Me and Kim In-suk at SIBF 2011

Below is the press release LTI Korea and KTLIT are sending out to celebrate the building of 350 Wikipedia Pages related to Korean authors and literature. The first coverage of it is in the Korea Times today.

(Seoul, Korea) – On Tuesday, December 17, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), in partnership with the Korean Translated Literature  website (KTLIT), celebrated the completion of the first round of their joint Wikipedia Project., The Wikipedia Project built 350 Wikipedia pages in 7 languages, all related to Korean authors and/or literature.

The project included volunteers and interns from LTI Korea, Dongguk University in Seoul, The Minjuk Leadership Academy, and individual volunteers from overseas. The 350 Wikipedia pages were created in 7 languages, with nearly 70% of the pages in English.

LTI Korea President Kim Seong-kon noted, “Three years ago when Shin Kyung-sook’s PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM got public interest, I tried to search the internet for the author, and ended up finding very little. With this project it becomes so much easier to find Korean authors information on the web. I believe the Wikipedia project will play a significant role in introducing Korean literature to the world.”

Founder and writer of the Korean Translated Literature website, Charles Montgomery notes, “For English language readers, particularly the educated and affluent, the Wikipedia is the place to find information. The success of this project will help that audience to discover the depth, breadth, and wonder of that literature.

The Wikipedia Project will continue in 2014, with the aim of expanding available information to include recently published and popular books and authors.

LANGUAGE # of PAGES
English 242
German 63
Spanish 20
French 11
Japanese 9
Arabic 3
Polish 2
TOTAL 350