Cultural Insight

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On today's cultural news, we bring you the story of veteran singer Cho Yong-pill receiving an honorary award at an inaugural music awards ceremony.

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Veteran pop singer Cho Yong-pil is the first winner of the "Thanks to You" award to be granted at an inaugural music awards ceremony. The Korea Public Music Awards is jointly launched by the Korea Singers Association, the Recording Industry Association of Korea and several other organizations. The winning list was announced ahead of its first ceremony this year. The Thanks to You category is awarded to a veteran singer who has been an exemplary model to young singers. Organizers said the honor is not a formality like some other achievement or appreciation awards but it carries a sincere meaning of dedication and unity among generations. They said Cho Yong-pil is the best candidate to receive the prize, noting he's been at the vanguard of Korea's pop music scene for five decades and still continues an active career. The inaugural Korea Public Music Awards will be held on December 20th starting with a red carpet event. A book authored by trauma surgeon and Ajou Medical University Professor Lee Kuk-jong has been chosen by publishers as the Book of the Year. Online bookstore Yes24 surveyed writers and publishing house editors for their pick on the Book of 2018 for the literature category. Eight out of 96 publishers chose Lee's book "Golden Hour." Golden Hour is an essay containing anecdotes Lee himself experienced during his 17 year career as a trauma surgeon. It also candidly depicts the reality of Korea's medical sector. Since published in October, the book has been consistently in the upper ranks of the literary best sellers list. Meanwhile, the two books that received the most votes from literary writers in the latest survey for a joint top ranking include an essay chronicling the history of women who love the male dominated sport of football. The other book is "To Room Nineteen," a short story collection by Doris Lessing who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007.