Cherry Blossoms to Arrive Earlier Than in Previous Years

 

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom at Busan Baehwa School for the Deaf in the southern port city on Thursday.

Cherry blossoms are likely to bloom about eight days earlier than last year and reach their peak around April 15 in Seoul.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said on Thursday that the trees should start blooming next Tuesday in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, between March 23 and April 1 in the southern region, and between April 2 and 13 in the central region. In northern Gyeonggi Province and the northern and mountainous areas of Gangwon Province, blooms should appear after April 13.

The start of blooming is officially declared when at least three blossoms fully open on a tree at weather stations across the country. This year, the blooming period is forecast to begin three days earlier than average.

"As cherry blossoms bloom between late March and early April when temperatures fluctuate greatly, the start of the blossom season varies each year," said a KMA official. "We have expected that the cherry blossoms would arrive earlier because temperatures were similar to the average in February but above average for the first 10 days of March."
Source: Chosul Ilbo
 

Clothes speak volumes

On her inauguration day, President Park Geun-hye was seen wearing five outfits.
While Park cannot be charged guilty of vanity for changing so frequently ― each event did call for attire appropriate for the occasion ― those who had looked forward to a fashion moment or two from the country’s first female president were largely let down.

Wearing a lightly padded coat to the Seoul National Cemetery was a fashion faux-pas: Such a solemn occasion calls for a classic long coat, in wool or cashmere.

The olive green jacket with gold buttons that flared slightly from the waist worn at the swearing-in ceremony recalled for many her late father, a former general who seized power in a coup. If the intention was to elicit nostalgia for father Park Chung-hee who modernized Korea, the new president succeeded, for the military allusion of the jacket was not lost.

Style-wise, however, this outfit was not flattering. The lavender scarf and the purple butterfly brooch, perhaps an attempt to soften the harsh look of the jacket, were just confusing. The jacket-coat was too casual for the momentous occasion.

The red long coat and blue skirt hanbok ensemble shown at Gwanghwamun Plaza was more flashy than stately, but captured the festive mood of the event, though the reference to the national flag was perhaps too obvious.

The intense color of the deep red hanbok worn at the banquet seemed to overpower Park. A more regal look could have been achieved with a modern silhouette. Park could take a few pointers from her late mother, who wore hanbok most elegantly.

Clothes assume symbolic meanings. As the country’s leader, Park, wittingly or unwittingly, sends messages with her sartorial choices.

With time, and perhaps with some expert advice, Park’s style should better reflect her substance.

Remembering the colonial period and the Korean War

Theater troupes present shows featuring turbulent periods of modern Korean history in the month of March 1 Independence Movement Day

The month of March opens here with the March 1 Independence Movement Day, a national holiday dedicated to commemorating the 1919 nationwide uprising against Japan’s colonization.

The uprising, known as the March 1st Independence Movement, was one of the earliest public displays of Korean resistance against Japanese rule ― which ended in 1945 at the end of World War II.

This month, Seoul’s theater scene is presenting a number of plays featuring the turbulent period of Korean history. One of them is “Red Poetry” by Theater Company Gorae. The play deftly links the controversial suicide of the actress Jang Ja-yeon in 2009 to the stories of elderly women who were forced to be sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II.

A promotional image of Theater Company Gorae’s “Red Poetry” (Theater Company Gorae)

Jang, who had just starred in the TV drama series “Boys over Flowers” at the time, killed herself leaving a seven-page handwritten note claiming she had been sexually and physically abused by high-profile media executives.

The play is being told from the perspective of fictional character Dong-ju (played by Kim Dong-wan), a reporter who is deeply disturbed by the sudden death of a popular actress, a stand-in for the late Jang. The story unfolds as he goes to the next world through a mistake by the angel of death, and meets up with the actress as well as the former sex slaves who still seek an apology from Japan.

“The victims in the play repeatedly emphasize the importance of speaking out,” said the troupe’s promoter.

“This play strongly believes in the power of words, as well as speaking out. The two cases that appear in the play may seem like they have no relevance to each other, but they do. Those who committed the violence never properly apologized, and many of us, the public, still remain silent about what happened.”

Meanwhile, another local troupe, Mirage Kaleidoscope, is presenting “Flying of a Bee,” which delves into the Act on the Punishment of Anti-national Activities, established in September 1948 to punish pro-Japanese collaborators during the Japanese colonial rule. The act, however, was suspended by South Korea’s first president Syngman Rhee’s regime ― just before the Korean War in March 1950. Rhee also suspended the execution of those who had been found guilty.

“The Syngman Rhee government found itself having to respond to the division into two Koreas by crafting a strong state that could play an active role in the establishment and maintenance of a powerful anticommunist system,” writes local scholar Oh Il-hwan, in his 2011 paper “Anticommunism and the National Identity of Korea in the Contemporary Era: With a Special Focus on the USAMGIK and Syngman Rhee Government Periods” published in the Review of Korean Studies in 2011.

“Here, administrative officials and policemen who had gained valuable experience during the Japanese colonial period would inevitably have been perceived as useful resources through which to secure such objectives. … Under such circumstances, the Act on the Punishment of Anti-national Activities in 1948 to weed out pro-Japanese elements could only be regarded by Syngman Rhee as a proverbial thorn in his side.”

“Flying of a Bee” features the court trials of Bae Joeng-ja (1870-1952), a Korean-born woman who was raised as the adopted daughter of Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909), who served as Resident-General of Korea during the Japanese colonial period. He was assassinated by Korean nationalist An Jung-geun in 1909.

Bae worked with Ito Hirobumi as a spy for the annexation of Korea by Japan, and became the first female pro-Japanese collaborator to be arrested by the law enacted in 1948. She was released upon the suspension of the law in 1950. The spy has been featured in a number of local films, Jeong In-yeob’s 1973 biopic “Femme Fatale: Bae Jeong-ja” and Jang Yoon-hyun’s period drama “Gabi” from last year which dealt with the death of King Gojong (1852-1919).

“We did not create this play to punish Bae,” said the play’s director Ryu Seong-cheol. “It’s more about those we could not ― or chose not to ― make the just decisions about history of the period.”

Meanwhile, homegrown musical “The Goddess is Watching” concerns itself with the Korean War (1950-1953) and its brutality. Created by local troupe Stage Yeonwoo, the show takes place on a remote island during the war. It tells the story of six different soldiers, some members of the North Korean army, who end up living together on the uninhabited island after a shipwreck.

The plot develops as a solider named Soon-ho, the only member of the group who knows how to fix the ship, suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing his brother’s death in a battle. Another member of the group named Young-beom creates a story of a beautiful goddess to console Soon-ho and ease his fragile mental state.

“Everything that happens in the show is fictional,” said the director Park So-young. “The goddess does not indicate an actual person or a spiritual being, but symbolizes the universal femininity. We believed that it can bring an immense healing and empowering effect in extremely violent and devastating situations like the war in our history.”

“The Goddess is Watching” runs until March 10 at Chungmu Art Hall in central Seoul, while “Flying of a Bee” also runs until March 10 at Kijakeun Sonamu (Little Pines) Theater in Daehangno, Seoul.

“Red Poetry,” on the other hand, runs from March 22 to March 31 at Daehangno Art Theater, also in Seoul’s Daehangno district.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)

Exporting literature

Terry Kim, COO of leading literary agency Imprima Korea

'Foreign readers want contemporary and universal themes'

English translations of “Please Look After Mom” by Shin Kyung-sook

“I Have the Right to Destroy Myself” by Kim Young-ha

“Tongue” by Jo Kyung-ran

Courtesy: The Korea Times

Koreans have long coveted the Nobel Prize in Literature as poet Ko Un has been nominated for it over the past few years. The hope has created a media frenzy in which journalists wait for the annual prize announcement in front of Ko’s house. Ko might be arguably the most well-known Korean author in the world. But how many of his works which mostly deal with Korean history or abstruse philosophy have been read globally?

Korean bestsellers are stories inspired by nationalistic and historic subjects but when it comes to the overseas market, it is totally different.

A few successful cases such as Shin Kyung-sook’s “Please Look After Mom,” and Kim Young-ha’s “I Have the Right to Destroy Myself” and Jo Kyung-ran’s “Tongue” show how Korean literary works can go global. All these works represented by Imprima Korea, a leading literary agency in the nation, have gained international recognition.

“Psy is a good example of a cultural export. Familiarity and universality in his song ‘Gangnam Style’ enabled him to succeed in other countries. Korean literature should be approached like this. Foreign readers want contemporary and universal themes,” Terry Kim, COO of the agency, said in an interview with The Korea Times.

Since opening the doors 20 years ago, the agency has focused on introducing foreign titles into Korea such as bestsellers “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan and “Your Best Life Now” by Joel Osteen.

But from 2005, it began selling the rights of the Korean publications particularly literary works to overseas markets.

After accumulating the know-how and skills of importing foreign literary works to Korea, the company knows the tastes of foreign readers. Historic and nationalistic subjects are shunned the most by foreign readers.

“Many Korean bestsellers are turning to nationalistic and patriotic emotions or major historical events such as the Korean War. But nobody in other countries cares about such stuff,” he said.

Instead, universal topics that have a close connection to contemporary senses found in Shin’s novel are the most sought-after items by foreign literary agents.

But as “hallyu” (the Korean wave) is becoming a universal phenomenon in the world, some unique elements from the Korean identity mixed with mystery genre are likely to appeal to foreign readers as Shin shows in her work.

“Shin’s case is very meaningful in that it was published through a major publisher (Knopf) of the United States which is regarded as the largest market with worldwide networks with the highest price. Once infiltrating into the U.S., it is easier to make inroads into other parts of the world,” said Kim. Shin’s novel has been sold in more than 20 countries.

Before Shin, Kim’s and Jo’s fiction was regarded as pioneering works which gained positive reviews in the U.S. and European markets in 2005 when contemporary Korean literature was almost unnoticed in the world.

However, the agent said that it is a pity that now there are few literary pieces to be introduced in other countries after Shin’s blockbuster hit. “The domestic publication market is now suffering from the lack of bestselling literary works like Shin’s novel. But at the same time, we might fail to discover hidden literary gems due to the current structure of the publication industry dominated by trendy genres,” he said.

Many publishers tend to generate similar books such as “healing” essays or self-help books, from some 10 years ago. “Such a trend seems to hamper discovering talented authors and quality works. Discovering a good work here is crucial for exporting literature to other countries,” he said.

Lack of literary translators

As many critics point out numerous times, finding skillful translators is the most daunting task particularly when it comes to translating literary works than any other genres. “It is obvious that if Koreans, even if they are superb in English, translate literary works into English, it seems very awkward to read for English-speaking readers. It is best for native English speakers who have a good command in Korean to translate them,” he said.

Japan has a translation agency with a large pool of veteran translators but Korea lags behind in training literary translators. There are only a handful of experienced literary translators such as Kim Chi-young who worked on Shin’s and Kim’s novels.

“Even if there is a good story, if not properly translated, it can’t be sold from the start. Even just the rough draft translation for the introduction of the book is very crucial to appeal to the foreign agency,” he said.

Role of literary agency

When exporting literary rights to other countries, the agency plays a key role in representing authors and their works for foreign counterparts. In Korea, the literary agency is less known as many publishers are doing this with their in-house teams.

However, it is important to use a local literary agency to gain access to worldwide networks and to protect the rights of authors.

“By individual, Koreans are extremely well-performing in various fields. But most of them are unnoticed because the system doesn’t support them well. We are helping them gain the right appreciation both at home and abroad,” he said.

Kim said that this job is already well-known in other advanced countries but in Korea it is beginning to be noticed since Shin’s novel. “This is a promising job in the future as Korean literature has yet to be well known to other countries,” he said.

The agency not only introduces established authors to overseas markets but also discovers potential or rising authors and helps them debut on the world stage.

Now the company is preparing to make rising author Yoon Seo-jeok’s work debut in the foreign markets. Yoon’s “Seoulite Affair” is set in the nation’s capital and the plan is to make it into a film first.

 

 

Samsung Unveils New Galaxy Note Tablet PC

Samsung has vowed to top its rival Apple in the tablet PC market this year as it unveiled its latest model at the Mobile World Congress, which kicked off on Monday in Barcelona, Spain

Shin Jong-kyun, the head of Samsung's mobile communications business, expressed his confidence in becoming the market leader in tablet PCs and smartphones at a press conference on Sunday.

"The Galaxy Note 8.0 to be unveiled at this year's MWC embodies productivity and portability," Shin said. "As we diligently pursue innovation and new technology, the day will come when we become No. 1 in tablet PCs just as we are in smartphones."

Last year, Samsung sold just 16.6 million tablets compared to 65.7 million for Apple.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 weighs just 338 grams and comes with an eight-inch screen, about the same as the iPad Mini's 7.85-inch display. It also has rounded edges to differentiate itself from the iPad in terms of design.

 

Models pose with Samsung Electronics' latest tablet PCs and smartphones at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona on Sunday, a day ahead of the opening of the Mobile World Congress. /Courtesy of Samsung Electronics 

 

 

LG Electronics vice president Park Jong-suk also proclaimed a bold goal for his company. "We sold 8.4 million smartphones during the fourth quarter last year, and our goal is to sell 10 million every quarter this year," he said.

LG saw its profit shift into the black for the first time in three years in 2012 after expanding the production of fourth-generation LTE smartphones and cutting low-tech phones.

Meanwhile, Samsung decided to scrap its own operating system known as Bada. Instead, the company said it will focus on the Tizen OS that is being developed jointly with Intel.

"The Bada 2.0 will mark the end of our operating system project," Hong Won-pyo, president of media solutions at Samsung, told reporters at the MWC. "It will be terminated when Tizen is released."

Bada was launched in 2010 to compete with Google's Android and Apple's iOS but never gained momentum.

Culture to be groomed as next growth engine

German fans sing along to Korean singer Kim Joon-soo at his concert in Oberhausen, Germany, last month. Extending the boom for Korean pop culture, commonly referred to as “hallyu,” and firmly establishing cultural products as export items have been identified as a policy priority by Park Geun-hye, who will be sworn in as president today. Korea Times

 While pursuing an economic powerhouse in the last few decades, Korea has longed for international recognition for its cultural achievements.

As far as overseas recognition is concerned, incoming president Park Geun-hye has it easier than her predecessors. Through the YouTube sensation Psy's "Gangnam Style" video, the hallyu sweep has entered a period of rejuvenation. In various areas of culture such as fashion, classical music, literature, Koreans are making a name for themselves on an international level.

Park arrives at Cheong Wa Dae today with an array of policy goals for advancing the nation, and cultural development is one of them. In particular, sustaining the popularity of hallyu and expanding it beyond Asian borders will be a key cultural agenda for the incoming administration.

 
Supporting creative industries


While Park has remained almost silent on cultural affairs, she is mindful of the increasing role of the economic value of cultural exports as well as culture’s role in promoting Korea’s image abroad.

During an appearance at the screening of the 3D film “Pororo: The Racing Adventure" last month, she expressed her intention to place more support for bringing innovation, creativity and wealth to the cultural sector.

She met with industry leaders and university students majoring in animation before the screening of the film version of animated TV series “Pororo the Little Penguin.”

“Watching the growth of Pororo over the years, I have come to have great hopes for our creative industries,” Park said during opening remarks at the meeting.

Pororo has also become a symbol of hope for the local animation industry, which has yet to produce globally-popular characters. In the last decade, the TV series has been exported to more than 120 countries. The film will open in 6,000 theaters in China in late January, becoming the most widely-released foreign animated film there.

“One of my pledges as a presidential candidate was to promote cultural industries, including animation, as a new growth engine for our country, and I will try to realize my word," Park added.

For this, Park has pledged that she will work on expanding national budget for cultural projects and investments. Many experts in the field have pointed out that the chronic problem with implementing cultural policy objectives has been budgetary limitations.

Her administration will seek measures to allocate 2 percent of the national budget to culture, according report of Park’s major policy goals released on December, 2012. Currently, around 1.14 percent of the national budget is spent on culture.

Park's nominee for culture minister is Yoo Jin-ryong, a former vice culture minister whose key achievement is the establishment of the Korea Creative Contents Agency.


Diversifying hallyu sources

 
As a recent state survey indicates, there are many who believe that the popularity of hallyu faces an uncertain future.

Around 66 percent of 3,600 respondents in nine countries (China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, U.S., Brazil, France, U.K. and Russia) said that the popularity of Korean culture will subside in the next four years.

To assuage concerns about the longevity of hallyu, the Park administration is expected to focus on diversifying it, so that relatively unknown areas such as Korea’s fashion, literature and traditional tourism assets can be more promoted outside the nation.

As a record number of foreign tourists in the final year of the Lee Myung-bak administration visited Korea, the culture ministry is likely to keep its drive to promote tourism under Park’s presidency. Park's nominee for secretary of cultural affairs is Mo Chul-min, a career bureaucrat and a tourism expert.

One of the top policy goals of the culture ministry has been to transform Korea in to a pleasant and visitor-friendly destination for foreign visitors. The number of tourists visiting Korea last year surpassed 10 million in November, for the first time ever.

Park’s policy report reiterates its commitments to advancing the nation’s tourism by increasing infrastructure and undertaking better maintenance of traditional tourism assets across the nation, many of which are Buddhist-related relics.

 
Closing cultural gaps

 The Park administration will keep working on closing the cultural gap between Seoul and the rest of the country, particularly the economically backward parts of Jeolla Provinces.

To elevate Korea's status as a cultural leader in Asia, mega cultural infrastructure such as the Asian Culture Complex in Gwangju will open in 2014.

Park has also promised more support for professional artists and institutions, and to develop the unique cultural assets of provinces and rural areas as tourist attractions.

 

 

Make the Most of the Oyster Season

Oysters are known for their rich nutritious value. Fresh, fragrant oysters on a bed of warm rice with soy sauce seasoning are not only delicious but also full of goodness.

Oysters are rich in calcium, protein, iron and copper and are therefore good for sufferers from anemia.

Due to the high zinc content they were long believed to be an aphrodisiac, and Casanova is said to have eaten them in copious quantities.

One substance in oysters destroys melanin, so it brightens skin tone.

The best way is to eat them is raw with a squirt of lemon juice. The vitamin C in lemon juice helps absorb iron and prevent loss of taurine.