Seoul Selection: 53 books

Korean painting reveals a connectivity with nature that parallels the Korean traditional world view. Living in a dramatic landscape of rugged peaks, deep valleys and broad rivers, Koreans have long held nature in deep reverence. This respect, this yearning for nature is immediately apparent in Korean...

Four kilometers wide and stretching 250 km from the East Sea to the West Sea, the Korean Demilitarized Zone divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, with the Republic of Korea to the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north. Born of the fratricidal Korean War, it is perhaps...

Nowadays, with healthy living and the 'slow food' movement receiving spotlight worldwide, Korean cuisine is drawing much interest as a healthy cuisine with nutritional harmony and balance. In fact, Koreans have traditionally viewed food as 'medicine,' a means to keep oneself healthy and strong. (..)Korea's...

Koreans have been producing—and drinking—alcohol for centuries. Along with song and dance, alcohol has always been an essential part of the Korean joie de vivre. Koreans drink a lot, but they don’t drink just to get drunk. Of course, Koreans enjoy alcohol as a means to make merry and build cohesion...

Southeast Asian architecture tends to be generalized under one umbrella due to the countries’ common geographical, climatic, and historical context. However, Southeast Asian countries are dissimilar due to their ethnic and religious differences, which led to each country’s own subtle characteristics...

A jongga is a family that can trace its line of progenitors back to a single distinguished ancestor. The eldest living son of this main lineage is the jongson, and his wife is the jongbu. This couple is charged with performing numerous ancestral rites and entertaining the numerous guests that visit...

A temple stay is a short sojourn at a temple where one goes to follow monastic rules of life. For this reason, many seek out temples for the explicit purpose of having a rest. It is for this reason that a temple stay can be compared to a nap: a short break from one’s daily routine provides the...

Dance has been a medium for understanding the philosophy of and emotions behind a culture. This is especially true for a country with a vast and complex history like Korea. Korean dance is a tradition that includes  every form of contemporary dance in the country, from shamanistic to folk, court...

LEE Man-hee has been called a "martyr of film," "a director who advanced Korean realist film," "a Korean film auteur armed with a fierce artistic spirit," and a "cinematic genius and experimenter." Based on his films and on the accounts of people who knew him,...

Taekwondo, which literally means “the way of the hand and foot,” is an indigenous Korean tradition and the world’s most popular martial art. This book is an excellent guide for people new to the sport as well as those familiar with the beauty, efficiency and sophistication of taekwondo. The...

Created by the Korean Film Council, this series offers deep insight into key directors in Korean film, figures who are not only broadening the range of art and creativity found in Korean-produced commercial films but also gaining increasingly strong footholds in international markets.

This unique collection of unembellished poems, the fourth book by veteran author, journalist, columnist and radio presenter Kim Heung-sook, invites the reader into a realm of nature and self-reflection. Inspired by a forest in which the author regularly spent time away from the cacophony of the rest...

“Once Around the Sun introduces the Lee family: Dong-ju, the 12 year old son―boisterous, exuberant and curious; Ji-young, the 16-year-old daughter, ripped from childhood and thrown into an adult world too soon; Yun-hwa, defined as a wife and a mother, but searching to be just herself; and Kyu-ah,...

 Parents are raising their children in a world that is both more complicated and more flooded with information. The cross-generational passing down of parental wisdom from one s own family and neighbors is no longer common practice. Instead, parents receive overwhelming, often competing, advice from...