Cover to Cover

It’s the end of another year, and we’ve rounded up the top 5 Korean books translated into English that came out in 2023 that you’ve got to check out.  We discuss how and why we chose these books, and some of the key themes, including feminism, generation gaps and LGBT rights. This episode also features special appearances by our books reporter Hwang Dong-hee and literary translator Victoria Caudle (find her on X @nureonjongi). The Korea Herald’s interview with Dolki Min: https://t.ly/3kA5D Our listener Serena’s bookstagram: https://t.ly/rR1ZN  The Digital Library of Korean Literature by LTI Korea: https://t.ly/YKlMi  We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Send us a post on Twitter/X (Beth @betheunheehong / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.  Note: the Korean title for “Greek Lessons” is “희랍어 시간,” not “희랍어 수업.” We regret the error! Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast  Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) 00:00 Introduction 00:16 Our top five Korean books of 202301:52 Book pick 1 05:26 Book pick 2 11:06 Book pick 3 14:24 Book pick 4 16:14 Book pick 5 18:12 That’s a wrap! 18:43 A Korean book pick from our listener Serena

What happens when a ghost tries to cross the DMZ dividing North and South Korea? Author Joseph Han’s debut novel “Nuclear Family” explores themes of separated families, generational trauma and the Korean immigrant experience in Hawaii. Upon the release of the Korean translation of his book to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War in 1953, we interviewed Joseph about his diaspora experience, journey to writing fiction and more. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @betheunheehong / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) 0:00 Introduction 1:27 “Nuclear Family” in Joseph’s words 2:24 Joseph’s Third Culture Kid roots in Seoul and Hawaii 3:55 Joseph’s journey to writing and self-discovery 7:31 What inspired “Nuclear Family”? 10:41 Joseph’s reaction to the Korean translation 12:31 Uncanny coincidences 16:31 Key takeaways from the book 19:40 Autobiographical elements in “Nuclear Family” 22:41 Books to read about the Korean War and separated families 24:47 Joseph’s upcoming publications 26:50 What’s an interesting Korean word/phrase you’d like to share? 29:55 A Korean book pick from our listener Courtney

Happy 10th anniversary to BTS! In this episode, we dove into the BTS book "Beyond the Story” (translated by Anton Hur, Claire Richards and Slin Jung) which has been taking bestseller lists by storm around the world.  We sat down with Dr. Areum Jeong, an assistant professor of Korean Studies at Arizona State University and K-pop expert, about her TCK roots, ARMY fandom, how BTS changed the industry and their impact on the conversation about mental health in Korea and more. Stay tuned until the end for a Korean book recommendation from one of our listeners, Faye from the UK! Faye is based in London and also runs a website about Korean pop culture that you can check out here: https://fayefromlondon.co.uk.  We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.  Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast  Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) 00:17 Happy 10th anniversary BTS! 01:28 Introducing Areum 02:31 Areum’s thoughts on the BTS book 04:31 How BTS changed the K-pop industry 07:37 What sets Army apart from other fandoms 09:08 Korean Wave & the Korean diaspora: How being Korean got cool 12:14 Army’s influence beyond K-pop 15:37 “Without fans, there is no K-pop” 18:37 Why you see K-pop idols on bus and subway ads 21:44 BTS’ contribution to the mental health conversation23:18 K-pop idols & the pressure to always look happy27:06 Areum’s book on K-pop fandoms 29:30 Being a K-pop stan 31:21 What’s an interesting Korean word/phrase you’d like to share? 33:27 A Korean book pick from our listener Faye

Happy Pride! To commemorate, we sat down with award-winning literary translator Anton Hur. Anton’s translation of the queer Korean novel “Love in the Big City” by Park Sang-young was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022. In this wide-ranging conversation, Anton delved into how his unique upbringing shaped his career path, the current landscape for LGBT books and media in Korea, and the one queer Korean book you must check out. We also have a special shoutout for one of our listeners, Erica. Erica runs a Korean book club in Amsterdam, so if anyone in the area is interested in joining, you can follow her on Instagram @SpeakingOfKorea! We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) 0:15 Introducing Anton Hur 1:25 Growing up as a Third Culture Kid 3:57 How many languages does Anton speak? 5:37 Relationship with books and libraries 10:01 From law to translation 12:58 Life and challenges as a married gay couple in Korea 16:26 Has public acceptance of LGBT in Korea grown? 17:51 Growing visibility of LGBT K- content 19:57 Anton’s take on rise of queer K-literature 22:28 Where to look for LGBT Korean books 26:16 Anton’s No. 1 pick 27:19 BTS book? Sci-fi? Anton’s book? 33:31 A Korean book pick from our listener Erica

As Hallyu continues to take the world by storm, including the growing popularity of Korean language learning, we sat down with award-winning Korean author Seo Su-jin to uncover the dark side of the Korean language boom. Through her debut novel “Korean Teachers,” translated by Elizabeth Buelher and published by Harriett Press, Seo delves into the exploitative and sexist working conditions for university Korean language teachers. Based on the true experiences of herself and her former colleagues, Seo’s novel recounts the struggles of highly educated young women in contemporary South Korea. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.  📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast  Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) 0:00 “Korean Teachers” is about… 👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫 1:37 What made Su-jin write “Korean Teachers” 🍎 2:42 The dark side of the Korean language boom 🇰🇷 4:35 Student visa misuse & unfair evaluation systems 07:59 Navigating cultural differences 🌏 09:45 Sexism in the workplace 11:13 Attitudes toward sexual harassment and women  14:23 “You’re married, why do you still work so hard?” ⚭ 16:31 Surviving a toxic workplace  22:05 Have things changed? 24:47: New books 👀📚

For our April episode, we spoke with award-winning literary translator and writer Sora Kim-Russell, whose translation of Hwang Sok-young's “At Dusk” was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2019. She has won various translation awards, including the Shirley Jackson Award for her translation of Pyun Hye-young’s “The Hole.” Her translations have appeared in the New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine, among many others. In this wide-ranging interview, we asked Sora to evaluate a Korean-to-English translation by ChatGPT of an excerpt from a short story. She shared her opinions on the impact of machine translation on the industry, her experiences as a veteran literary translator, as well as her personal process for selecting and translating works. This year, she will have two works published: a co-translation with Youngjae Josephine Bae of “Mater 2-10” (“철도원 삼대”) by Hwang Sok-yong and “The Owl Cries” (“서쪽 숲에 갔다”) by Pyun Hye-young. You can find her on Twitter at @spacenakji or see her work at sorakimrussell.com. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) 0:00 Introducing Sora Kim-Russell 🖋️ 1:25 How Sora got into translation and what keeps her going 🔥 06:13 Is there greater demand for translations and interest in translation? 📈 08:55 Recent changes to translation prize criteria around AI 🏆 10:39 Evaluating ChatGPT-aided translations as a judge 👩🏻‍⚖️ 12:54 Sora’s take on a ChatGPT-translated excerpt of an idiom 📝 16:37 Human vs. machine translation 🖳👩👨 18:52 Translating idiosyncrasies of the Korean language 🇰🇷 24:56 How Sora chooses which works to translate 📚 27:15 Upcoming publications in 2023 📅

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we talk to Hawon Jung, author of “Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide.” We discuss why “feminism” is such a loaded term in South Korea, the #MeToo movement, digital sex crimes, deep-rooted patriarchal gender norms and how the women’s rights movement here connects to other movements in Asia and beyond. The book is available at all major bookstores. Hawon is a former Agence France-Presse correspondent who is currently based in Germany as a freelance journalist. She has over a decade of experience covering the two Koreas, K-pop’s rise and the #MeToo movement, for which she was shortlisted in the 2019 awards for Editorial Excellence by the Society of Publishers in Asia. You can find her on Twitter @allyjung and at hawon-jung.com. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) 00:00 Introducing Hawon Jung 1:06 South Korea beyond K-pop, North Korea 🇰🇷 5:26 The meaning behind the title “Flowers of Fire” 🌹🔥 9:09 Korea’s #MeToo movement & the term “flower snake” 🌹🐍 15:23 Fighting digital sex crimes 📸🙅‍♀️ 24:49 Why are some women on marriage strike? 👰🙅‍♀️ 35:04 Why is “feminism” such a loaded word in Korea? 42:41 Gender conflict & Korean politics 48:29 The future of Korea’s feminist movement 51:43 Impacts of the movement in East Asia & beyond 🌏 58:59 Would you call yourself a feminist?

In our final episode of 2022, we talk about hidden gems in Korean literature with Taylor Bradley, co-founder of the independent publishing house Honford Star. Taylor co-founded Honford Star in 2016 with Anthony Bird with a mission to publish the best literature from East Asia. In this episode, we look back on highlights of translated Korean fiction over the past year for Honford Star, including the runaway success of the International Booker Prize shortlisted “Cursed Bunny” by Bora Chung (translated by Anton Hur). Taylor also filled us in on his personal process for selecting the “best” East Asian literature and some unexpected hits from 2022 for Honford Star. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

In this special Halloween episode, we have a spooky Korean urban legend for you, featuring copy editor Brolley Genster. Our main topic is the world of Korean horror webtoons. Culture reporter Lee Si-jin breaks down the Korean webtoon industry and the horror webtoon genre. We discuss what makes Korean horror webtoons unique, and some of the most prominent adaptations in the last few years. We explore the “K-zombie” genre through a discussion of “All Of Us Are Dead,” and what it reflects about Korean society. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. “Last Ride” by scary story toon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFo1Ld7jHlk&t=3s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

In Korea, fall is a season for contemplation and deep reflection. To mark the start of fall, we’ve picked two bestsellers in Korea: Baek Se-hee’s “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki” translated by Anton Hur and Kim Ho-yeon’s “Inconvenient Convenience Store.” Co-hosts Beth Eunhee Hong and Naomi Ng discuss why these books resonated so much with Korean readers, and connect them with broader themes such as mental health and generational culture gaps in contemporary Korean society. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

In this month’s episode, we speak to Raphael Rashid, a Seoul-based freelance journalist and author from the UK who has lived in Korea since 2011. He has been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, Elle Korea, and appeared on Al Jazeera, BBC World, Channel 4 and Channel News Asia, among many more. He is a prolific member of the Twitterati about South Korean culture, politics and social issues at @koryodynasty. Raphael is the author of “The Korea We Refuse to See,” published in July. The book consists of nine parts with insights into various aspects of Korean society gleaned through his research, reporting, personal experiences and encounters. Copy editor Beth Eunhee Hong and culture reporter Park Ga-young sat down with Raphael to delve deeper into some of the key themes in his book. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

In this books episode, we spoke with award-winning literary translator Soje. They have translated Lee Soho’s Catcalling (2021), Choi Jin-young’s To the Warm Horizon (2021) and Lee Hyemi’s Unexpected Vanilla (2020). They also make chogwa, a quarterly e-zine featuring one Korean poem and multiple English translations. More about Soje can be found at http://smokingtigers.com/soje. Hosts Beth Eunhee Hong and Naomi Ng ask Soje about their translation process from selecting the work to the final publish, their journey to literary translation, the Korean-English literary translation community, and what they are working on next. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

To commemorate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May 2022, we discuss 2 works of fiction by celebrated Asian authors in another books episode of The Korea Herald podcast. Copy editors Beth Eunhee Hong and Naomi Ng discuss books that shaped their worldview and sense of identity as third culture kids with roots in Seoul and Hong Kong. Beth’s pick is “Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning,” a 2020 autobiographical book of 7 essays by Korean American author Cathy Park Hong. The essays center on what it’s like to grow up Asian American in a Western capitalist society. Naomi’s pick is “Everything I Never Told You,” the 2014 debut novel by Chinese American author Celeste Ng. The novel is about a mixed-race Chinese-American family whose middle daughter Lydia is found drowned in a nearby lake. Her death unravels the family’s web of secrets and pasts. The YouTube version of this podcast also features a bonus new segment in which we ask readers in Korea: “What book would you recommend?” We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. More book picks for AAPI month: 1. “Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid” by Evelyn Lau https://bit.ly/3Nmtjcj 2. “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong https://bit.ly/3wDjLTA 3. “Love in a Fallen City” by Eileen Chang https://bit.ly/3yF5hF4 4. “The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir” by Karen Cheung https://bit.ly/3wjbZyY Special thanks to Book Park Lounge, Blue Square https://bit.ly/3FPb2lk Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

We spoke with Bora Chung, an award-winning author who was one of two Korean authors nominated for the 2022 International Booker Prize. Her book, “Cursed Bunny,” translated by Anton Hur is a collection of 10 “genre-defying” short stories that span magical realism, horror and science fiction. Chung “uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society.” In this episode, hosts Beth Eunhee Hong and Naomi Ng ask Bora about the inspiration for her imaginative fiction, her translation work, and her future projects. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. Music credits: Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Barry Welsh, host of Seoul Book Club by Barry Welsh, shares three Korean novels to watch for Spring 2022 in this special episode of The Korea Herald books podcast! In this episode, copy editor Beth Eunhee Hong and Barry discuss three diverse works of Korean literature: the 2022 International Booker Prize nominated “Love in the Big City” by Park Sang Young (translated by Anton Hur), “Lemon” by Kwon Yeo-sun (translated by Janet Hong) and “The Cabinet” by Kim Un-su (translated by Sean Lin Halbert). We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet me (Beth @_paperfetishist) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com. Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo) Full article:http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220331000805&np=1&mp=1

To commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8, we discuss three short stories from a collection of works by celebrated Korean women authors in a special books episode of The Korea Herald podcast. “The Future of Silence: Fiction by Korean Women” is a collection of nine short stories that span five decades from the 1970s to 2010s, edited and translated by Ju-chan and Bruce Fulton. In this episode, copy editors Beth Eunhee Hong and Naomi Ng discuss Park Wan-suh’s “Identical Apartments” (1974), Oh Jung-hee’s “Wayfarer” (1983) and Kim Chi-won’s “Almaden” (1988). Beth and Naomi discuss how the stories reflect broader themes in Korean society today, and our own lives as third culture kids and young women currently based in South Korea. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. Full article: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220224000105 Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo) Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)