Culture Ministry to spotlight Korean literature at Korea House

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold a series of events promoting Korean books and publishing at the cultural center Korea House in Paris during the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Poster for ″K-book Authors Event at Korea House″ [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold a series of events promoting Korean books and publishing at the cultural center Korea House in Paris during the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Korea House is a makeshift culture center co-organized by the Culture Ministry and the Korea Sport and Olympic Committee to promote Korean culture to athletes and visitors at the Maison de la Chimie at the 7th arrondissement in Paris. The center began operating on July 25 and will close on Sunday.

The Korea House has been set up for every Olympic Game since the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in a bid to support Korean athletes and facilitate sports diplomacy.

Jointly hosted by the Culture Ministry and Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, the "K-book Authors Event at Korea House" will kick off with children's book writer Lee Gi-hun's "live painting" performance on Tuesday.

Lee will paint the next installment of his "Masquerade" series in real time in front of an audience from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. He is best known for known for his picture books “09:47” (2021), “Big Fish” (2014) and “The Tin Bear” (2012). The event will be held once more on Wednesday.

Korean writers Yun Koeun and Baik Sou Linne and French writer Bernard Minier will hold a talk session about “The Mystery of Human Being” on Tuesday. The three writers will discuss humanity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), engaging in conversation about the "mysteries" of human beings that AI couldn’t solve.

Yun Koeun is known for her work “The Disaster Tourist: A Novel” (2013), which won the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger award at the 2021 British Crime Writer’s Association Daggers.

Baik is has previously written the short story collections “Falling in Paul” (2014), “Wretched Light” (2016), "Please Don’t Let This Night Disappear" (2019) and more. Minier's works include the novels “Lucia” (2022), “The Hunt” (2021), “The Circle” (2012) and more.

Photojournalist Kang Hyung-won will deliver a lecture on Korean historical artifacts and culture on Wednesday. Kang has published the book “Visual History of Korea” in January 2022, which is a collection of his works as a photographer for LA Times, The Associated Press, Reuters and more.

“I am very pleased that, on the occasion of the Paris Olympics, various Korean authors and books can be introduced to local readers throughout Paris,” said Media Policy Bureau Director of the Culture Ministry Kim Yong-sup. “The ministry will continue to promote the excellence, artistry and popularity of K-books, expanding the trend of the Korean Wave to publishing worldwide.”

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]