“The Korean” puts his finger exactly on the problem..

Photo from Busan Haps

The Korean (Photo from Busan Haps Website)

Some editor over at Busan Haps deserves a massive raise for having the brilliant idea of interviewing The Korean from the priceless Ask A Korean website.

In the course of that interview The Korean puts his finger on the problem that Korean literature (and most cultural export) has had overseas:

Too many wrong kinds of people are put in charge of promoting Korea — basically desk-warming bureaucrats who have no real sense of what the world really wants out of Korea. So they oversell stupid, inconsequential ideas while burying what people really care about.

Which returns me to thanking god that publication decisions on Korean literature are increasingly being made outside of the bureaucratic warrens of Seoul.

The whole interview is worth reading.. so hie thee hence!