Blue-eyed foreigner, how did you sympathize with "Miracle on the Han River"? "Who is the translator"?

[News FM Lee Ik-seon Choi Soo-young Issue & People]
□ Broadcast Date: 11 October 2024 (Fri)

□ Host: Lee Ik-seon, Choi Soo-young
□ Cast: Announcer Lee Hyun-woong

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: Let's open the second part with Aung Da-woong News. Announcer Lee Hyunwoong, who will be with us today as well, is here. Hello~

◈ Hello!

◇ Lee Ik-seon: First news. The 'Miracle on the Han River' literally happened yesterday evening! Please tell us about novelist Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature.

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: Regarding the prospect of winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, I told you yesterday that non-Western female writers would have an advantage, and that Chan Xue, dubbed "China's Kafka," would be the leading candidate. Since the Nobel Prize for Literature keeps the entire process, from the list of candidates to the announcement of the winners, predictions vary from specialized institutions to each other. The European betting site's prediction is that all these predictions are put together. There were writers who were more likely than the Han River, including Chanche, Australian novelist Gerald Murnain, Haruki Murakami, and poet Goeun. As a result, after the winner was announced, foreign media said, "It was a surprise show."’, They're responding, "It's overturned my expectations." However, as Han Seung-won, the father of Han Kang, said, there was an academic prospect that "Han Kang will one day receive the Nobel Prize for Literature," but it was received earlier than expected. This morning, all books by Han Kang were sold at large bookstores as the so-called "open run" phenomenon appeared. I went to the Internet bookstore before entering the broadcast, and as expected, all of the stock is sold out and pre-orders are being taken. The publishing and literary circles are expecting a 'literature boom' due to this surprise award.

◆ Choi Soo-young: With the news of the Han River award, 'Deborah Smith' translator is drawing attention together?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. France has the largest number of Nobel Prize winners with 16, followed by the United States with 13, the United Kingdom with 12, and Sweden and Germany with eight each. Most of them are European or American nationals. There are criticisms that it is Western-oriented, but it is also because there was no way to make the original work of non-Western countries feel the charm properly if you want to understand it. There is also interest in translators who have translated the works of novelist Han Kang well. A representative example is British translator Deborah Smith, who translated the novel The Vegetarian. Smith learned Korean by himself and later expanded his understanding of Korean culture by taking a master's and doctorate in Korean studies. Then, I met Han Kang's "Vegetarian," and he was in charge of not only translation but also contacting and promoting publishers. When Han Kang won the Booker Prize, he was recognized for this contribution and received the award together as a translator. As the world pays more attention to Korean literature in the future, I hope that great Korean writers and works will be widely known.

◇ Profit line: The next news is economic news. The Bank of Korea held a Monetary Policy Committee meeting to cut its benchmark interest rate?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. Since February last year, the base rate has been frozen at 3.5% per year. Earlier today, the Bank of Korea decided to lower its key interest rate by 0.25%p to 3.25% per annum through the Monetary Policy Committee, ending the freeze for the first time in a year and eight months. It is the first "pivot" in three years and two months since August 2021, when interest rates began to rise, and it can be said that Korea's monetary policy has turned from tightening to easing. The reason for the cut is, above all, that Korea's economy and growth are sluggish. It seems to reflect the judgment that it is urgent to revive domestic demand, such as private consumption and investment, which had been suppressed by high interest rates and high prices. In addition, it is analyzed that the U.S. Fed's reflection of the "big cut" of lowering interest rates by 0.5%p also affected our base rate cut. The Bank of Korea estimates that the interest burden on household borrowers will be reduced by 3 trillion won a year even if the loan interest rate falls only by the cut in the base rate. However, uncertainty remains over the prospect of further rate cuts in the future. As five out of six members of the Monetary Policy Committee said they believed the key rate should remain at 3.25% after three months, no further cuts are expected this year at this point.

◆ Choi Soo-young: By the way, some predict that household loan interest rates will not move?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. Currently, the financial authorities are strongly managing household loans. If household loan rates are also lowered following a rate cut, demand for loans may be stimulated again, and housing prices may fluctuate again. According to some bank officials, they say they have already used up all the cards that banks can use to catch household loans. Some point out that the cut in the benchmark interest rate could be a "policy mismatch" at a time when household debt growth is only slowing. The rate cut could lead to additional high-intensity regulations from the household loan side if the real estate market's "disappointing" atmosphere is detected.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: Next, we'll also look at sports news. The national soccer team played Jordan last night, and it was a pleasant 2-0 win.

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: I explained yesterday why this Jordan match is not easy. Lee Jae-sung and Oh Hyun-kyu scored goals to complete the game 2-0. With this, Korea is leading Group B with two wins and one draw and seven points. In an interview after the game, Kim Min-jae said, "There was a story that the atmosphere of the team was not good, but I don't know where or why it came out," and said, "The atmosphere of the team is very good." The national soccer team returns home this afternoon and prepares for the next game. The fourth round of the third qualifying round, Iraq, will be held at 8 p.m. on the 15th. The home stadium was changed to Yongin Mir Stadium after it was previously pointed out about the lawn of the Sangam World Cup Stadium. This is the first time that a men's soccer A match will be held at this stadium. It can accommodate about 35,000 spectators. Some predicted that it would be difficult to sell out because there was still a critical view of the association and Son Heung-min did not participate, but almost all seats are sold out now, so you can feel the keen interest of soccer fans in advancing to the World Cup for the 11th consecutive time.

◆ Choi Soo-young: Let's find out about baseball news, too. The atmosphere is really hot in baseball this fall, and the semi-playoff eventually runs until Game 5. 0% to 100% competition?

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: The so-called 'Guillotine Match', which falls when the ground is lost, continues. Following the 5th place match and the 2nd wild card match, the semi-playoff will also be held until the 5th game. The reason why I say 0% vs 100% is because of the last semi-playoff Game 3. The two teams, KT and LG, won once until the second game and faced the third game with one win and one loss. There have been five times so far when they have faced Game 3 with one win and one loss, and the team that won Game 3 all advanced to the playoffs. That's why KT has to reverse the 0% probability, and LG has to keep the 100% probability. KT is drawing more attention because it has already broken the 0% probability in the wild card game. The selection for Game 5 to be held at 6:30 p.m. tonight is KT Um Sang-baek vs. LG Lim Chan-kyu, as in the last Game 2. In the second game, Lim Chan-kyu won the decision, but now when the team loses, both teams are going to go all out without thinking about the next, so the selection does not mean much. I'll tell you the ticketing time again this time. Playoff reservations will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow, starting with the first round, every hour.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: The last one is cultural news. Customers are flocking to restaurants run by the cast after the popular show 'Black and White Cook'?

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: These days, you use a lot of reservation applications to go to a 'famous restaurant', right? The growing interest in restaurants in "The Black and White Chef" has led to paralysis in these reservation applications. More than 110,000 users flocked to the winner's restaurant, which began accepting reservations at 10 a.m. yesterday. It is known that only about 6 teams can be booked a day here. I paid for it for fun, and if I get it sequentially, it takes about 18,300 days. That would take 50 years. It's a simple calculation done for fun, but you can estimate how popular it is. In fact, reservations are made from the 1st to the 15th of the following month on the 25th and from the 15th to the end of the same month on the 10th, so those who are interested can look at the 25th.

◆ Choi Soo-young: But since it's so popular, there are posts on second-hand trading sites and apps that sell it with more money?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. The price of the restaurant ranges from 90,000 won to 120,000 won, but it is currently rising to 500,000 won to 700,000 won on the used trading platform. Of course, these articles are continuously being deleted. What's surprising is that there are as many articles from people who want to buy as there are articles on sale. I don't know if it's real, but there are comments that I want to go and buy it for millions of won.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: We've looked at all the news prepared today.

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: Yes, thank you.