Seoul - the capital of a divided country whose southern part developed from a war-ravaged poorhouse into one of the world's leading economic powers within a few decades. Sam-sung, Hyundai and LG are global brands that everyone knows. The cultural heritage of this Asian tiger and Korea's magnificent landscapes are far less well known. Seoul is a high-tech city. Its citizens live under the spell of smartphones. Its history was shaped by kings, monks, wars, heroes and sacrifices. Carlo Reltas presents 77 places in words and pictures - always informative, critical and entertaining. He takes visitors to royal palaces and parks. The author explains modern architecture like the iconic Dongdaemun Design Plaza and historical sights like the city wall. He roams markets, neighbourhoods, churches and temples as well as museums, concert halls and memorials. He takes you to his favourite restaurants, to the mountains, to the sea and ... to the inter-Korean border to the Demilitarised Zone. And he does not leave out the Itaewon disaster, where at least 158 young people died on Halloween 2022. WITH 143 COLOUR PHOTOS The author Carlo Reltas was a journalist and manager of an international news agency for decades. Since leaving the news business, he has lived near Heidelberg, in Abu Dhabi and on the road. Since August 2020, he has been living in Seoul.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a standalone new adult romance set in the competitive world of K-pop. It's not all K-dramas and happily ever afters. Intern with Korea's number one record label? Yes, please. Find out there's a huge scandal I need to help "manage"... not so much. Add in the fact that I don't recognize the "superstars" of the label and think they're interns... And my dream job quickly becomes more of a nightmare. But I'm in Seoul, the one place that is beginning to feel more and more like home... Except it isn't home, and the drama surrounding the biggest K-pop group in the world, SWT, is consuming my every moment. Spoiler alert. They hate me. Everything I do is wrong: wrong clothes, wrong honorifics, wrong manners. Till the leader of SWT takes pity on me. But pity is dangerous when it comes from someone as beautiful as him. Every SWT member is gorgeous, perfect, and cultivated to be an idol... lethal to a girl's heart. And sanity. But fame plus a perfect face and voice don't equal an easy life. As their comeback nears, the stakes rise higher. Suicide watch... Angry fans... Threats... All I want to do is survive. But the price for survival might mean losing my heart. And like a character in a K-drama, I'm not sure if there will be an actual happily ever after... Or simply a lesson learned.

Seoul has been the capital of Korea since 1392, and today is one of the world's largest metropolitan centers. Amid its modern skyscrapers and ultra-futuristic infrastructure are echos of its ancient past. For centuries, Seoul's three best known Buddhist temple complexes have been in so many ways a separate world from the rest of the city. Buddhist monks and nuns have lived in, slept and recited Buddhist mantras in some of the most beautiful temples ever built. Despite centuries and war on the Korean peninsula, these Buddhist temples have withstood the test of time and can be seen both by the Buddhist faithful as well as visitors. Mr. Nardini's book explores these three of Seoul's best known Buddhist temple complexes; Bongwonsa, Jogyesa and Bongeunsa. His book depicts these great centers of Buddhist learning in South Korea that seem aloof from one of the world's greatest cities and yet all three are very much a part of it.

An Epicurious Spring 2020 "Book We Want to Cook from Now" • An Eater Best Cookbook of Spring 2020 • A Food52 "Best New Cookbook of 2020…So Far" • A New York Times "New Cookbook Worth Buying" A Michelin-starred chef known for defining Korean food in America brings a powerful culinary legacy into your kitchen. Simple rice cakes drenched in a spicy sauce. Bulgogi sliders. A scallion pancake (pajeon) the New York Times calls “the essential taste of Korean cuisine.” For years Hooni Kim’s food has earned him raves, including a Michelin Star—the first ever awarded to a Korean restaurant—for Danji. His background in world-class French and Japanese kitchens seamlessly combines with his knowledge of the techniques of traditional Korean cuisine to create uniquely flavorful dishes. My Korea, his long-awaited debut cookbook, introduces home cooks to the Korean culinary trinity: doenjang, ganjang, and gochujang (fermented soybean paste, soy sauce, and fermented red chili paste). These key ingredients add a savory depth and flavor to the 90 recipes that follow, from banchan to robust stews. His kimchis call upon the best ingredients and balance a meal with a salty, sour, and spicy kick. Elevated classics include one-bowl meals like Dolsot Bibimbap (Sizzling-Hot Stone Bowl Bibimbap), Haemul Sundubu Jjigae (Spicy Soft Tofu Stew with Seafood), and Mul Naengmyeon (Buckwheat Noodles in Chilled Broth). Dishes meant for sharing pair well with soju or makgeolli, an unfiltered rice beer, and include Budae Jjigae (Spicy DMZ Stew) and Fried Chicken Wings. Complete with thoughtful notes on techniques and sourcing and gorgeous photography from across Korea, this cookbook will be an essential resource for home cooks, a celebration of the deliciousness of Korean food by a master chef.

Trees and clouds and buildings in the cities of Seoul and Goyang in the late summer and early fall of 2021. Their colours and their shapes and the light they are bathed in. Simon Wagenschütz tried to catch all of this in the pictures collected in this book which is presenting you the blues of his Seoul together with lyrics by j. t. baka.

Those who've heard T. R. Reid's weekly commentary on National Public Radio or read his far-flung reporting in National Geographic or The Washington Post know him to be trenchant, funny, and cutting-edge, but also erudite and deeply grounded in whatever subject he's discussing. In Confucius Lives Next Door he brings all these attributes to the fore as he examines why Japan, China, Taiwan, and other East Asian countries enjoy the low crime rates, stable families, excellent education, and civil harmony that remain so elusive in the West. Reid, who has spent twenty-five years studying Asia and was for five years The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief, uses his family's experience overseas--including mishaps and misapprehensions--to look at Asia's "social miracle" and its origin in the ethical values outlined by the Chinese sage Confucius 2,500 years ago. When Reid, his wife, and their three children moved from America to Japan, the family quickly became accustomed to the surface differences between the two countries. In Japan, streets don't have names, pizza comes with seaweed sprinkled on top, and businesswomen in designer suits and Ferragamo shoes go home to small concrete houses whose washing machines are outdoors because there's no room inside. But over time Reid came to appreciate the deep cultural differences, helped largely by his courtly white-haired neighbor Mr. Matsuda, who personified ancient Confucian values that are still dominant in Japan. Respect, responsibility, hard work--these and other principles are evident in Reid's witty, perfectly captured portraits, from that of the school his young daughters attend, in which the students maintain order and scrub the floors, to his depiction of the corporate ceremony that welcomes new employees and reinforces group unity. And Reid also examines the drawbacks of living in such a society, such as the ostracism of those who don't fit in and the acceptance of routine political bribery. Much Western ink has been spilled trying to figure out the East, but few journalists approach the subject with T. R. Reid's familiarity and insight. Not until we understand the differences between Eastern and Western perceptions of what constitutes success and personal happiness will we be able to engage successfully, politically and economically, with those whose moral center is governed by Confucian doctrine. Fascinating and immensely readable, Confucius Lives Next Door prods us to think about what lessons we might profitably take from the "Asian Way"--and what parts of it we want to avoid.