Contemporary Korea

  • Author Talks: Yun Ko-eun with Lizzie Buehler

    Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      "Weirdly wonderful and wonderfully weird."— Kirkus Reviews In the first short-story collection of hers to be translated into and published in English, South Korean author Yun Ko-eun conjures up slightly off-kilter worlds tucked away in the corners of everyday life. Table for One is bursting with images that toe the line between realism and the fantastic, comedy and an element of the surreal, interwoven with the hopelessness and loneliness that pervades the protagonists’ decidedly mundane lives. Mixing... Read More

  • The Korean Wave: Where did it come from, and where is it going?

    Friday, December 8, 2023 | 11:30 AM
    • Youtube Video:
    The world is captivated by Korean culture. This fascination and popular interest, once focused on K-drama and K-pop, have now extended into fashion, food, fine art, classical and various genres of music. So much so that various institutions are pondering the question: what is the secret of Korea’s cultural success? To answer this question, Korea’s Ambassador for Cultural Cooperation Sohn Jie-ae, a former CNN Seoul correspondent, explores the basic values and thoughts that lie behind the strength of Korea’s... Read More

  • Dress History of Korea

    Thursday, July 13, 2023 | 6:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Bringing together a wealth of primary sources and with contributions from leading experts, Dress History of Korea presents the most recent approaches to the interpretation of dress and fashion of Korea. Through close analysis of visual, written, and material sources—some newly excavated or recently re-discovered in global museums—the book reveals how dress and adornment evolved from the period of state formation to the modern era. As in other cultures, modern Korean Bringing together a wealth of primary... Read More

  • Make Break Remix: The Rise of K-style with Fiona Bae

    Thursday, May 25, 2023 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    K-pop, K-fashion, K-drama, K-beauty: over the past decade, K-style has exploded onto the global scene. What is behind this phenomenon? Where does K-style go from here? In Make, Break, Remix: The Rise of K-style, author and communications consultant Fiona Bae makes no attempt to define or categorize the movement, instead celebrating the eclectic and multifaceted nature of K-style and its home city of Seoul. Photo by less_TAEKYUN KIM K-pop, K-fashion, K-drama, K-beauty: over the past decade, K-style has exploded... Read More

  • FLAWLESS

    Tuesday, May 23, 2023 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Seoul, South Korea makes Beverly Hills look like a one-stoplight town when it comes to the beauty rat race, and it’s getting more intense every year. Elise Hu spent four years in South Korea as NPR’s bureau chief, and during her tenure there, the K-beauty industry tripled to become a $10 billion industry. South Korea is home to more than 7,500 cosmetic and skincare manufacturers, and K-beauty has staked its claim as the future of skin care. Author photo by Emily Cummings Seoul, South Korea makes Beverly Hills... Read More

  • K-Content on the World Stage: Emergence, Explosion, and Staying Power with Steve Chung

    Tuesday, May 9, 2023 | 6:30 PM
    From music to film to television and streaming series to food, K-content is dominating the world stage. With remarkable achievements across several artistic disciplines and ever growing popularity of its creative talents, South Korea is in the center of a cultural moment. Some observers may be surprised by this K-phenomenon, but the global success of South Korean cultural contents is due to a combination of various factors at work for many years before the apparent explosion. An indispensable factor in the... Read More

  • Kyung-Sook Shin with Jenny Wang Medina

    Thursday, April 13, 2023 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      Author photo © Jun-yeon Kim An instant bestseller in Korea and the follow up to the international bestseller, Please Look After Mom, I Went to See My Father by Kyung-Sook Shin centers on a woman’s efforts to reconnect with her aging father, uncovering long-held family secrets. More than just the portrait of a single man, I Went to See My Father opens a window onto humankind, family, loss, and war. With this long-awaited follow-up to Please Look After Mom—flawlessly rendered by award-winning translator... Read More

  • Author Talks: Bora Chung

    Tuesday, December 6, 2022 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
     Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and the winner of a PEN/Heim Grant, Cursed Bunny  is the wildly original debut story collection from Bora Chung “Whether borrowing from fable, folktale, speculative fiction, science fiction, or horror, Chung’s stories corkscrew toward devastating conclusions—bleak, yes, but also wise and honest about the nightmares of contemporary life.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and the winner of a PEN/Heim Grant, Cursed... Read More

  • Korea & FIFA World Cup

    Tuesday, November 22, 2022 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      South Korea holds the proud distinction of being the first independent Asian country to participate in a FIFA World Cup tournament in 1954. Still, Korea's success in soccer is forever linked with the 2002 World Cup: while co-hosting the tournament with Japan, Korea became the first team outside of Europe and America to reach the semi-finals. That event propelled Korea to the next stage in the world of soccer, as it became a home of world-class players, a robust professional soccer league, and the most... Read More

  • New Narratives in Korea: Baek Sehee

    Wednesday, November 9, 2022 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      Part memoir, part self-help book, and completely engrossing, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee is a book that captures the edgy relationship many millennials and Gen Z-ers have with hopelessness, hunger, and the pressure to be perfect. A runaway bestseller in Korea where her readers include RM of BTS, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is newly translated into English by International Booker Prize shortlisted translator Anton Hur. Baek Sehee is a successful young social media... Read More

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