Crazy for love milestones On KakaoTalk, the almost-ubiquitous messaging app for Koreans, it is not difficult to find users who display the number of days they have been together with someone on their personal profile page. Other than updating their relationship status to friends and acquaintances, the calendar icon serves a very practical purpose -- counting the days for important milestones in...

In one of the episodes of the Netflix series “Squid Game,” an old man hands over his last marble to the lead character, Gi Hun, saying, “We are gganbu. Gganbu always share everything with each other, no matter what.” By handing over his last marble, he lets Gi Hun win. The term “gganbu” in the story means close companions, like blood brothers who share everything without expecting anything in re...

The 2022 Deoksugung Spring Concert will be held at the fountain located in front of Deoksugung’s Seokjojeon at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Hosted by the Cultural Heritage Administration’s Deoksugung Palace Management Office and the Korean National Symphony Orchestra, the program for the evening includes popular pieces such as Johann Strauss’ “Voices of Spring Waltz,” Johannes Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No....

Considering there were only 20 households designated to manage Silla ancestral royal tombs in the south, and similarly some 20 gravekeepers for the Northern Yan kingdom (407-436) graves in the west at the time, the sheer number of sumyoin dedicated to the protection of Goguryeo’s royal tombs speaks volumes about the size and the wealth of the Goguryeo empire. Virtually no Roman glassware have be...

Maeng integrated all traditional Korean music, including music of the Three Kingdoms, into a greater scope of national music. For this, he persuaded Park Yeon, a prominent musician who insisted on using Chinese-style ritual music, to complete a Korean-style ritual music piece in collaboration with him. It shows that he was gentle and delicate in nature and reveals another aspect of him as a cultu...

The cafe offers craft beers and various wines priced between 8,000 won to 16,000 won per glass. Pizza, Gambas al Ajillo and a cheese plate are also available to pair with your drinks. The cafe opens at 1 p.m. and closes at 10 p.m. during the weekend. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. ( gypark@heraldcorp.com ) ( yunapark@heraldcorp.com ) ( sj_lee@heraldcorp.com )

Taking break from recording, Kim will focus on growing as conductor

This year's Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) will kick off next month to guide book lovers through the latest news and trends in the publishing industry at home and abroad, its organizers said Thursday. The SIBF 2022, the country's biggest annual book fair, is set to run from June 1-5 at the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul under the theme of "One Small Step," according to ...

Seoul’s largest cultural heritage festival highlights new technology in traditional contents, from media facades to digital ‘black tiger dance’

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Answer: b Netflix’s megahit series “Squid Game” didn’t just happen to have the ocean creature in its name. In South Korea, the invertebrate makes frequent appearances at school cafeterias, pubs and on dinner tables at home as a dish loved by people of all ages. In recent years, pe...

Ancestral rites for Joseon royals, tight rope walking entertains visitors to the former presidential office

On the afternoon of Friday, just two days before Parent’s Day, a flower shop at Namdaemun Market in Jung-gu, Seoul, is crowded with people buying carnation flowers as a gift for their parents. Parents’ Day in South Korea was established in 1973, replacing the Mother‘s Day previously marked on May 8, and includes diverse public and private celebrations. In South Korea, Koreans seek to honor thei...

On the morning of Friday, two days before the anniversary of Buddha’s birth, Buddhists perfume the image of Buddha as part of a ceremony to commemorate the baby Buddha’s arrival at Jogyesa Temple in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Buddhists chant prayers under colorful lanterns. Buddhists chant prayers under colorful lanterns. Officials of Jogyesa Temple put name tags under colorful lanterns as Buddhists an...

Ven. Junggoong, one of the disciples of Haekook, has been practicing Chamseon for 20 years, getting up at 2:40 a.m. daily to start his Seon meditation at 3 a.m. which continues until bedtime at 9:40 p.m. Junggoong says when you dig deep into Seon meditation, through long sustained breathing, “I feel my brain cells open up. Things I usually don’t remember come up. At the same time, I feel my own ...

Yi is recognized as one of the nation’s most significant cultural figures. His life is remarkable in the history of Korean neo-Confucianism. To solve the social problems that Goryeo faced, Yi fulfilled his responsibilities as a scholar, educator and politician from his experience of having studied at Guozijian, a national university in China’s Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), in his 20s. As the head of...