Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Seoul Jazz Festival kicks off after two-year COVID-19 hiatus
Seoul Jazz Festival, a landmark annual outdoor jazz fest, kicked off its three-day concert series on Friday. The in-person festival resumed after a two-year break as South Korea scrapped most of its COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. This year’s Seoul Jazz Festival took place at the Olympic Park’s 88 Jandi Madang in southern Seoul. While Friday’s performance was set to run from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., some of the audiences came as early as 8 a.m. to get in a line to re
May 27, 2022
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[Herald Interview] BTS a ‘wonderful musical companion’ : Big Hit Music producer Pdogg
K-pop has become one of the most popular music genres in the global music scene, thanks to local artists’ active promotion of their songs. Seven-piece boy band BTS is one of the biggest music sensations in K-pop history, dominating global music charts and awards with its megahits. “Butter,” “Spring Day,” “Blood, Sweat and Tears,” “Fake Love” and ”Dynamite” are but a few of BTS’ songs that are well recognized around the wor
May 26, 2022
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Pink Sweat$ counts on ‘big energy’ at first performance in Korea as Seoul Jazz Festival’s headliner
American R&B singer-songwriter Pink Sweat$, who is set to meet his fans in Korea for the first time, said that he expects to see some “big energy” from the audience. In a press conference held on Wednesday at InterContinental Seoul Coex in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, the artist expressed his excitement for the upcoming Seoul Jazz Festival, which is set to run Friday to Sunday. The first thing the musician said as soon as he walked into the venue was “thank you” in K
May 25, 2022
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Ballet Festival Korea returns despite lack of funding
The 12th edition of Ballet Festival Korea will be held with 26 performances in June, the organizing committee said Tuesday, with Seoul Arts Center as the co-organizer. Under the theme of “Open Up the New Ordinary Days,” the festival will showcase old and new ballet productions by both established and emerging dancers from June 9-29. Some of the highlights include the opening performance, “Ahn Jung-geun, a Dance in the Heaven,” a 2015 production by M Ballet Company,
May 24, 2022
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Gurzenich Orchester Koln returns to Korea with Clara-Jumi Kang
Gurzenich Orchester Koln will be performing in South Korea for the first time in five years, this time with violinist Clara-Jumi Kang as the soloist, according to production company Vincero. Led by conductor Francois-Xavier Roth who has helmed the orchestra since 2015, the 195-year-old orchestra will perform at Seoul Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on July 8. Outside of Seoul, the team will bring the same program to Andong Culture and Arts Center in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province on July 7. Th
May 24, 2022
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[Herald Interview] Composer Paul Chihara on new viola concerto inspired by Arirang and Richard Yongjae O‘Neill
On Thursday and Friday, beloved violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill performed with his usual gusto for Korean audiences. Under the baton of music director and conductor Osmo Vanska, O’Neill and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra performed Sibelius’ Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63. What made these concerts particularly significant was his rendition of Paul Chihara’s “Concerto for Viola and Orchestra: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Hero.” The piece was uniq
May 24, 2022
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‘American Song Contest’ winner AleXa eager to introduce K-pop globally
Rising K-pop artist AleXa, who won NBC’s “American Song Contest,” said the K-pop genre itself seemed like a new genre in the US music scene and that she was eager to introduce this style of music to US audiences through her performance on the show. “(Winning the competition) feels like a dream. It does not seem real,” AleXa said during a press conference held in Seoul on Thursday upon her arrival in Korea. “I received a lot of public votes. I think it was bec
May 19, 2022
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[Herald Review] ‘Death Note’ offers a glimpse at future of musicals
Ever since “Death Note,” a Japanese manga series was first introduced to the world in 2003, it has been adapted for various mediums, including animation, film and TV drama. The story of a teenage genius, Light, with superpowers that allow him to kill with a notebook, was released as a musical in Japan in 2015 and soon thereafter a Korean version featuring K-pop superstar Kim Junsu, a former member of boy band TVXQ, became a huge hit in Korea. For the show’s third local re
May 18, 2022
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Lee Soo-young says making comeback after 13 years feels like ‘redebuting’
Veteran ballad singer Lee Soo-young is back with her 10th full-length album “Sory,” marking her new studio album release in nearly 13 years following “Dazzle,” which dropped in October 2009. In a press conference held in Seoul on Tuesday, ahead of the online release of the album at 6 p.m., the singer described her grand comeback as “making a debut for the second time,” with a quivering voice while shedding tears. “When I debuted at the age of 20, I w
May 17, 2022
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[Unveil] Rising indie group SURL wants to take rock back to the masses
Rock music is seen as a cult genre in Korea, according to SURL, with the wider public not knowing much about it. But as one of the groups scheduled to participate in Mnet’s next music survival program “Great Seoul Invasion,” a program aimed to discover Korea’s next generation of band groups, indie band Surl hopes to bridge the gap. “We want to break down that barrier. Hopefully, our next full-length album and Mnet’s upcoming band survival show will become an o
May 17, 2022
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Music in PyeongChang returns bigger and earlier
The 19th edition of Music in PyeongChang is set to take place earlier and will be bigger than before, the festival’s artistic director Son Yeol-eum said Monday. The iconic music festival will be held for 22 days from July 2 to 23 at various places in Gangwon Province under the theme of “Mask.” “Because of the masks during the pandemic, we were able to stay connected during a time of disconnection,” Son said. In ancient Greece, masks were synonymous with perso
May 17, 2022
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BTS extends winning streak with three Billboard Music Awards
K-pop sensation BTS took home three prizes at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), marking the group‘s sixth consecutive year winning a trophy at the event. The septet’s wins -- top duo or group, top song sales artist and top selling song -- were announced by Billboard on social media on Sunday, ahead of the awards show that took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Since becoming the first-ever K-pop act to win a BBMA award in 2017 by snagging the top social arti
May 16, 2022
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[Herald Review] Beautiful Mint Life 2022 brings festival sing-alongs back to Seoul
With festival season back in full swing after many COVID-19 social distancing rules were removed earlier this spring, around 8,000 music fans flocked to Olympic Park’s 88 Jandi Madang in southeastern Seoul on Saturday, eager to enjoy long-awaited outdoor performances. Beautiful Mint Life 2022, an annual indie music festival, was special not only for attendees, but also the performers onstage. With audience sing-alongs and cheerful dances, the performances felt as though people had almost f
May 15, 2022
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Legendary pianist Pollini’s recitals in South Korea canceled due to health issues
The much-anticipated recitals in South Korea by Maurizio Pollini, considered one of the world’s leading pianists, have been canceled due to health reasons, the event organizer said on Thursday. Event organizer Mast Media cited chronic bronchitis as the reason for the 80-year-old musician’s abrupt cancellation of the recitals, titled “The Emperor of Piano: ‘Once in a Lifetime’” scheduled for May 19 and May 25 at the Seoul Arts Center. The company said that
May 12, 2022
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Over 70 years old and fangirling: Lim Young-woong leads evolution of trot fandom
At age 71, Kim Im-kyung is learning how to be a fangirl. At her three-room apartment in Seoul, Kim turned one whole room into a shrine dedicated to her idol -- Korean trot singer Lim Young-woong -- decorating it with his posters and a collection of fan merchandise like a light stick. To help Lim’s songs rank high on music charts, she plays his latest album through an online music streaming service all day long, despite personally owning five physical copies of it. She watches al
May 12, 2022
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Global pop artists to visit Korea as distancing rules drop
With South Korea’s COVID-19 social distancing rules lifted, big-name global pop artists are returning to the country. Norwegian singer-songwriter Jakob Ogawa will be the first pop artist to hold a concert after the government scrapped distancing restrictions. The musician will hold his solo concert “Jakob (fka Jakob Ogawa) Live in Seoul” at Rolling Hall in Mapo-gu, western Seoul on May 20. It will mark the artist’s first meeting with local fans. Icelandic iconic post-r
May 11, 2022
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Two Grammy-winning string soloists to perform with orchestras in Seoul
Two Grammy-winning artists, violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill and violinist Hilary Hahn, are scheduled to perform in South Korea in the coming weeks. O’Neill will join the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra for two concerts on May 19 and 20 at the Lotte Concert Hall in Songpa-gu, Seoul, marking the first time in 15 years for the US-based violist to perform with the orchestra. During the 90-minute concert, O’Neill will premiere Paul Chihara’s “Concerto for Viola an
May 10, 2022
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World DJ Festival to return to physical stage in August
As South Korea scrapped most COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, the World DJ Festival, an annual outdoor electronic music festival, will return to the physical stage in August at Auxiliary Stadium in Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul. This year’s festival will be held for three consecutive days starting Aug. 11 and is expected to be the biggest in-person event since the pandemic, accommodating around 70,000 to 80,000 people, according to festival organizer BEPCTangent Creative on Tues
May 10, 2022
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[Herald Interview] Nomadic soprano Park Hye-sang finds sanctuary in music
For the last four years, Park Hye-sang, an emerging South Korean soprano, has lived as a cultural nomad, bouncing between New York, Berlin and Seoul to further her career as an opera singer. The first four months of this year alone were a whirlwind of concerts and long-haul flights for Park. In January, she was in New York to perform Pamina in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” with the Metropolitan Opera and in Prague for an Opera Gala with Prague Philharmonia. From there, she hop
May 9, 2022
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Star-studded lineup marks return of Beautiful Mint Life
Beautiful Mint Life 2022, an annual outdoor indie music festival, will take place from Friday through Sunday at the Olympic Park’s 88 Jandi Madang in southeastern Seoul. This year’s Beautiful Mint Life was originally planned as a two-day event, but additional performances have been scheduled for Friday on huge demand for stage performances amid the eased quarantine measures. The tickets for Saturday and Sunday sold out in just five minutes, according to the festival organizer Mint
May 9, 2022