Participants of the 55th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards pose during the award ceremony at the Korea Press Center in Jung District, Seoul, Thursday. From top left clockwise are Irish Ambassador to Korea Michelle Winthrop; The Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin; First Vice Culture Minister Yong Ho-seong; KB Kookmin Bank Sales Group Senior Executive Vice President Son Seog-ho; judge Jung Ha-yun, associate professor of interpretation and translation at Ewha Womans University; Nam Seung-ha, recipient on behalf of Kevin O'Rourke Prize winners Nam Jeong-keun and Nam Seo-jeong; poet Son Young-hee; Poetry Commendation Award winner Lee Jeong-ju; University of British Columbia professor Bruce Fulton, recipient on behalf of Fiction Grand Prize winner Wingshun Pang; and Poetry Grand Prize winner Julie Sohn. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

First Vice Culture Minister Yong Ho-seong, left, poses with professor Bruce Fulton, who received the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award on behalf of Wingshun Pang for her translation of novelist Kim Cho-yeop's "Why Don't the Pilgrims Come Back," during the 55th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards ceremony. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Son Seog-ho, left, senior executive vice president of Sales Group at KB Kookmin Bank, poses with Poetry Grand Prize winner Julie Sohn during the 55th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards ceremony. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

The Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, left, and Poetry Commendation Award winner Lee Jeong-ju pose during the 55th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards ceremony. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Irish Ambassador to Korea Michelle Winthrop, left, hands the Kevin O'Rourke Prize to Nam Seung-ha, who received the award on behalf of winners Nam Jeong-keun and Nam Seo-jeong, during the 55th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards ceremony. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Poet Son Young-hee, the original author of the Kevin O'Rourke Prize winning translation, "Where Did All Heartbeats in the World Go," gives her remarks during the awards ceremony. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Bruce Fulton, a professor at the University of British Columbia who has been translating Korean literature for over four decades, reads The Korea Times during the award ceremony. Fulton, a three-time winner of the Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards with his wife Ju-Chan in the 1980s, attended the event on behalf of his student Wingshun Pang, who won the Grand Prize in fiction. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Yong Ho-seong, first vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, offers congratulatory remarks during the 55th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards ceremony. He said that the government will do its best to support the future of literature translation. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Son Seog-ho, senior executive vice president of Sales Group at KB Kookmin Bank, speaks during the 55th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards ceremony. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk