Articles by Kim Hoo-ran
Kim Hoo-ran
khooran@heraldcorp.com-
[Eye Interview] Treating patients and R&D go hand in hand
As we exchange business cards at the start of the interview, his card catches my attention. The navy blue card with silver letters and an embossed seal of the school is very distinguished looking. The design clearly intends to command respect. I note the unusual design and Dr. Bae Sang-cheol, distinguished professor at Hanyang University, explains that the school’s distinguished professors are given the special cards. Bae, a former director of Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Dise
People May 6, 2023
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Art center that is 'Open for All'
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- To some, it may look like a tumor is growing on the side of the building; to others, as if an asteroid has hit it. Or it may look like a planet docking against a cube, according to the description given in a brochure prepared by the building's architects. The Taipei Performing Arts Center, the city's latest landmark, is a conversation starter. The center, composed of a central cube with three structures of different shapes -- a globe, a rectangle and a triangle wedge
Arts & Design April 18, 2023
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[Herald Interview] Public architecture guarantees accessibility in increasingly privatizing world
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- One of the goals of architects in undertaking a public architecture project, such as the Taipei Performing Arts Center, is not to be wasteful. “There is a very strong obligation in public work not to be wasteful in any way -- not with the resources, not with the space in the city, not with the opportunities you create,” said David Gianotten, the managing partner at OMA, in an interview with The Korea Herald in Taipei on March 18. Gianotten and OMA founder Rem Kool
Arts & Design April 18, 2023
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[Scholars and their spaces] Reading, a way of soothing wounded hearts
“When sadness strikes me, I look around, but I am still at a loss. I just want to dig myself into the ground, no longer having the desire to live. My broken heart will steady if, fortunately, I have a book in my hand.” Yi Deok-mu (1741-1793), a Silhak scholar and poet of the late Joseon era (1392-1910), is said to have read almost 20,000 books in his lifetime. He had a nickname -- "ganseochi," meaning "a fool who only reads books." He said he was able to forget hu
Culture April 14, 2023
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[Herald Interview] S. Korea’s creative content looks to international market from get go
The Netflix original drama series "Squid Game" was the spark which changed everything. While Jo Hyun-rae, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency, was confident about the power of Korean pop culture and recognized its potential when the KBS drama series "Winter Sonata" and its lead actor Bae Yong-joon achieved popularity in Asian markets outside of Korea in 2002, it was not too long ago that he began to feel Korea could play a more active role in the highly competitive
Culture April 2, 2023
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[Eye Interview] 'Every day is a miracle'
How does a young man react to finding himself, overnight, unable to move his limbs? When doctors pronounce that his neck was broken in a fall and that he will never be able to walk, move his legs or move his fingers again, how does a 28-year-old, who had been celebrating his new job with friends at a club on a Saturday night respond? There is the classic five stages of grief -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance -- that most people experience. Park We, however, never accepted h
People March 18, 2023
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[Herald interview] 'Architecture is meant to be the stage, not the play'
ATHENS, Greece -- Entering the massive National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, is like stepping into a temple – one passes through a large green plaza and walks up the marble steps with the building looming large above you. The golden Mask of Agamemnon takes pride of place, displayed in the first upright glass case that one sees upon entering the museum. From then on, it is a walk through a textbook of Greek antiquity, hall after hall lined with marble statues of gods and goddess
Culture Feb. 21, 2023
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[Eye interview] Intercultural communication key to sustainability of Hallyu
In 2003, interpreter to statesmen and global leaders Choi Jung-wha launched the Corea Image Communication Institute with the goal of communicating Korea’s image to the world. Both frustration and optimism motivated her. “People ask why a private individual took on the task of promoting Korea’s image. Well, I traveled to many different countries as an interpreter. But, really, no one ever asked ‘Are you Korean?’ This really upset me,” said Choi in a recent inte
Culture Jan. 7, 2023
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[Herald Review] Kim Sun-wook gives form to fire
What do you do when, just hours before you are about to leave the country, you get a phone call asking if you could conduct a choral symphony in just one week? Pianist and conductor Kim Sun-wook, receiving such a call from Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on his way to Incheon Airport on Dec. 7, asked for some time to think it over -- until he arrived at the airport. “In those 30-40 minutes, I probably did the most thinking ever in my 34-year life,” said Kim during a press meeting on Tue
Performance Dec. 18, 2022
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[Serendipity] Young pianist opens up new universe
He was as bold as he is young. Pianist Lim Yun-chan, shorn of his heavy, wavy mane, walked onto the stage at Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall Saturday, his stride confident, his first step a loud thump. He sat himself in front of the piano and, without a second’s hesitation, hit the first note of Orlando Gibbons' “Lord Salisbury,” Pavan and Galliard. Lim, who, at 18, became the youngest ever winner at the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June began
Viewpoints Dec. 15, 2022
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[Herald Interview] Kang Ik-joong stresses artist's role of connecting people
“I nearly died from COVID-19 last year,” said the New York-based artist Kang Ik-joong in an interview with The Korea Herald earlier this month. “For about a week, I couldn’t breathe well. Lying down didn’t help, sitting didn’t help,” he said. “So one day, I went out to the garden, opened my chest and began taking deep breaths like this,” he said, pushing his chest forward with his arms up wide open and looking upward. “I was able to bre
Arts & Design Nov. 30, 2022
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[Serendipity] Mourning, remembering
The concert hall remained eerily quiet as the conductor took his place at the podium. Then, all at once, the solemn sound of “Nimrod” from Elgar’s “Enigma Variations” filled the air. The evocative melody proved cathartic for the audience that had gathered less than a week after a crowd surge in Itaewon left 157 people dead. I saw people silently sobbing, wiping away tears. When the music ended, a minute of silence was observed in tribute to the victims of the countr
Viewpoints Nov. 13, 2022
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[Scholars and Their Spaces] 'New wave' seen through Korean eyes
Korea's first public funeral was held for Yi Sang-jae (1850-1927), one of the leaders of Korea's enlightenment period. The event was attended by some 100,000 people, a testimony to his huge following. His voice was heard through a phonograph and a recording of his speech, "To Young People of Joseon," was released in July 1927, four months after his death. "Now, the world is getting worse and worse, there is no morality. People focus only on material things and kill other
Culture Nov. 12, 2022
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[Visual History of Korea] Jeungdoga book may be oldest movable metal type print book
Early movable metal type printing from the period of the Goryeo Kingdom shows surface tension of the ink, which is a common tendency of liquid on metal surface at rest to shrink into circular liquid drops. An 87-page book from 1239 is full of Hanja characters printed on hanji, traditional Korean paper made from mulberry tree bark, showing the characteristics of movable metal type printing. Might was always right in the Goryeo Kingdom. The political elite in the 13th century were military leaders
Culture Oct. 29, 2022
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[Eye interview] Understanding Korea through its classical musicians
On May 29, violinist Yang In-mo, the first ever Korean to win the Paganini International Violin Competition in 2015, won the top prize at the jean Sibelius International Violin Competition. A few days later, cellist Choi Ha-young won the first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition held in Belgium. And two weeks after that, pianist Lim Yun-chan won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, becoming the youngest winner at age 18. Lim quickly became a household name -- even those who have
Culture Sept. 15, 2022
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