VOL.83/2025.06

 

Window of Times

Pierce like a spear, reflect like a window, or sing like a singer

 

2025.06.02

 

Why do you make books? Every publisher will have a different answer to this question. Yet, every answer has its own value, and our lives are thus enriched. The publisher Window of Times continues to release books about beings and lives that we are familiar with, but know little about. From Marx to Chomsky, from farmers to convenience store part-timers, it delves deeply and uncomplicatedly into the stories of those we mistake for too distant or too familiar - to make books as a spear, window, or a song (창 in the publisher’s Korean name, “시대의창,” can be used in three different ways) to the world.

 

 

It’s a pleasure to have you with us on K-Book Trends. Please introduce to our international readers the publishing house along with the meaning of the company’s name.

 

Founded in September 1999, Window of Times has published more than 400 titles since then. In the early years, the company mainly published books in the field of economics and business. However, in 2002, the company expanded its horizons into the politics and social sciences fields with the publication of Professor Noam Chomsky’s interview collection Chomsky: Who and What Rules the World (original French title: Deux heures de lucidite). As this book remained popular with Korean readers, Window of Times has continued to publish translations of Professor Chomsky’s works. We have also published Stability with Growth with a foreword by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Peter Singer’s How Are We To Live?, Richard Francis Burton’s edition of The Thousand and One Nights, E. K. Hunt’s History of Economic Thought, and a series of biographies of modern and contemporary Korean figures and cartoon biographies of presidents Park Chung-hee, Chun Doo-hwan, and Kim Dae-jung.
We are also striving to cultivate young writers. The politics and social sciences fields are not very popular genres in Korea, so it is not easy to find young writers. However, there are writers who are quietly walking their paths in the world without being seen. Window of Times endeavors to publish books that reveal the true face of the world and make readers think about the meaning of life, through their writings.
Meanwhile, we have a how-to book brand, WINTIMES. It publishes books across fields such as language, food, hobbies, and pets. Some of our best-selling titles include Seasonal Food Preservation: A Twelve-Month Guide, It’s an Artisan Burger, Tell Me What You’re Thinking in English Right Now, and Tell Me What You’re Doing in English Right Now.
As a “spear that pierces the world, a window that reflects the world, and a song that sings the world,” Window of Times will publish good books for the betterment of the world with persistence and passion, not only in our traditional fields of focus, but also across the humanities disciplines, including literature, history, and philosophy.

 

 

Since being founded in 1999, the company has established itself in the fields of humanities, politics, and social sciences. Could you tell us what the secret is?

 

We believe that publishing begins with an interest in our society. As we are interested, we are inevitably drawn to the underlying elements of society: people, relationships, culture, politics, history, and philosophy. As we continue to pay attention to these elements, we naturally got opportunities to connect with people (authors) who are related to each of them. These opportunities led to connections, which again, led to opportunities. These seemingly separate but closely intertwined elements led to opportunities and connections that spanned the fields of humanities, politics, and society, which in turn led to the publication of books. Good authors we met along the way created good books, and those good books attracted other good authors. At the root of it all, we believe that there is trust in books and authors.
Over time, it was the trust among authors, booksellers, and readers that “Window of Times publishes good books” that gave us the power to keep going. Above all, the interest and affection of readers also supported us in continuing to publish books. To sum up, we think that the interest as a publisher, the virtuous cycle, and the trust between publishing entities are the direction that Window of Times has been pursuing and the strength that has made Window of Times what it is today.

 

 

We strive to introduce readers to lesser-known or unrecognized greats from the near past.

 

 

Window of Times has consistently published critical biographies of modern and contemporary Korean figures. Why do you continue to write critical biographies of people when it takes so much time and effort?

 

To be honest, we haven’t published many critical biographies lately. However, Window of Times hasn’t lost interest in the historical figures that have made Korea what it is today. There are many so-called “greats” in history, from the very old to the very recent. Rather than the often mentioned or well-known figures, Window of Times tries to introduce readers to lesser known or unrecognized figures from the near past. Although there is no set standard, if each publisher had a role, we believe that it is the job of the Window of Times to discover and publicize such figures.
We are particularly interested in historical figures because they are the roots of what Korean society is today. We believe that they are the ones who point us in the direction we need to go in this complex modern society with its many problems. We hope that by following in the footsteps of those who lived before us, many readers will be able to find their own coordinates, just as a faint but shining star points the way for us.

 

Could you tell us about some of those critical biographies that are particularly meaningful to Window of Times?

 

First of all, we would like to introduce Kim Won-Bong: A Critical Biography. This is a book written by Kim Sam-Woong, a former journalist who also served as the president of the Independence Hall of Korea. There have been many independence fighters throughout the history of Korea’s independence. However, only a few are known through history books or media. Kim Won-Bong is one of them. When the first edition of the book was published in 2008, Kim was a complete stranger to the general public. The book was released to a lukewarm reception from readers and the media. Fast forward a few years to 2015, the movie “Assassination” was released, and it was watched by 10 million viewers. One of the characters in the movie was Kim Won-Bong. Perhaps thanks to the excellent performance of the actor who played the role, he was soon recognized by the general public as a compelling character. Because of this, Kim Won-Bong: A Critical Biography was able to emerge from its longtime status as an “unknown book” and make it onto the shelves of major bookstores. Though it wasn’t a so-called “smash hit,” it certainly made a brief “comeback” with readers’ love. For Window of Times, we were very grateful to see a book that had been a sore thumb have a moment in the sun.
The second book we would like to introduce is Ahn Jung-Geun: A Critical Biography. This book was also written by Kim Sam-Woong. Ahn Jung-Geun is a Korean independence activist that most Koreans are familiar with. However, Korea’s critical biography market is not very appealing to adult readers - even Ahn Jung-Geun could not evade the market’s unfavorable conditions. In the early days of its publication, it received a “flash” selection of readers, but it was left stuck in the back of the warehouse for a long time. Then, a major cultural foundation of a large enterprise started using the book almost every year since 2018 for independence-related foundation events. Thanks to this, Ahn Jung-Geun: A Critical Biography has become a book that is constantly produced in small quantities every year.

 

 

Although we have introduced two books, most of the critical biographies we publish are “sore thumbs.” Publishing a biography in Korea is a difficult business. The market size is far too small for the effort and expense of producing one book. However, there are times when unexpected interest and socio-cultural issues keep these books from going out of print.

 

The Marx series, which starts with the title Even Monkeys Can Understand, is also an iconic title of Window of Times. Could you tell us a little about how it came about, especially the process of coming up with the title?

 

The Even Monkey Can Understand series is the “Marx Series” by author Im Seung-Su. Starting with Capital: Even Monkeys Can Understand in 2008, there are three volumes in the series as of today: Marxist Philosophy: Even Monkeys Can Understand, published in 2010, and The Communist Manifesto: Even Monkeys Can Understand, published in 2018.
Until the 1990s, there used to be a must-read Marxist philosophy book among Korean university students titled Philosophical Essay. At that time, there was a significant number of leftist student movements in Korea, the so-called “activists.” For them, the book was a compulsory read. Since Marxist philosophy was excluded from Korean public education, students were introduced to Marxist philosophy by reading that book upon entering university.
However, following democratization, a new wave of neoliberalism flew into Korea as the country underwent the Asian Financial Crisis. The world has changed rapidly to match the speed of capital. In order to survive in the midst of this, it was necessary to have a clear understanding of “capitalism.” A book about the capitalist theory, which analyzes capitalism from its roots, was the right book for this. However, because it was too difficult to introduce it straight to the general public, we needed a process to help them “digest” it. This is something that Im Seung-Su excelled at. From esoteric content to complex formulas, Im’s lecture-style writing style made the book easy to understand for anyone who reads it.

 

 

The most challenging thing when deciding the title was the “even monkeys can understand” part, which appears in the title of the series. We all debated whether it was appropriate to include monkeys in the title in this context, because we were worried that it would somehow imply some sort of “animal derogation.” We discussed it several times, but we decided to keep it as it was, in the hope that readers would understand. Upon publication, the series went on to become a bestseller.

 

There are a lot of books about real-life scenes, like convenience stores, construction sites, animal farms, and hospitals. Could you tell us a little about how you find writers who capture the lives of familiar yet unfamiliar people?

 

Discovering authors is one of the most challenging tasks for publishers. So-called big-name authors are often booked up, or don’t fit other conditions, such as cost or the topic of the book. As for unknown writers, we don’t know where they are out there. That’s why we scour newspapers and broadcasts, as well as YouTube, Social Media, magazines, and blogs whenever we have time. We also search for keywords and look at articles on the internet with fewer visits or subscribers. Sometimes, we get lucky and find a good writer.
The best examples are Song Ju-Hong, who wrote the book, Nogada Cantabile, which is about “nogada” (a slang term referring to working at construction sites), and Jin Nam-Hyun, who randomly chose to become a farmer and wrote I Chose the Valley Over the Village. While quietly leading their lives, they left traces of their writings here and there; we followed those traces to meet them, and after long talks, long writing, and long revisions, we were able to produce books that brought their unfamiliar lives to readers in a compassionate light.

 

 

Manuscript submissions are another important route to discovering writers. We receive dozens of manuscripts from prospective writers in our inbox every day, and sometimes we find a valuable life story, or an important story about society. And, good writers lead to good writers. There are times when we are introduced to an unknown writer by a writer or someone we know. In fact, discovering writers often seems to be a kind of “luck.” They don’t come to you just because you reach out to them, but if you look back at the path you have taken and stay on it, you can seemingly run into a “writer” anywhere along the way.

 

Window of Times tells the story of our society through the lives of a wide range of people in a variety of fields. What does all this work mean to the company and readers?

 

Actually, Window of Times’ main publishing area is “politics and social sciences,” which are not very popular in Korea. You can see how books in this area are treated just by looking at the location of the shelves in large bookstores. For this reason, Window of Times’ readers are very precious to us. We believe that the readers who reach out to the politics and social sciences fields among the countless reading population are those who are concerned about today’s society and hope for tomorrow. We are convinced that these readers know the meaning of living together and courtesy towards human beings. They are the source of the strength that has enabled Window of Times to publish books until now. If you think of the publishing process of Window of Times as a process of water from the valley flowing out to the vast ocean, then we believe that our readers are the ones who accompany us on the journey to the ocean.

 

 

Readers who are concerned about our society today and hope for tomorrow are the source of
the power that enables Window of Times to continue publishing.

 

 

We know that translations of Noam Chomsky’s works have also played a significant role in getting Window of Times’ name out there. Could you tell us about your criteria for selecting foreign books and authors?

 

We approach foreign books a little differently than we do with Korean books. For them, we select books that have already been published or are about to be published, so we already know a lot of information about the book’s content, author, and sales in the country. Based on this information, Window of Times searches for news in the fields of humanities, history, politics, and social sciences, which are our main interests. We are primarily focused on long-term and persistent issues, rather than current events or short-term issues. For authors, we prefer those with expertise in their field. However, we avoid big-name authors because they are often expensive to work with.
Books by authors previously published by Window of Times are especially carefully reviewed; in the case of Noam Chomsky, we keep an eye out for new books whenever they come out, as he has been a major influence on Window of Times’ direction and identity as a publisher. Even as I am writing this interview, I am editing a book by Chomsky.

 

Please tell us about your efforts to reach more readers. A story about a memorable reader is also good.

 

As everyone says, communicating with readers is important. In the past, we used to interact with readers through major publishing events, such as book fairs, book concerts, and lectures. While this still works, we have recently been focusing more on communication through other means, such as Social Media.
There is one reader who particularly stands out in my mind - a fan of an author who consistently came to each of our book concerts. Not only had the fan read all of the author’s books, but also participated in the author’s lecture activities almost as a staff member. This made us think, “Wow, the genre of humanities can have such an enthusiastic fan,” just like they do in K-pop. There’s also a person who is very meticulous about correcting errors in books. We had a lot of fun communicating with that person via email about Korean grammar.

 

Could you recommend any books that you think would help international readers understand Korean society?

 

Three books by Han Seung-Tae are perfect for understanding Korean society. After making his debut with The Human Condition in 2013 (revised and published as Queening in 2024), Han followed it up with Born as Meat in 2018 and The Extinction of Some Verbs in 2024.

 

 

All three books bear the distinctive characteristics of author Han Seung-Tae. Han has established himself as a reportage writer who writes about his experiences working on the margins of society. Uniquely, he doesn’t work to write books, but rather writes about what he did for a living. While there may be a certain amount of “subconscious planning,” it’s more often the case that he writes about what he did for a living, rather than tailoring his work to a specific topic. This characteristic enables him to reveal the underbelly of Korean society. That’s why readers are able to relate strongly and be deeply moved. He is also very good at using black humor, so even though the content might be serious and sad, there are scenes throughout the book that make you laugh out loud.
Queening is based on the author’s notes while working on a crab boat, a pig farm, a greenhouse, a convenience store, a gas station, and an auto parts factory in his 20s. It’s a stark account of the realities of each occupational setting. Born as Meat is sometimes mistaken for a “vegetarian” book, but it’s really a story about the realities of farming animals for food, and the boundaries between humans and animals. It raises questions about what separates animals that sweat from those that are considered delicious, and what it truly means to be human.
The Extinction of Some Verbs is his latest book about four jobs that many reports have predicted will soon disappear with the development of artificial intelligence. By replacing the four jobs of call center receptionist, warehouse loader and unloader, buffet kitchen staff, and building cleaner with the verbs to call, carry, cook, and clean, respectively, the book captures the present-day landscape of these disappearing jobs. It makes you think about what it means for something to disappear.

 

We look forward to seeing Window of Times continue to tell the story of the lives of people we think we know well, but no one has actually known. Could you tell us about any plans for new books or future goals?

 

We are finalizing the book about Chomsky, which was mentioned in the previous question. We are about to publish Chomsky & Mujica, a conversation between Professor Chomsky, one of the world’s most important intellectuals, and former president José Mujica of Uruguay, who has been called the world’s poorest president. We are also preparing The Survival Story of a Medical Student, an account of a medical student’s fieldwork in a hospital; The Carpenter’s Story, in which a working carpenter talks about the work and life of a carpenter, through his tools; The Story of the Red Cross, told by an employee of the Korean Red Cross; and Jeong Dong-Bun, Born in 1961, by Song Ju-Hong, who builds houses by day and writes by night.
Window of Times will continue to publish books that capture different landscapes of life, as well as books that are essential to our society. We will also endeavor to create books that will always be by readers’ sides.

 

 

---