VOL.81/2025.04

 

#History

KPIPA Introduces K-Books for Global Publishing Markets through K-Book Platform

2025.02.17

 

Wind Blowing on Mudeungeewat

1. Publication Details

 

Title | Wind Blowing on Mudeungeewat
Author | Kim younghwa
Publisher | IYAGIKOT PUBLISHING
Publication Date | 2022-08-08
ISBN | 9791192102115
No. of pages | 80
Dimensions | 148 * 209

 

2. Book Intro

 

‘Jeju 4·3’, what should we do to avoid repeating the sad history of innocent people dying? Memories and records…. The stories of ‘A Gift from a Lost Village’ and ‘The Wind Blowing on Mudeungeewat’ are told so that people here and now can remember the people there and then.

 

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Kind Korean History

1. Publication Details

 

Title | Kind Korean History
Subtitle | The History Study From My Point of View
Author | Shim Yonghwan
Publisher | SAKYEJUL PUBLISHING LTD.
Publication Date | 2022-05-27
ISBN | 9791160949377
No. of pages | 272
Dimensions | 152 * 221

 

2. Book Intro

 

Whenever we learn our history or the history of other regions, whenever we read so many characters and cases throughout quite a long period of time, we cannot help being stuck by all these thick books of history. ‘How can I memorize all these things…..?’ Likewise, history became quite an annoying subject for students with less importance than major subjects like Korean, English, and Math. Sometimes, we tend to regret not studying our history when we hear the saying, “There is no future for the people who have forgotten history.” However, what if we can easily understand history without memorizing chronological charts?
History is a quite useful tool to live today. However, we just forget that while focusing on other subjects for exams. The writer, Shim Yong Hwan, who was seen in various media such as broadcasting, publishing business, lectures, and YouTube to resolve current affairs with historical imagination, became a Korean history teacher for teenagers. In his new book titled, ‘Kind History’, he suggests changing the way to study history in an active and experimental way. Not being stuck by cliché and typical characters and cases, he leads us to start history study from data research to interpretation from our point of view and makes us realize a special sense of forgotten history. Of course, we do not have to be sharp and nervous. This is a kind of history class where we can slowly begin our study. Let’s ease ourselves and follow a kind teacher, Shim.

 

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Joseon People Confess Their Lives

1. Publication Details

 

Title | Joseon People Confess Their Lives
Author | Woobong Chung
Publisher | Sechang Publishing Co.
Publication Date | 2021-08-30
ISBN | 9791166840487
No. of pages | 332
Dimensions | 142 * 215

 

2. Book Intro

 

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube… In contemporary times, we chronicle our daily lives through various platforms. But did such a culture of writing suddenly arise in the 21st century? Even in the Joseon Dynasty era, there were diaries where people jotted down their daily events, and autobiographies in which people looked back on their lives. The lives and feelings of the Joseon people contained therein are not very different from the ones we record in our journals today. This book consists of stories of ordinary Joseon people who have not been known before. What would the real Joseon look like in the writings of the Joseon people themselves?
This book consists of four chapters. The first chapter examines the records left by those who survived wars and turmoil such as the Qing invasion, the Musin rebellion, and the French campaign against Joseon. In particular, Byeongja Diary, the first diary written in Hangul, has great historical significance that provides a glimpse into the life of an independent woman who managed to survive while evacuating from place to place at the time of the Qing invasion of Joseon. In the second chapter, through the diaries and letters of those who were exiled, you can witness the harsh lives of the exiled and the injustices they felt. The sad record of a wife of a royal family who was banished with her two young sons because of a conspiracy at the palace was written from the heart of a caring mother and still draws great sympathy from its readers today. The third chapter shows the poor and miserable lives of brothers who were born to a noble family as sons of a concubine, as well as an unfortunate story of a man who got on a boat to take a government official exam only to meet a storm and drift to Japan and China but finally made his way home. In the fourth chapter, you will read the diary of a husband who lost his wife to an illness and wrote in tears every day as he missed his wife. In addition, you can see a love story told by an official who had relationships with several women while supplying pottery to the palace. When you look at the records of lovers’ quarrels from this period, you will sense that the lives of people in the Joseon era and people in modern times are not so different.

 

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I’m Chumseongdae, a calendar made of stone

 

Title | I’m Chumseongdae, a calendar made of stone
Subtitle | The story of the Silla Dynasty told by Cheomseongdae
Author | Han Young-Mi; Yi Yong-Kyu
Publisher | GAEAMNAMU
Publication Date | 2020-04-27
ISBN | 9788968305764
No. of pages | 72
Dimensions | 210 * 260

 

2. Book Intro

 

There are lots of amazing secrets of Cheomseongdae. The observatory is built with 362 bricks, which is the average number of days in a lunar year. It has the same number of layers as the number of months in a lunar calendar. What do these characteristics mean, and why did the people of Silla choose to build this observatory? This book tells stories of why Queen Seondeok decided to construct Cheomseongdae and describes what events happened around the observatory in Gyeongju with delightful illustrations. By providing an engaging account of the history of this period from the time of Silla’s founding, readers can learn more about this period of Korean history easier and get a better appreciation of Korea’s cultural heritage. This entertaining, informative book will broaden your insights and knowledge regarding the history of the Silla period.

 

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Korean Palaces

1. Publication Details

 

Title | Korean Palaces
Subtitle | Always Ben Here
Author | Park soo hyun; Jo eunji
Publisher | BARAMGIL
Publication Date | 2019-03-22
ISBN | 9791196078638
No. of pages | 123
Dimensions | 200 * 200

 

2. Book Intro

 

Palaces are a space which were protected by people over over 500 years in the Joseon era. There are five palaces in Seoul: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, Deoksugung Palace and Gyeongheegung Palace. Korean Palaces is a story with a different perspective, featuring the people and buildings of the Joseon Dynasty rather than focusing on the architectural characteristics of the palaces.
Korean Palaces is an easy travel book introducing the five palaces in Seoul. As the subtitle, “always been here”, says, these palaces have lived in this world for more than 600 years and remember the time they spent with Korean ancestors. Over the course of time, the palaces were burned, disappeared, and were restored, and in that sense, palaces are a history of Joseon. Understanding Joseon through these palaces will help people understand the future of Korea. The stories about buildings in this book feature quotes from the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. In the case of Gyeongbokgung Palace, it was burned down during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592 and was left as a ruin for 273 years until King Gojong rebuilt it. Changedeokgung Palace and Gyeongheegung Palace undertook the role of main palace until it was rebuilt and later, when the Korean Empire was declared, Gyeongungung Palace (Deoksugung Palace) acted as the main palace. Through stories of what happened, who was born, who died and what kind of political order was in place, readers will be able to understand the 519 years of the Joseon Dynasty. The palaces are shown in water paintings rather than photographs, generating the sensation of reading a picture book, and “Giwa” (tile) and “Dancheong” (multi-colored painting on wood) are colored with a modern interpretation rather than their original colors. This book helps the reader to understand the history of Joseon and its palaces, perhaps making them feel a little closer to the old buildings.

 

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A Cultural History of the Streets of Myeongdong

1. Publication Details

 

Title | A Cultural History of the Streets of Myeongdong
Author | Yamamoto Joho
Publisher | The Academy of Korean Studies Press
Publication Date | 2019-02-25
ISBN | 9791158664572
No. of pages | 200
Dimensions | 135 * 210

 

2. Book Intro

 

Myeongdong is the most visited place in Seoul by tourists, and to experience Myeongdong is to experience the vibrant dynamism of Korean culture itself. But Myeongdong is also one of the few spaces in Seoul where Japanese and Chinese are spoken regularly, and for Koreans it is a place to experience what is almost a foreign country. It is, in other words, a global space where Korean culture meets foreign cultures. But Myeongdong is not merely a trendy neighborhood to Koreans. It is where the legendary Myeongdong Cathedral is, where the streets overflow with tourists, a place that is “past its glory days.” This book interrogates from a cultural restoration perspective how Myeongdong should be remembered, and repurposes its sense of being a global cultural space where diversity reigns. The first part focuses on the historical formation of Myeongdong’s sense of place, how it looked when it used to be a neighborhood of cinemas, and the theme of women and labor. In the second part, the multicultural diversity of Myeongdong is highlighted through discussion of the Chinese community and the various religions present there. In the third part, Myeongdong’s symbolism in the eyes of foreigners is examined through Chinese and Japanese guidebooks about Seoul. The storied history of Myeongdong’s streets is surveyed and an image of Myeongdong of a global cultural space comes together.

 

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The Civilization Story of Zigzag Kingdom

1. Publication Details

 

Title | The Civilization Story of Zigzag Kingdom
Author | Seo Hyegyeong; Kim Yonggil
Publisher | Pulbit Media Publishing Co
Publication Date | 2018-11-26
ISBN | 9788967340957
No. of pages | 188
Dimensions | 153 * 224

 

2. Book Intro

 

King Beard will go a trip through human history thanks to a pamphlet that “Lucy” gives him. Departing from Africa, the homeland of mankind, and passing through the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, let’s explore the areas where the ancient Mesopotamian, Indus, Egyptian, and Hwang civilizations blossomed. You’ll also arrive in ancient Greece, the root of Western civilization, and the mysterious ancient Maya.
Since the first appearance of human ancestors in Africa, modern people have evolved and developed civilization. It is an ongoing process. After reading this book, you will see that not all of our technology, things we use, etc., are made in a moment. So let’s experience with King Beard how the ancient civilizations of mankind began and evolved.

 

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Goguryeo, the Beginning of the Korean Wave

1. Publication Details

 

Title | Goguryeo, the Beginning of the Korean Wave
Author | Jeon hotae
Publisher | Sechang Publishing Co.
Publication Date | 2018-09-20
ISBN | 9788984115400
No. of pages | 184
Dimensions | 128 * 174

 

2. Book Intro

 

Thanks to the advanced ICT (Information and Communications Technology), the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Pyeong-Chang Winter Olympics presented a variety of smart-shows including dance of the Goguryeo Dynasty, mural paintings of “Envoy” and the “Bird with Human Head,” and contemporary K-pop performances. Dating back 2000 years or so ago, Dongmaeng of Goguryeo was also a festival filled with a variety of events. Dongmaeng was composed of religious rituals, court trials, and entertainments. On one side, a group of people would be discussing important issues about the country; on the other side, people were bargaining at the market, presenting all sorts of goods and products. Right next to the market, there was a place for recreational activities. Dongmaeng was a place where the people of Goguryeo gathered together to look back on the life of the year and to plan ahead for the next year. Those entertainments, dances, songs, skills, and physical activities of the Goguryeo people were their power source and fountain of life. The dancing and singing during the Dongmaeng festival gave the people a sense of unity, and the entertainment of recreational activities in their daily lives helped them see tomorrow beyond today.
This book examines the characteristics of Goguryeo festivals, specifically, focusing on Dongmaeng, the representative national event. The Goguryeo festival is a mixture of rituals and playful elements. There were musical performances, plays, and physical competitions such as archery and wrestling. The most noticeable aspect of Dongmaeng is that it was a place where people from all different walks of life gathered together and exchanged freely with one another. Many festival scenes remain represented in the mural arts of the Goguryeo dynasty period, which give us a glimpse into the reality of the festival.
Through this book, the reader will be able to learn about Goguryeo’s Dongmaeng and the unique aspects of Goguryeo’s culture through dance, music, and play. By exploring the festival culture of Goguryeo whose legacy is found in contemporary Korean pop culture, the reader will also find certain characteristics of Korean culture regardless of the times.

 

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When Spring Comes to the DMZ

1. Publication Details

 

Title | When Spring Comes to the DMZ
Author | Lee Ukbae
Publisher | SAKYEJUL PUBLISHING LTD.
Publication Date | 2010-06-25
ISBN | 9788958284918
No. of pages | 48
Dimensions | 250 * 245

 

2. Book Intro

 

The demilitarized zone (DMZ) symbolizes the division of the country. It refers to an area between the barbed-wire fences built 2 km away from the 248 km long military demarcation line between the north and south. The line stretches from the mouth of Imjingang river in the west to the sea at Goseong, Gnagwon Province in the east. This space is a forbidden land that nobody is allowed to enter.
Although DMZ means an “unarmed area,” over a million soldiers armed with various weapons stand guard at its borders, staring at each other across the divide. Paradoxically, many plants and animals that have disappeared or on the verge of extinction live in the DMZ and the surrounding areas because the entrance of people is restricted.
When Spring Comes in DMZ talks about nature in the DMZ and people. Otters, elks, wild boars and mountain goats abound in the DMZ and various types of birds nest and breed there. A school of salmons returns here to spawn and migratory birds fly freely overhead. But people can’t live there. As the seasons change, only soldiers march by for training, to fix the rusty barbed-wire fences or just on guard duty. Tourists and displaced people can just go up the observatory to look out over the DMZ with binoculars.
Each season, a grandfather goes to the observatory to look out over the DMZ with his grandson. At the observatory, the grandfather looks vacantly at the northern land or blankly at the empty north sky. Repeating this for several decades, he does not want to go up the observatory any more. If spring comes again, he wants to open wide the tightly closed iron gates of the DMZ and walk in to lie down on the sunny grass and look at the blue sky because that’s the hometown he misses so much. This wish isn’t only his. It’s the wish of all the old men and women who left their hometowns on the other side of those barbed-wire fences and the wish of everybody living in North and South Korea.

 

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Gyeongbokgung Palace, the home of everyone

1. Publication Details

 

Title | Gyeongbokgung Palace, the home of everyone
Subtitle | The Story of the Joseon Dynasty Told by Gyeongbokgung Palace
Author | Jung Hae Won; Jung Kyeong A
Publisher | GAEAMNAMU
Publication Date | 2018-12-17
ISBN | 978896830490388
No. of pages | 88
Dimensions | 210 * 260

 

2. Book Intro

 

In this book, an anthropomorphized Gyeongbokgung Palace helps readers appreciate the story of the Joseon dynasty. The events and stories witnessed, seen, and experienced by the palace in all its many halls, are told to readers, especially how they relate to the kings of the Joseon era. The palace reminisces over how it was burned to the ground during the Imjin Japanese invasion, how Heungseon Daewongun rebuilt the palace, and how it was unable to celebrate Korea’s independence even after it was liberated from the Japanese colonialism. These events are told in vivid terms by the palace. The candid, conversational dialogue will seem friendly and accessible for young readers who might find history a bit intimidating. In fact, the book makes history easier to understand. The book furthermore illustrates the value of Gyeongbokgung Palace and its place in history as a witness to the rise and fall of the Joseon dynasty. It shows us that the palace, a former home to kings and royalty, is now a home to all of us.

 

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