Most Popular
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Ador CEO denies allegations, accuses Hybe of mistreating NewJeans
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Medical reform committee kicks off despite boycott from doctors
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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Over-50s, men, single-person households take up majority of those filing for bankruptcy
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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[NewBook] Feldman casts a tale of abandonment, self-reinvention
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic RootsBy Deborah Feldman(Simon & Schuster) From the materials of a life resembling one of the darker Grimm’s fairy tales, young memoirist Deborah Feldman gives us “Unorthodox,” a true story of abandonment, twisted caretakers, arranged marriage and sexual misery. Denied every kind of nourishment except the doughy, shimmering plates of food obsessively produced by her Holocaust-survivor grandmother, this proud, stubborn girl, nonetheless, heard and
Feb. 24, 2012
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[New Book] LaCour’s new work plays the soundtrack of young lives
The DisenchantmentsBy Nina LaCour (Dutton)The summer after high school is a time when senioritis gives way to the anticipation of life’s next chapter. For most middle-class high school graduates, that next chapter means packing up and heading to college. In Nina LaCour’s young-adult novel “The Disenchantments,” it involves a weeklong tour of an all-girl band (which gives its name to the book’s title), during which two best friends reconcile their disparate aspirations and affections for each oth
Feb. 24, 2012
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[Eye Read] North Korean refugee shares his life story
This is Paradise! My North Korean ChildhoodBy Kang Hyok with Philippe GrangereauTranslated by Shaun WhitesideFrench journalist Philippe Grangereau first met North Korean refugee Kang Hyok back in 2003 in Prague. Kang, who was 17 at the time, had been invited by the People in Need Foundation to the fourth conference of the South Korean NGO “North Korean Human Rights.” The young boy was asked to share his life story in North Korea with two other refugees in their forties.The journalist recalls Kan
Feb. 24, 2012
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Revolving trust: ‘Watergate’ dives inside inner circles of Nixon White House
Even the biggest secrets have secrets lurking behind them.And, Thomas Mallon suggests in his absorbing new novel “Watergate,” America’s biggest and dirtiest revealed secret was no exception.The 30th anniversary of the break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel is this June, and for many Americans, the cover-up and scandal that followed has become both a time marker and trivia.But the drama that led to the first and only resignation of a sitting U.S. president w
Feb. 24, 2012
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Rowling has deal for new novel for adults
NEW YORK (AP) -- Adult fans of J.K. Rowling can rejoice: She has a new novel coming, for grownups.The kids will have to wait and see.The author of the mega-selling ``Harry Potter'' series has an agreement with Little, Brown in the United States and Britain to publish her first novel for grownups. Th
Feb. 24, 2012
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US comic collection expected to get $2M at auction
A collection of some of the most prized comic books ever published is expected to fetch more than $2 million at auction this week in the U.S.Michael Rorrer said he thought his great uncle Billy Wright's comics were cool, but he didn't realize how valuable they were for months after finding the 345 c
Feb. 22, 2012
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N. Korean defectors push to join writers’ association
About 20 North Korean defectors in South Korea will push to become members of an internationally recognized writers’ association later this year, an official said Monday.PEN International is scheduled to hold its congress in South Korea’s ancient city of Gyeongju in September where the issue of accepting North Korean defectors as members is expected to be discussed and approved, according to Kim Kyung-sik, secretary general of PEN Korea in Seoul.PEN International, the London-based worldwide asso
Feb. 20, 2012
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From Guitar Hero ace to guitar god?
Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of LearningBy Gary Marcus (Penguin Press)Spending countless hours playing the video game Guitar Hero has fostered an illusion among many middle-age guys. It’s not too late to be a guitar god.Then they discover something: There’s a big difference between the colored plastic buttons on the guitar-shaped game control and the six strings of an actual guitar. But is the difference insurmountable?Gary Marcus set out to answer that question in “Guitar Zero:
Feb. 17, 2012
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Exploring bonds, boundaries of friendship
Friends Like Us By Lauren Fox(Knopf) As I read Lauren Fox’s new novel, I dog-eared the pages with witty lines, or impressively bitter ones, or ones that made me laugh.Please forgive me, Alfred A. Knopf, for what I’ve done to your book. I hadn’t intended to make origami out of it.Willa, her narrator, describes her parents’ marriage as “another planet, a harsh, extraterrestrial climate ― scalding mornings followed by blue-black evenings so frigid no life could possible be sustained there.”She take
Feb. 17, 2012
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Scholar looks into architecture in Seoul
City as Art ― 100 Notable Works of Architecture in SeoulBy Yim Seok-jae(Hollym)From Gyeongbokgung to the old Seoul Station, it’s easy to spot historically significant buildings in Seoul. The city boasts a long history dating back to the Three Kingdoms period (B.C. 57-A.D. 688) and served as the national capital of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897) for some 600 years. And as a result of rapid modernization and economic development in the last 60 years, Seoul also houses skyscrapers as well as other
Feb. 17, 2012
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‘Real Housewives’ star’s troubled life played out on TV ― now comes her book
After “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Taylor Armstrong’s husband, Russell, killed himself in August 2011, Armstrong could have pulled back from the spotlight. Instead, she sought comfort in it.Five weeks after her husband’s death, Armstrong appeared on “Dr. Phil,” speaking about allegations that later would be unleashed on the Bravo reality TV series: that Russell physically and emotionally abused her. Six months after Russell’s death, she has released a tell-all book about their marriag
Feb. 17, 2012
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Amanda Knox book rights sold for $4 mn: report
Amanda Knox, who was acquitted last year of murdering her British roommate while studying in Italy, has sold the rights to her memoir for $4 million, The New York Times reported on Thursday.The newspaper, citing people familiar with the negotiations, said that HarperCollins acquired the rights after
Feb. 17, 2012
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Application to open for literary translation grant
Applications will soon open for this year’s grant for Korean literary translation, research and publication in overseas countries, the Daesan Foundation announced this week.The annual support fund each year selects some 25 applicants who wish to translate Korean works of literature into foreign languages, research Korean literature overseas and publish their translated work of Korean literary works in foreign countries. Applicants for Korean literary translation category must choose one piece of
Feb. 16, 2012
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US comic wins Japan international manga award
TOKYO (AFP) - American comic book “I Kill Giants” has won the top prize in the Japanese government-sponsored annual international award for manga, the foreign ministry said.The 2008 book, created by American writer Joe Kelly and Spanish cartoonist J.M. Ken Niimura, was awarded the gold prize out of 145 entries from 30 countries and areas, the ministry announced on Tuesday.It portrays a socially isolated girl battling monsters both real and imagined as she comes of age.The three silver prizes wen
Feb. 16, 2012
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Novelists open new chapter for booming China film industry
HONG KONG (AFP) ― Acclaimed Chinese novelist Geling Yan has become accustomed to reaching a wide audience both at home and abroad. But nothing could have prepared her for the attention she has received since film director Zhang Yimou picked up one of her novels and turned it into “The Flowers of War,” China’s biggest box office smash of the past 12 months.“To see my work made into such a grand piece of cinema has made me very happy, it has been quite a shock,” said Yan of the production, adapted
Feb. 13, 2012
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Solo living book challenges family life
Going SoloBy Eric Klinenberg(The Penguin Press)Living in families, though traditional and almost universal on this evolving planet, is experiencing an unplanned but effective attack, according to a new book.Author Eric Klinenberg, professor of sociology at New York University, sees lessons to be learned. He sums them up in his subtitle: “The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.”What good is living alone? Isolate yourself from all your friends? No wife? No husband? No mother?
Feb. 10, 2012
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Chilling look at pedophile rings
Catch Me By Lisa Gardner (Dutton)Lisa Gardner’s talent for showing ordinary people caught in the worst time of their lives and then dangling them over a precipice of more danger is polished to a high gloss in the involving and highly entertaining “Catch Me.”Gardner’s 16th novel melds a thrilling police procedural with a gripping personal story of a woman who refuses to be a victim. “Catch Me’s” brisk pace is matched by Gardner’s attention to believable characters. As usual, Gardner peppers her n
Feb. 10, 2012
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Eye Read
Glimpse into Joseon’s royal culture Joseon Royal Court Culture Ceremonial and Daily LifeBy Shin Myung-ho(Dolbegae Publishers)Ever wondered what it would be like to be a king during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897)? According to scholar Shin Myung-ho’s intriguing historical account “Joseon Royal Court Culture Ceremonial and Daily Life,” you would very often suffer an eye disease, as you’d spend most of your time reading all sorts of documents, and no one would dare look at your face without your ap
Feb. 10, 2012
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Harlem Renaissance collection contains surprising groundbreakers
Last fall, the Library of America released two volumes featuring authors who wrote during the Harlem Renaissance, that vague early 20th-century era when black novelists, artists, poets, musicians, essayists and even publishers pushed black culture to the forefront.The Harlem Renaissance served the purpose, awakening whites to the injustice of racism and assuring blacks that they weren‘t alone.But the stories of the time were often what is now standard fare for Black History Month in February. Di
Feb. 10, 2012
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‘Kosher Jesus’ book raises furor
For an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Shmuley Boteach has a deeply unorthodox streak.The best-selling author and TV host has written books on “Kosher Sex,” “Dating Secrets of the 10 Commandments” and his relationship with the late pop star Michael Jackson.But nothing he has done in a career as one of America’s best-known rabbis has caused quite the stir of his latest book. Even before its publication this month, Boteach came under withering attack in his own Orthodox community, with critics accusing him
Feb. 10, 2012