Journalist

Yoon Ju-hye
  • National Museum of Korean Literature Unveils Original Paris Petition for March 1 Anniversary
    National Museum of Korean Literature Unveils Original 'Paris Petition' for March 1 Anniversary The National Museum of Korean Literature on Monday released the original manuscript of the “Paris Petition” to mark the March 1 Independence Movement anniversary. The document is the original letter sent to the Paris Peace Conference shortly after the March 1 Movement, drafted by a nationwide coalition of Confucian scholars. The museum said it was prepared in consultation by organizers Kim Chang-sook and Kwak Jong-seok, written in Kwak’s own hand, and later supplemented with notes by classical scholars Lee Ga-won and Jeong Mu-yeon, giving it high historical value. The “Paris Petition incident” began after Confucian scholars across the country, disappointed at not being included among the national representatives on the March 1 Declaration of Independence, decided to send an independence appeal to the Paris Peace Conference. Kim served as the representative, gathering support by dispatching envoys to scholars in each region and meeting scholars in North Gyeongsang Province. He asked Kwak, his teacher and academic ally in Geochang, to draft the text, and the two finalized the wording together. To help Kim, who was expected to travel to Paris via Shanghai, Kwak introduced people in Shanghai who could assist him. To evade police, the original text was torn into thin strips, line by line, and woven into straw sandals, the museum said. While Kim was preparing the original in North Gyeongsang, scholars in the Chungcheong region, led by Kim Bok-han, separately drafted an independence appeal. After discussions, they adopted Kwak’s original, revised it, and produced a final version signed by 137 scholars. The petition was mailed to Kim Kyu-sik, who was in Paris as a Korean representative, and Chinese-language and translated versions were distributed to media outlets, consulates and local Confucian schools in Korea. Japanese police investigating the March 1 Movement later uncovered the effort, and more than 20 people, including Kwak and Kim Bok-han, were imprisoned. Although the petition’s contents have been cited in multiple sources, the original manuscript has not previously been made public, the museum said, adding that the release allows the document to be verified in full. The museum said the handwritten original also calls for renewed attention to the petition’s present-day meaning. Along with the release, the museum selected Kwak and Kim as its “featured literary figures of the month” and said it will hold an academic event on March 26 at Sungkyunkwan University highlighting the Paris Petition. The “featured literary figures of the month” is a new museum initiative that will name notable writers each month, with related website columns and events aimed at revisiting figures who left a major mark on Korea’s literary history. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-24 16:03:29
  • Korea to Invest 19.8 Billion Won in 2026 AI Content Production Support
    Korea to Invest 19.8 Billion Won in 2026 AI Content Production Support The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency said Tuesday they will invest a total of 19.8 billion won in the 2026 “AI Content Production Support” program. The initiative will be offered in three tracks based on a company’s growth stage: entry, advanced and partnership. The entry track will help small and midsize companies with AI-based production capabilities enter the market and grow. It will select about 24 projects, with up to 200 million won per project. The advanced track aims to produce globally competitive content using more sophisticated AI technology, supporting about 10 projects with up to 700 million won each. The partnership track will back collaboration between large or mid-sized companies and small and midsize firms to boost commercialization and shared growth, selecting about 16 projects with up to 400 million won each. The entry track includes “genre convergence” to upgrade production processes in existing genres; “new-technology convergence” to create new consumer experiences through technology-driven formats such as extended reality (XR), interactive and immersive content; and development and pilot testing of AI-based solutions and platforms that can be used in production. The agency said it aims to expand services tailored to content production beyond general-purpose technology use. The partnership track will expand sharply from four projects last year to 16. It will also encourage cooperation not only between large and small companies but also between the content sector and other related industries to develop new commercialization models. The agency plans to hold a public briefing in March for small and midsize companies interested in joining the partnership track. More details are available on the agency’s website. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-24 09:51:16
  • Kim Junsu Says ‘Beetlejuice’ Role Fueled by Desire to Take on Something New
    Kim Junsu Says ‘Beetlejuice’ Role Fueled by Desire to Take on Something New “Junsu is really good at finding roles that fit him.” Musical actor Kim Junsu said that kind of reputation helped shape his decision to take on “Beetlejuice” — in part because he wanted to answer it with a different kind of role. He said he wanted to show he could do well even in work that people might not immediately associate with him. In an interview with reporters on Feb. 23 in Seoul’s Gangnam district, Kim said he chose “Beetlejuice” because it felt different from what he had done before. “My desire to challenge myself played a part,” he said. “People always say, ‘He’s good at finding roles that suit him.’ But every production has been a challenge for me,” he said. “Whether it was ‘Dracula’ or ‘Todd,’ I started those projects hearing, ‘That doesn’t suit you.’” He said shifting reactions left him both pleased and uneasy. “I took it positively, thinking, ‘I must have done well,’ but at the same time I wondered, ‘How long do I have to keep hearing this?’” he said. That pushed him to look for something new. Kim said many people were puzzled when the casting was announced, and he also had doubts. “Right up until the announcement, I was so torn my mind changed every day,” he said. “In the end, I think it was the right decision.” To create his own take on the character, Kim said he tried to let go of his usual approach, while adjusting elements that felt too far from him through discussions with the production team. Rather than changing for the sake of it, he said he focused on bringing his own color to the role. “I thought I could make it my strength if I played him like a spoiled kid throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t know any better,” Kim said. “No matter how funny or bizarre a face I make, I didn’t think I could beat Seonghwa (Jung Seong-hwa). So I approached it thinking I should create my own charm for the character.” He said the pressure before opening was intense, to the point he had nightmares about going onstage without knowing his lines. “There were so many words I don’t normally use,” he said. “There are sexual lines and profanity, too. Tempo matters. It has to come out like rapid-fire.” Kim said he prepared until the lines would come out instantly on cue, without thinking, so he could also weave in ad-libs. “I paid even more attention to it,” he said. He also said he prepared two or three different reactions depending on how the audience responded. For example, when describing Beetlejuice — a character no one notices — as “like your boyfriend passing by next to Kim Junsu,” he said he had multiple follow-ups ready depending on the crowd’s response, such as “You like that?” or “They say they like it.” Still, he said he could not predict how fans would react until opening night. Only after the audience burst out laughing at his first ad-lib did he feel relieved. “I worried about what if people hesitate over whether to laugh,” he said. “More than anything, I only felt at ease after the first show.” Kim said Beetlejuice has become a character he feels attached to. “I can’t say I’m attached to every character I’ve played. There aren’t many I want to do again — not even half,” he said. “But Beetlejuice is one of them. I’ve done about 10 productions so far, and it’s in my top five.” The musical “Beetlejuice” is based on the film of the same name directed by Tim Burton. The show runs at LG Arts Center Seoul in Gangseo-gu through March 22. 2026-02-24 08:04:16
  • National Museum of Korea chief calls for second permanent gallery, deputy director post
    National Museum of Korea chief calls for second permanent gallery, deputy director post Yu Hong-jun, director of the National Museum of Korea, said Monday the museum urgently needs to expand both its facilities and its organization as visitor numbers continue to climb. Speaking at a Kwanhun Forum at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Yu said the museum should push ahead with building a second permanent exhibition hall. The museum currently operates one permanent exhibition building and two special exhibition halls. The permanent galleries include seven sections and 39 rooms. Yu said the museum, which drew 6.5 million visitors last year, can no longer meet growing demand at its current scale. He said the existing exhibition space was designed for an annual target of 2 million visitors, with a maximum daily capacity of 15,000, but more than 40,000 people enter during peak periods. He also called for creating a deputy director post, saying it is urgently needed in line with international practice. Yu said related ministries, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, share that view and are in close talks. On charging admission, Yu stressed the goal is not to raise revenue. He said the museum is not pursuing paid entry to prevent overcrowding, and “certainly not” to bolster finances, but to maintain order through measures such as reservations and fast-track entry. Yu also said museums and art museums often miss chances to buy needed artifacts because purchasing procedures are complex and accounting rules are strict, suggesting directors should be given more discretion. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 15:51:18
  • Korea Creative Content Agency Opens Applications for 2026 Korea Indie Game Dev Camp
    Korea Creative Content Agency Opens Applications for 2026 Korea Indie Game Dev Camp The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency said they will accept applications for the 2026 “Korea Indie Game Dev Camp” from Feb. 23 to March 23. The program will be run on a 6 billion won scale this year, with two tracks: companies and individuals. Projects selected in the final stage will receive development incentive grants of up to 140 million won per project for companies and up to 85 million won per project for individuals. In the first-stage planning track, the organizers plan to support 130 projects: 70 in the company track and 60 in the individual track. The initiative uses a step-by-step competition format: Stage 1 for strong planning, Stage 2 for an early build, Stage 3 for a prototype, and Stage 4 for an enhanced “vertical slice” focusing on core gameplay. Seven companies will participate as partners: Neowiz, Discord, Smilegate, Com2uS Holdings, Krafton, Toss (Viva Republica) and Pearl Abyss. The partners plan to provide stage-by-stage advice, invitations to company events and networking opportunities, support for participation in major exhibitions in and outside South Korea, and investment reviews. The organizers said the public-private effort is intended to help indie developers overcome technical and management constraints and move toward commercialization and global expansion. A “2026 Game Content Production Support” briefing will be held Feb. 24 starting at 2 p.m. in the conference room on the 16th floor of the CKL Corporate Support Center in Gwanghwamun. Details on how to apply and required documents are available in the notice posted on the agency’s website. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 09:48:21
  • South Korea to Give 3,000 Young K-Art Creators 9 Million Won a Year
    South Korea to Give 3,000 Young K-Art Creators 9 Million Won a Year To strengthen the foundations of “K-culture,” South Korea will expand investment in foundational arts.  The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on the 23rd it will accept applications from March 3 through March 31 for a pilot program, “K-Art Youth Creator Support,” aimed at young artists in foundational arts.  The program will provide annual creation grants of 9 million won to 3,000 creators in foundational arts (age 39 or younger; born on or after Jan. 1, 1986). It will select 1,500 recipients from the Seoul metropolitan area and 1,500 from outside the capital region. The ministry said the grants are intended to help young creators whose low and unstable income makes it difficult to focus on their work. Unless there are special circumstances, those selected this year are expected to receive support again the following year.  Eligible fields include literature, visual arts, performing arts (theater, musical theater, dance, classical and traditional arts), multidisciplinary arts, and convergence and hybrid arts. Popular arts such as pop music and film are excluded.  Applicants can find details in notices posted on the Arts Council Korea website and the websites of 17 provincial and metropolitan cultural foundations. Applications must be submitted through the Arts Council’s National Culture and Arts Support System. Performers may also apply if they have creation credits and submit a creation plan. Regional cultural foundations will first review applicants’ track records and the suitability of their plans. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute will then allocate slots by region and field and select the final 3,000 recipients. Results will be posted on the websites of the 17 regional cultural foundations.  Recipients must carry out their projects based on their submitted plans and file an interim report and a final report that includes the completed work. Grants will be paid in two installments — 4 million won in the first half of the year and 5 million won in the second half. Failure to submit an interim or final report will limit further payments. The pilot program will run from 2026 to 2027. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute will lead an evidence-based performance evaluation (a joint study under the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences) to objectively assess the program’s effects. The evaluation will examine changes in time spent on creative work, increases in creative activity, shifts in income and spending, and how the grants affect young artists’ employment and income. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 09:30:25
  • Arko Art Center Unveils 2026 Lineup of Five Exhibitions Focused on Discovery and Experiment
    Arko Art Center Unveils 2026 Lineup of Five Exhibitions Focused on Discovery and Experiment The Arts Council Korea, known as Arko, announced Arko Art Center’s 2026 exhibition program on the 23rd. The museum will present five exhibitions built around experimentation and diversity. While linking the lineup to Arko support programs, Arko Art Center said it will further develop its identity of “discovery and experimentation,” shaped over more than 50 years. The first show is the homecoming exhibition for the Korean Pavilion at the 19th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, “Dukkobah Dukkobah: The Time of the House” (2.6~4.5). Marking the pavilion’s 30th anniversary, it examines the building and reconsiders the meaning of a pavilion through the lens of a “house.” The second exhibition, “Uncalibrated Time” (working title, 5.21~7.19), is a two-person show tied to Arko’s Visual Arts Creative Subject Support program. It aims to dismantle hierarchies of time and the senses and to consider attitudes of coexistence. Participants include O Min, selected for multiyear support, and Camille Norment, known for multimedia experimentation on the international stage. Arko said Norment will be introduced at an Asian art museum for the first time through this exhibition. The thematic exhibition “Art School” (working title, 8.7~9.27) looks at the role of Insa Art Space (2000~2025), which has served an educational function in discovering and nurturing emerging artists. Framed as “art as education,” it reflects on education systems and institutions and highlights the activities and practices of art-world participants beyond exhibitions. A “Collection Special Exhibition” (working title, 10.16~11.29) will use Arko Art Center’s holdings to examine the museum’s exhibition history within the context of Korean art history, aiming to provide a meaningful opportunity for research into the history of contemporary Korean art. The final show, “Arko Art Center × Regional Arts Leap Support Collaborative Exhibition” (working title, 12.18~27.2.14), will be linked to Arko’s regional support program. It will back the production of new works by promising regional artists and serve as a platform to broaden the results of discovering and supporting local artists. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 09:18:42
  • Author Kang Ji-young’s Korean-Rooted Characters Drive Global Interest in K-Thrillers
    Author Kang Ji-young’s Korean-Rooted Characters Drive Global Interest in K-Thrillers A woman in her 50s with urinary incontinence is a cold-blooded professional killer. A bald, potbellied shop owner is an arms dealer. A seemingly ordinary college student is suddenly swept into a war among assassins. In Kang Ji-young’s thrillers, characters look familiar but rarely turn out to be what they seem. The same goes for settings: a neighborhood supermarket or butcher shop can be more than it appears. Kang’s novel “Mrs. Shim Is a Killer,” credited with helping open the door for “K-thrillers,” is set to be published in more than 20 countries in the first half of this year. In a recent interview at Seoul Chaekbogo in Jamsil, Kang said the overseas attention is “because the characters are Korean,” adding that “there also seems to be a culture forming worldwide that ‘Korean things are hip.’” The upcoming U.S. and U.K. editions highlight Korean elements, including an image of metal chopsticks and bilingual English-and-Korean text for the title and author name. Kang will begin a book tour March 28, starting in Paris and continuing to Lyon, Poland and Hungary. She called the results “very joyful,” but said she also feels “a sense of responsibility.” “I’m excited, but I’m worried, too. I was lucky to export one work, but my work can’t end up blocking the path for other writers,” she said. Kang works across genre fiction and literary fiction, as well as webtoons and web novels. Disney+ released the 2024 drama “A Shop for Killers,” based on her work “A Shop for a Killer,” starring Lee Dong-wook and Kim Hye-jun. After the success of Season 1, Season 2 will be released within the year. Her books are known for quickly drawing interest in adaptation rights. Readers cite vivid descriptions that make scenes easy to picture, along with black humor that can prompt a laugh even amid sharp violence. Kang said she does not plan stories with screen adaptations in mind. She attributes the strength of a “super IP” to everyday life. She writes on a strict schedule, sitting at her desk at 9 a.m. and ending manuscript work at 5:30 p.m. “There was a time when it was hard to survive if I didn’t write diligently,” she said. “I have a child. A kid can’t grow on dreams alone,” she said. “I worked hard. Until my late 30s, I held a job while writing novels. Writing becomes meals, academy tuition, and school lunch money. That process itself was a period of growth. I feel not only accomplishment but a lot of pride. I didn’t choose writing as a high-end hobby.” Twists on familiar people Kang’s characters often begin with people around her. “The female lead in ‘Gama-goe on a Giraffe’ borrows some of my younger sister,” she said. “Jeong Jin-man in ‘A Shop for a Killer’ is a stand-in for my father, and Shim Eun-on in ‘Mrs. Shim Is a Killer’ draws partly from my aunt. After losing her husband, she raised her siblings while running a butcher shop. I took the basic setup from that. That’s why readers can find pieces of ‘our mom’ or ‘my sibling’ in my work.” Then comes the reversal: the middle-aged woman becomes a knife-wielding assassin, and the potbellied man a major figure in arms trafficking. Kang also often portrays women in their 20s and 30s as resilient people who “keep walking forward to find a way out.” Early in her career, she said, most of her short-story protagonists were men and women were often reduced to victims of violence. “As I started writing novels, I thought, ‘As a woman, I should make women into active characters,’” she said. “That’s why many of my novel protagonists are young women just stepping into the world.” That approach also shapes the three-part “A Shop for a Killer,” which reads like a coming-of-age story as protagonist Jeong Ji-an collides with the world and grows tougher. “Even without landing a full-time job, I wanted to portray a woman who faces the world in her own way — not a beginner anymore, but an independent person,” Kang said. Kang linked that to her own 20s. Raised in Paju, she said she had to become independent after entering a university in Seoul. “Back then I worked part-time jobs relentlessly. I started working and earning money at 21,” she said. “It felt like the world was picking on me for no reason. At some point, my family felt unfamiliar. I started devoting myself to family after I had a child. That’s when I moved from being Jeong Ji-an, the niece, to Jeong Jin-man, the uncle.” Dangerously convincing lies Many characters die in Kang’s novels, yet the stories can feel oddly cathartic. “Doesn’t everyone have at least one person they want to kill?” she said. “Doesn’t everyone think at least once, ‘I want to kill them cleanly’ or ‘I want to get rid of them’?” she said. “I’m just carrying out, in a story, what’s hard to do in real life.” She said the same logic applies to suffocating relationships. In “Gama-goe on a Giraffe,” the protagonist cuts off family ties. “I wanted to tell readers, ‘If it’s harmful, you can cut it off,’” she said. “You have to find your own path to happiness. For people who can’t bring themselves to do it, I want to give them at least some vicarious satisfaction.” Kang recently finished the novella “Dokni.” Its protagonist is described as a composite of South Korean female serial killers including Go Yoo-jung, Lee Eun-hye, Eom In-sook and Kim Seon-ja. “There are many cases of killing someone they loved with poison, so I titled it ‘Dokni,’” she said. Through a woman in her 70s who is released on parole after 29 years and one month, Kang said she examines, from a skeptical perspective, “whether humans can truly be rehabilitated.” A separate work centered on a traditional Catholic exorcism rite is set to be published around summer. Kang said writing it was so difficult that she suffered sleep paralysis throughout the process. Often labeled a “young writer” or a “storyteller,” Kang, who is approaching 50, said she no longer cares about such descriptions. “I sometimes describe my job as ‘someone who cleverly lies without getting caught,’” she said. “I keep making lies that feel real, on a razor-thin boundary. I don’t care what I’m called. It’s enough if readers fall for the world I created.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 00:03:28
  • New Books: A Child Therapist on Healing, a Monk Talks Buddhism With ChatGPT, and a Debut Poetry Collection
    New Books: A Child Therapist on Healing, a Monk Talks Buddhism With ChatGPT, and a Debut Poetry Collection What Heals Young People’s Wounds?=By Stacey Schaefer, translated by Moon Garam, Dusiui Namu. The author, a child and adolescent psychotherapist with 20 years of experience, distills lessons from her work with young clients. Her core rule is simple: when a child finally opens up, adults should not lead with their own stories — the “I went through that, too” approach. She writes that today’s problems can be different and more complicated: being left on “read” by a friend can feel like a crisis, targeted exclusion can play out on social media, and threats from strangers are not uncommon. If adults do not understand kids’ culture, she urges them to replace judgment with an open question such as, “Will you help me understand?” When adults become safe enough for children to ask for help, she argues, kids can share thoughts and feelings without fear of being judged. "Social media influencers exploit this, constantly sending subtle messages: ‘I know you. I understand you. If you buy this, you’ll be like us.’ Surprisingly, kids fall for it. No one wants to live without a sense of presence in the world. Kids especially want to belong somewhere. The more we tell them, ‘I know the real you,’ the less likely they are to define themselves through other people’s eyes." (pp. 252-253) Sakyamuni Smiles=By Jeonggyeong, Jihyeui Namu. Jeonggyeong, a Buddhist monk, uses conversations with the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT to pose a question to readers: “Is what I have believed until now really what Sakyamuni taught?” The exchange began after he was intrigued by ChatGPT’s ability to discuss Buddhism and opened an account, continuing the dialogue for several days. In a question-and-answer format, the book suggests that much of what people today call “Buddhism” reflects interpretations and devotional practices added after Sakyamuni, rather than his original teachings. When the monk asks a question, ChatGPT offers answers based on various sources; he then presses for evidence or points out errors, narrowing the issues. Readers are invited to revisit Sakyamuni’s teachings through the back-and-forth between the monk and the AI. “This foreword could be written because Venerable Jeonggyeong presented to me — in the form of questions — a lifetime of thought, doubt, practice, criticism, verification and rigorous reflection. I merely shed light on those questions. Therefore, if I am credited in the foreword, it should state: ‘This foreword was formed from a conversation between Venerable Jeonggyeong and ChatGPT,’ and ‘The author is human, and AI assisted with language alignment.’ This text is thus a trace of thinking done together by Venerable Jeonggyeong and the AI ChatGPT, and it makes clear that the origin of all thought lies with the human who asked the questions.” (p. 14, from “ChatGPT’s Foreword”) Take a Small Bite and Secretly Throw It Away=By Yeon Jeongmo, Achimdal. This is poet Yeon Jeongmo’s first collection. Yeon began publishing after winning the inaugural newcomer award in the poetry category from the biannual “Munhak Suchup.” At the time, judges said Yeon freely varied imagination and imagery within poetic space, “leaping and playing as if dancing,” and pushed poetic thinking to the end in a language uniquely their own. The new collection seeks a distinctive aesthetic distance on the taut line between the self and the world, and addresses birth and death in a style described as bright yet firmly grounded. Wipe clean even the burst fruit flesh/ gather it all together/ a cast-iron pot that was once Grandma’s treasure/ she used to put me and my sibling inside it/ and wash us together — it remains as one close-knit page of history (from “Jampot,” p. 50) * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-21 06:06:27
  • National Museum of Korea Draws 86,464 Visitors Over Lunar New Year Holiday
    National Museum of Korea Draws 86,464 Visitors Over Lunar New Year Holiday The National Museum of Korea is increasingly becoming a popular holiday destination. The museum said on the 20th that 86,464 people visited during the Lunar New Year holiday period from Feb. 16 to 18, with the museum closed on the 17th. Holiday attendance has climbed sharply: 32,193 in 2024, 50,512 in 2025 and more than 80,000 this year, up 71.2% from last year. The museum credited strong interest in its special exhibitions, “Our Yi Sun-sin” and “From Impressionism to Early Modernism,” as well as a display of all 22 volumes of the “Daedongyeojido” map unfolded along the “Path of History” on the first floor of the permanent galleries. Director Yu Hong-jun said, “Despite the cold weather, I want to express my gratitude to visitors who came to the museum during the Lunar New Year holiday.” He added, “We will continue to raise the quality of our exhibitions and steadily improve the viewing environment so visitors can encounter our cultural heritage from new perspectives.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-20 15:00:17