South Korean Kim Tae-song receives medal for translations of Taiwanese literature
South Korean Kim Tae-song receives medal for translations of Taiwanese literature
2025-10-01
For the first time ever, Taiwan was the guest of honor at this year’s Seoul International Book Fair. The driving force behind this was Kim Tae-sung, a South Korean translator who lives in Taiwan. He’s translated 150 Chinese literary works, including over 20 volumes of Taiwanese books. Now, the Taiwan government has awarded him a medal of culture, making him the first foreigner to be recognized as a translator. Kim says Taiwanese books have more depth than their Chinese counterparts. Let’s hear what he has to say.
Culture Minister Li Yuan personally presents a medal of culture to South Korean translator Kim Tae-sung. Kim is both the first foreigner to be awarded a Taiwanese medal of culture for translation, and the first non-Taiwanese Asian person to receive the award.
Li Yuan
Minister of Culture
Taiwanese literature has been overlooked by the world because it uses traditional Chinese characters. Mr. Kim Tae-sung is willing to use his professional expertise to promote our novels and essays in South Korea.
Kim, from South Korea, has translated more than 150 Chinese-language literary works. Among them are over 20 Taiwanese volumes. This year, Kim also helped to pave the way for Taiwan’s role as guest of honor at this year’s Seoul International Book Fair for the first time.
Kim Tae-sung
Translator
Mainland Chinese novels tend to lack depth of thought and don’t pay much attention to rhetoric. Taiwanese books are harder to translate. It can be a bit tiring, but I think their content is better than what’s coming out of the mainland. In four or five years, it may be the era of Taiwanese literature in Korean publishing circles.
Kim migrated to Taiwan, not only because of his love for Taiwanese literature, but also because he was dissatisfied with the political chaos in his hometown. He revealed what his favorite Taiwanese treat is.
Kim Tae-sung
Translator
What was a little surprising was that Taiwan’s self-serve buffets are so delicious and so cheap.
Kim has used his expertise to make special contributions to Taiwanese literature and has also become a major promoter of Taiwanese books in Korea.
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#Taiwan #literature #Taiwanliterature #translationskills #translation #korea
韓國第一人! 促成台書進軍韓國市場 金泰成獲頒"文化獎章"
2025-10-01
今年6月舉辦的首爾國際書展，台灣首度受邀成為主題國，幕後推手，就是韓國籍的翻譯家-金泰成，在他翻譯的150部華語作品中，其中有20部是台灣書籍，金泰成說，台灣書籍比起中國小說，更加講究修辭，文化部長也特地頒贈三等文化獎章，是首位被頒贈文化獎章的外國譯者，也是首位亞洲人獲獎。
文化部長李遠，親自頒贈文化獎章給韓國籍譯者金泰成。金泰成是首位被頒贈文化獎章的外國譯者，也是首位亞洲人獲獎。
[[文化部長 李遠]]
“台灣文學因為是繁體字，被世界沒有看到，金泰成先生願意用他自己專業能力，把我們的小說，散文，推到韓國去”
來自韓國的金泰成，已翻譯超過150部華語文學，其中有20本，是台灣作品，今年更首度將台灣推進首爾國際書展。
[[翻譯家 金泰成]]
“大陸小說裡面都缺乏思考，不太講究修辭，台灣的書，(翻譯起來)不容易，有點累，但是我覺得(內容)比大陸還好，四、五年後，可能在韓國出版界的話，可能是台灣文學的時代”
除了喜愛台灣文學，也因不滿家鄉政治亂象，移居台灣，他透露心中第一名美食，是這個。
[[翻譯家 金泰成]]
“有點不可思議的是，台灣的自助餐，非常好吃，很便宜”
金泰成以自身專業，為台灣文學做出特殊貢獻，也成為台灣書籍走入韓國的重要推手。
更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00
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