Journalist

Yoon Ju-hye
  • New Seoul Arts Center President Jang Han-na Vows to Broaden Access
    New Seoul Arts Center President Jang Han-na Vows to Broaden Access Jang Han-na, the newly appointed president of the Seoul Arts Center, said on the 24th that she would “faithfully and diligently” carry out her duties so the center becomes “a hub for culture and the arts that is open and closer to more people, embracing this era.” Jang made the remarks after receiving her letter of appointment from Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young. Her term is three years. She added, “It is an honor to be able to contribute to the future of the Seoul Arts Center with the experience I have built as a musician on stages around the world, and I feel a heavy responsibility.” Opened in 1988, the Seoul Arts Center operates performance and exhibition venues including a concert hall, an opera house, the Seoul Calligraphy Art Museum and the Hangaram Art Museum. It is considered one of South Korea’s key cultural spaces, expanding public access to the arts and supporting foundational performing arts such as classical music, opera, ballet and dance. Choi said public and arts-sector interest in Jang’s appointment is high, and urged her to use her experience and leadership to present a vision for a “new leap forward” as the center approaches its 40th anniversary in 2028 and to energize overall management. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 18:06:15
  • Hong Seung-hye’s ‘On the Move’ show at Kukje Gallery Busan explores rhythm and motion
    Hong Seung-hye’s ‘On the Move’ show at Kukje Gallery Busan explores rhythm and motion Tap, tap, tap… In Hong Seung-hye’s solo exhibition ‘On the Move,’ water drops fall without pause. As they gather into a puddle, each drop sends out ripples that read as circles, triangles and squares. Across eight video works installed in the gallery, similar but distinct sounds drift together, break apart and return, creating subtle variations. At a news conference held on the 24th at Kukje Gallery Busan, Hong spoke about rhythm, saying, “Music moves me without me even realizing it.” “Even the spacing when you hang frames isn’t random. It’s the result of countless adjustments. I can’t explain every moment, though,” she said. The exhibition centers on the “mobility” Hong has long pursued, bringing together works from different periods. It traces a progression from geometric forms to sound and from sound to choreography. The show spans flat works that appear to move, video works that actually move, and sculptural pieces that viewers can move themselves. A key focus is a group of major video works shown together. They include ‘Snoopy in Space’ (2019), which drifts through a vast cosmos, and ‘Facial Expression Practice’ (2025), in which circles, bars and crosses meet and separate to form expressions that seem to laugh and cry. In the videos, pared-down shapes move like notes on a musical staff, shifting, varying and expanding. Hong linked that sense of movement to her own life: memories of a father who loved music, time spent learning the marimba, scenes from the film ‘The Sound of Music,’ and accidental changes produced by the undo process. She added Photoshop at 40 and began using GarageBand at 50, she said, turning her life into a kind of rhythm that remains in motion. “I actually love dancing,” she said. “It’s like I’ve found a dance I can do even when I’m old. Even if I don’t have much energy later, if I still have the strength to move a mouse, I’ll be able to keep dancing.” The exhibition runs through June 14. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 17:51:25
  • New Books: Hormones Behind Short-Video Addiction and Sleep, Plus Two More Titles
    New Books: Hormones Behind Short-Video Addiction and Sleep, Plus Two More Titles Science That Can Change Your Day=Written by Ullim, Dongasia. If you keep watching short videos and still want more — or if you have ever bought enzymes after seeing a social media ad for melting bread — this book is aimed at you. The author, a science communicator, looks at everyday topics such as stress, sleep, exercise, short-video addiction and love through a scientific lens, encouraging readers to rethink routines and make better choices. The book focuses on hormones. It explains that repeatedly watching shorts and reels can build tolerance to dopamine, pushing viewers to seek stronger stimulation in a self-reinforcing cycle. It also offers a remedy, highlighting the role of serotonin — often called a “happiness hormone” — and providing practical tips to promote its release. Sleep, exercise and love are also tied to hormones, the author says. To benefit from fasted aerobic exercise, readers should avoid excessively triggering cortisol, a stress hormone. On love, the book argues that hormones shift as relationships mature, citing phenylethylamine and endorphins. Readers can choose sleep methods, workouts and diets suited to their own circumstances. "In today’s world, dopamine is actually very easy to get without going through the process of dating and adjusting to each other. You can easily satisfy dopamine just by watching stimulating content like shorts or reels. In other words, we already have many ways to satisfy dopamine easily, anytime and anywhere, so dating is no longer the only channel for dopamine. Dating requires a lot of time and energy, yet it’s hard to predict a sure dopamine reward, and you never know when it might fall apart." (p. 190) A Sad Murder=Written by Jonathan Rosen, translated by Park Dasom, Munhakdongne. This memoir and nonfiction work centers on a real person, Michael Laudor. The author closely traces how Laudor, a childhood friend, lived with schizophrenia and, in his 30s, ended up committing murder. Laudor was a celebrated elite: He graduated first in his class from Yale University in three years and joined a top-tier management consulting firm. Behind the résumé, however, was schizophrenia. Once seen as a symbol of hope for overcoming the illness, he shocked the United States in 1998 when he killed his fiancée. Rosen writes his friend’s life in a restrained tone while examining the 1980s U.S. culture of elitism and family environments that prized intellectual achievement — factors he suggests helped worsen Laudor’s symptoms. He also points to the tragedy that can follow when appropriate intervention for mental illness disappears, and to the effects on individuals of a social climate that emphasizes performance while ignoring pressure and stress. "Just as Michael himself had been a symbol of hope, Michael’s film was also seen as a symbol of hope. I had no idea, until the murder happened, what Michael meant to the hundreds of thousands of people who desperately wanted their existence to be recognized and made visible in society. I also didn’t know how much despair his downfall brought to so many individuals. The journal Psychiatric Times titled its article on the case, ‘From a publicity poster to a wanted poster.’" (p. 624) Grand Prince Suyang=Based on an original work by Kim Dong-in, edited by Lee Jeong-seo, Saeum. This edition adapts Kim Dong-in’s “Daesuyang” for modern readers. Without undermining the original form and intent, the editor revises sentences for clarity, adds titles to each chapter and explains difficult Chinese characters. The novel follows events from King Sejong’s reign through King Munjong’s death, when King Danjong took the throne at age 12 and, at 15, handed it to Grand Prince Suyang. It depicts officials who belittled the young king while trying to secure their own power, and a court that effectively neglected state affairs such as border defense and institutional reform. Through this, it questions the familiar image of Suyang as a “cruel uncle who killed his nephew,” offering a more layered view of the era’s power structure and political realities. “‘They say a lion will kill its own cub if it seems the cub can’t live as a lion, but people can’t do that, which is truly pitiful.’ Hearing this lament from his younger brother (Sejong) every time they met, Yangnyeong lowered his head and stayed silent for a long while before finally replying. ‘Your Majesty, it cannot be helped. It seems an era is coming when the qilin sleeps and the lynx (Munjong) dances …’ ‘Then I suppose you, elder brother, must watch over that lynx and guide him so he does not dance too wildly.’" (p. 49) 2026-04-22 15:55:52
  • Museum Director Kim Myung-in Pledges National Script Research Institute
    Museum Director Kim Myung-in Pledges National Script Research Institute Kim Myung-in, director of the National Museum of World Writing Systems, on April 17 announced a new vision for the museum: “World cultures through writing systems, an open museum preparing for the future.” Speaking at a news briefing at the Korea Press Center, Kim said the museum will pursue the creation of a National Script Research Institute as a key driver, aiming to become a “global hub for writing-system culture” where exhibitions and research operate in tandem. He outlined major initiatives for the museum’s future growth. The proposed institute would be a specialized body to study writing systems broadly, from their origins to changes in the digital era. Through networks of researchers in Korea and abroad and an archive of global writing-system materials, the museum plans to move beyond an “exhibitions and education” focus and build a model that integrates professional research. Kim said the institute would also serve as a central platform to protect shared human heritage by systematically documenting and studying scripts at risk of disappearing. “We will work closely with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to push ahead with the institute step by step and establish the museum’s identity,” he said. To expand visitor experiences, the museum will strengthen its domestic and international exhibition lineup. It will open “Geulssi Shop” on May 1, highlighting the meaning and artistry of handwriting. In the second half of the year, it plans a special exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Korean Braille, tentatively titled “Dots That Communicate — Hunmaengjeongeum.” The museum also plans to deepen global ties. In July, it will hold an exchange exhibition, “A King’s Dream, the Speech of All People,” at the Champollion World Writing Museum in France to mark the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, highlighting the history of writing-system exchanges between the two countries. In May 2027, the museum plans a show tentatively titled “ASEAN Fairy Tales,” introducing scripts from Southeast Asian countries alongside traditional stories. In October 2027, it plans a more in-depth special exhibition tentatively titled “Great Exhibition of Chinese Characters.” The show, in cooperation with the Palace Museum in Beijing to mark the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China, will examine the origins and development of Chinese characters, the formation of the broader Chinese-character cultural sphere, and their cultural influence and future significance through the modern era. The exhibitions are being planned as part of a “World Writing History Series,” with future special shows expected to cover additional scripts and civilizations, including the Latin alphabet (English) and kana (Japanese). 2026-04-17 11:42:19
  • Stage Review: Record of Bones Finds Humanity When Perfection Breaks
    Stage Review: 'Record of Bones' Finds Humanity When Perfection Breaks “I will do my utmost to see you on your final journey.” The central figure in the play 'Record of Bones' is a funeral director robot named Robis. His service is flawless. In the way he handles the dead, he shows a calm, craftsmanlike precision. His gestures are delicate, his gaze steady. Robis carries out standardized procedures without a fraction of error — no mistakes, no hesitation, no complaints. Within a fixed system, his work can seem like the ideal. What changes is the body before him: a man in his 80s, a woman in her 20s, a 9-year-old child. Different lives leave different “records” in bone. Robis reads them evenly. A twisted ankle, head trauma — such traces intersect with a family’s memories and become grief. But for Robis, death is an area he cannot interpret — until the death of his only friend, Momi, a cleaner at the funeral home. The production has been described as a story of a robot “more human than humans,” echoing the robots in the Korean original musical 'Maybe Happy Ending,' which found success on Broadway. The play asks why audiences sense humanity in machines like Robis. Momi is human — and incomplete. Unable to speak, he communicates in sign language. He is not orderly. He likes to stare at a wall because its patterns have no obvious logic. What looks like the same wall and the same butterfly to Robis appears as different shapes to Momi. Unlike a machine that can mimic warmth through empathy-coded language, humans are full of contradictions: jealousy, guilt that keeps them awake, and feelings they cannot always explain even to themselves. Each person carries a distinct pattern. That is why the audience feels something human when Robis, who always stood in the same spot in the cold morgue, suddenly runs out the front door. He does more than read the record of bones: he remembers that Momi disliked hot things, and he misses Momi’s smile. In that moment, Robis breaks from strict procedure and the frame built for him. Devotion, the play suggests, comes from sincere communication and time spent together — something Robis demonstrates as he sees his friend off on his final journey. The show runs through May 10 at the Jayu Small Theater in the Opera House at the Seoul Arts Center. 2026-04-17 10:13:10
  • South Korea Launches Copyright Protection Campaign for World Book and Copyright Day
    South Korea Launches Copyright Protection Campaign for World Book and Copyright Day The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Copyright Commission and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency said Thursday they will run a copyright protection campaign from April 17 to 30 ahead of World Book and Copyright Day on April 23. Events will be held online and in person, including talk concerts with writers and experts, advance promotion for a copyright awareness contest, and an on-site program at the National Library of Korea. Two talk concerts are scheduled for April 23. Writer Kim Gyeoul will meet readers at Kyobo Book Centre’s Gwanghwamun store under the theme “The future of books built through copyright protection.” Kim Seong-woo, identified as a doctor, will lecture at the Copyright Museum in Jinju, South Gyeongsang province, on “Artificial intelligence and copyright, literacy.” Ahead of the “copyright awareness contest” set for May, organizers will run an advance promotion event on the contest website from April 23 until entries open. Participants can register their intent to join and post comments about what they expect. This year’s contest will accept poems and essays promoting respect for and protection of copyright. Organizers plan to select 50 winning works and, in November, award prizes including the Prime Minister’s Award, the culture minister’s award, a special award from the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the Korea Copyright Commission chair’s award, along with total prize money worth 12.5 million won. Local communities and companies are also joining the campaign. One hundred bookstores nationwide, working with Kyobo Book Centre and the Korea Booksellers Association, will distribute 100,000 bookmarks from April 23 to 30 carrying the message, “A heart that loves books, a heart that respects copyright.” Kakao Corp. said it will run a World Book Day reading club through Kakao Brunch and spread messages encouraging respect for copyright. The National Library of Korea will hold a copyright quiz and a kiosk roulette event for visitors on April 23. Online, the commission and the protection agency will run four consecutive social media events: “Choose the correct passage” and “Fill in the blank” from April 17 to 23, followed by “Comment on the promotional video” and “Choose a character from a work” from April 23 to 30. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-17 08:48:26
  • Woljeongsa abbot urges new path in AI era through Odaesan Buddhist masters
    Woljeongsa abbot urges new path in AI era through Odaesan Buddhist masters "We're in an era where established religions are bound to weaken, with people leaving religion and spirituality becoming secular and commercialized," Venerable Jeongnyeom said. "But if we reflect carefully on what came before, we can always open a new path." Jeongnyeom, 70, abbot of Woljeongsa Temple on Mount Odaesan in Gangwon Province, made the remarks at a press briefing on April 14 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul for the publication of <Great Monks of Odaesan>. Saying most established religions are losing influence, he urged closer attention to the legacy of eminent monks. He said the public should be able to understand the monks' practice, ideas and the broad Buddhist culture of Odaesan. He described the series as a biographical project planned to prepare for the artificial intelligence era and to produce new cultural content that future generations can use easily. <Great Monks of Odaesan> compiles the lives and teachings of eight eminent monks who passed through Mount Odaesan over about 1,400 years, from the Silla period to modern times. The project totals 10 volumes: eight on individual monks, one general history volume and one reference volume. Three volumes have been released first, with the remaining seven to be published sequentially within the year. The series highlights figures including Jijang Yulsa, Beomil Guksa, Naong Seonsa, Tanheo Seonsa and Manhwa Seonsa, presenting continuity in the Korean Buddhist lineage centered on Odaesan. The project began with Jeongnyeom's idea. He has led efforts to systematically organize the monks' practice, thought and cultural legacy, but much of the work had accumulated mainly in academic papers, limiting access for general readers. Determined to finish his term as abbot well, Jeongnyeom approached publisher Minjoksa. He said he sought an unconventional format written in modern language so readers could engage with it more easily. The books are based on documented research but add about 20% fictional elements. Minjoksa asked writers to produce a format that even middle and high school students could understand, without leaning too heavily toward a novel or a conventional biography. Participating authors revised and supplemented drafts repeatedly before completing the volumes. Throughout the briefing, Jeongnyeom stressed what he called an "AI transformation," voicing concern about "a situation where machines become humanlike and humans become machine-like." He said society is facing a civilizational shift marked by a loss of meaning and confusion over values, and urged Korean Buddhism to renew its sense of purpose and serve as a source of wisdom in a time of transition. He also described the monks featured in the series as people who illuminated Odaesan and did their best to overcome turmoil in Korean society. Citing a sense of crisis over an approaching "AI tsunami," he said Buddhism, too, must move forward with new hope. Asked about reporters' questions related to the Buddhist order's election for its chief administrator, he emphasized leadership, calling for change, hope and unity. "In an uncertain era where change never stops, the most important quality of leadership today is to see the future and set direction," he said. "Many parts of the order's culture fall short in building the public's affection for Buddhism. A forward-looking design is important." 2026-04-16 14:45:18
  • MMCA to Open Hands-On Children’s Exhibition ‘Still, the Days We Tried’
    MMCA to Open Hands-On Children’s Exhibition ‘Still, the Days We Tried’ The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, said Wednesday it will open “Still, the Days We Tried” on April 17 at the MMCA Children’s Space on the second floor of the education wing at its Seoul museum. The MMCA Children’s Space is a family-focused area first introduced at the Seoul museum in 2025 to broaden children’s and family visitors’ museum experiences through participatory exhibitions and education grounded in contemporary art. The exhibition is presented with artist Yang Jung-uk, the 2024 winner of the museum’s flagship award, Artist of the Year. It features three new works and includes ongoing hands-on workshops designed to help visitors engage with the exhibition’s themes. The title reflects the idea that failure and repetition in the act of trying can lead to new attempts. The museum said the program is intended to help children experience experimentation in the creative process and view failure as a new possibility. Yang will show three new works: “Temporary Map” (2026), “A Small Person and an Even Smaller Person” (2026) and “Watching You” (2026). The museum said the works build on the artist’s view that it can be enough even without explicitly showing something, underscoring that the process itself has meaning. Children can look closely at the works to observe movement and structure and explore how they operate and what they mean. Three always-available workshops linked to the works will offer children a chance to make, try and learn through a range of materials and activities. The artist said he hopes children will focus on attitude and process rather than achievement and results. The museum said the programs can help children build self-efficacy and develop a more positive view of failure by experiencing the artist’s working methods and creative process. Related education programs will also run during the exhibition, including the regular “Museum Kids TokTok” for preschool and elementary school groups and the weekend “Museum Family TokTok” for families with children. Details are available on the MMCA website. Separately, the museum said it has traditionally closed only three days a year — Jan. 1 and the day of Lunar New Year and Chuseok — but will begin a pilot program in 2026 to add temporary closures for safety inspections as visitor numbers rise. It will close on the first Tuesday of June, September and December (6.2., 9.1., 12.1.). * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-16 09:12:31
  • Park Jeonghye Named Chair of Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation
    Park Jeonghye Named Chair of Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation The Korea Heritage Service said it will appoint Park Jeonghye, a professor at the Academy of Korean Studies’ Graduate School of Korean Studies, as the fifth chair of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, effective April 16. Her three-year term runs through April 15, 2029. Park has served as president of the Korean Society of Art History, a member of the National Institute of Korean History, dean of the Academy of Korean Studies’ Graduate School of Korean Studies, and chair of the Movable Cultural Heritage Subcommittee of the Cultural Heritage Administration’s Cultural Heritage Committee. The foundation, an affiliate of the Korea Heritage Service, was established in July 2012 to carry out comprehensive and systematic projects related to surveying and researching Korean cultural heritage held overseas, as well as its repatriation and use.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-16 09:04:54
  • New Books: Two Guides to Speaking With Confidence and Listening With Care
    New Books: Two Guides to Speaking With Confidence and Listening With Care The Language of Achievement: Calmly, Confidently=By Kim Seop, Apoint. “If your boss gives an unfair order, what would you do?” If that question freezes you, this book offers a way forward. It also speaks to everyday moments, such as when a partner suddenly texts, "Want to grab dinner?" and you feel tired, pressured and unsure how to respond. Kim asks readers to choose between simply talking and actually having a conversation. He argues that attitude matters more than sounding polished like a TV anchor. Clear diction and delivery are less important, he writes, than being able to state your thoughts plainly even if you stumble. He also points to the value of pausing to breathe when blindsided by a question and of reading the needs behind what someone says. The author’s resume is unusual: He passed a high-pressure interview at South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and a final interview at the BBC, which he says is hard to find even reviews of. He started as a YTN announcer, then worked as an NIS agent, and later as a reporter at MBC and the BBC. He now works as a PI consultant designing external communications for corporate CEOs. The book includes practical advice for job candidates, but it is not framed as a set of tricks for passing interviews or winning arguments. As its subtitle, "The power of my story to win someone’s heart," suggests, it emphasizes conviction, composure and room to think as the basis for trust and better relationships. Kim writes that people struggling with small talk, or treating negotiation as a fight to win, may find reason to reassess. He stresses listening as the starting point: "The power to open a closed heart begins with attentive listening," he writes, urging readers to listen closely, ask good questions and show empathy. The book’s editing is uneven, with typos such as "business sege" and an unnecessary symbol ([) where a period should be. "Technique alone can’t move anyone’s heart. Someone who truly speaks well is someone who can honestly put themselves out there. Don’t strain to speak like an announcer. It’s OK to be a bit rough. Speak in my voice, my intonation, my grain. The listener wants sincerity more than pronunciation." (p. 103) Listening With Love=By Park Su-in, Achimdal Park, a music scholar, ranges across the world of sound — classical music, melodies in subway stations, a father’s song from childhood memories, and the rhythmic cloth-beating her mother recalls — and views it through the lens of love. She writes that listening, or leaning in with the ear, is not meaningfully different from loving its object. Asked, "Why did we stop singing in the face of sorrow?" Park argues that song should continue even then. Through the sound of a grandmother’s cloth-beating remembered by her mother, she urges readers to notice what sounds surround them. She writes that readers may come to hear the world in finer detail while also discovering the self that listens, and to think about how love is cultivated. The essay collection includes sheet music to aid understanding and QR codes that link to excerpts of some of the pieces she mentions. "In the scenery of my childhood, sound was low and soft. The sounds between neighbors naturally seeped into one another, and they were both greetings and proof of existence. Now is a time when many things feel delicate, a time overly rigid, or a time of excessive consideration for one another. In crossing the threshold of that consideration, we easily bring in moral yardsticks. An age of tension has arrived, when even the small sounds that rarely intrude are hard to allow." (p. 60) 2026-04-15 16:48:18