Rhee Kun Hoo

About

Rhee Kun-hoo is a renowned psychiatrist and best-selling author of “If You Live To 100, You Might As Well Be Happy.”

At 91, he is making waves internationally as his essays are translated into different languages in 16 countries this year thanks to the surge in popularity of Korean literature. Rhee said his book’s global popularity stems from readers’ curiosity about Korea.

“Like travelers wanting to explore different corners of the world, international readers want to meet people from different cultures through books. My book gives a little journey into Korea, enabling them to see how Koreans live,” the author said during an interview with The Korea Times at Family Academia, an organization that Rhee founded in 1995 to promote healthy family life in Jongno District, May 29.

books

I WANT TO HAVE FUN TILL THE DAY I DIE

Translated by: S.L. Park, Rights Sold: First Editions (France), Genre: Non-fiction / Essay / Life Philosophy

His book reflects on how to live well in one’s latter half of life.

“A Korean saying goes ‘life is two-crop farming,’ drawing a metaphor from the agricultural practice of cultivating two different crops on the same land in one year. The first half of life is lived in a rush. You don’t even know how to live well. The second half of life is when you can live well because you have the experience from living the first half,” he explained.

“This book is about that. When you reach your 60s, you look back on how you lived your life in the first half, reflect on it and design how you will live the second half.”

His debut book, “I Want to Have Fun Till the Day I Die” (2013), based on his experiences as a psychiatrist over 50 years, has sold approximately 500,000 copies in Korea.