Market growing for TV writers

Korea TV and Radio Writers Association chairperson Lee Kum-lim has seen it all. The 65-year-old veteran writer witnessed the boom of the local drama industry from its relatively nascent beginnings in the 1980s to its current formidable status as the vanguard of the Korean Wave in the 21st century. Now, as the jury chair for the 8th Seoul International Drama Awards, Lee has gained further global perspective on the role that Korean dramas are playing in the overseas market as well. “Koreans love d

TelevisionAug. 27, 2013

Junho to appear in ‘Hyeopnyeo’

2PM member Junho will be appearing in the movie “Hyeopnyeo,” directed by Park Heung-shik, alongside Korean film stars Lee Byung-hun, Chun Do-yeon and Kim Go-eun. A specific role for the boy band member has not been revealed yet, but the production team announced that official filming for the movie will begin in September. This will not be the first time Junho has made an on-screen appearance. He made his film debut playing the role of the host of a music show in horror flick “White: The Melody o

Aug. 27, 2013

Park Han-byul denies rumors of breakup

Actress and model Park Han-byul has denied rumors that she has broken up with singer Se7en, her boyfriend of 11 years, and that she is currently dating baseball player Ryu Hyun-jin.On Tuesday morning the actress’ agency, JF Entertainment, released a statement dispelling rumors of a breakup with Se7en and firmly denied that the actress was dating the L.A. Dodgers’ star pitcher.“Park Han-byul is still dating Se7en and the rumor of her dating Ryu Hyun-jin is just something from the tabloids,” a rep

Aug. 27, 2013

John Park performs with Swan Dive

Korean-American singer John Park recently held a joint performance with American pop duo Swan Dive in the middle of a traditional Korean market in Incheon for the recording of TV channel MBC Music’s “Picnic Live Sound, Landscape.” Nashville-based Swan Dive, which appeared at a rock festival in Korea, made a special performance for the show, which aired Monday night. The production team for “Picnic Live Sound, Landscape” wanted to arrange for an artist to perform with the duo and decided to invit

Aug. 27, 2013

Korean culture fever grips Finland

HELSINKI ― You wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it: More than 100 young Finns, mostly teenage girls, were dancing to the latest K-pop tunes at the Gloria Culture Center in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki on the evening of Aug. 10. The dance hall with a large stage was filled with people dressed in Seoul street fashion dancing to the songs of SHINee, GD&TOP and 2NE1 at the “Annyeong (Hello) Party.” The blondes and brunettes with fair skin sang along and even mimicked the sophisticated raps

Aug. 27, 2013

Jin Meyerson explores overcoming boundaries in exhibition

American artist Jin Meyerson is holding a solo exhibition titled “Endless Frontier” from Aug. 28 to Oct. 6 at Hakgojae Gallery in Sogyeok-dong, central Seoul.The artist takes images from the media, particularly magazines, television and the Internet, and then distorts them by stretching them out, reducing them, layering and recoloring them. His digital experimentation using a computer combined with the traditional hands-on technique of oil painting creates complex, multidimensional pieces. The f

PerformanceAug. 26, 2013

Hip-hop world caught up in a cutthroat ‘diss war’

The local hip-hop scene has been explosive this past week with disses flying in every direction as several popular rap stars decided to carry out their feuds publicly, and with some pretty harsh verses. It all started two weeks ago with the release of the hip-hop track “Control,” by American rap artists Big Sean, featuring Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica. The single basically called out a handful of the new rappers in the U.S. music industry, such as Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky and D

PerformanceAug. 26, 2013

Timberlake, ’N Sync take over Video Music Awards

NEW YORK (AP) ― Miley Cyrus’ foam finger, Lady Gaga’s thong, Taylor Swift’s mean streak and the look on Rihanna’s face while Drake performed will surely be remembered, but these MTV Video Music Awards belonged to Justin Timberlake.Timberlake briefly reunited with ’N Sync, won moonman trophies including top honor video of the year for “Mirrors” plus the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and managed to overshadow most of today’s top pop stars while doing it. “I don’t deserve the award, but I’m

PerformanceAug. 26, 2013

Kim Bong-ryol appointed chief of arts university

Kim Bong-ryol, a Korea National University of Arts professor, was appointed the president of the school on Monday, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. The inauguration ceremony will take place on Thursday. Kim will serve a four-year tenure. The 55-year-old Seoul National University graduate has been teaching at the KNUA since 1997. He is an authority on Korean architecture. Kim designed the presidential guesthouse, “Samcheongjang,” the Korean garden in Frankfurt as well as KNUA cam

PeopleAug. 26, 2013

Exhibition ponders a life in art through waterdrops

Artist Kim Tschang-yeul holds a retrospective that looks back on his artistic career, following his grand retrospective held in Taiwan earlier this year. The exhibition presents some 40 works that cover each stage of the 84-year-old artist’s career, including those from the early 1970s which saw the birth of his signature “Waterdrops” series to the present, shedding light on the transformation of Korean contemporary art as well. The retrospective at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts featur

PerformanceAug. 25, 2013

25 years in making, Hindu encyclopedia is complete

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) ― A comprehensive encyclopedia of one of the world’s major religions is set to be unveiled next week in the U.S. The 11-volume work covers Hindu spiritual beliefs, practices and philosophy, and is the culmination of a 25-year academic effort.The encyclopedia is written in English and includes about 7,000 articles on Hinduism and its practices. The work also deals with Indian history, languages, art, music, dance, architecture, medicine, and women’s issues. The entir

CultureAug. 25, 2013

Ben Affleck to play Batman in ‘Man of Steel’ sequel

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ― Actor Ben Affleck will play Batman in an upcoming Superman sequel that will see the two caped crusaders face off against each other, film studio Warner Bros Pictures said on Thursday. Affleck, 41, will take on the role of reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne, Batman’s alter-ego, in director Zack Snyder’s 2015 sequel to this year’s Superman reboot “Man of Steel,” starring 30-year-old British actor Henry Cavill. “We knew we needed an extraordinary actor to take on one of DC Co

FilmAug. 25, 2013

‘Show Me the Money’ exposes good and bad of the industry

This is the third in a series on producers, MCs, DJs and artists working in the Korean underground hip-hop scene. ― Ed.Despite high ratings and relative success, hip-hop artist MC Meta ― one half of established duo Garion ― said a lot needed to be done for future seasons of Mnet hip-hop audition show “Show Me the Money.”While the hip-hop talent search program, which just wrapped up its second season, did put more up-and-coming underground artists in the limelight, Meta said for him as a producer

PerformanceAug. 25, 2013

Homegrown characters go global

Everyone has a favorite cartoon character from childhood that occupies a special place in their memories. Until 2000, characters that reminded many Koreans of their childhood were not Korean creations. Most were Japanese or American, from the classic Tom and Jerry and Thomas and Friends to Pokemon and Digimon. Amid the swarm of foreign characters, the Korean character Dooly was rare in remaining popular since its debut in 1983 through a televised animation series on KBS. But for those who spent

CultureAug. 23, 2013