The Korea Herald

Kwak Young-jin named vice minister of culture

Nov 16, 2011

Kwak Young-jin President Lee Myung-bak named Kwak Young-jin, his former secretary for cultural affairs, as the new deputy minister of culture, sports and tourism Wednesday. Kwak, 54, formerly served as the director-general of the Arts Bureau and the Planning Bureau at the Culture Ministry. Born in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, Kwak graduated from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. (...
‘Two different types of music will tell one story’

Nov 15, 2011

Simon Rattle anticipates intensity, depth in audiences during Berlin Phil’s Seoul performance While preparing two very different symphonies by two very dissimilar composers, maestro Simon Rattle hoped to tell just one story; a story in which the audience and the orchestra become one and feel the same air. “On stage, you feel the atmosphere immediately. It is not the matter of sound, but the mat...
Los Angeles takes baton as flagship for youth orchestras

Nov 14, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Gustavo Dudamel stands off to the side of an orchestra of T-shirt clad teens as they laboriously rehearse Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5.” He’s listening, not just with his ears, but also with irrepressible fingers that tap and pluck the air as if he’s actually conducting the piece. At the end, he hops on to the conducto’s podium and, beaming at his rapt pupils, demonstrates t...
Jeju chosen as 'new natural wonder'

Nov 12, 2011

JEJU ISLAND -- The southern South Korean resort island of Jeju has been named as one of the new seven natural wonders of the world in a worldwide poll, a Switzerland-based organization announced Saturday. The subtropical volcanic island, located 130 kilometers off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, was selected along with Brazil's Amazon region, Halong Bay in Vietnam, Argentina's Iguazu...
Master craftsmen struggle to make ends meet

Nov 9, 2011

Substantial support needed to bolster traditional craft industry Although he has been hammering Korean traditional patterns on metal for nearly half a century, artisan Park Moon-yeol’s life only began looking rosy in 1993, when he figured out the secret of the seven-step lock. Hearing about the existence of a peculiar Joseon Dynasty lock, he visited a folk museum in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Prov...
Gender segregation on rise in Israel

Nov 9, 2011

JERUSALEM (AP) ― Posters depicting women have become rare in the streets of Israel’s capital. In some areas women have been shunted onto separate sidewalks, and buses and health clinics have been gender-segregated. The military has considered reassigning some female combat soldiers because religious men don’t want to serve with them. This is the new reality in parts of 21st-century Israel, where...
Foreigners pick PyeongChang bid as most influential in promoting Korea

Nov 8, 2011

Foreign visitors to Korea and foreign residents chose PyeongChang’s successful Olympic bid as the biggest contribution to enhancing the country’s brand this year, a survey showed Tuesday. The e-mail survey of 514 Korean and expat opinion leaders and foreign visitors was conducted by Corea Image Communication Institute from Oct. 10 to Nov. 17. Of the 211 foreigners who participated in the survey...
Cave painters were realists, DNA study finds

Nov 8, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Cave painters during the Ice Age were more like da Vinci than Dali, sketching realistic depictions of horses they saw rather than dreaming them up, a study of ancient DNA finds. This undated photo provided by the Pech Merle Prehistory Center shows a cave painting of pair of spotted horses, found in the Pech Merle Cave in Cabrerets, southern France. Scientists estimate the draw...
Grisly theory for stone circles

Nov 6, 2011

RUJM AL-HIRI, Golan Heights (AP) ― A newly proposed solution to an ancient enigma is reviving debate about the nature of a mysterious prehistoric site that some call the Holy Land’s answer to Stonehenge. Some scholars believe the structure of concentric stone circles known as Rujm al-Hiri was an astrological temple or observatory, others a burial complex. The new theory proposed by archaeologist...
Pope John Paul II relics laid in Korea

Nov 4, 2011

A relic of the late Pope John Paull II at the Devine Mercy Jesus Retreat House in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. (The Society of the Catholic Apostolate) Relics of Pope John Paul II have come to Korea and been laid in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, and Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, to remind Korean people of his teachings, the Society of the Catholic Apostolate has said. The late pope’s hair has been...
Brides-to-be have much to learn

Nov 4, 2011

Brides-to-be bow deeply to their parents at the maiden class graduation ceremony on Wednesday at Yejiwon in central Seoul. (Chung Hee-cho/ The Korea Herald) Pre-wedding classes on wedding preparations and wifehood gain popularity Donned in spring-colored hanbok, or traditional Korean dress, eight brides-to-be gracefully glided to the front of the room and formed two rows in front of the folding...
57,000 artists to be insured against accidents

Nov 2, 2011

Artist welfare law to take effect November 2012 The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said about 57,000 South Korean performing artists will benefit from industrial accident insurance, just as employees in other industries do. The ministry’s announcement comes after the passing of the Artist Welfare Act by the National Assembly on Friday. The law, which takes effect in November 2012, aims...
Cheers and fears as world population hits 7 billion

Oct 31, 2011

MANILA (AFP) - Asia welcomed the world's first symbolic "seven billionth" baby on Monday, but celebrations were tempered by worries over the strain that humanity's population explosion is putting on a fragile planet. The United Nations says that by its best estimates the seven billionth baby will be born somewhere on October 31, and countries around the world have planned events surrounding the ...
Crowded Earth: how many is too many?

Oct 27, 2011

Already straining to host seven billion souls, Earth is set to teem with billions more, and only a revolution in the use of resources can avert an environmental crunch, experts say. As early as 1798, Thomas Malthus gloomily forecast that our ability to reproduce would quickly outstrip our ability to produce food, leading to mass starvation and a culling of the species. But an industrial revolut...
More companies support the arts

Oct 26, 2011

More companies partnered with art organizations through the Korean Business Council for the Arts this year than last year. A total of 83 companies sealed relationships with various art organizations on Wednesday at Seoul Namsan Traditional Theater in Pil-dong, central Seoul. Participants at the ceremony included Choe Kwang-shik, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Park Young-ju, head of...