Maksim Mrvica, a Croatian pianist whose musical passion was sparked after catching a glimpse of a piano at his best friend’s house when he was eight years old, inspired Korean children with disabilities with music lessons. The renowned classical-pop crossover pianist participated in mentoring classes with disabled children at Pony Chung Hall in southern Seoul on Tuesday. “All children should be...

Former hagwon boss helps mentally disabled open up through sculpture classes In a small classroom, students start rolling and kneading clay after listening to the teacher’s instructions. Showered with praise and encouragement from their teacher, they become engrossed in shaping stems and petals to make flowers. Kim Jeong-min, 53, received a local welfare award from Seoul City for running a pot...

Popular professor Ahn Cheol-soo announced Wednesday his official entry into the presidential race. Ahn’s announcement officially marks the start of a three-way race between the ruling Saenuri Party’s Park Geun-hye, opposition Democratic United Party’s Moon Jae-in and Ahn. "People I have met over the past months have expressed desire for political reform. Old politics should be overhauled. I'll ...

A YouTube video uploaded by Japanese people insulting the South Korean national flag Taegeukgi has triggered furious responses here in Seoul. In the video, a group of Japanese people place the maliciously depicted Taegeukgi on the floor and take turns to trample on it. According to Yonhap News, the people in the video are far-right activists demanding that Japan sever diplomatic ties with Korea....

Hong Sa-duk, a key aide to the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye, quit the party Tuesday after he was accused of taking illegal political donations. “I voluntarily leave the party so as not to burden the party and its candidate,” the former lawmaker said in a statement. Hong, regarded as Park’s right-hand man, headed the presidential hopeful’s campaign team during ...

Calm, intelligent, loyal and strategically-mined, Hong Sa-duk had been regarded as a critical asset of Saenuri Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye’s campaign. The veteran politician, however, became a liability with his remarks late last month hailing former President Park Chung-hee’s iron-fisted rule. Hong, who has served in parliament six times, is now embroiled in a political funding ...

A former U.S. envoy for North Korea said Tuesday that possible differences between Seoul and Washington over how to deal with Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions would not be much of a concern as they share the common goal of denuclearization. Washington has apparently been handling the North as part of its broader non-proliferation initiative while Seoul focuses on the denuclearization agenda. Some h...