-dae loses both his parents and is forced to beg on the streets. This young boy sets off on a journey to China to find his sister—his last living relative.

Captured, he is sent back to the North, thrown in jail, and tortured. Once released, he crosses the Tumen River again, more determined than ever to find a place where he can live a decent life.

Copyright Agent: Kim Younghee youngheekim@book21.co.kr 82-31-955-2117 www.book21.com

Copyright Agent: Park Shin-hyung sales@seoulselection.com 82-70-4060-3950 www.seoulselection.com

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Drawing Morocco Eom Yujeong, Hyohyung Publishing Co. 2013, 244p, ISBN 9788993277067

Author and artist Eom Yujeong has published five books of her own drawings since 2008. Eom spent time in Morocco observing the country and recording what she saw in her sketchbook. Her use of natural Moroccan paints renders her Moroccan encounters and memories still more powerful and vivid.

Copyright Agent: Uhm Cho-long info@hyohyung.co.kr 82-31-955-7600 www.hyohyung.co.kr

The Story of Eight Korean Film Masters Ju Sungchul, Youlhwadang Publishers 2013, 228p, ISBN 9788930104456

This book introduces eight film technicians who have played a leading role in the current Korean film renaissance. As such, it introduces the life stories, philosophies, and professional knowhow of these masters in the art of cinematography, lighting, editing, sound, martial arts, special effects, and makeup.

Copyright Agent: Yi Soojung ysj0710@youlhwadang.co.kr 82-31-955-7006 www.youlhwadang.co.kr

Mum: Epilogue

What I Will Become

Things I Wish I Knew Then

The Courage To Let Go

Shim Jae-myung, Maumsanchaek 2013, 149p, ISBN 9788960901636

Goo Bonhyung, Gimm-Young Publishers, Inc. 2013, 304p, ISBN 9788934964315

Jung Yeoul, Book21 Publishing Group 2012, 367p, ISBN 9788950949112

Simon Lee, Sam & Parkers Co., Ltd. 2013, 264p, ISBN 9788965701712

Mum Epilogue is the first book by Shim Jae-myung, head of Myung Films, the company that produced such milestones in Korean film as The Contact, Joint Security Area, Forever the Moment and, most recently, Architecture 101. Shim uses the story of her mother to examine her own life and begins to overcome her sense of loss through writing.

Goo Bonhyung, who passed away last year, was known as a preacher of change management. This posthumous anthology is a selection of 60 of the best columns he penned in his lifetime. It is a collection of ways of building personal dignity based on advice that encourages readers to trust and know themselves.

This book suggests 20 keywords that those in their twenties should hold to heart, such as “wandering,” “travel,” “learning,” “happiness,” “indulgence,” “mentor,” and “death.” Based on the author's personal experience, these lessons provide time to consider the meaning of life.

The things you think you need to be happy are actually the things causing you pain. Let go of the things you cling to.

Only then can you discover the real you, not the you as defined by other things.

This is a psychological journey of loving yourself, acknowledging yourself and discovering the real you by letting go of the desires that others have thrust upon you.

Copyright Agent: Jung Inhye threshold@maumsan.com 82-2-362-1451 www.maumsan.com

Copyright Agent: Cha Jinhee jinhee@gimmyoung.com 82-2-3668-3203 www.gimmyoung.com

Copyright Agent: Kim Younghee youngheekim@book21.co.kr 82-31-955-2117 www.book21.com

Copyright Agent: Kwon Junghee myrobin93@gmail.com 82-31-960-4853 www.smpk.co.kr

Graphic Novels

The First Question Ryu Lang-do, Eight Point 2013, 300p, ISBN 9788996947431

The author’s philosophy of success holds that those who achieve results have one thing in common: beginning everything with the question: Why? He emphasizes that whether or not you begin your endeavors with this question is the difference that determines their outcome and changes people's lives.

Copyright Agent: Heo Yun-jung 314yj@naver.com 82-2-6332-8082 www.eightpoint.co.kr

Why Has Mr. Square Gone to the Round Mountain?

Kim Jun-beom, Bookgoodcome 2013, 288p, ISBN 9788997728350

Well-known cartoonist Kim Jun-beom, who honed his skills at the famed comic artist Hur Young-man’s studio, has finally come back with a meditative piece. Kim explores values that can be found in life in a thought-provoking yet entertaining style.

Copyright Agent: Lee Soonyoung bookgoodcome@gmail.com 82-2-3144-3238 www.bookgoodcome.com

Mr. Kimchi (2 vols.)

Lung Fish (2 vols.)

Che Jung-taek; Illustrator: Kim Euyjung Gobooky Books Co., Ltd. 2013, 180p, ISBN 9788966070947 (Vol.1)

Choi Min-ho, Gobooky Books Co., Ltd. 2013, 179p, ISBN 9788966070916 (Vol.1)

In this delicious food-based comic, kimchi is the motif behind the highly individual characters and compelling storytelling. Through kimchi, the fates of otherwise unconnected characters become entwined in a tumultuous kimchi-based game of survival in the wild.

The lung fish uses lungs to breathe. It can breathe both in water and on land, but cannot live completely in either. The author uses this theme to tell a story of tragic love between wounded souls.

The virtue of this comic lies in bold storytelling and a mysterious color palate with a meticulous portrayal of even the smallest details.

Copyright Agent: Jung Sun-woo pinksunwoo@hanmail.net 82-32-323-8895 www.gobook2.com

Copyright Agent: Jung sun-woo pinksunwoo@hanmail.net 82-32-323-8895 www.gobook2.com

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Meet the Publishers 出版社巡礼

Monthly Literature and Thought inaugural issue, 1972

Munhaksasang For over 40 years Munhaksasang has broken new ground in the world of literary publishing. It continues to evolve with its sights set on the humanities.

Monthly Literature and Thought October 2013

1

1. Library Nomad Eun Seung-wan, Munhaksasang Co. Ltd. 2013, 268p, ISBN 9788970128917 3

2. Eve Bares All Gu Kyung-mi et al., Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. 2012, 254p, ISBN 9788970128757 3. You Have no Idea Kim Do-eon et al., Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. 2011, 280p, ISBN 9788970128658 2

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There are old bookshelves lightly covered with dust in a corner of an editorial office at Munhaksasang. Those are for storing the monthly literary magazine Monthly Lite rat ure an d Thought , wh ic h t he company started publishing in 1972, the same time the company was founded. The shelves are packed with 492 issues of the magazine, beginning with the first issue to the October 2013 issue.

L ee O-young, who wa s the f irst editor-in-chief and later served as Minister of Culture, must have been determined to revolt against the dominant current of the literary world at the time through the magazine. Monthly Literature and Thought was exceptional from its first issue. It featured on the cover a distinctive portrait of the poet Yi Sang, (1910-1937), who is considered the foremost modernist in the Korean literary world. The painting done by the artist Koo Bon-woong (19061953), a friend of Yi's, came to see the light after being kept in the dark for several decades. The company also sent their correspondents abroad to introduce the latest trends in literature and publish articles attempting to communicate with related genres, such as art and philosophy.

The company’s experimental mindset shifted when it decided to meet readers more directly by establishing on-going literary awards to honor renowned Korean writers, such as the Yi Sang Literary Award in 1977, the Sowol Poetry Award in 1987, and the Kim Hwan-tae Literary Criticism Award. The Yi Sang Literary Award Anthology, which publishes around 10 outstanding works out of a few hundred works of short fiction each year in a single volume, has been especially lauded. This

anthology is starting to be seen as a record that evaluates the achievements of Korean literature throughout the year. The books of writers that have been featured in the anthology, including bestsellers such as Yi Mun-yol’s Our Twisted Hero, gained considerable interest, so much so that the printing house became quite busy in order to meet the amount of book orders.

Renowned writers in Korea, such as Kim Sung-ok, Lee Chung-joon, Park Wansuh, Choi In-ho, and Shin Kyung-sook, have been awardees. Although the Korean literature publishing market has noticeably slowed these days, this award anthology continues to be a steady seller at 100,000 copies.

Munhaksasang encountered another turning point when its owner changed hands to its current president, Yim Hongbin, in 1985. Japanese writer Haruki M u r a k a m i ’s N o r w e g i a n Wo o d w a s published in 1989, well-matched with the tendency towards de-politicization in the 90s, and attracted the market’s attention. The company is now known as “Murakami's publisher,” holding 28 of his foreign rights, the lion’s share of publication rights to Murakami’s works in Korea except for a few most recent works.

It has also brought attention to European writers and has published the novels of British writer Nick Hornby, who is known for his soccer-based memoir Fever Pitch: A Long Way Down and the novel About a Boy, which was made into a movie.

T he publ i sher’s ed itor ia l boa rd, t he members of which a re highly knowledgeable in both literature and marketing, have turned their eyes back to Korean literature in the last few years.

The company published the short story anthology, Eve Bares All, where six women writers discuss secret stories about sex, as well as its men writers’ version, Walk in My Shoes; were both well received. Eun Seungwan’s short fiction collection, Library Nomad, exposing the social pathology of modern Korea, such as the nonexistence of communication and the alienation of humans, has recently attracted attention.

Eun also made his debut as a winner of the Munhaksasang New Writer’s Award.

Munhaksasang has recently attempted to change by updating the book design and style for its famous Yi Sang Literary Award Anthology and the Sowol Poetry Award Antholog y. Young writer Kim Ae-ran’s "The Future of Silence" in the literature anthology and the Sowol Poetry winner, poet Lee Jae-mu’s anthology of poetry, Meal on the Road, have been attracting the attention of readers.

The company’s publishing list also includes the humanities. A collection of essays on Korean culture titled In This Earth & In That Wind by scholar Lee O-young, the company’s first editor-inchief, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The book that analyzes the current state of Korean society through keywords symbolizing Korea’s culture, s u c h a s w e e p i n g (u l e o m ), h u n g e r (gumjurim), and the game yut has been a steady seller over the years, having sold over two million copies. To celebrate this, Munhaksasang is planning on publishing an anthology of essays portraying changes in Korea since 50 years after the book’s publication.

by Shin Junebong

4

5 7 4. “The Corn and I”

(2012 Yi Sang Literary Award Anthology)

Kim Young Ha, Munhaksasang Co. Ltd. 2012, 383p, ISBN 9788970128719

5. “The Future of Silence”

(2013 Yi Sang Literary Award Anthology)

Kim Ae-ran, Munhaksasang Co. Ltd. 2013, 352p, ISBN 9788970128849

6. “Meal on the Road”

(Sowol Poetry Award Anthology)

Lee Jae-mu, Munhaksasang Co. Ltd. 2012, 318p, ISBN 9788970128788

7. In This Earth & In That Wind Lee O Young, Munhaksasang Co. Ltd. 2008, 290p, ISBN 9788970128207 6

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Overseas Angle

Hwang Sok-yong's

Baridaegi

Published in France The French edition of Hwang Sok-yong's Baridaegi (Princesse Bari) has been published by Philippe Picquier, a publishing house that specializes in Far East literature. Following the release of Shim Chong (Shimcheong, fille etendu) by Zulmain 2010, Baridaegi is Hwang’s eighth publication in France, which makes him the most translated Korean author in the country. Hwang’s prominent works A Chronicle of Mr. Han (Monsieur Han), The Shadow of Arms (À l'ombre des armes), The Old Garden (Le vieux jardin), and The Guest (L' invité) have all been translated into French. The French audience’s positive reception of his works has prompted reprinting of the short story collection Road to Sampo (La route de Sampo) and A Chronicle of Mr. Han as a pocket edition by 10/18. The Guest and Shim Chong were also reprinted in pocket size by the prominent publisher Seuil. Their portable size ensures wider distribution, especially among a young readership.

In a recent interview, Hwang Sok-yong revealed his personal connection to France. As a student he read major French classics by Zola, Stendhal, Balzac, Gide, Saint-Exupéry, Malraux, Camus, and Sartre. He was fascinated by the French language and took French courses at Alliance Française. Hwang has visited France a number of times since he became a writer, usually when his works were translated and published in France. He loves to meet his French audience and particularly appreciates their questions. They reveal a different way of reading that is more profound and perhaps closer to the essence of what he wants to convey in his writing. He also notes that having his books translated into French opens the door for translation into other European languages. Understanding that literature is universal, he decided to stay in Paris in 2006 and 2007 after spending the previous year in London. It was during this stay in Paris that he wrote Baridaegi.

It is ironic that this preeminently Korean work, inspired by the Korean legend of Bari, was written during his voluntary exile in Paris.

writer Hwang Sok-yong

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Baridaegi

Princesse Bari

Hwang Sok-yong, Changbi Publishers, Inc. 2007, 301p, ISBN 9788936433581

Editions Philippe Picquier 2013, 251p, ISBN 9782809709322

The f irst pa rt of the novel portrays North Korea during the mid-1990s as it struggles with intense economic failure. Many families like Bari’s try to escape the famine by crossing the border to China. This theme of migration became very urgent for Hwang after he discovered the prevalence of immigrant communities in London. During his stay in Paris, daily he encountered images of violent riots in the suburbs of major French cities where large Muslim communities had formed.

Since Hwang’s works are inspired by his political and social commitment, it was only natural that he became vocal about migration, so pervasive in today’s world. Migration, Hwang says, disrupts cultural harmony. It is never easy to accept the other. As a broken race, Koreans understand this best of all.

Hwang uses the legend of Bari to address these Korean and universal issues of migration so deeply rooted in contempora r y societ y. Ba sed on the reactions during Korean culture week at Université Paris-Dauphine this October, the book’s unfamiliar legends and shamanistic worldview were not culturally exclusive. Hwang is skilled at integrating his clear, poetic writing with a deeper meaning of the work.

As Bari bravely confronts a violent world in stubborn pursuit of the elixir of life, she reveals the importance of the trivialities that comprise our daily lives. As in Shim Chong, Hwang speaks through the voice of a female protagonist.

It has been barely a month since the book was

published, but Philippe Picquier Publishing attests to the positive reception of Baridaegi. Le Monde diplomatique, Télérama, and L'Express have featured the book in their columns. Libération devoted an entire page to Hwang in its review section. Philippe Pons of Le Monde wrote: “Baridaegi is an unsettling book, the fruit of the novelist’s extensive investigation along the border between North Korea and China, meeting refugees […]The journey through hell gives those who endure it an understanding of life’s suffering and the ability to guide wandering souls through the underworld.” Le Figaro, too, will address Baridaegi in its literature column. Let us conclude with the review in Psychologies magazine: “Hwang Sokyong’s harsh and poetic book reveals the spiritual in the mundane. He converts the supernatural into the norm.

The story of Bari is like that of thousands of hopeful illegal immigrants arriving in the West every day.”

by Jean-Noël Juttet

Jean-Noël Juttet is a former

diplomat who has worked in Japan and Korea. He won the Daesan Grand Prize for translation (1999), Korea France Cultural Award (2006), and the Grand Prize for the 10th Korean Literature Translation Awards in 2011. He teaches at the LTI Korea Translation Academy.

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Afterword

So Far Yet So Close: Korea and Back Again Distance is deception—truth is hidden and revealed in its illusion. Before I visited Korea for the first time in June 2013, all I knew about the country was a bit of politics, a couple of pop songs, and some films by Park Chan-wook. I also remember my former roommate explaining that manhwa is different from manga. That was it. Almost nothing.

The problem is that in France I am considered something of a Korean literature expert. Like the innocent imposter that I am, allow me to carefully denounce and excuse myself. All I did was admire Hwa ng Sok-yong’s novels a nd t hen express t hat admiration. I wrote several articles in the literary column of Le Monde. I devoured other Korean novels including those of Kim Young Ha and Shin Kyung-sook, to whom I gave an award in 2009. But nothing more. In the end, I am a usurper—but to what extent? Were my critiques unjust because I didn’t understand everything? Or was it because of the distance that I was able to write something that the French audience deems worth reading? Was I an ignoramus, a charlatan, or the Persian of Montesquieu?

The nature of my naïve deception became apparent to me at the airport in France after returning from my 10-day trip in Korea. The distance came into view like Henry James’s “figure in the Persian carpet.”

I met many writers in Korea. I spent most of the ten days talking with them, their translators, interpreters, and publishers, not to mention many other Koreans with whom I didn’t have any connection whatsoever. I also met foreigners living in Seoul. For several days I was immersed in the language and history and anecdotes of Korea. But I couldn’t become Korean. I was still an old European. A Dane living in Paris, smitten with love for the cities of central Europe. A patron of Berlin nights and southern Italy. Nonetheless, I found something in common with Korean literature—or perhaps with the Korean people: an ability to reconcile opposites, a taste for mixture and curiosity. Koreans have an attachment to history, and a strong, complex identity. For a European, the history of Korean literature, which is Asian in nature, is irreducibly distant, and yet it is irresistibly close to the same gluttonous modernity found in Western societies.

For many Korean writers I met, Kaf ka, Flaubert, Dickens, or Faulkner are as crucial as they are for the readers and writers in Europe.

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Despite the reputation of Hwang Sok-yong and Kim Young Ha, Korean literature is unjustly neglected in France and Europe. This is not due to the translators, although in some languages there are not enough of them. Nor is it the fault of the publishers. Public interest in Korea does exist, as evident in the success of some Korean musicians and filmmakers. On the way back to Paris, I realized that perhaps the reason is at least partially somewhere else. It’s because I myself didn’t find Henry James’s figure in the carpet. A guide across borders, a secret agent of literature, a traveler and an ignoramus—a mediator of foreign literature. China and Japan have long enjoyed the enthusiasm of these mediators in Europe.

There certainly are publishers, students, and journalists who are enthusiastic about Korea in Europe, especially in France. However, the number is quite small. Literature requires more time than music or film. Today, few of these mediators of words visit Korea. They don’t have time. Nonetheless, they are the ones who must remove the deception of distance and cover over any bee stings they acquired during their beautiful journey. Still, there aren’t many strangers and devotees who face this from a distance. As Henry James said, the figure in the carpet is “describable only for…lovers.”

by Nils C. Ahl

Nils C. Ahl lectures at the ISCPA

College of Journalism. At present he writes articles about literature for Le Monde and translates from Danish to French. He helped create the award Prix de l'Inaperçu for the l'Académie des Gérard, and wrote the young adult novel Les carnets souterrains de Zénon that was published by l’ecole des loisirs in 2009.

Contributors Bae No-pil is a reporter with the

Kim Dongshik is a literary critic

Park Sungchang is a literary critic

Cha Mi-ryeong is a literary critic and assistant professor of education at GIST College.

and a Professor of Korean Language and Literature at Inha University. His collections of essays include Cynicism and Fascination and Memory and Vestige.

Cho Yeon-jung is a literary critic. She

Kim Ji-eun is a children’s book

Pyo Jeonghun is a book reviewer,

JoongAng Ilbo.

debuted in 2006 when she won the Seoul Shinmun New Critics Award.

Her collections of essays include Time for Touching.

Choi Sungmin is a literary critic. His works include Modern Narrative Text and Media Technologies.

Eom Hye-suk conducts research

in children’s literature and is an illustrated book critic who also works as a translator. Her best-known work is Reading My Delightful Illustrated Books.

Han Eun-hyeong is a writer and literary editor.

Han Miwha is a book columnist. Her

works include Bestsellers of Our Time and This Is How Bestsellers Are Made.

Joseph Lee is a literary agent and President of KL Management. His main interest lies in selling Korean literature to overseas markets. He is the author of A Man Selling Novels.

Jung Hongsoo is a literary critic.

He has published such works as The Loneliness of the Novel.

Jung Yeo-ul is a literary critic. Jung

teaches at Seoul National University and the Korean National University of Arts. She is the author of a collection of critical essays, A Small Antenna in My Study.

Kang Dongho is a literary critic. He

won the 5th Daesan Daehak Literary Award in the critic division. He made his debut in 2009 when he won the New Writer’s Contest sponsored by the Chosun Ilbo.

Kang Yu-jung is a literary and film critic, and the author of Oedipus’ Forest, a collection of essays. She is on the editorial board of list_Books from Korea.

Kim Beomsoo is a reporter with the Hankook Ilbo.

writer and children’s literature critic.

She currently lectures on theories of children's fiction writing in the Department of Creative Writing at Hanshin University. She is on the editorial board of list_Books from Korea.

Kim Kyung-yun is a critic of children’s and young adult literature and a translator. She is the author of a collection of essays Our Portraits of Others and a number of translations.

Kim Mansu is a professor with the Department of Culture and Contents at Inha University. His works include Plot and Character in the Age of Storytelling. He is on the editorial board of list_Books from Korea.

Kim Min-ryoung is a children’s

storywriter who also studies children’s literature. She debuted in 2006 when her children’s story won the Munwha Ilbo New Writer’s Contest. She is the author of My Cousin Sera.

Kim Seokhee is a novelist and

translator. He translated Nanami Shiono’s The Stories of the Romans s e r i e s , John Fowles’ T h e Fre n c h Li e u t e n a n t ' s Wo m a n , Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, and the collected works of Jules Verne.

Kim Su-yeong is President of Rhodus Publishing Company and an instructor in philosophy.

Kim Yonghee is a literary critic

and professor of Korean Literature at Pyeongtaek University. Her works include Penelope’s Loom: Modern Women Poets and Going to Heaven.

Lee Kyungjae is a literary critic and professor at Soongsil University. He wrote the essay collections Museum of Singularity and The Meaning of Literature.

Park Hyekyung is a literary critic.

Her works include A Man Hiding Behind Ideology, The Wound and the Gaze, The Mysterious and Melancholy of Literature, and Within Orpheus's Eyes.

and professor of Korean literature at Seoul National University. His works include Rhetoric, Korean Literature in the Glocal Age, and Challenges in Comparative Literature. columnist, translator, and freelance writer. He has translated 10 books into Korean and written Books Have Their Own Destiny, A Short Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, and An Interview with My Teacher: What Is Philosophy?

He is on the editorial board of list_ Books from Korea.

Richard Hong is a book columnist

and the head of BC Agency. He translated 13: The Story of the World’s Most Notorious Superstitions. He has appeared on KBS 1 Radio’s “Global Today,” and writes columns for The Korea Economic Daily and Posco News.

Shim Bo-seon is a poet and

sociologist. He published the essay collection Blackened Art and the poetry collections 15 Seconds Without Sorrows and Man Out of Sight.

Shin Hyoung-cheol is a literary

Yoon So-hee is a children’s book writer. She has written Prejudice, Aram’s Secret, and 7 Stories To Help You Study. She is the winner of 13th MBC Children’s Writing Prize.

Yu Youngjin is a children’s literature

critic and an elementar y school teacher. He is the author of The Body’s Imagination and Fairytale.

Translators Ally Hwang holds a doctorate

in Comparative Literature from B i n g h a m t o n Un i v e r s i t y a n d i s currently translating the short story collection, Myoungrang by Cheon Un-yeong. She was a fellow of the International Translation Foundation and has recently published a short story translation of Seo Hajin's “At the Gunwale.”

B a h k J - h u h n s t u d i e d Ko r e a n Language & Literature in Hansung University.

Ben Jackson worked for the English-

JoongAng Ilbo.

language magazine SEOUL for three years and is now a freelance writer and translator in Korea. He has a master's degree in Korean Literature from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

Shin Soojin is a freelance children's

Brother Anthony of Taizé has been

critic, and author of a collection of essays Ethica Falling.

Shin Junebong is a reporter with the

book editor.

Suh Heewon is a literary critic. He made his debut in 2009 when he won the New Writer’s Contest in the critic division sponsored by the Munhwa Ilbo and Segye Ilbo.

Uh Soo-woong is Editor-in-Chief of the Chosun Ilbo Weekly Magazine.

Yang Yun-eui is a literary critic. She

translating Korean literature for over 20 years, and has published some 30 volumes, mostly of modern poetry.

Currently, he is Distinguished Professor at Dankook University, Professor Emeritus at Sogang University, and President of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch.

Cho Yoonna is a freelance interpreter and translator.

won the 2006 Joongang New Writer’s Award in the literary criticism category.

She has written a book of literary criticism called Pose and Propose.

Choi Inyoung is an artist and

Yi Myung-suk is a columnist. He

Christopher Dykas studied German

has published Yi Myung-suk’s Japanese Comics, Manhwa; Finding the Critical Point; and A Cafe for Every Day.

translator specializing in Korean literature and the arts. She has been translating for over 20 years.

Studies and Politics at Oberlin College.

He is a graduate student at UCLA. He has translated Lee Kiho's At Least We Can Apologzie, published by Dalkey Archive Press.

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Vol.22 Winter 2013

87

Featured Authors

Don Mee Choi is the author of

The Morning News Is Exciting, which won the 2011 Whiting Award. She is also a recipient of Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize for her translation of Kim Hyesoon’s All the Garbage of the World, Unite! (Action Books, 2011).

E. K. DuBois is a freelance translator.

She received the LTI Korea Translation Gr a n t i n 2 0 1 0 a n d t h e Da e s a n Foundation Translation Grant in 2012.

H. Jamie Chang studied drama at

Tufts. She lives in Copenhagen with her wife.

Jack Saebyok Jung studied English

and American poetry at Harvard as an undergraduate. He is working on his Master's thesis on modern Korean literature at Seoul National University, and is currently translating Yi Sang's poetry into English.

Jung Yewon is a freelance interpreter

and translator. She received the Daesan Foundation Translation Grant in 2009, the LTI Korea Translation Grant in 2010, and the Korea Times Translation Award in 2011. She is currently working on the translation of Vaseline Buddha, a novel by Jung Young Moon.

Kari Schenk was the co-recipient of

the commendation award in the 2006 Korea Times Literature Translation Awards, and in 2010 she attended a special course in translation at LTI Korea. She teaches at Korea University.

Walter K. Lew is based in New York

and Miami. He has published seven books, including the award-winning Treadwinds: Poems and Intermedia Texts, Excerpts from DIKTE / ∆IKTH, and Crazy Melon and Chinese Apple: The Poems of Frances Chung. Formerly a documentary producer, his film and literary scholarship and translations of poetry have been widely anthologized.

Yang Sung-jin is a staff reporter and

editor at The Korea Herald. Yang wrote a Korean history book in English, Click Into the Hermit Kingdom, and a newsbased English vocabulary book, News English Power Dictionary.

Yi Jeong-hyeon is a freelance

translator. She has translated several books and papers, including Korean Traditional Landscape Architecture and Atlas of Korean History.

Editors Kim Stoker is an editor and lecturer

Park Kyoung-lee is a graduate

student at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. She won the 9th Korean Literature Translation Contest for New Translators in 2010.

Peter J. Koh is a freelance translator and interpreter who completed LTI Korea's Special Workshop in 2009 and Intensive Workshop in 2010.

Sophie Bowman completed the

intensive course at the LTI Korea Translation Academy and is now living and working in Seoul.

88 list_ Books from Korea

Vol.22 Winter 2013

pp. 42-44, 57-60

Jo Jung-rae (b.1948) made his

literary debut in 1970 with the short story “False Charge,” which appeared in the monthly magazine Hyundae Munhak. His childhood experiences of the Korean War and Yeosu-Suncheon Rebellion inspired numerous literary works like Taebaek Mountain Range (10 vols.) and Arirang (12 vols.).

The Great Jungle (3 vols.) is Jo’s most recent publication. His works have been translated into English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Swedish, and adapted into movies, manhwa, TV dramas, and musicals. He received the Hyundae Literary Award and Korea Literary Award.

a t Ew h a Wo m a n s Un i v e r s i t y ' s Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation.

Krys Lee is a writer and Professor of

Creative Writing at Yonsei University's Underwood International College. Her short story collection Drifting House was published by Viking/Penguin in the U.S. and Faber and Faber in the U.K., in 2012.

Nathan A. DuBois is a translator/

editor of literature, business, and politics. He is currently pursing a master's degree at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management.

Fiction

Cover Art Cha So-Lim earned her Master’s

and Bachelor’s degrees in Fine Arts from Hongik University. She has had several solo exhibitions in Korea and participated in group exhibitions in both Korea and abroad. slcha@korea.com

L e e Ky u n g - j a ( b. 1 9 4 8 ) m a d e

her literary debut in 1973 when she won the Seoul Shinmun New Writer’s Contest with the short story “Confirmation.” Lee sensationalized contemporary society by addressing women’s issues in her short story collection Failure of the Half. Her writings contemplate woman as independent individuals. Her preeminent works are the short story collections Failure of the Half and Hunchback’s Love, along with the novels Suni and The Third House. She is a Han Moo-sook Literary Award recipient.

Black Flower, Your Republic Is Calling You, Quiz Show, I Hear Your Voice, and How a Murderer Remembers. He is an op-ed writer for The New York Times and has won the Hyundae Literary Award, the Dong-in Literary Award, and the Yi Sang Literary Award.

Ilbo Literary Award and the Dong-in Literary Award.

Nonfiction pp. 64-70

Lee Eung-jun (b.1970) is a poet and

novelist. He first published a poem in the quarterly journal Literature & Criticism in 1990, and debuted as a novelist in 1994 when his short story appeared in the quarterly magazine Imagination. His published works include the poetry collection The Trees Rejected the Forest; a short story collection titled My Girlfriend’s Funeral; the novels Private Life of the Nation and All About My Romance; and the serialized novel Night Cello. Lemon Tree is a 40-minute long film written and directed by Lee that screened at the New York Asian American International Film Festival and at the Paris International Short Film Festival in 2008.

Jeong Yi-hyun (b.1972) debuted in

Kang Youngsook (b.1967) debuted

in 1998 when she won the Seoul Shinmun New Writer’s Contest with the short story “Dinner in August.”

Her published works include the short story collection A Night of Dumbbell Exercises; and the novels Rina, Writing Club, and Tragicomic Miss Teletubby.

She received the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award.

2002 when her short story Romantic Love and Society was published by the quarterly review Literature and Society and won the New Writer’s Award. Her short story collections are Today’s Lie and Romantic Love and Society. My Sweet Seoul, What You Never Know, Goodbye, My Everything are her most well-known novels. She was a recipient of the Hyundae Literary Award.

Kim Yun-sik (b.1936) is a researcher

o f Ko re a n l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y. Hi s contribution to modern literature is unrivaled in regard to academic and literary achievement. He has published more than 70 books— excluding collaborations, compilations, and translations. His major works are Research and Criticism on Korea’s Modern Literary Works, Understanding Korean Modern Literature, The History of Korean Literature, New Realms in Literary History and Rivals in the History of Literature. He received the Korea Literary Award and the Daesan Literary Award.

Cho Hae-jin (b.1976) debuted when

Kim Kyung-wook (b.1970)

debuted in 1993 with the novella Outsider published in the quarterly review Writer’s World. His short story collections are Is Leslie Cheung Really Dead? and Risky Reading. His novels are Like a Fairytale and What Is Baseball? He won both the Hyundae Literary Award and the Dong-in Literary Award.

Oh Hyun-jong made (b.1973) her

literary debut in 1999 when her short story “Addiction” won the New Writer’s Award after appearing in the monthly magazine Literature and Thought. Her major works include the short story collection Seiren, and the novels The Sacred Materialists and Sweet, Cold.

she won the New Writer’s Awards and was published by the quarterly magazine Munye Joongang in 2006.

She authored the short story collection City of Angels and the novels I Met Lo Gi-wan and A Forest That No One Has Seen.

Koh Jong-sok is a journalist, essayist,

linguist, and novelist. Koh is a veteran journalist with 30 years of experience and several published novels. His written works include The Journalists, Ko Jong-sok’s European News, Words of Love, Love of Words, and The Romantic Future of Koh Jong-sok.

Bae Myung-hoon (b.1978) began his

Pyun Hye-young (b.1972) debuted Kim Young Ha (b.1968) debuted in

the quarterly magazine Review in 1995 with the short story “Reflections in the Mirror.” His short story collections include What Happened to the Guy Stuck in the Elevator? and He’s Back, None the Wiser. His novels are I Have the Right to Destroy Myself, Why Arang,

when she won the Seoul Shinmun New Writer’s Contest in 2000 with the short story “Shaking of Dew.” Her major works include the short story collections AOI Garden, Heading for a Breeding Farm, Evening Courtship, and Night Passes and novels such as They Went to the Forest in the West and Ashes and Red. She won the Hankook

literary career with the Daehak Literary Award in 2004 and the Science Technology Creative Writing Award in 2005 for his short story “Smart D.” His short story collections include Tower and Hello, The Artificial Being!

His novels are Define Orbit, Decoy, Sir Chancellor, and The Proposal.

list_ Books from Korea

Vol.22 Winter 2013

89

at the Global Political Economy Institute and author of Chaebols: the Transnational Capital That Rules Korea.

Heo Gyun studied Korean art history

and was editor-in-chief at the Academy of Korean Studies. He was a cultural heritage committee member, a cultural heritage appraiser, and a member of the evaluation committee for the Cultural Heritage Administration.

He is currently the president of the Korea Folk Art Research Center.

His publications include Temple Decorations: The Shining World of Symbols, Korean Gardens: The World of Scholars, 100 Korean Buddhist Temples, and How To Appreciate Korea’s Traditional Paintings.

Beijing during the late 1990s, and investigated Buddhist and colored paintings during the late-2000s. Kwon wrote and illustrated Man-hee’s House, There Dangles a Spider, My Cat Copies Only Me, and Pikaia.

Se o Ju n i s a p r o d u c e r f o r t h e

Yoo Young-kyu (b.1972) is a 13-

year staff journalist for Seoul Shinmun where he worked in the society, economy, online news, and industry departments. He was also a police reporter for six years and half years. He is the author of Traces of Crimes Seen Through Scientific Investigation.

education documentary department at Educational Broadcasting System (EBS). He has spent most of his career in the wild, both in Korea and abroad. His major works include the nature documentary The Shadow of Coexistence; and the EBS Docuprimes Mongolia, a Land of Ancient Times, The Age of God and Darwin, The Himalayas, In Search of Disappearing Wildlife, and The Steppes of Asia. He is a three-time recipient of “The Good Programs Award of The Month.”

Kim Jae-hee is a children’s writer and

illustrator. She illustrated 1000 Won Is Too Little! and Raccoon Goes to School.

Uncle Is Here was her first book.

Lee Won-su (1911-1981) is one of Baek Jin is a professor of architecture.

He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at Seoul National University. He is interested in phenomenology and its significance on architecture, urbanism, and the environment. His published works include Nothingness: Tadao Ando’s Christian Sacred Space and Wanderings Through Landscapes, in addition to numerous international journal articles.

Seo Min is a professor and columnist

who became interested in parasites while studying at the Seoul National University College of Medicine.

He devoted himself to the study of parasites and received a doctorate from SNU. He is currently a lecturer on parasitology at Dankook University. He writes online and daily news columns to make parasitology a popular field.

He is the author of A Variety Show of Parasites.

Pa r k H e u n g - y o n g ( b . 1 9 6 1 )

delivers a touching story marked

by Korean sentimentality, unique characters, memorable lines, and an unconventional composition. He is the leading manhwa auteur, and is known for realizing the full potential of manhwa. His major works include My Blue Saber, His Country, The Years, and Like the Moon Escaping from the Clouds, which was published in France

by Casterman in 2007.

the most renowned Korean children’s book writers. Throughout his life he wrote hundreds of children’s stories, poems, and songs—including Korea’s most popular children’s song “Spring in My Hometown.” He was founder and president of the Korean Children’s Writer Association, and laid the foundation for children’s literature in Korea. His most renowned works include the Forest Kingdom, Ok-i, A Day Without Mom, and Spring in My Hometown. He received the Korea Culture and Arts Award and the Korea Literary Award.

Children's Books pp. 72-76

Park Hyeng-joon studied civil and

environmental engineering at Seoul National University. He received a master’s degree from the University of Sussex with a focus on Marx’s theory of alienation from social and political thought. He learned Jonathan Nitzan’s “capital as power” theory and expanded his understanding of capital, states, markets, and the global political economy. He is currently a researcher

90 list_ Books from Korea

Vol.22 Winter 2013

Joo Youngha is a professor of folklore

at the Academy of Korean Studies.

His key research areas include folklore and food studies. He is an avid field researcher and writer on Korean, Chinese, and Japanese culinary culture.

He is the author of Food Studies as Humanities, Delicious World History, Setting the Table, and Korean History Through Korean Food.

Heo Kyo-bum (b.1985) is a children’s

Kwon Yoon-duck (b.1960) is a leading first generation children’s writer and illustrator who pursues her own worldview. She studied landscape painting and fine brush painting in

book writer and a student of sociology at Seoul National University. His first book, The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician won the Story King Award.

INDEX Title Original Title Publishers/Agent Copyright Agent E-mail Phone Homepage

4p

Song Mi-kyoung wrote the children’s

books The Goddess of Revenge, Journal Eating Journal, School for Kids Who Hate to Go to School, and There Was a Child. She won the Woongjin Junior Literary Award.

Super Junior’s Experience Korea Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd. Kim Yun-kyung ykkim0702@wjbooks.co.kr 82-2-3670-1016 www.wjbooks.co.kr

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly (Madangeul Naon Amtak) KL Management Joseph Lee josephlee705@gmail.com 82-10-6239-9154

6p Pottery Museum (Dojagi Bangmulgwan) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

Hwang Sun-mi (b.1963) wrote the children’s books The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, Capture the Orchard, The Bad Boy Stickers, and Let’s Play and Have Fun. Foreign copyrights for The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly (2000) have been sold in 12 countries. The English version has been released by Penguin Publishing.

28 KL Management Joseph Lee josephlee705@gmail.com 82-10-6239-9154

How a Murderer Remembers (Sarinjaui Gieokbeop) Lippincott Massie McQuilkin Kent D. Wolf 1-212-352-2055 kent@lmqlit.com

The Ultimate Child (Gunggeugui Ai) Elixir Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

Moonlight Tales (Darege Deullyeojugo Sipeun Iyagi) KL Management Joseph Lee josephlee705@gmail.com 82-10-6239-9154

Kim Sun-hee (b.1964) is the author

of numerous children’s books including The Sun Came Out which won the 2001 Golden Goblin Award, and Eighteen Souls, Confucius Bakery, and More Red, which won the Sakyejul Literary Award.

Goodbye, My Everything (Annyeong, Nae Modeun Geot) Changbi Publishers, Inc. Sarah Lee copyright@changbi.com 82-31-955-3369 www.changbi.com/english

Give Them Lindy Hop (Geudeurege Rindihabeul) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

I Want to Enjoy Life Till the Day I Die (Naneun Jugeul Ttaekkaji Jaemiitge Salgo Sipda) Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd. Kim Yun-kyung ykkim0702@wjbooks.co.kr 82-2-3670-1016 www.wjbooks.co.kr

Design Your Perspective (Gwanjeomeul Dijainhara) Eric Yang Agency Inc. Jung Yeon eya-china@eyagency.com 82-2-592-3358

The Power of Studying (Gongbuhaneun Him) Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd. Kwon Minkyung ohappyday@wisdomhouse.co.kr 82-31-936-4199 www.wisdomhouse.co.kr

7p Parents Growing Up with Their Child (Aiwa Hamkke Jaraneun Bumo) Changbi Publishers, Inc. Choi Ko-eun copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com/english

If I Were to Raise My Children Again (Dasi Aireul Kiundamyeon) Nasimsabooks Kim Youn-hee nasimsabooks@naver.com 82-2-3141-2233

Jiwon and Byeong-gwan Series (Jiwoniwa Byeonggwani Series) Gilbut Children Publishing Co.,Ltd. Yie Ho-gyun webmaster@gilbutkid.co.kr 82-31-955-3270 www.gilbutkid.co.kr

The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician (Seumu Gogae Tamjeonggwa Masulsa) BIR Publishing Co., Ltd. Sujin Lena Park sujinpark@bir.co.kr 82-2-515-2000 (Ext.350) www.bir.co.kr

Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Bokee Lee kids@munhak.com 82-2-3144-3237 www.munhak.com

My Cat Copies Only Me (Goyangineun Naman Ttarahae) Changbi Publishers, Inc. Choi Ko-eun copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com/english

Detective Kim Yeong-seo with the Braided Hair (Daenggimeori Tamjeong Gimnyeongseo) Danielstone Co. Ltd. Eun Sun Jang oz@ddstone.com 82-2-337-5252 www.ddstone.com

The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician (Seumu Gogae Tamjeonggwa Masulsa) BIR Publishing Co., Ltd. Sujin Lena Park sujinpark@bir.co.kr 82-2-515-2000 (Ext.350) www.bir.co.kr

BIR Publishing Co., Ltd. Sujin Lena Park sujinpark@bir.co.kr 82-2-515-2000 (Ext.350) www.bir.co.kr

15p Mother's Stake (Eommaui Malttuk) Segyesa Publishing Co., Ltd. Heo, Yunjung 314yj@naver.com 82-2-6332-8082 www.segyesa.co.kr

The Snowy Road (Nungil)

What Kind of Seed Are You? (Neoneun Eotteon Ssiannini) Bear Books Choi Hyun-Kyoung bearbooks@naver.com 82-2-332-2672 www.bearbooks.co.kr

Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Please Look After Mom (Eommareul Butakhae) KL Management Joseph Lee josephlee705@gmail.com 82-10-6239-9154

8p Tradesman (Gaekju) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

How a Murderer Remembers (Sarinjaui Gieokbeop)

Medici Media Hyoung-suk, Moon moonstar05@nate.com 82-2-735-3308

barambooks Lee min young windchild04@hanmail.net 82-2-3142-0495 http://cafe.daum.net/barampub

Sherlock in the Attic (Darakbang Myeongtamjeong)

Time Shop (Sigangage)

The Korean West Sea War (Seohaejeonjaeng)

Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Ghost (Gwisin Jamneun Banggu Tamjeong)

Audrey, the Great Sleuth (Myeongtamgyeon Odeuri)

Bookhouse Publishers Kim Sujin ggageha@gmail.com 82-2-3144-2702 www.bookhouse.co.kr

9p

Changbi Publishers, Inc. Choi Ko-euna copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com/english

Changbi Publishers, Inc. Choi Ko-eun copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com/english

Eight Questions (Yeodeol Daneo)

Lippincott Massie McQuilkin Kent D. Wolf 1-212-352-2055 kent@lmqlit.com

Bang-Gu Detectives Chasing a Monster (Goemul Jjonneun Banggu Tamjeong)

21p Mom's Mad! (Eommaga Hwanatda) Bear Books Choi Hyun-kyoung bearbooks@naver.com 82-2-332-2672 www.bearbooks.co.kr

Waiting for Mom (Eomma Majung) Borim Press Jeong, Keeyun edit@borimpress.com jebi@borimpress.com 031-955-3456(Ext.153) www.borimpress.com

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Vol.22 Winter 2013

91

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly (Madangeul Naon Amtak)

37p

KL Management Joseph Lee josephlee705@gmail.com 82-10-6239-9154

Human&Books Ha Eung Bag hbooks@empal.com 82-2-6327-3535 www.humanb.co.kr

I Was There On the Island (Geu Seome Naega Iseonne)

How To Use Mom (Eomma Sayongbeop)

39p

Changbi Publishers, Inc. Choi Ko-eun copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com/english

Snowcat – Playing Alone (Seunoukaesui Honja Nolgi) The Open Books Co. Gregory Limpens gregory@openbooks.co.kr 82-31-955-4040 www.openbooks.co.kr

22p Your First (Dangsinui Cheot)

The One! And Only! Jilpoong Advertising!

(Deureoneun Boanna!

Jilpunggihoek!)

Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream (Seulpeumchiyak Geoulkeurim) Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd. Kim Yun-kyung ykkim0702@wjbooks.co.kr 82-2-3670-1016 www.wjbooks.co.kr

41p Incomplete Life (Misaeng)

To Write as a Woman: Lover, Patient, Poet, Me (Yeoseongi Geureul Sseundaneun Geoseun) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd Kwon Minkyung ohappyday@wisdomhouse.co.kr 82-31-936-4199 www.wisdomhouse.co.kr

The Great Catsby (Widaehan Kaetcheubi)

27p Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream (Seulpeumchiyak Geoulkeurim) Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd Kwon Minkyung ohappyday@wisdomhouse.co.kr 82-31-936-4199 www.wisdomhouse.co.kr

Moss (Ikki) Nulook media Jeeon Lee nulook@hanmail.net 82-2-517-3886 www.nulookmedia.co.kr

28p Earnie (Choesundeok Seongnyeongchungmangi)

43p

Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Hainaim Publishing Co., Ltd. Park Eun-young ridges9@naver.com 82-2-326-1600(Ext.119) www.hainaim.com

The Great Jungle (Jeonggeulmalli)

Fumbling, I Knew I’d End Up Like This (Galpangjilpanghadaga Nae Ireol Jul Aratji) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

The Third House (Sebeonjjae Jip) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

Night Cello (Bamui Chello)

Who Is Dr. Kim? (Gim Baksaneun Nuguinga?)

Minumsa Publishing Group Michelle Nam michellenam@minumsa.com 82-2-515-2000(Ext.206) www.minumsa.com

Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

45p

At Least We Can Apologize (Sagwaneun Jalhaeyo)

Garuda (Geumsijo)

Hyundae Munhak Publishing Co., Ltd. Kim Hyunjee laputa79@chol.com 82-2-2017-0295 www.hdmh.co.kr

33p Fumbling, I Knew I’d End Up Like This (Galpangjilpanghadaga Nae Ireol Jul Aratji) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

44p

Achimnara The Wylie Agency Jin Auh (U.S.A) 212-246-0069 jauh@wylieagency.com Stephanie Derbyshire (other regions except the U.S.A, China, and Japan) 020-7908-5900 sderbyshire@wylieagency.co.uk (China, Japan) Literature Translation Institute of Korea info@klti.or.kr

57p What Is Baseball?

(Yaguran Mueonninga) Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.

Kate Han mshan@munhak.com 82-31-955-2635 www.munhak.com

92 list_ Books from Korea

Vol.22 Winter 2013

How a Murderer Remembers (Sarinjaui Gieokbeop) Lippincott Massie McQuilkin Kent D. Wolf 1-212-352-2055 kent@lmqlit.com

58p Tragicomic Miss Teletubby (Seulpeugo Yukwaehan Telletobi Sonyeo) Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd. Moon Jeongmin jmoon@moonji.com 82-2-338-7224 (Ext.7129) www.moonji.com

Sweet, Cold (Dalgo Chagaun) Minumsa Publishing Group Michelle Nam michellenam@minumsa.com 82-2-515-2000(Ext.206) www.minumsa.com

59p Night Passes (Bami Jinaganda) KL Management Joseph Lee josephlee705@gmail.com 82-10-6239-9154

Goodbye, My Everything (Annyeong, Nae Modeun Geot) Changbi Publishers, Inc. Sarah Lee copyright@changbi.com 82-31-955-3369 www.changbi.com/english

60p A Forest That No One Has Seen (Amudo Boji Mothan Sup) Minumsa Publishing Group Michelle Nam michellenam@minumsa.com 82-2-515-2000(Ext.206) www.minumsa.com

The Proposal (Cheonghon) Munyejoongang(Joongang Books) Rachel Ahn rachel_ahn@joongang.co.kr 82-2-2031-1322 http://jbooks.joins.com

63p The Complete Works of Yi Sang: Poetry and Fiction (Isangmunhakjeonjip) Somyong Publishing Co. Kong Hong somyoun@korea.com 82-2-585-7840 www.somyong.co.kr

65p Rivals in the History of Literature (Munhaksaui Raibeol Uisik) Greenbee Publishing Company Park Teha tehada@greenbee.co.kr 82-2-702-2717 www.greenbee.co.kr

66p The Romantic Future of Koh Jong-sok (Gojongseogui Nangman Mirae) Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd. Kim Yun Kyung ykkim0702@wjbooks.co.kr 82-2-3670-1016 www.wjbooks.co.kr

How To Appreciate Korea’s Traditional Paintings (Yetgeurimeul Boneun Beop) Dolbegae Publishers Kwon Young-min inboil@dolbegae.co.kr 82-31-955-5038 www.dolbegae.co.kr

67p Wanderings Through Landscapes (Punggyeongnyuhaeng) Hyohyung Publishing co.

Uhm Cho-long cholong@hyohyung.co.kr 82 31-955-7606 www.hyohyung.co.kr

Chaebols: the Transnational Capital That Rules Korea (Jaebeol, Hangugeul Jibaehaneun Chogukjeok Jabon) Chaeksesang Kim Mi-jeong bkworld@empas.com 82-2-3273-1333 www.bkworld.co.kr

68p Traces of Crimes Seen Through Scientific Investigation (Gwahaksusaro Boneun Beomjoeui Heunjeok) Alma Publishing Corp.

Cheun Kyeong-ho ckh1196@daum.net 82-2-324-2845

A Variety Show of Parasites (Seominui Gisaengchung Yeoljeon) Eulyoo Publishing Co., Ltd Kim Kyoung-mean meantop@naver.com 82-2-733-8151 www.eulyoo.co.kr

69p Korean History Through Korean Food (Siktak Wiui Hanguksa) Humanist Publishing Group Choe In-young iy2001@humanistbooks.com 82-70-7842-9409 www.humanistbooks.com

Untamed Land of Nomads (Asia Daepyeongwon) MID Pahk Dong-joon mid2@live.co.kr 82-2-704-3448 www.bookmid.com

70p Super Junior’s Experience Korea Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd. Kim Yun-kyung ykkim0702@wjbooks.co.kr 82-2-3670-1016 www.wjbooks.co.kr

The Years (Yeongnyeon) GimmYoung Publishers, Inc. Kim Soyeon syk@gimmyoung.com 82-31-955-3115 www.gimmyoung.com/english

72p Pikaia Changbi Publishers, Inc. Choi Ko-eun copyright2@changbi.com 82-31-955-4359 www.changbi.com/english

74p Uncle Is Here!

(Samchoni Watda) Sakyejul Publishing Ltd Kang Hyun-joo kanghjoo@sakyejul.co.kr 82-31-955-8600 www.sakyejul.co.kr

Spring in My Hometown (Gohyangui Bom) Bluebird Publishing Co. Angela Koh angela.koh@yolimwon.com 82-2-3144-3700 www.bbchild.co.kr

75p The Twenty Questions Detective and the Magician (Seumu Gogae Tamjeonggwa Masulsa) BIR Publishing Co., Ltd. Sujin Lena Park sujinpark@bir.co.kr 82-2-515-2000 (Ext.350) www.bir.co.kr

There Was a Child (Eotteon Aiga) Sigongsa Co., Ltd. Amelie Choi amelie@sigongsa.com 82-2-2046-2855 www.sigongjunior.com www.sigongsa.com

76p Let’s Play and Have Fun (Sinnage Jayuropge Ppeong) Better Books Kim Sangmee rights@betterbooks.co.kr 82-2-2192-2313 www.betterbooks.co.kr

More Red (Deo Ppalgang) Sakyejul Publishing Ltd. Kang Hyun-joo kanghjoo@sakyejul.co.kr 82-31-955-8600 www.sakyejul.co.kr

82p Monthy Literature & Thought Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

Library Nomad (Doseogwan Nomad) Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

Eve Bares All (Ibeudeurui Ajjilhan Suda) Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

You Have No Idea (Namui Sokdo Moreumyeonseo) Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

83p “The Corn and I” (2012 Yi Sang Literary Award Anthology) Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

“The Future of Silence” (2013 Yi Sang Literary Award Anthology) Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

“Meal on the Road” (Sowol Poetry Award Anthology) Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

In This Earth & In That Wind (Heuk Soge Jeo Baram Soge) Munhaksasang Co., Ltd. Jung Sara munsa@munsa.co.kr 82-2-3401-8543 www.munsa.co.kr

85p Baridaegi Literature Translation Institute of Korea info@klti.or.kr

LTI Translation Academy LTI Translation Academy Fellowship The LTI Translation Academy Fellowship is open to overseas applicants whose native language is one of the following five languages: English, French, German, Russian, or Spanish. This fellowship is designed to allow overseas students to fully devote themselves to their studies of literary translation during their stay in Korea.

Dalkey Archive Press in the U.S. Publishes the First 10 Books in

The Library of Korean Literature

The fellowship includes: Round-trip airfare / Monthly stipend of 1.6 million KRW Visa and health insurance / Tuition waiver

About the Program ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Languages: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish Eligibility: Foreign nationals interested in the translation of Korean literature Number of Fellowships: 3 for each language Courses: Korean Literature, Korean Language, Korean culture, Practice of Literary Translation and Advanced Translation - The program also offers other literary activities such as meetings with Korean writers and cultural excursions.

▪ Faculty: Professors of literature, translation, Korean language, and culture ▪ Duration: September 2014 to June 2015 - Fall Semester: September ~ December 2014 - Spring Semester: March ~ June 2015

How to Apply Kim Joo-young Stingray

Hyun Ki Young One Spoon on This Earth

Jang Jung-il When Adam Opens His Eyes

Jung Mi-kyung My Son’s Girlfriend: Stories

Jung Young Moon A Most Ambiguous Sunday, and Other Stories

▪ Application Documents: application form and personal statement written in Korean, a letter of recommendation, sample translation of the designated literary work, and certificate of Bachelor’s degree - The application form, the personal statement form, and the letter of recommendation form can be downloaded from the LTI Korea website. (www.klti.or.kr) - Foreign applicants may submit a certificate of registration and academic transcript in place of his or her bachelor’s degree certificate.

- The designated text will be announced on the LTI Korea website.

▪ Selection Criteria: application review, sample translation, and a telephone interview - Applications are accepted by email only (academy@klti.or.kr).

The applications should be received no later than 24:00 (Korean standard time) April 30, 2014.

Kim Won-il The House with a Sunken Courtyard

Lee Ki-ho At Least We Can Apologize

Yi Kwang-su The Soil

Park Wan-suh Lonesome You: Stories

Jang Eun-jin No One Writes Back

Selection Process ▪ Application Period: April 1 ~ 30, 2014 ▪ Telephone Interview: May 22 ~ 29, 2014 ▪ Final Result Announcement: June 9, 2014 Contact: Ms. Park So-youn (Tel +82-2-6919-7751, academy@klti.or.kr)

Call for Applications for the LTI Translation Academy’s Regular Course The LTI Translation Academy offers various courses for prospective translators of Korean literature from around the world. The regular course is a year-long curriculum composed of translation workshops, Korean language classes, and lectures on Korean culture and literature. The regular course is scheduled to begin in September 2014 for the academic year, 2014-2015.

We are looking for qualified applicants who will rise to the challenge of translating Korean literature, thereby contributing to the expansion of its global readership.

Vol.22 Winter 2013

Vol.22 Winter 2013

Special Section

K-Moms Interviews

Poet Kim Hyesoon Writer Lee Kiho Spotlight on Fiction

“Garuda” by Yi Mun-yol Poetry

“Crow’s Eye View Poem No. I” by Yi Sang Theme Lounge

Korean Webtoons: Opening the Future with Comics on the Web The Place

Jeju Oreum

ISSN 2005-2790