Most Popular
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[Weekender] Geeks have never been so chic in Korea
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[KH Explains] Why Korea's so tough on short selling
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[News Focus] Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea
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NewJeans members submit petitions over court injunction in Hybe-Ador conflict
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‘Kim desperately wanted to denuclearize,’ Moon writes in memoirs
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Actors involved in past controversies return first via streaming service originals
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S. Korea's exports of instant noodles surpass $100m for 1st time in April: data
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Korea set to finalize medical school expansion plans
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Seoul City to open 'hotel' on river bridge
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Yoon, first lady celebrate return of Buddhist relics after century
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‘Nanta’ sets milestone with 10 million ticket sales
“Nanta,” a nonverbal performance produced by Song Seung-hwan, has been seen by over 10 million people around the world, the show’s production company said. The show, which premiered in 1997, is Korea’s first performance to hit the mark. The milestone was set on Dec. 29 and the ticket sale tally stood at 10,085,010 as of Dec. 31, PMC Production said. Based on events in the kitchen of a Korean restaurant, “Nanta” is mainly carried by percussive rhythms created by cooks drumming and banging knives,
CultureJan. 6, 2015
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Film about modern Korean history tops 8 mln viewer mark
A domestic film depicting the life of a typical father from Korea's older generation has attracted more than 8 million viewers, its investor-distributor said Tuesday."Ode to My Father" exceeded the milestone at 8 a.m. 21 days after it opened on Dec. 17, CJ Entertainment said. The pace is four days faster than "Miracle in Cell No. 7" that attracted 12.8 million viewers in 2013.The success comes amid controversy over the film's alleged attempt to beautify the past under the rule of authoritarian r
FilmJan. 6, 2015
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Director explores the origins of ‘A Most Violent Year’
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Violence was everywhere for director J.C. Chandor. From the scripts he was getting to the very entryway of his daughter’s elementary school, it seemed he couldn’t escape guns and gratuitous gore. His latest feature, “A Most Violent Year,” might sound like just another gun-happy action pic, but the slow-burning drama was actually born out of a staunch reluctance to continue presenting violence as entertainment. And it might never have happened if Chandor hadn’t needed a job. “N
FilmJan. 5, 2015
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Korean art: What to look for in 2015
With the positive New Year remarks by the leaders of North and South Korea setting up the possibility of a thaw in inter-Korean relations, South Koreans this year will be able to see more exhibitions with North Korean elements than ever before. The Seoul Museum of Art is preparing a North Korea-themed exhibit to mark the 70th year of the division of Korea. The exhibition, scheduled to open in July, is expected to present a broad range of contemporary North Korean art and offer interesting South
PerformanceJan. 5, 2015
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Sartre’s ‘Non’ to Nobel prize came too late
STOCKHOLM (AFP) ― A letter sent by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in 1964 declining the Nobel Prize for Literature came too late to avert one of the biggest debacles in its history, Swedish media reported.Sartre’s letter arrived nearly a month after he had been picked as the top choice by the Nobel Committee, the daily Svenska Dagbladet reported, based on archival material made available at the end of a customary 50-year period of secrecy.The report throws light on the sequence of events le
CultureJan. 5, 2015
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Megahit K-pop stars to return in 2015
Big BangA host of K-pop idol groups, both old and new, are gearing up to make a comeback, raising hopes of fresh energy in the K-pop scene early this year.One of the long-awaited acts is K-pop sensation EXO, which proved its elevated stature across Asia by nabbing several year-end music awards at home and abroad last year.The 10-member group plans to release a new album in the first half of this year, with the exact date yet to be confirmed. EXOEXO’s return marks a fresh start as the boy band h
Jan. 5, 2015
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Lee Seung-chul: I will continue efforts for peace
Ballad singer Lee Seung-chul poses at a press conference for his upcoming TV documentary, “That Day,” at the Film Forum theater in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)After being denied entry to Japan last November as a well-known “Dokdo is Korea” advocate, iconic local ballad singer Lee Seung-chul is continuing his efforts for unification and establishing the islets as Korean territory with the upcoming release of a TV documentary, “The Day.” The documentary follows Lee’s efforts over the past 10 months w
TelevisionJan. 5, 2015
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Will Korea get its fourth cardinal?
Pope Francis is expected to name as many as 12 new cardinals in the coming days, and a Korean cleric may make the list, Vatican observers say. The Wall Street Journal and some other foreign media outlets reported last week that in the appointments, Francis, the first pontiff born outside Europe in more than 1,000 years, may seek to reshape the Roman Catholic hierarchy to better reflect regions where the church is flourishing. The Philippines, as it boasts one of the largest Roman Catholic commun
CultureJan. 4, 2015
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New year, new movies
Last year may be remembered as an eventful year for the South Korean silver screen as a number of films rewrote box office history. The periodic action flick “Roaring Currents” drew 17.6 million viewers becoming the most-watched film of all time, while three other films joined the coveted 10 million viewer’s club, including “The Attorney,” “Frozen,” and “Interstellar.”This year is also marked with a stellar lineup of new films from local heavyweight directors to Hollywood blockbusters ― some sta
FilmJan. 4, 2015
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Piano stores closing as fewer children taking up instrument
BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) ― When Jim Foster opened his piano store 30 years ago, he had 10 competitors selling just pianos. When he closed Foster Family Music in late December, not one was still selling pianos in the Quad-Cities area of Iowa and Illinois. “We did try hard to find a buyer,” Foster said. There were no takers.Stores dedicated to selling pianos like Foster’s are dwindling across the country as fewer people take up the instrument and those who do often opt for a less expensive electronic
CultureJan. 4, 2015
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’90s hits sweep online charts
Hit songs from the 1990s swept online music charts Sunday, after a popular TV show reignited nostalgia for a time before idol groups dominated the K-pop scene. Singer Kim Gun-mo’s 1995 hit “Mis-Encounter” topped the real-time music chart of Naver, the country’s No. 1 portal, at 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by Uhm Jung-hwa’s “Poison” (1998) and Jinusean’s “Tell Me” (1997). Of the chart’s top 10, nine were from the 90s, all featured in a special episode of MBC’s long-running reality show “Infinite Chal
TelevisionJan. 4, 2015
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TVXQ is Oricon Chart’s top-selling foreign artist in 2014
Veteran boy band TVXQ recorded the most annual album sales among non-Japanese artists on Oricon Chart in 2014.According to the chart, the Korean duo ― Changmin and Yunho ― ranked No. 13 in Annual Album Sales in 2014 with “Tree,” which was released in March.The soundtrack of popular Disney animation “Frozen” was the only foreign album which was ranked higher than “Tree,” bagging the second spot on the chart.Some other K-pop artists ― Girls’ Generation, Big Bang, 2PM, Daesung, Taeyang and SHINee ―
PerformanceJan. 4, 2015
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Calendar
Pop Music“The Swell Season Live in Seoul”: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, widely known for their lead roles in the hit indie musical film “Once,” will be reviving their 2007 on-screen chemistry with a special live performance in Seoul. The duo’s single “Falling Slowly” landed the film an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008. Hansard and Irglova will be performing on Jan. 10 and 11 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts with ticket prices ranging from 66,000 won to 110,000 won. F
CultureJan. 2, 2015
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True story eye-poppingly told in Burton’s ‘Big Eyes’
You’ve likely seen the images, even if you have no idea who painted them: Those waifs with the huge, saucer-like eyes, appearing in oil paintings, posters, postcards, refrigerator magnets.Actually, for years, nobody actually knew who painted them. That’s because Walter Keane, a showboating sociopath, claimed credit, when it was his wife, Margaret, who actually was the sole artist, closeted away in a home studio filled with turpentine fumes. It was an epic story of art fraud that ended with a dra
FilmJan. 2, 2015
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Eyelike: Lackluster tribute to Paul McCartney
Lackluster tribute to Paul McCartneyVarious artists“The Art of McCartney”(Arctic Poppy)This two-disc Paul McCartney tribute is a decade-in-the-making labor of love by one man, producer Ralph Sall. So it would be churlish to throw cold water on it, right?Sorry. Sall’s interest in chasing down marquee names, rather than marquee performances, makes this a gigantic missed opportunity. Sall enlists McCartney’s current backup band to fill the same role on this 34-song effort (42 with the deluxe packag
PerformanceJan. 2, 2015
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Box Office: Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies, Criminal Designer, The Tailors
Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies (Korea)Opening Jan. 8Comedy. Directed by Jung Bum-shikBaik Bo-hee (Jo Yeo-jeong) is a beautiful and successful career woman at a large toy company. That is, until she makes an irrevocable mistake that leads to her dismissal. To rub further salt into the wounds, Bo-hee’s husband Koo Gang-sung (Kim Tae-woo) leaves her. One day, she becomes friends with her neighbor Nan-hee (Clara) who owns a sex shop, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Bo-hee, with her superb mark
FilmJan. 2, 2015
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‘Sideways’-inspired getaway to Santa Barbara wineries
It was 10 years ago that Alexander Payne’s quirky little film, “Sideways,” landed on the silver screen. Merlot was trashed. Pinot noir began its ascendancy. A Saab bit the dust. And as sad sack novelist Miles and his about-to-be-married buddy, Jack, wove their way past country lanes and vineyards, it suddenly dawned on filmgoers that this was not Napa.“Sideways” put Santa Barbara’s wine country on the map ― and won an Oscar, two Golden Globes and American Film Institute movie of the year honors,
TravelJan. 2, 2015
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Busan offers tour of locations from ‘Ode to My Father’
The Busan Tourism Organization announced it would offer a tour of spots featured in the movie “Ode to My Father.” The movie is about Koreans living in the poverty-stricken 1950s and ’60s who leave the country to work overseas. The movie takes place in Busan and shows major sites including Nampo-dong; PIFF Plaza; food alleys; Bupyeong Market, also known as Kkangtong (Tin Can) Market; and Yongdusan Park. The tour takes two hours and will include old stories about Busan told by local people. For mo
TravelJan. 2, 2015
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Puerto Rico greets record number of cruise ship visitors
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) ― Puerto Rico is welcoming nearly 15,800 cruise ship passengers on the last day of the year, a daily record for the U.S. territory.Officials with the island’s tourism company say six cruise ships docked in historic Old San Juan on Wednesday. Among the cruise ships was Hapag-Lloyd’s MS Europa 2, which was visiting Puerto Rico for the first time.The government said nearly 207,000 cruise ship passengers were expected to visit Puerto Rico in December, a new monthly record
TravelJan. 2, 2015
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Tourists surge in Turkey on weak Turkish lira
With the Turkish lira at an all-time low, the number of tourists visiting Turkey has increased, according to the Korean branch of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office. One Turkish lira was worth 470 won in December 2014 compared to 800 won in 2010 due to the continuing fall in oil price and the fall of the Russian ruble. Turkey is the sixth most popular tourist destination in the world with more than 37 million tourists in 2013. The country saw an increase in Korean tourists, from 187,000 in 2
TravelJan. 2, 2015