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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Professor Kang Sung-hyun’s Books Win Sejong Book Honors for Second Straight Year

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Press release Official statement Outcome reported
  • Two books planned or edited by Sungkonghoe University sociology professor Kang Sung-hyun were selected in the academic and general-interest categories of the 2026 Sejong Books list.
  • The books examine psychological warfare during the Korean War and the relationship between martial law, insurrection and democracy.
  • Kang’s solo book, “What Is Genocide Again?”, received an Outstanding Academic Book designation from the National Academy of Sciences in 2025.

Two books connected to Sungkonghoe University professor Kang Sung-hyun have passed different judging processes to enter the 2026 Sejong Books list, one in the academic category and the other in the general-interest category.

The academic selection went to “War Made by the Camera, the Edited Cold War: War and Ideological Psychological Warfare,” edited by Kang and Oh Young-sook and published by JinInJin. The book was selected in the social sciences division. “Martial Law, Insurrection and Democracy: Beyond an Age of War, Violence, the Far Right and Hate,” planned by Kang and Noh Young-gi and published by Yuksa Bipyeongsa, was chosen in the history, geography and tourism division of the general-interest category.

The selection follows Kang’s 2025 recognition for his solo book “What Is Genocide Again?”, published by Pureun Yeoksa in 2024. That book resulted from a Sungkonghoe University research support project for the 2020 academic year.

I wanted to create a knowledge commons as a collective rather than as an individual.

— Kang Sung-hyunKang described the collaborative aim behind the books.

This year’s Sejong Books list selected 345 of 2,194 academic submissions and 429 of 4,650 general-interest submissions. Academic judges assessed completeness, ambition and originality. The general-interest category used public value, readability and potential for social reach as criteria.

The books’ placement in different divisions also reflects their interdisciplinary approach. A historical study of Korean War-era images was reviewed in social sciences, while a book on the December 3 emergency martial law was assessed in history. Kang said he wanted to “create a knowledge commons as a collective rather than as an individual” and share the honor with his co-authors, who endured what he called the long night of martial law and insurrection together. He currently heads the Peace Worlding Research Institute.

I want to share this joy with the co-authors who endured the long night of martial law and insurrection and wrote the books together.

— Kang Sung-hyunKang dedicated the recognition to his co-authors.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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