[HanCinema's Digest] Culture Corner

Park Sang-seek reflects on the power of cinema to shape an empathetic world culture in the wake of the recently concluded Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), The Korea Herald explores the borderlands between the rising AI industry and K-pop, novelist Min Jin Lee examines the complex relationship between Korea and Japan, and star pet trainer Kang Hyeong-uk believes Korea's notions of what a "good dog" is needs to change.

Advertisement

"[Park Sang-seek] Busan Film Festival and creation of world culture"

Park Sang-seek reflects on how the recently concluded Busan International FilmFestival (BIFF) confirmed his belief that what the world needs now is more empathy. Film, Park writes, is the best cultural tool for the job because it is "one of the most effective and inexpensive means of promoting empathy among all humans and consequently to create a culture of peace". In this reflective and pertinent piece on The Korea Herald, Park Sang-seek, an author and former rector at Kyung Hee University's Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, shares his view on the capacity of BIFF - one of Asia's leading film events - to "contribute to the creation of peace and global culture while promoting human exchanges better than any other cultural organization, activity or diplomacy".

...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD

"Can AI take over the music industry?"

South Korea is both a technological and cultural powerhouse, but how interwoven will these two domains become in the near and not-so-distance future? It wasn't long ago when Go master Lee Se-dol lost to Google's artificial intelligence programme, AlphaGo (which just recently got owned by AlphaGo Zero); "But now", writes Yoon Min-sik for the Korea Herald, "as more engineers look to teach artificial intelligence how to be more creative to the extent of writing their own music, that artistic edge is being challenged". Japan's Miku Hatsune, a mass-market humanoid persona, has been circulating for a decade, so is it just a matter of time before AI merges with K-pop? Let us know your thoughts about the borderlands between artificial intelligence and Korea's thriving cultural scene in the comment section below...

...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD

"A Novelist Confronts the Complex Relationship Between Japan and Korea"

Min Jin Lee is a "chronicler of the Korean diaspora", writes Jonathan Soble for The New York Times. Min's second book, "Pachinko", is an intimate historical novel that explores the long and trying history between South Korea and Japan. The book "grapples with problems common to transplanted people: material hardship, unwelcoming locals, the possibilities and limits of assimilation". "Pachinko" which was released in back in February and is a finalist for this year's National Book Award.

...READ ON THE NEW YORK TIMES

"[Herald Interview] From dog breeder's son to 'president of dogs'"

Kang Hyeong-uk has been a dog lover ever since he was a young boy. He believes he became more sympathetic towards human's best friend after seeing his parents run a puppy mill during his formative years. "What I know for sure is that I just loved dogs, and wanted to change things for them", says Kang in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. Modern Korean culture's relationship with dogs is complicated and evolving, and in this video, you'll hear Kim, "a star pet trainer", talk about Korea's new pet culture. "I think the definition of good dogs in Korea should be changed".

...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD