Not one of those in that Cornell fraternity group chat thought 'this is wrong' and took action. As a father of a son, I am yet again reminded of the grave weight of raising a boy in this world to do the right thing.
Jinwoo Park
@jinwoo-park.com
Writer, Translator (Kr-En), Debut novel, Oxford Soju Club, coming in Sept 2025, 111k on TikTok https://linktr.ee/jinwoopark0721
A lesson in perspective: Found three of my books on heavy discount at a bookshop. Thought 1: Aw man, people don't want to buy them even at this price? Thought 2: This is way less than my publisher's discount price for authors. I'm buying all of these as gift copies.
Something that really helped me later in life was realizing that my parents, in reality, moved to Canada for themselves as well, and that it certainly was not 'all for my future.'
A personal tragedy I've met with AI is that I actually like 'not this but that' statements. And I'm certain I'm not alone as a writer who must edit themselves for 'AI-esque' language. Which might mean, the true sign of AI writing is probably not in the sentences, but in the text as a whole.
Angine de Poitrine is yet another example of it's not just about how good you are, but also about how you present yourself.
I still vividly remember Hong Myung-bo as the captain of the Korean team in 2002, that amazing defensive line, his game-winning penalty shootout goal against Spain. Which makes this all the more painful to watch.
Not a big fan of all this 'Korean-Mexican mixed World Cup babies in 9 months' I'm seeing on social media, even if it's a joke, because Kopinos have happened.
So I posted a clip from Seoul Queer Parade 2026 on my story and wrote 쩔어 over it. Few then asked me if I hated it because the auto-translator was translating it that way. It's a super basic slang meaning absolutely dope. 쩔어, 쩐다, 쩌네 etc As in the BTS song 쩔어 This is why we need translators.
Trying to get my book published in Korean Korean publishers have said that the book seems like it won't appeal to Korean readers 1. North Korean spy thing, very overdone 2. Immigrant identity isn't a topic of interest Yet another obvious reminder that diasporic and motherland Koreans don't align
Spent the past weekend at a literary festival moderating for panels. I went with all my questions prepared in advance after having read the books, and I was thanked for doing that. I'm sorry, who are these uncivilized people moderating panels without actually reading the works?
If you're in Montreal, come to the Soju Club this week and celebrate Korean literature with some soju and coin throwing. Tickets in bio.
I saw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center Delaney Hall today. Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help. 1/4
Went Korean snack shopping for this Thursday's LSHB Soju Club at my favorite Montreal bookstore, Librairie Saint-Henri Books. Link in bio for tickets.
I'm again hosting a night of light soju drinking in Montreal, paired with hand picked works of Korean literature for recommendation, at my favorite indie bookstore in the city, Librairie Saint-Henri Books www.eventbrite.ca/e/lshb-soju-...
LSHB SOJU CLUB with Jinwoo Park
An evening of Korean literature and soju pairings at LSHB.
eventbrite.ca
Regardless of its original intentions, the biggest ostensible purpose of the Met Gala now seems to be to celebrate the motto of ‘let them eat cake’
Had the honor and pleasure of blurbing this book by Cho Yeeun, translated by Sung Ryu. Out May 26th!
While Lee Jae Myung's criticism of Israel is refreshing and welcome, it is also one of pragmatism, because this isn't the first time that a Korean president has distanced Israelis for the sake of securing oil supply. Park Chung-hee did this in the 70s for the sake of Korea's economic future.
So the bar for a world leader's conduct is now apparently at: 'publicly threaten genocide'
The sound of 성덕대왕신종 (The Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok) almost charted on the Billboard (but didn't because of the rules). BTS made a sound created in the 8th century go global in 2026. This is an absurd level of spreading authentic Korean culture. They truly have nothing left to prove.
BTS: The Return confirmed that they completely understood the essence of Arirang. 아리랑은 우리가 하고 싶은게 아리랑이다 What we want to do is what Arirang is 우리의 아리랑이다 This is our Arirang That is exactly the core spirit behind the cultural heritage that is Arirang.
For fellow Montrealers, two Asian Canada Reads Longlisters, Rachel Phan and Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez, are coming to Montreal for a special discussion about what it means to be a diaspora writer in Canlit today. Happening at the lovely Saint Henri Bookstore! RSVP: www.eventbrite.ca/e/asian-dias...
My Korean instinct is that whenever I hear criticisms of BTS my first answer is: Yeah, but they're 군필 (went to the military)
Emerged from deadline cave and learned that Kpop Demon Hunters won two Academy Awards so that was a good way to start my short break before I go back into my next deadline cave.
🚨 IT'S ELECTION DAY 🚨 This is it. Today decides everything. Let's make it count: Knock doors, make calls, talk to your friends, and make sure everyone you know in IL-09 makes their voice heard!
All market futures are pointing down, while bombmakers like Lockheed and Raytheon are up. This is free capital at work, since capital flows to where returns are highest. At least that's the theory. Which means as of the moment, the returns are highest in 'literally killing people.'
Korean citizens have been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for defending democracy against martial law. Since Trump foams at his mouth for the Nobel, it humors me to picture a fictional matchup between 'The people who eat authoritarian presidents for breakfast' vs 'The menu item on that breakfast'