What do we worship, and what do we curse? In a dark cave atop a cliff in a forgotten village lives the last remaining butterfly… I am me. If you think of me as a butterfly, then yes, I may just be a butterfly. Yuhi Kim is a young scientist who studies the legendary butterfly … [Read More]
Archives: Books (page 21)
The Governor’s Case File
In a peaceful village in Joseon Korea, the newly appointed governor is startled to learn that all the butterflies have disappeared. He proceeds to investigate the peculiar case in this poignant short story that is at once historical fiction and cozy mystery. On a peaceful spring day, the young governor is looking forward to a … [Read More]
A Mirror for The Blind: Reflections of a Digital Seoul
Discover the Realities of Contemporary Korea “Hi, nice to meet you. This is my third blind date this week, so… let’s get the usual stuff out of the way and decide where to go from there. Great, I’ll start. First, what’s your age? Your academic background? How much do you make? And your parents? How … [Read More]
North Korea’s Nuclear Cinema: Simulation and Neoliberal Politics in the Two Koreas
North Korea’s Nuclear Cinema examines why and how North Korea has transitioned to an image-based nuclear power in the changing context of a post-Cold War world. What exactly is the North Korean nuclear threat? Why is North Korea engaging in hostilities when its erstwhile adversaries have offered a diplomatic exit ramp? Chapter by chapter, it explains how … [Read More]
Media Technologies for Work and Play in East Asia: Critical Perspectives on Japan and the Two Koreas
Media technologies for play have become major industries in Japan and South Korea. Even in North Korea, citizens bypass the state to enjoy popular culture. At the same time, corporations and governments encourage people to produce economic values through play. The first comparative study of media technologies in Japan and the two Koreas, this book … [Read More]
Korean War in Color: A Correspondent’s Retrospective on a Forgotten War
As if it weren’t bad enough that the Korean War is, for many in the West, a “forgotten war” wedged between the larger conflicts of World War II and Vietnam, its legacy has been conveyed largely in the medium of black and white photography, putting up yet another psychological barrier between the conflict and modern … [Read More]
The Politics of South Korea: A Comprehensive Introduction
Once an impoverished, autocratic country, in just a few decades South Korea has transformed itself into a vibrant democracy with a highly developed economy. Using a comparative perspective to look at the factors behind South Korea’s dynamism, Ji Young Choi provides a comprehensive, balanced, and accessible introduction to the country’s politics, economy, and international relations. … [Read More]
Return to the DallerGut Dream Department Store
It has been a year since Penny first walked through the doors of DallerGut Dream Department Store, and surviving a year at the store means one thing… She is now an official employee of the dream industry! She can finally take the express commuter train to the Company District, where all the dream production companies … [Read More]
The Second Chance Convenience Store
In this million-copy international bestseller from Korea, the owner of a corner store takes in an unhoused man who does a good deed, a kind soul whose presence will transform the whole neighborhood—a heartwarming tale of community and redemption reminiscent of the bestselling novels of Matt Haig and Gabrielle Zevin. Dok-go lives in Seoul Station. … [Read More]
The Invisible Hotel
Yewon is trapped. She’s stuck in Dalbit, the small Korean village of her birth, where the ancestral bones of her relatives live in her bathtub. Reeling from the loss of her father, she works long days at the convenience store and tries to keep the peace between her mother and sister, who are constantly at … [Read More]
The Korean Myths: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes and Legends
Korean myths are a living and evolving part of society, in both the North and South. With the export of Korean films, K-pop, fashion, K-dramas, literature and comics across the globe there is a growing desire to understand the folklore and mythical underpinnings of contemporary Korean culture. From the Changsega (‘Song of Creation’) sung by … [Read More]
The Trunk
Meet Noh Inji: thirty years old, five wedding rings so far, and she’s never once been in love. When Inji takes a job at Wedding & Life, the popular matchmaking service, she never imagines her role will be with NM, their secretive marriage division that rents out ‘field spouses’ for a fixed period to their … [Read More]
Kim Dae-jung and the Quest for the Nobel: How the President of South Korea Bought the Peace Prize and Financed Kim Jong-il’s Nuclear Program
Kim Kisam, a former South Korean intelligence officer, has collaborated with Donald Kirk, journalist and author, in a study of the campaign waged by Kim Dae-jung, the former South Korean president, to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This book, relying heavily on files that Kim obtained from Korean intelligence files before seeking asylum in the … [Read More]
Emotions in Korean Philosophy and Religion: Confucian, Comparative, and Contemporary Perspectives
This pioneering book presents thirteen articles on the fascinating topic of emotions (jeong 情) in Korean philosophy and religion. Its introductory chapter comprehensively provides a textual, philosophical, ethical, and religious background on this topic in terms of emotions West and East, emotions in the Chinese and Buddhist traditions, and Korean perspectives. Chapters 2 to 5 of … [Read More]
Reforming Korea’s Industrial Conglomerates
When what was to become the Asian financial crisis of 1997 broke out in Thailand, few analysts predicted that this crisis would spread to South Korea. Korea, after all, had risen from poverty to become one of the “Asian miracle economies”. However, the crisis did not spare Korea, and the Korean government was forced to … [Read More]
The Eyes Are The Best Part
My Sister, the Serial Killer meets Boy Parts, this literary feminist howl-of-a-debut is going to crawl right under your skin… Ji-won’s life is in disarray. Her father’s affair has ripped her family to shreds, leaving her to piece their crappy lives back together. So, when her mother’s obnoxious new white boyfriend enters the scene, bragging … [Read More]