Cultural Insight

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In today's cultural news, we introduce the nation's best-selling books of the year. Take a look.

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Books offering consolation and empathy were especially popular this year. According to a 2018 list of best-selling books released by the Kyobo Book Center, The No.1 spot was taken by a collection of quotes about happiness delivered by Winnie the Pooh, the cheerful fictional teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne. An essay entitled "Every Moment was You" ranked second. Six out of the top ten books were essays giving readers life advice about happiness, love and youth. Ma Dong-seok, known for his muscular physique and warm-hearted personality, has been selected as the actor of the year. In a Gallup Korea survey of 1,700 people, which was conducted last month, 19.9 percent of respondents picked Ma as an actor who has done the most remarkable activities this year. Ma first made it into the annual top-ten list in 2016 and rose to the top spot just in two years. This year, he played the lead in five movies, including "Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days," which drew over ten million viewers. Actors Ha Jung-woo and Lee Byeong-heon ranked second and third, respectively, followed by Song Kang-go and Joo Ji-hoon. With male actors' dominance, there was no actress on the list.