The Literature Translation Institute of Korea on Friday received the Order of Culture Merit from the Czech Republic for its contribution to cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The medal was presented to Kim Seong-kon, the director of the state-run organization, by the Czech Culture Minister Alena Hanakova. The Czech minister, who visited LTI Korea’s office in southern Seoul to attend the special occasion, said she appreciated the group’s effort to promote Korean literature in her country.

LTI Korea’s director Kim Seong-kon thanked the minister for the medal, and said the organization would continue to work on literary exchanges between the two countries. He also thanked Jaroslav Olsa, Jr., the current Czech ambassador to Korea, for his contribution to Korea-Czech literary projects.

The translation institute recently signed a deal with Czech publishing company Argo to select and publish a total of 10 translated volumes of Korean literature in the Eastern European country. The publishing house has been introducing a number of works by significant overseas writers to Czech’s reading public, including Japan’s Haruki Murakami and Brazil’s Paulo Ceolho. The 10 books will be published in the next four years ― two volumes will be published this year, three in 2014, two in 2015, and three in 2016.

“There are a lot of scholars who have been researching about Korea in Czech Republic for a significant amount of time,” LTI Korea said in a statement.

“Many of Korea’s literary classics have been published in the country. Korean TV dramas, films, and performances have been also introduced. We hope to introduce contemporary Korean literature this time, and create an opportunity for the two countries to communicate about what’s happening in the present time.”

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)