The Korea Times is inviting translators from around the world to participate in the 56th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards. Since 1970, The Korea Times has been dedicated to recognizing excellence in literary translation and promoting Korean literature to a global readership through this annual competition. Many of the leading translators and scholars working in the field today began their careers as winners of the Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, and The Korea Times looks forward to ushering in a new generation of skilled translators in the years to come. The annual competition awards English translations of works of contemporary Korean literature in two categories: fiction/drama and poetry. Prize • Grand Prize in Fiction/Drama: 7 million won • Grand Prize in Poetry: 4 million won • Commendation Awards: 2 million won each to entries in either fiction/drama or poetry • Kevin O'Rourke Award: 1 million won to an entry in either fiction/drama or poetry Submission guidelines Applicants may submit a translation of 1) a work of fiction or drama or 2) 10 poems by the same poet. Applicants should submit only one entry in either category. • Fiction/Drama Candidates should submit an English translation of one work of fiction (a novel, novella or short story) or a play. The first publication date of the original Korean work should be 1980 or later. Longer works will not automatically be given preference, although some credit will be given for the additional effort involved. A translation of one portion of a long novel will be considered on the condition that it presents at least a third of the complete novel and the translator plans to translate the entire work. • Poetry Candidates should submit English translations of 10 poems, all by the same poet. The original poems should have been first published in or after 1980. General rules Translations should be sent before Aug. 31, 2025, as email attachments in PDF format to ktimes.translation@gmail.com with the subject “The Korea Times Translation Awards.” See here for more details.

As a former gangster who left behind a rough past, Dong-chul (Ma Dong-seok) now leads an honest life working at the fish market. But when his wife Ji-soo (Song Ji-hyo) is suddenly abducted without a trace, Dong-chul must take matters into his own hands after receiving a chilling phone call. The criminal predators are about to become the prey when they realize that this particular target with a past and a vengeance is unstoppable. Director Kim Min-ho's 2018 action/crime thriller Unstoppable wowed audiences with its compelling cast, debuting at No. 1 at the box office in Korea and going on to further success with international audiences.  Free with an RSVP! Complimentary snacks. In Korean with English subtitles. 115 minutes.  Unstoppable (성난황소) Wednesday, July 16, 6:00 PM  Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (2370 Massachusetts Ave. NW) RSVP HERE!

Much like a hummingbird, 14-year-old Eun-hee (Park Ji-hu) is small yet intensely alive, her senses wide open to the vast and unknowable world that lies ahead. She quietly navigates the uncertainties of adolescence, fleeting romance, and changing times. Through her curious gaze, one is drawn back to a pivotal moment in Korean history that shaped a generation: the tragic 1994 collapse of Seoul’s Seongsu Bridge. Director Bo-ra Kim’s Berlinale prize-winning 2019 debut was a huge critical and commercial success in Korea and abroad.  Free with an RSVP! Complimentary snacks. In Korean with English subtitles. 138 minutes.  House of Hummingbird (벌새)  Wednesday, July 2, 6:00 PM Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (2370 Massachusetts Ave. NW) RSVP HERE!

The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. is proud to present Patchwork of Elsewhere, a new exhibition of works by Gina Bae, Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, Sookkyung Park, and Yu-Ching Wang that deconstructs and attempts to redefine the familiar notions of home and belonging. In a world characterized by fluidity and change where constants seems persistently elusive, the idea of home often drifts somewhere between memory and reality. Home can be both a structure we inhabit and a feeling we chase—something defined not only by walls and roofs but by a disparate assemblage of language, culture, past lives, and imagined futures. Patchwork of Elsewhere traces this intangible architecture of what makes a mere place truly a home—or not. For many, fond memories of home can also be a source of discomfort when coupled with displacement, longing, or mere provisional belonging. Family, like home, can also be defined in either physical or psychological terms, and the absence of either can be keenly felt. This exhibition investigates these issues within the ever-shifting context of human migration, adaptation, and cultural hybridity in an attempt to redefine a sense of belonging. Artists Gina Bae, Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, Sookkyung Park, and Yu-Ching Wang represent a constellation of creative styles that powerfully evoke the condition of being elsewhere—apart from home and belonging. Each artist, shaped by their cultural background and personal narrative, shares a portrait of life lived in between homes, cultures, and feelings of belonging. Such experiences are both deeply challenging and yet generative of new possibilities. Exhibition Dates On View: July 3 – August 22, 2025 Opening Reception: Thursday, July 3, at 6:00 p.m.  ArtWalk Dupont: Friday, August 1, 6:00–8:00 p.m. (No RSVP required) About the Artists & Exhibition Gina Bae’s paintings weave together traditional Korean folk motifs with speculative, figurative landscapes, creating visual spaces where the stories of two generations—hers and that of her first-generation immigrant parents—overlap as both familiar and unfamiliar snapshots. She experiments with fusing the traditional Korean minhwa art style and her experience growing up as a second-generation Korean American, affording herself a fluid definition of cultural heritage. Timothy Hyunsoo Lee deconstructs bodily and emotional terrain, visualizing the dissonant paths of immigration and queer embodiment. His work explores the rituals, anxieties, and material memories of navigating between cultures while seeking a home within a politicized and ever-shifting body. Sookkyung Park crafts delicate paper sculptures inspired by the overlapping eaves of traditional Korean hanok architecture but which carry multiple layers of meaning. Her work reinterprets both the structural designs and the tactile memory inherent in hanji, Korean traditional paper, as a means of revisiting personal histories of home, memory, and migration. Through meditative acts of folding and layering, she transforms paper into vessels of remembrance, connecting past and present across geographies. Yu-Ching Wang conducts documentary research into the urban presence of migrant communities, presenting poetic yet grounded reflections on how people claim spaces and visibility in their own unique ways in once unfamiliar cities. Patchwork of Elsewhere gathers together these disparate artistic practices with intentionality to form a single collective from distinct fragments of human experience. Rather than striving for a resolution to these challenges, the exhibition embraces the dissonance of being “elsewhere” and reframes incompleteness as a viable alternative to a singular, stable notion of home. In seeking out new ways to belong, even temporarily, Bae, Lee, Park, and Wang collectively create an ephemeral landscape where viewers might even encounter echoes of their own untold stories and unresolved feelings among the fragments of others. All those who have ever felt at home, adrift, or anywhere in between are invited to step into this artistic space that celebrates fluidity over permanence, connection over ownership, and placemaking over rootedness. The opening reception will take place on Thursday, July 3, at 6:00 p.m., featuring an Artist Talk with the participating artists. To attend the opening event, please RSVP via the link below. RSVP Link for the Opening Reception  Selected Artwork Details 배지나 Gina Bae I Am a Fairy and Everything Is Run by Woodcutter Fantasies 2024 Oil on canvas, 48” x 36” 이현수 Timothy Hyunsoo Lee TrueView (Overexposed) 2023 Cyanotype on fabric, 48" x 60" each 박숙경 Sookkyung Park The Sun 2023 Folded Paper, Acrylic & Spray Paint, 31” x 31” x 8” (H) 왕유칭 Yu-Ching Wang Pigeonese  2022 Video and performative action, single-channel, color, with sound, video duration: 15 min. 35 sec.

Alfred Yun at Blues Alley (June 23) Emerging Artist Mondays Series Monday, June 23, 2025 Blues Alley Club 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20007 *This event is in collaboration with Blues Alley Jazz   Alfred Yun is a composer, pianist, producer, audio engineer, and music teacher. In 2019, Alfred Yun composed a score for Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea. The video was featured on national television, movie theaters, subways, and airports. Alfred Yun was honored to be chosen by the Music Center At Strathmore as an Artist-in-Residence for the 2023-2024 season. This includes featured concerts at Strathmore’s prestigious AMP club in January and participating in programs hroughout the season. As a leader, Alfred Yun has led groups at venues like the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, Strathmore AMP, Blues Alley, The Arts Barn, An Die Musik Live, and Franklin Park Arts Center. Alfred Yun has had the fortune of performing at festivals like the KORUS Festival, Lake Anne Jazz Festival, Jazz in the Country Festival, Crossroads Festival, the Yellowdoor Concert Series, and Nowon Festival in Seoul, South Korea. Last but not least, Alfred Yun is a music teacher. Several of his students were accepted by the Chantilly Jazz Program and the National Jazz Workshop at Shenandoah Conservatory.   To learn more about, visit his website: https://www.alfredyun.com Monday, June 23, 7:00 & 9:30 PM Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC 20007) Note: Ticket and $15 minimum food/beverage purchase is required for this event.  Purchase tickets for this event here: 7:00 p.m. performance | 9:30 p.m. performance