The Birth of Korean Cool

The Birth of Korean Cool PDF Author: Euny Hong
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 147113105X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
How did a really unhip country suddenly become cool? How could a nation that once banned miniskirts, long hair on men and rock 'n' roll come to mass produce pop music and a K-pop star that would break the world record for the most YouTube hits? Who would have predicted that a South Korean company that used to sell fish and fruit (Samsung) would one day give Apple a run for its money? And just how does South Korea plan to use pop culture to beat America at its own game. Welcome to South Korea: The Brand. In The Birth of Korean Cooljournalist Euny Hong uncovers the roots of the 'Korean Wave': a fanaticism for South Korean pop culture that has enabled them to make the rest of the world a captive market for their products by first becoming the world's number one pop culture manufacturer. South Korea's economic development has been nothing short of staggering - leapfrogging from third-world to first-world in just a few years and continuing to grow at a rapid and unprecedented rate - and for the first time The Birth of Korean Coolwill give readers exclusive insight into the inner workings of this extraordinary country; it's past, present and future.

The Birth of Korean Cool

The Birth of Korean Cool PDF Author: Euny Hong
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 147113105X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book Here

Book Description
How did a really unhip country suddenly become cool? How could a nation that once banned miniskirts, long hair on men and rock 'n' roll come to mass produce pop music and a K-pop star that would break the world record for the most YouTube hits? Who would have predicted that a South Korean company that used to sell fish and fruit (Samsung) would one day give Apple a run for its money? And just how does South Korea plan to use pop culture to beat America at its own game. Welcome to South Korea: The Brand. In The Birth of Korean Cooljournalist Euny Hong uncovers the roots of the 'Korean Wave': a fanaticism for South Korean pop culture that has enabled them to make the rest of the world a captive market for their products by first becoming the world's number one pop culture manufacturer. South Korea's economic development has been nothing short of staggering - leapfrogging from third-world to first-world in just a few years and continuing to grow at a rapid and unprecedented rate - and for the first time The Birth of Korean Coolwill give readers exclusive insight into the inner workings of this extraordinary country; it's past, present and future.

The Birth of Korean Cool

The Birth of Korean Cool PDF Author: Euny Hong
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 1250045126
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
A FRESH, FUNNY, UP-CLOSE LOOK AT HOW SOUTH KOREA REMADE ITSELF AS THE WORLD'S POP CULTURE POWERHOUSE OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY By now, everyone in the world knows the song "Gangnam Style" and Psy, an instantly recognizable star. But the song's international popularity is no passing fad. "Gangnam Style" is only one tool in South Korea's extraordinarily elaborate and effective strategy to become a major world superpower by first becoming the world's number one pop culture exporter. As a child, Euny Hong moved from America to the Gangnam neighbourhood in Seoul. She was a witness to the most accelerated part of South Korea's economic development, during which time it leapfrogged from third-world military dictatorship to first-world liberal democracy on the cutting edge of global technology. Euny Hong recounts how South Korea vaulted itself into the twenty-first century, becoming a global leader in business, technology, education, and pop culture. Featuring lively, in-depth reporting and numerous interviews with Koreans working in all areas of government and society, The Birth of Korean Cool reveals how a really uncool country became cool, and how a nation that once banned miniskirts, long hair on men, and rock ‘n' roll could come to mass produce boy bands, soap operas, and the world's most important smart phone.

The Power of Nunchi

The Power of Nunchi PDF Author: Euny Hong
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143134469
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
"A must-read for anyone interested in the art of intuitively knowing what others feel." --Haemin Sunim, bestselling author of The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down and Love for Imperfect Things Improve your nunchi. Improve your life. The Korean sixth sense for winning friends and influencing people, nunchi (pronounced noon-chee) can help you connect with others so you can succeed in everything from business to love. The Power of Nunchi will show you how. Have you ever wondered why your less-skilled coworker gets promoted before you, or why that one woman from your yoga class is always surrounded by adoring friends? They probably have great nunchi. The art of reading a room and understanding what others are thinking and feeling, nunchi is a form of emotional intelligence that anyone can learn--all you need are your eyes and ears. Sherlock Holmes has great nunchi. Cats have great nunchi. Steve Jobs had great nunchi. With its focus on observing others rather than asserting yourself--it's not all about you!--nunchi is a refreshing antidote to our culture of self-promotion, and a welcome reminder to look up from your cell phone. Nunchi has been used by Koreans for more than 5,000 years. It's what catapulted their nation from one of the world's poorest to one of the richest and most technologically advanced in half a century. And it's why K-pop--an unlikely global phenomenon, performed as it is in a language spoken only in Korea--is even a thing. Not some quaint Korean custom like taking off your shoes before entering a house, nunchi is the currency of life. The Power of Nunchi will show you how the trust and connection it helps you to build can open doors for you that you never knew existed. A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE

Kept

Kept PDF Author: Y. Euny Hong
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743286847
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
Snob chic meets social satire in this wickedly funny debut novel about a fallen member of the Korean royal family who becomes a courtesan once her family stops footing her bills.

K-pop - The International Rise of the Korean Music Industry

K-pop - The International Rise of the Korean Music Industry PDF Author: JungBong Choi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317681797
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
K-pop, described by Time Magazine in 2012 as "South Korea’s greatest export", has rapidly achieved a large worldwide audience of devoted fans largely through distribution over the Internet. This book examines the phenomenon, and discusses the reasons for its success. It considers the national and transnational conditions that have played a role in K-pop’s ascendancy, and explores how they relate to post-colonial modernisation, post-Cold War politics in East Asia, connections with the Korean diaspora, and the state-initiated campaign to accumulate soft power. As it is particularly concerned with fandom and cultural agency, it analyses fan practices, discourses, and underlying psychologies within their local habitus as well as in expanding topographies of online networks. Overall, the book addresses the question of how far "Asian culture" can be global in a truly meaningful way, and how popular culture from a "marginal" nation has become a global phenomenon.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel PDF Author: Cho Nam-Joo
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1631496719
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
A New York Times Editors Choice Selection A global sensation, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 “has become...a touchstone for a conversation around feminism and gender” (Sarah Shin, Guardian). One of the most notable novels of the year, hailed by both critics and K-pop stars alike, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman’s psychic deterioration in the face of rampant misogyny. In a tidy apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, millennial “everywoman” Kim Jiyoung spends her days caring for her infant daughter. But strange symptoms appear: Jiyoung begins to impersonate the voices of other women, dead and alive. As she plunges deeper into this psychosis, her concerned husband sends her to a psychiatrist. Jiyoung narrates her story to this doctor—from her birth to parents who expected a son to elementary school teachers who policed girls’ outfits to male coworkers who installed hidden cameras in women’s restrooms. But can her psychiatrist cure her, or even discover what truly ails her? “A social treatise as well as a work of art” (Alexandra Alter, New York Times), Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 heralds the arrival of international powerhouse Cho Nam-Joo.

Separated @ Birth

Separated @ Birth PDF Author: Anais Bordier
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0425276155
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
THE STORY BEHIND THE FILM TWINSTERS One of the Top Ten Facebook Stories of the decade When twenty-five-year-old South Korean adoptee and actress Samantha Futerman opened a Facebook message from a stranger named Anaïs Bordier, she had no idea that it would change her life forever… Adopted from South Korea as an infant, Sam grew up in New Jersey with her parents and two brothers. She never imagined she had a sister; nor did Anaïs—who grew up in France and was also adopted from South Korea—until she saw an actress with a face identical to her own in a YouTube video and decided to contact her doppelgänger via social media. A few dubious exchanges turned from mistrust and cynicism to utter shock, as the women discovered more in common than just their looks—and their birth date. Samantha and Anaïs’s ensuing adventure is a dive into the fascinating research on identical twins, particularly those who have been separated since birth; a reexamination of nature vs. nurture; a guide through the often befuddling territory of foreign adoption; and an emotional soul-search for two inextricably connected set of parents and children. Their discovery can only be described as the unimaginable journey of a lifetime—one that spans languages, continents, cultures, and ultimately proves that none of these barriers can disrupt the unbreakable bond between sisters.

Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Updated Edition)

Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Updated Edition) PDF Author: Bruce Cumings
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393327027
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 547

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Book Description
"When Korea's Place in the Sun first appeared, Bruce Cumings argued that Korea had endured a "fractured, shattered twentieth century." The new century has seen South Korea flourish after a restructuring of its political economy, and North Korea suffer through a famine that has cost the lives of millions of people. The United States continues to play an important role on the Korean peninsula, from the Clinton administration overseeing the first real hints of reunification to the Bush administration confronting a renewal of nuclear threats. On both sides Korea seems poised to continue its fractured existence on into the new century, with potential ramifications for the rest of the world." "For those who need a grounding in the tempestuous history surrounding Korea, or a context in which to understand its role in current global politics, this updated edition of Korea's Place in the Sun is a must read."--BOOK JACKET.

Without You, There Is No Us

Without You, There Is No Us PDF Author: Suki Kim
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307720667
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A haunting account of teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class during the last six months of Kim Jong-il's reign Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il and North Korea: Without you, there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us. It is a chilling scene, but gradually Suki Kim, too, learns the tune and, without noticing, begins to hum it. It is 2011, and all universities in North Korea have been shut down for an entire year, the students sent to construction fields—except for the 270 students at the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), a walled compound where portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il look on impassively from the walls of every room, and where Suki has gone undercover as a missionary and a teacher. Over the next six months, she will eat three meals a day with her young charges and struggle to teach them English, all under the watchful eye of the regime. Life at PUST is lonely and claustrophobic, especially for Suki, whose letters are read by censors and who must hide her notes and photographs not only from her minders but from her colleagues—evangelical Christian missionaries who don't know or choose to ignore that Suki doesn't share their faith. As the weeks pass, she is mystified by how easily her students lie, unnerved by their obedience to the regime. At the same time, they offer Suki tantalizing glimpses of their private selves—their boyish enthusiasm, their eagerness to please, the flashes of curiosity that have not yet been extinguished. She in turn begins to hint at the existence of a world beyond their own—at such exotic activities as surfing the Internet or traveling freely and, more dangerously, at electoral democracy and other ideas forbidden in a country where defectors risk torture and execution. But when Kim Jong-il dies, and the boys she has come to love appear devastated, she wonders whether the gulf between her world and theirs can ever be bridged. Without You, There Is No Us offers a moving and incalculably rare glimpse of life in the world's most unknowable country, and at the privileged young men she calls "soldiers and slaves."

Pot Shards

Pot Shards PDF Author: Donald P. Gregg
Publisher: New Acdemia+ORM
ISBN: 0990447189
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
“Donald Gregg’s career . . . would make a great spy novel. This autobiography makes an even better book.” —Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter and bestselling author of Enemies Pot Shards is a memoir, based on the author’s unforgettable experiences. He served as a CIA agent on the island of Saipan, during ten years in Japan, and a tour in Burma. He then spent four years tied up in the Vietnam War, two tours in Korea, the second time as ambassador, and spent ten years in the White House, where he worked for Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. “Don Gregg is that authentic and admirable thing: a great American. He spent most of his life serving his country: in the CIA, at the White House and as a US ambassador. He has stories to tell, many of them gripping, and they are beautifully and movingly recollected here in this memoir of a splendid life.” —Christopher Buckley “A personal witness to decades of largely hidden intelligence and diplomatic history, Donald Gregg recounts his unlikely and amazing career as a CIA officer, national security advisor, and US diplomat. His adventures and insider knowledge of US relations with East Asian nations over many decades make for a lively narrative, entertaining for the general reader and useful for serious scholars alike. Through it all, Ambassador Gregg expresses a natural warmth and concern for humanity that makes his story a truly personal journey.” —Nicholas Dujmovic, PhD, CIA Staff Historian, Center for the Study of Intelligence