Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[Weekender] Urban legends stoke kids' fears
Children growing up in Korea are exposed to numerous urban legends that often fan fear and anxiety -- unfounded fears, in the eyes of adults. Set against the backdrop of modernized cities, the urban legends typically involve nighttime happenings at rather ordinary, everyday places -- schools, elevators, bus stops, bathrooms, and so forth -- creating irrational fears of everyday activities. In those stories, a ghost happens to arise from right next to the bed or under the desk and tries to suff
July 1, 2016
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Afghan fury as Iran, Turkey claim Sufi poet
KABUL (AFP) - Who can lay claim to Rumi, the Sufi mystic who is one of the world’s most beloved poets? A bid by Iran and Turkey to do so has exasperated Afghanistan, the country of his birth eight centuries ago.Tehran and Ankara asked to list the work of Jalal ud-Din Muhammad Rumi as their joint heritage on the U.N.’s “Memory of the World” register in May.The register, falling under the U.N.’s cultural organization UNESCO, was formed in 1997 to protect the world’s documentary heritage -- archive
June 30, 2016
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Aside from ‘Hamilton,’ Revolutionary era inspires little art
NEW YORK (AP) -- Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and 11 Tony Awards, "Hamilton" is a cultural phenomenon that stands as the most celebrated work of art ever inspired by the American Revolution.The competition is remarkably thin.While the Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War have inspired acclaimed movies, plays, poems and novels, from Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" to Steven Spielberg’s "Saving Private Ryan," notable works about the American Revolution are rare outside of history
June 30, 2016
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Debate rages in Germany over ‘regretting motherhood’
BERLIN (AFP) -- Is it possible to regret becoming a mother? The question first posed by an Israeli researcher has stirred a debate in Germany like in no other country, shattering a long-held taboo.“In Israel, it was settled in a week. In Germany, it has lasted for months,” said sociologist Orna Donath, whose study “Regretting Motherhood” was published in 2015.Tired of hearing that she “would regret” not having a child, the researcher collected testimonies from 23 women who, on the contrary, love
June 30, 2016
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Ancient temple of Mexican Otomi Indians damaged
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Assailants have damaged an ancient Otomi Indian religious site in Mexico, toppling stone structures used as altars, breaking carved stones and scattering offerings of flowers, fruit and paintings at the remote mountain shrine known as Mayonihka or Mexico Chiquito.The attack was unusual in a country where few ancient pre-Hispanic religious sites remain functioning.A researcher who interviewed some of the attackers said they identified themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses and view
June 29, 2016
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Language of China’s emperors in peril
SANJIAZI, China (AFP) - It was the language of China’s last imperial dynasty which ruled a vast kingdom for nearly three centuries. But 71-year-old Ji Jinlu is among only a handful of native Manchu speakers left.Traders and farmers from what are now the borders of China and Korea, the Manchus took advantage of a crumbling Ming state and swept south in the 1600s to establish their own Qing Dynasty.Manchu became the court language, its angular, alphabetic script used in millions of documents produ
June 28, 2016
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Air and Space Museum celebrates 40th with new exhibit
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is opening its newly renovated Milestones of Flight gallery to the public.The Washington Post reports (http://wapo.st/290ZD5f) that starting Tuesday, visitors can see the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, which now has a huge interactive touch-screen display, revamped artifacts labels, the USS Enterprise from Star Trek and a lunar module like the one in the 1969 moon landing.Space artifacts curator Allan Needell says he hopes the l
June 28, 2016
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[Foreigners Who Loved Korea] The George Fitch family, supporters of Korean independence activists
In 1968, the government of the Republic of Korea bestowed the Order of Independence Merit for National Foundation unto the missionary George Ashmore Fitch (Korean name: Bi Oh-saeng). Fitch was none other than the Suzhou-born U.S. missionary who had provided a meeting place for Korean independence activists in Shanghai, China in 1919, acted as director of the Korean Relief Society and adviser to Inseong School in the 1920s and provided refuge to Kim Gu after Yun Bong-gil’s patriotic deed at Hongk
June 27, 2016
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New history organization to fuel debate on ancient territories
Historians critical of scholars’ colonial views formed a new organization on Sunday to push their claims on ancient territories, a move expected to pour further fuel on a debate with their academic opponents.The Council for Correct History for Future was launched with the Hangaram History and Culture Research Center, among other private organizations, as founding members. An official with the council said 115 organizations have signed up, with more to soon follow suit.These historians have been
June 27, 2016
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Rocky future for Somalia’s ancient cave art
LAAS GEEL, Somalia (AFP) - Centuries have passed since Neolithic artists swirled red and white color on the cliffs of northern Somalia, painting antelopes, cattle, giraffes and hunters carrying bows and arrows.Today, the paintings at Laas Geel in the self-declared state of Somaliland retain their fresh brilliance, providing vivid depictions of a pastoralist history dating back some 5,000 years or more.“These paintings are unique. This style cannot be found anywhere in Africa,” said Abdisalam Sha
June 27, 2016
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Greek foundation unveils new Athens opera, national library
ATHENS (AFP) -- A leading Greek foundation on Friday unveiled a sprawling new park, opera and national library in southern Athens designed to “give hope” to a country brought low by a six-year economic crisis.The 1,400-seat opera, library and adjoining park designed by famed Italian architect Renzo Piano cost nearly 600 million euros ($680 million) and took eight years to design and build.“We thought it was very important to give hope,” Andreas Dracopoulos, copresident of the Stavros Niarchos fo
June 26, 2016
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Prime minister calls for more international cultural cooperation
GWANGJU (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday said that the international community should further cultural cooperation since the power of culture can contribute greatly to world unity.“I think the power of culture can go beyond borders, greatly contributing to making the world into one beautiful community,” Hwang said during a speech at the formal opening ceremony for the seventh Asia-Europe Culture Ministers’ Meeting in Gwangju. “So, in that sense, cultural cooperation of the in
June 23, 2016
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A rare look at Joseon king's funeral
Preparing a funeral for a Joseon king required many steps. It took five to seven months to prepare the body for the funeral. It required that the country’s top pungsu -- or Korean geomancy -- experts choose an ideal burial site. And thousands of workers were recruited to construct the tomb and carry the body to the burial site. Such lesser-known facts about kings’ deaths and the complex funeral procedures of the Joseon era (1392-1910) are revealed at the new exhibition “Royal Tombs of the Joseo
June 23, 2016
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Upcoming after-work cultural shows at Seoul Plaza
Free cultural performances will be offered at the grass-covered plaza in front of Seoul City Hall from Saturday to September.The Seoul Metropolitan City said on Wednesday it will create a 13-meter-tall stage at the open space for office workers to enjoy cultural activities daily at 7 p.m. (Seoul Metropolitan City)There are likely to be performances across genres including classical music, Korean traditional music, hip-hop and tango, among others. An 80-minute circus parade will take place on Sat
June 22, 2016
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ASEM culture ministers‘ meeting kicks off in Gwangju
High-level cultural officials from the Asia-Europe Meeting member countries gathered in the southwestern Korean city of Gwangju on Wednesday to share their experiences in cultivating creative industries.Some 200 delegates from 51 ASEM member countries, including eight culture ministers and 11 deputy ministers, will attend the 7th Asia-Europe Culture Ministers’ Meeting, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said.The event will take place at the Asia Culture Center, a state-run arts and conc
June 22, 2016
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Smithsonian to host 1st major US Quran exhibition
WASHINGTON (AP) --The Quran, revered by Muslims, is the centerpiece of a first-of-its-kind exhibition in the United States as the Smithsonian displays exquisitely decorated manuscripts from one of the top Quran collections.The Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery announced Tuesday that “The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts” will bring 48 manuscripts and folios from the museum in Istanbul together with manuscripts from the collection of the Sackler and F
June 22, 2016
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Ancient sarcophagus covers returned to Egypt
CAIRO (AP) -- Two ancient Egyptian sarcophagus covers have been delivered to Cairo’s Egyptian Museum after they surfaced at an auction in Israel.Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anani says the colorful wooden covers, decorated with hieroglyphics and illustrations, were recovered after they went on sale in 2012 and arrived at the museum Tuesday following cooperation between the two countries and Interpol. Egyptian antiquities officials uncrate a sarcophagus cover on its arrival to the Egyptian Muse
June 22, 2016
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Korea, Portugal promise to expand cooperation in culture-related areas
South Korea and Portugal agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in media, education, sports and other culture-related areas, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.The agreement was part of a three-year cultural exchange plan signed at a joint committee meeting in Seoul on Monday between Choi Young-sam, a director of the ministry's bureau in charge of cultural affairs, and Ana Paula Laborinho, head of Portugal's government agency leading international cultural exchanges.Under the plan, both agreed to
June 21, 2016
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Chinese art trading scheme enters Korea
Artworks are usually purchased primarily for aesthetic reasons and are mostly privately owned, but a relatively new Chinese model of art investment allows multiple buyers to share an artwork. The Chinese model of artwork stock exchange, which invites investors to buy and sell shares of artworks, has landed in Korea, with the China National Culture and Art Co., LTD, a holding company under the China’s Culture Ministry, opening the Korea Culture and Artworks Exchange on Wednesday. This marks the
June 16, 2016
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Cho Young-nam indicted without detention on fraud charges
Singer-artist Cho Young-nam, who has been in hot water since May over allegations he hired a ghost painter for several years to create his paintings, was indicted without detention on fraud charges Tuesday, according to the Chuncheon Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. Cho is accused of allegedly having two ghost painters create his paintings, well known for motifs of Korean folk card game Go-Stop, from about five years ago and selling them without informing his buyers of the fact. His manager was als
June 14, 2016