''Koreana'' is the

Korea Foundation The Korea Foundation (Korean: 한국국제교류재단, Hanja: 韓國國際交流財團) is a non-profit public diplomacy organization established in 1991 to promote a better understanding of Korea and strengthen friendships in the international ...

’s quarterly, which is published in 11 languages to promote Korean arts and culture around the world.

History

Koreana was initially launched as an English-language magazine in the fall of 1987. The first Japanese edition was issued the following year, and in 1993, soon after South Korea and China established diplomatic relations, the Chinese edition was introduced. The Spanish and French editions followed soon, and as the hallyu (Korean Wave) began to spread at the turn of the new millennium, Koreana responded to the rising global interest in

Korean culture The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea and southern Manchuria before the division of Korea in 1945. Manchuria refers to the ancient geographical and historical region in Northeast Asia, includ ...

by launching Arabic, German, Indonesian, and Russian editions. With the emergence of digital media, Koreana further broadened its relationships through

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...

and

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

services. Most recently, Vietnamese and Korean editions were made available as webzines to further diversify the channels of intercultural communication with

netizens The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

around the world. Koreana has dealt with a broad spectrum of Korean arts and culture, ranging from

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

relics to contemporary media and installation art; from the splendid royal court culture of the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

to today’s

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...

and

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

, from

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and various other cultural genres. In doing so, the magazine has helped people around the world to appreciate the universality and distinctiveness of

and also contributed to the mission of the Korea Foundation: “Connecting People, Bridging the World.” Koreana is distributed to universities, libraries, museums, research centers and various other cultural and art institutions in about 150 countries.

Anniversaries

During a reception celebrating the publication of Koreana's 100th issue in 2012,

Mark C. Minton Mark C. Minton (born 1944) is career member (retired) of the United States Foreign Service and served as the U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia from 2006 to 2009. He was formerly president of the Korea Society from 2010 to 2015 and then joined the fac ...

, President of the

Korea Society Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, declared, “There is no better publication on Korean culture and the arts. The articles are extremely informative and the photographs are beautiful.” In 2017, Koreana marked its 30th anniversary by publishing a first-ever Korean language print issue (see inset photo). The quarterly's past and current issues are freely accessible online as webzines. Alternatively, readers from around the world can subscribe for one to three years and have the magazine mailed to them.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cultural magazines Magazines established in 1987 Multilingual magazines Quarterly magazines Magazines published in South Korea Free magazines