The main theme repeated throughout the book is that the South Korea-US alliance should be a means to seek the national interest. In other words, the national interest needs to come first, before the South Korea-US alliance. He says South Koreans need to overcome their “addiction” to the alliance and need to focus on mutual interests for a healthier alliance. Accordingly, he writes, South Korea ne...

Fairmont Ambassador Seoul celebrates spring with cherry blossom tea set The Fairmont Ambassador Seoul presents the Cherry Blossom High Tea Set, served until May 31 in the hotel’s first floor Atrium Lounge. The seasonal tea set captures the beauty of Yeouido’s iconic spring cherry blossoms on a tray. Elegantly modeled after butterflies, blossoming trees and potted cherry blossoms, the desserts ar...

Broadcaster JTBC on Tuesday hit back at criticisms of history distortion by releasing part of its plot for their upcoming drama “Snowdrop.” “Snowdrop,” a romance drama featuring actor Jung Hae-in and Blackpink’s Jisoo, is set to air in the second half of this year. Based on earlier released synopsis and character descriptions, some inferred that the plot revolved around a North Korean spy and t...

The new YouTube Originals series “K-Pop Evolution” will trace the rise of K-pop to global prominence. The seven-part English docuseries will kick off Wednesday at 10 p.m., and a new episode will be uploaded each week. The show chronicles the growth of the now 10 billion dollar K-pop industry from its birth with Seo Taiji and Boys in the 1990s to its current global popularity. K-pop idols from di...

Another brand that focuses on the reduction of waste at the design level is 000gan. The two major ways it does this are zero-waste design and making its clothes on demand. “By using zero-waste design, we design to minimize raw material waste from the creation level,” said Shin Yoon-ye, CEO of 000gan. “When we make clothes, we make them like a puzzle so that the leftover cloth is minimized. Also,...

Longtime comedian Park Soo-hong confirmed Monday that he is in a financial dispute with his brother and sister-in-law, after rumors of the conflict circulated online over the weekend. The matter was brought to light when someone claimed in a comment to Park’s YouTube channel that his brother, who has been the entertainer‘s manager for 30 years at Park’s one-man agency, took all of his earnings f...

Largest South Korean over-the-top platform Wavve on Friday announced that it will proceed with investing 1 trillion won ($885 million) in original content through 2025. Wavve is a joint venture between SK Telecom and terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS and the biggest local OTT platform. “Through investment in original content, we hope to expand the partnership between broadcasters, produ...

Streaming platform Watcha will have screens dedicated to showing Watcha movies at 14 CGV theaters around the nation starting April 1. Eleven Watcha movies will be shown throughout April. “Little Joe” (2019) and “Swallow” (2019) will be available in all 14 theaters while “House of Hummingbird,” “Microhabitat,” “Bleak Night,” “Moving On,” “Worst Woman” and “Cheer Up Mr. Lee” will be shown for two ...

Broadcaster SBS announced it will cancel “Joseon Exorcist” after the drama faced controversy over historical inaccuracies in just two episodes. “Joseon Exorcist,” about zombies appearing in the Joseon era, was criticized by many Koreans for using Chinese-style costumes and props, especially at a time when Chinese claims to kimchi and hanbok in recent months have angered the public here. Although...

Grand Deli presents Cherry Blossom Cake Grand Deli, on the first floor of Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Samseong-dong, is now offering its Cherry Blossom Cake. The pink and white Cherry Blossom Cake is decorated with dozens of elegant cherry blossom petals made from butter cream handcrafted by the hotel’s pastry chef, Eric Kalaboke. The cake sheet contains beta carotene-packed, highly...

South Korea-based Japanese entertainer Sayuri Fujita will be joining “The Return of Superman,” broadcaster KBS said Tuesday. The entertainer, better known as Sayuri, became a single mother by choice in November last year. Her decision to get pregnant through a sperm bank in Japan -- because it is illegal in Korea for a single woman to do so -- raised awareness of the legal issues surrounding spe...

A new military entertainment show “The Iron Squad,” which kicked off on Tuesday, will be the ultimate showdown to determine which branch of the armed forces is the strongest by pitting former members of different units against each other. Produced by Sky Channel and Channel A, the show is unlike many past military entertainment programs that featured celebrities experiencing military training. ...

Meeting with game industry leaders for the first time since assuming office in February, Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Hwang Hee said the government was keen on promoting the game industry. “As the Korean economy transitions to non-face-to-face and digital, the gaming industry is showing promise. Games are not only growing in an economical aspect, but are becoming a widespread cultural le...

The other two teams that have secured playoffs are T1 and DRX. T1’s 10-man roster has been a hotly debated topic throughout the season as constant changes to starting members by T1 coach Yang “Daeny” Dae-in did not yield the results that fans expected for the celebrated team at the start of the second round. After many roster changes and criticism from fans, players and esports communities, T1 ...

Korean celebrities and K-pop stars have joined the growing chorus of support for the #StopAsianHate movement, speaking out against the shootings in Atlanta, Georgia last week that killed 8 people, six of them Asian women. Notably, Korean American singer Eric Nam, who was born and raised in Atlanta, wrote an opinion piece for Time magazine on Saturday, titled, “If you’re surprised by the anti-Asi...