By Kim Ki-tae
Staff Reporter
The cover of ‘Gongto Korea 1%’ |
Korea’s equivalent of ``Who’s Who’’ was published last month, containing profiles in English of the nation’s most famous 480 public figures.
The book, titled ``Gongto Korea 1%,’’ gives a one-page profile for each of the nation’s key individuals from various fields, ranging from President Roh Moo-hyun to actress Jun Jee-hyun and hair stylist Park June.
Local publisher Gongto released the 680-page book on Jan. 14, but the publication has not been reported by the media due to a lack of promotion by the publisher.
The book contains the profiles of 24 politicians, 32 public officials, 135 businesspersons, 62 artists and 91 entertainers. Other listed people are from sports, religion, civic groups, academia and others.
The publisher said it selected the list of dignitaries based on the frequency of their media coverage for the past year. The reference book also contains the English names and job titles of the 480 famous Koreans.
``We expect the book would be of great help to foreigners who wish to forge relationships with Koreans as well as to overseas Koreans who want to gain a better understanding of what is happening in Korea,’’ said the publisher’s marketing chief, Chung Joong-shik.
The publisher plans to issue an updated edition of the book on an annual basis and to release the 2007 version this October, Chung said.
However, Korea’s first English-language encyclopedia on dignitaries contains a few factual errors. For example, professional gamer Lim Yo-hwan’s name was misspelled as Lim Yo-han, and his Korean name also has a typo. Yoo Hong-joon, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration was listed in the ``Social Worker’’ category, which seems to have been meant for social activists.
``We actually put the book on sale in December last year, but due to typos and misspellings, we withdrew 2,000 copies of the first edition. We will keep correcting any remaining mistakes in the next editions,’’ Chung said.
The reference book is available at local bookstores at 21,000 won, and is expected to be sold overseas at $19.95. The publisher is considering publishing a Chinese-language edition. For more information, visit the publisher’s homepage www.gongto.com.
인기도 :
