Service Economies presents an alternative narrative of South Korean modernity by examining how working-class labor occupies a central space in linking the United States and Asia to South Korea’s changing global position from a U.S. neocolony to a subempire. Making surprising and revelatory connections, Jin-kyung Lee analyzes South Korean military labor in the Vietnam War, domestic … [Read More]
Archives: Books (page 28)
Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy, and the Forgotten War
Since the Korean War—the forgotten war—more than a million Korean women have acted as sex workers for U.S. servicemen. More than 100,000 women married GIs and moved to the United States. Through intellectual vigor and personal recollection, Haunting the Korean Diaspora explores the repressed history of emotional and physical violence between the United States and … [Read More]
The Naked Tree
A delicate, timeless, and breathtaking coming-of-age classic, reimagined Critically acclaimed and award-winning cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim returns with a stunning addition to her body of graphic fiction rooted in Korean history. Adapted from Park Wan-suh’s beloved novel, The Naked Tree paints a stark portrait of a single nation’s fabric slowly torn to shreds by political upheaval and armed … [Read More]
If You Live To One Hundred, You Might As Well Be Happy: Lessons for a Long and Joyful Life
‘I hope my book will give readers around the world a glimpse into Korean culture and will impact their lives, guiding and comforting them, even half as much as writing it changed mine.’ – Rhee Kun Hoo If You Live to One Hundred, You Might As Well Be Happy captivated South Korea, one of the fastest-ageing countries … [Read More]
Politics of the North Korean Diaspora
Politics of the North Korean Diaspora examines how authoritarian security concerns shape global diaspora politics. Empirically, it traces the recent emergence of a North Korean diaspora – a globally-dispersed population of North Korean émigrés – and argues that the non-democratic nature of the DPRK homeland regime fundamentally shapes diasporic politics. Pyongyang perceives the diaspora as … [Read More]
Mirror Nation
Elegiac and haunting, Mirror Nation by Don Mee Choi completes the KOR-US trilogy, along with Hardly War and the National Book Award–winning DMZ Colony. Much like Proust’s madeleine, a spinning Mercedez Benz ring outside Choi’s Berlin window prompts a memory of her father on the Glienicker Bridge between Berlin and Potsdam, which in turn becomes catalyst for delving into the … [Read More]
The Korean Pentecost: And the Sufferings Which Followed
In 1977 the Trust published this remarkable account of the first 60 years or so of the modern church in Korea (mainly North Korea). William Blair (1876–1970), in his first term of missionary service, was at the centre of the great revival of 1907, and his account of this and the events leading up to … [Read More]
Rock Is Thunder (K-Poet 35)
Poet Lee Jae-hoon’s “Stones Are Thunder” Lending Tears to the Silent Poet Lee Jae-hoon’s fifth collection of poems, “Stones Are Thunder,” will be published as the 35th volume of the K-Poet series. Poet Lee Jae-hoon began his career in 1998 with Contemporary Poetry and has published poetry collections such as My First Report on the … [Read More]
Parting After Parting (K- Poet 34)
Poet Jang Seok-won’s “Farewell After Farewell” in K-Poet Series, Songs that Begin with Revolution and Love Once Again Poet Jang Seok-won’s sixth collection of poems, 『Farewell After Farewell』, a poet who loves music and poetry, has been published in the 34th volume of the K-Poet Series. In 2002, the poet joined the Korea Daily (now … [Read More]
Love and the Beginning (K-Poet 33)
Kwon’s third collection of poems, Love and Beginning, has been published in 33 volumes in the K-Poet series. Poet Kwon Park received a lot of attention when he won the Kim Sooyoung Literary Award for 『It’s My Turn to Understand』 and expanded the world of his own work through his second collection of poems, 『Is … [Read More]
Poverty Must Persist (K-Poet 32)
As the 32nd volume of the K-Poet series, Kim Sai’s 『Poverty Must Be Maintained』 was published. This is her third collection of poems after “The Day I Quit Reflecting” and “I Say I’m Not Doing Anything.” As a poet who desperately portrayed the absurdity of the workplace and the reality of female workers suffering doubly … [Read More]
Am I Not Your Sin (K-Poet 31)
As the 31st volume of the K-Poet series, poet Choi Ji-in’s 『Isn’t Your Sin Me?』 was published. This is her third collection of poems after “I Slept Against the Wall” and “Work, Work, Love.” If his previous collection of poems specifically portrayed the voices of the young generation living in the 21st century, in this … [Read More]
Encore (K-Poet 30)
“Somewhere, no matter how hard you try to hide it, there will be a light that will not recede.” Poet Shin Dong-ok’s 『Encore』 The 30th collection of poems in the K-Poet series, which meets together in Korean and English, has been published, and poet Shin Dong-ok’s 『Encore』 has been published. Since his debut in 2001, … [Read More]
I’ll Give You All My Promenade (K-Poet 29)
The moment it is removed, the text becomes detached from the artist and becomes an object floating in the world. Every time the reader reads, the poet’s walk toward “you” is constantly made into the present. So the poet leaves us with a message addressed to “you”. You” are to give everyone their own path … [Read More]
Blood of the Old Kings
Powered by corpses of sorcerers, the Empire has conquered the world. It claims to have brought peace and stability to its conquered lands, but some see that peace for what it is—a lie—and will give everything to fight it. Loran was desperate for revenge after the Empire killed her family, so much so that she … [Read More]
We Do Not Part
In her biggest book since The Vegetarian, the new novel from Han Kang tells the story of a friendship, taking us on a journey from South Korea into its painful history. One morning in December, Kyungha receives a message from her friend Inseon saying she has been hospitalized in Seoul and asking that Kyungha join her urgently. … [Read More]