The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Friday appointed poet Kwak Hyo-hwan as the new president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.

His term will run through May 13, 2024.

“With new president Kwak Hyo-hwan, we hope that LTI Korea expands its role as the key player in exporting Korean literature overseas,” a Culture Ministry official said. “The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue to reinforce our support for LTI Korea and boost global interest in Korean literature, which started to rise in 2016 with writer Han Kang winning the Man Booker International prize for her novel ‘The Vegetarian’.“

Born in 1968, Kwak has a doctoral degree from Korea University‘s Department of Korean Language and Literature and has played several important roles in the Korean literary world.

Since 2017, he has been part of the Literary Promotion Policy Committee, which was created under the Culture Ministry to consult on creating policy related to the local literary industry.

He has also been the director of the Society of Korean Poets since 2012.

From 1989 to 1992 he worked for Yonhap News Agency and after that, he worked as The Daesan Foundation’s secretary-general.

Established in 1996 as the Korean Literature Translation Fund, the organization changed its name into LTI Korea in 2001. The government-affiliated organization aims to spread Korean literary and cultural works abroad through carrying out diverse projects including education programs, digitalization of Korean literature and holding forums with foreign and local writers.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)