Choi Byong-hyon

Choi Byong-hyon (born 1950) is a Korean academic and translator.

Career

Professor Byonghyon Choi, a poet, award-winning writer of Korean fiction, and scholar of English literature, is also widely regarded as a trailblazer in the translation of historically important classic Korean texts. For the past twenty years, his life’s work has been solely dedicated to the translation of Korea’s pre-modern texts, including never-been-translated works such as Mokminsimso: Admonitions on Governing a People (University of California Press); T’aejo Sillok: The Annals of King T’aejo (Harvard University Press); and Chingbirok: The Book of Corrections (UC Berkeley Press).

Choi’s mission is to raise global awareness of Korea’s great historical figures. Currently, he is writing the English biography of Soae, Ryu Songnyong, Prime Minister of 16th Century Choson Korea during the Japanese invasion.

A scholar specializing in Victorian literature, Choi attended the University of Hawaii, received his M.A. in English literature from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. in English literature from City University of New York. He is a former professor of English, American, and Korean literature at a number of universities including Honam University, University of Maryland University College in Seoul, and University of California, Irvine as a Fulbright visiting scholar. He served as the President of the Modern British and American Poetry Society of Korea. Most recently, he was the Director of the Center for Translation of Korean Classics at Korea University. Choi is currently Director of the Center for Globalization of Korean Classics.

He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Myrle Clark Creative Writing Award from the University of Hawaii, Hyon Jin-Geon Literary Award from Munhak gwa Bipyeong; 6th Translation Award from the Korean Literature Translation Institute, Ministry of Culture and Tourism; and the Tasan Achievement Award from the Tasan Cultural Foundation. In 2014, he was also chosen as the ‘Man of Hope’ by Kwangju MBC in celebration of its 50th Anniversary. In 2016, he will receive the 61st National Academy of Sciences Award of the Republic of Korea in the area of Humanities.

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Translations

• Sŏng-nyong Yu, The Book of Corrections: Reflections on the National Crisis During the Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-1598. Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 2002 (a translation of Jingbirok)
• Yagyong Chong, Admonitions on Governing the People: Manual for All Administrators. University of California, 2010 (a translation of Gyeongse Yupyo)
• The Annals of King T'aejo: Founder of Korea's Choson Dynasty. Harvard University Press, 2014.

References