Sure, the weather today might be dreary, but take heart—the February issue of SEOUL is out in a bookstore near you! In this issue of SEOUL, we explore Yeouido’s 63 Building and new IFC, visit Jeju-do for the Daeboreum Fire Festival, talk with Korean model Sung Hee Kim, do some Valentine’s Day shopping, and much, much more. And don’t forget our Goings-On Around Town section, your guide to the month’s festivals, performances, and events.
Around the Web
A miscellany of high-quality hyperlinks from the week, courtesy of SEOUL editor-in-chief Robert Koehler.
Apple premium reseller Concierge is holding a special seven-day event (Jan 25–Jan 31) at all its shops where you can get great deals on Apple products. Carryover Macs, iPads, and iPods will be offered for 15% off, and display Macs, iPads, and iPods for 30% off.
Hélène Grimaud Piano Recital
French pianist Hélène Grimaud is back and presenting a solo recital program from her album Resonances, released in 2010. The album reflects Grimaud’s imaginative approach to this stimulating compilation of masterpieces. Grimaud will bring all her artistic maturity and a perfect balance between intellect and emotion to bear on highly dramatic sonatas by Mozart, Liszt, and Berg as well as Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances.
Since launching her professional career with Daniel Barenboim and the Orchestre de Paris in 1987, she has performed with three generations of conductors, including Kurt Masur, Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Pierre Boulez, Ricardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Jurowski, Fabio Luisi and Andris Nelsons. Also an exclusive Deutche Grammophon artist since 2002, Hélène is one of DG’s most important recording artists, with a string of imaginative and highly successful discs.
PROGRAM
W. A. Mozart l Piano Sonata No.8 in a minor, K.310
GETTING THERE: Nambu Bus Terminal Station 남부터미널역 (Line 3), Exit 5. Transfer to shuttle bus, or green bus No. 4429.
Beach House—Live in Seoul
American dream pop duo Beach House comes to Korea. Said TIME about them, “Vocals that soar with joy while breaking your heart.”
VENUE: Interpark Art Center
DATE: Jan 23, 8pm
ADMISSION: 77,000 won (66,000 won in advance)
Tickets: http://ticket.interpark.com/global
MORE INFO: T. 02-3445-9650
GETTING THERE: Hapjeong Station 합정역 (Lines 2, 6), Exits 9 or 10. The hall is located in Mecenatpolis.
Taebaeksan Mt. Snow Festival
Locals celebrate Mt. Taebaeksan’s snowy majesty every winter with a festival featuring an international snow sculpture exhibit, winter games like sledding and sleigh rides, and plenty of beautiful winter scenery. KORAIL runs extra “Snow Flower” trains at this time, too.
MORE INFO: T. 033-550-2085, http://festival.taebaek.go.kr
GETTING THERE: Take the bus from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal to Taebaek. The trip takes three and a half hours.
Special Olympics World Winter Games
The Special Olympics World Winter Games 2013 will take place Jan 29 through Feb 6 in Pyeongchang, the hub of Korea’s winter sports and the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
About 3,300 athletes and officials from some 120 countries will compete in seven events such as alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snowboarding, snow shoeing, speed skating, figure skating, and floor hockey.
Targeting both children and adults with mental disabilities, the global sporting event has been held every two years since 1968 and alternates between summer and winter editions. The winter version was introduced in 1977.
The Games aims to bring a number of important issues to the forefront of international discussion and provides invaluable support for intellectually disabled individuals throughout the world, making a positive impact in countless lives.
GETTING THERE: Dong Seoul Terminal → Bus to Hyeonggye: 23 times a day, 06:32am–08:05pm, 2h 30m
RAS-KB Tour: Seoraksan National Park & Waterpia
The RAS will once again offer its very popular excursion to the magnificent Mt. Seoraksan in Gangwon-do. In addition to the usual magnificent beauty of this scenic area, participants will have the option of enjoying the Cheoksan hot springs on the first night and extending the pleasure on the second day at the Seorak Waterpia, a large-scale hot-spring resort. For those who would rather enjoy hiking in the mountains, two options are proposed.
DATE: Feb 10—11
COST: 248,000 won for members and 278,000 won for non-members
Sunrise from Mt. Taebaeksan. Photo by Robert Koehler.
*Click the photo to see a full-size version at our website.
NOTE: If you have a photo you would like to see in our Everyday Koreans section, please sent it to story@seoulselection.com. Photos should be AT LEAST 950px wide. Send a one-line bio, too.
Notifications
Update Your Shopping Mall ID – Seoul Selection encourages you to change your ID and password for our online bookshop and shopping mall at Seoulselection.com. The old IDs and passwords no longer work following our recent upgrade.
Looking for translators – Seoul Selection is looking for a few good translators (Korean to English) for general translation work. Those interested should send a resume and cover letter to Eugene at planner@seoulselection.com.
Seoul Selection eBooks – You can purchase some Seoul Selection titles in ebook format via Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Apple’s iBookstore. Titles include Ask a Korean Dude, Moon Tides, Doing Business in Korea, Once Around the Sun, and seven volumes of our Korean Film Directors series: BONG Joon-ho, IM Kwon-taek, KIM Jee-woon, LEE Chang-dong, LEE Man-hee, PARK Chan-wook, and SHIN Sang-ok.
Seoul Selection via Ingram – Seoul Selection now has a direct wholesale distribution agreement with Ingram Book Group, the world’s largest wholesale distributor of publisher content. By choosing to allow Ingram to represent our material, we have opened our titles to a wider audience. Our titles will be available for order through Ingram at more than 35,000 distribution channels worldwide. Ask your local bookstore to have Seoul Selection titles available!
Send Your Event Info – If you would like to advertise any upcoming events you are organizing, please send us the press release material at book@seoulselection.com by the preceding Friday in order for it to appear in the following Tuesday’s issue.
Freelance Contributors Wanted – SEOUL magazine needs writers who are fluent in both Korean and English. Writers should have a strong interest in Korean culture and be able to interview Koreans. Send your resume and writing samples to book@seoulselection.com.
We Buy & Sell Used Books – Seoul Selection buys and sells used books in English. Unlike our regular selection of publications that specialize in Korea-related topics, our Used Book section carries books on all subjects. It’s all part of our effort to make life easier for the English-speaking community.
The Beautiful Patterns of KOREA 2 : Tile, Butterfly, Dancheong, Jangseok
Im Kwon Taek Collection Boxset
New Books
The Firekeeper’s Son
Waxen Wings: The Acta Koreana Anthology of Short Fiction from Korea
Korea Witness: 135 Years of War, Crisis and News in the Land of the Morning Calm
Myeangsim Bogam
Managing Transnational Flows in East Asia
New DVDs
The Thieves
The Neighbors
200 Pounds Beauty
Dangerous Liaisons
Padak
Publisher: Hank Kim / Editor: Robert Koehler
Seoul Selection reserves all intellectual property rights on information provided in this newsletter. Some event information has been provided by the Korea Foundation. The IPRs are protected by pertinent laws
Seoul Selection Web Site: https://www.seoulselection.com
American dream pop duo Beach House comes to Korea. Said TIME about them, “Vocals that soar with joy while breaking your heart.”
Locals celebrate Mt. Taebaeksan’s snowy majesty every winter with a festival featuring an international snow sculpture exhibit, winter games like sledding and sleigh rides, and plenty of beautiful winter scenery. KORAIL runs extra “Snow Flower” trains at this time, too.
SEOUL (February 2013)