The Korea Herald

Expat flea market in Gwanghwamun

The Seoul Global Center is holding its first Foreigners’ Flea Market of the year in Gwanghwamun Plaza on March 23. Participation as a vendor is free, but registration is required. Stalls should be staffed by at least one foreign vendor. The flea market takes place from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. There is no parking provided, so vendors are encouraged to use alternative transport. To register, download an application form from global.seoul.go.kr and send it in to titi1245@sba.seoul.kr.For more informat

Expat LivingMarch 18, 2014

SIWA to hold annual fund-raising gala

SIWA will hold its annual fund-raising gala on April 12 with a “Sunset Safari” theme.The SIWA Charity Gala is one of the association’s major charity events, along with the SIWA Bazaar, and has raised about 21 million won ($20,000) for local good causes each year. The money goes to a fund managed by the SIWA Welfare Committee, which chooses charities to support, although additional donations for specific charities will be accepted on the night. Last year, major donors included Anna’s House, which

Expat LivingMarch 18, 2014

KISSA hosts career talk by journalist

The Korea International Students Support Association is holding its first “Korean Dream Talk Concert” Tuesday for foreign students.Sinasi Alpago, a journalist with AsiaN and correspondent for Turkish news agency Cihan, who is also an international student, will talk about his experiences of working in Korea.The talk will be followed by a question and answer session and a networking session. The event begins at 4 p.m. on the 9th floor of the Seoul Global Center Building in Jongno-gu.For more info

Expat LivingMarch 18, 2014

Korea Touch reaches out

The Korea Touch Association will kick-start its 2014 season Saturday with an open day in Jamwon Park, next to the Han River. The touch rugby event will involve skills practices, coaching clinics and an introduction to the game for complete beginners, followed by a casual mini-tournament. The KTA has seen most of its old hands leave in recent years, according to event organizer Dain Leathem, but a large influx of new players meant that last year saw an uptick in participation. “We had another big

Expat LivingMarch 18, 2014

Yukio Ninagawa stages ‘Musashi’ in Seoul

Yukio Ninagawa, a Japanese theater director best known for his Japanese adaptations of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies, is presenting his Japanese Zen comedy-drama “Musashi” in Seoul this month. “I guess I am known as the director who interprets Shakespeare plays in a very Japanese way,” the director told reporters during a press conference in Seoul. “But with ‘Musashi,’ I wanted to do something that does not rely on Shakespeare (and his scripts).”The upcoming show is Ninagawa’s second pie

PerformanceMarch 18, 2014

Yukio Ninagawa stages ‘Musashi’ in Seoul

Murakami to publish short story collection next month

TOKYO (AFP) ― Best-selling Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami next month will publish his first compilation of short stories in nine years, including one new offering, his publisher said Monday. The compilation titled “Onna no Inai Otokotachi” ― which can be translated as “Men Without Women” ― will be published on April 18, the Bungei Shunju publishing house said. The collection will include five short novels which have already been published separately in magazines and one new offering. Among th

CultureMarch 18, 2014

‘Avengers’ sequel to film in Seoul

Some scenes from the sequel to Hollywood blockbuster “The Avengers” will be filmed in and around Seoul from March 30-April 9.U.S.-based Marvel Studios signed a memorandum of understanding with the related Korean authorities on Tuesday regarding filming dates and six locations ― five in Seoul and one in its outskirts ― for “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.” The five locations in Seoul are Cheongdam Grand Bridge, a northern road in Digital Media City in Sangam-dong, Gangnam Boulevard, Mapo Grand Bridg

FilmMarch 18, 2014

Paraguay group of poor kids turns garbage into sweet melodies

ASUNCION (AFP) ― Parents all over the world often complain about their children’s music being garbage. For one group of poor kids in Paraguay, however, who have found international fame by forming an orchestra which uses instruments built from trash, it is quite literally true. The Orchestra of Recycled Instruments of Cateura will mark another notable chapter in their history this week when they will be the opening act for U.S. heavy metal band Metallica on a six-nation South American tour. “It

PerformanceMarch 18, 2014

Paraguay group of poor kids turns garbage into sweet melodies

Super Junior-M to unveil new album in China

A unit of the K-pop boy band Super Junior will make a comeback this week by releasing its new album in Chinese-speaking countries, the group’s management agency said Tuesday.Super Junior-M will upload its third EP, titled “Swing,” to various online music services in China on Friday, SM Entertainment said.It is the third and most successful subgroup of the 13-member boy band Super Junior and consists of Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Eunhyuk, Henry and Zhou Mi.“Swing” is the first album to be

March 18, 2014

Super Junior-M to unveil new album in China

John Lennon drawings, poems coming up for auction

NEW YORK (AFP) ― The biggest private collection of John Lennon drawings, poems and prose ever to go to market will be sold by Sotheby’s in New York on June 4, the international auction house said Monday.The items comprise the original material that appeared in two books by the late Beatle ― “In His Own Write,” published 50 years ago this year, and “A Spaniard in the Works” that hit the best-seller lists in 1965.Among the 89 lots is a satirical guide to Lennon’s hometown, Liverpool valued at $12,

PerformanceMarch 18, 2014

Short skirts and new beats: 4minute makes return with ‘4minute World’

The five starlets of 4minute, with many buzzing about HyunA’s attention-grabbing, see-through miniskirt and the group’s new sexy choreography, made their return official with their fifth EP, “4minute World,” on Monday. The group performed the title track “Whatcha Doin’ Today” for the first time at a showcase held on the Garden Stage at Lotte World Monday night. The single was composed and written by popular hit-making producer Brave Brothers and reached No. 1 on nine local real-time charts, incl

March 18, 2014

Short skirts and new beats: 4minute makes return with ‘4minute World’

Seoul to close some roads for filming 'The Avengers'

The Seoul metropolitan city said Tuesday that it will restrict traffic in roads near the city's landmarks for half a month starting later this month for the filming of the sequel of the 2012 Hollywood blockbuster "The Avengers."Major scenes of the superhero sequel titled "Avengers: Age of Ultron" will be shot in the South Korean capital under a memorandum of understanding signed by the Korean Film Commission and four related government authorities, and the Burbank, Calif.-based Marvel Studios.Un

FilmMarch 18, 2014

Seoul to create traditional Korean music zone

The Seoul municipal government said Monday it planned to create a special zone in the center of the city dedicated to traditional Korean music to help preserve musical traditions and attract tourists. Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to designate a 770-meter stretch of street from Changdeok Palace to Jongno 3-ga Station as a special zone for traditional music by about 2016.The completion aims to coincide with the completion of the Donhwamun Korean Traditional Performing Arts Center across fro

CultureMarch 17, 2014

Cheonggyecheon frozen in time

Photographer J. Ahn, who has chronicled the changing scenery along the Cheonggyecheon Stream with her camera, is exhibiting her work at the Sejong Art Center’s Museum of Art starting Wednesday.Though she has photographed cities such as New York, Paris and Havana, Ahn said, she has always been fascinated by the back alleys of the belatedly redeveloped section of downtown Seoul. “The back alleys of Cheonggycheon had many beautiful and profound colors. A single color isn’t enough to depict them. I’

PerformanceMarch 17, 2014

‘12 Years a Slave’ author’s death still a mystery

SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (AP) ― Historians know where Solomon Northup was born, where he lived and where he worked. They know whom he married and how many children he had. They know he played the fiddle and spent 12 years enslaved in the South before being freed. What historians don’t know about the author of “12 Years a Slave” is when and how he died and where he is buried. It’s a lingering mystery in the final chapter of the life of the 19th-century free-born African-American whose compellin

FilmMarch 17, 2014

‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’ leads U.S. box office

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Street racers couldn’t catch a time-traveling dog and his son at the multiplex last weekend. Though Disney’s “Need for Speed” was expected to take the No. 1 position at the box office, DreamWorks’ “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” took the lead, with the action film in third place. The animated movie, about the adventures of a genius dog and the human son he adopted, earned $21.2 million, according to studio estimates released Sunday. Debuting on March 9 at No. 2, the 3-D kiddie-jaunt f

FilmMarch 17, 2014

‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’ leads U.S. box office

American accordionist Pauline Oliveros brings ‘deep listening’ to Korea

American musician Pauline Oliveros first picked up the accordion when she was only 9 years old. Now, more than 70 years later, she still hasn’t put it down. Oliveros’ love of the accordion had not transcended into her love of music, but her curiosity of sound and how people hear and process noise. When she was 16, she discovered her inner hearing abilities as a musician and decided to become a composer. This became the launching point for her new love affair with listening. “It became clear to m

CultureMarch 17, 2014

American accordionist Pauline Oliveros brings ‘deep listening’ to Korea

Oprah Winfrey to sell Harpo Studios in Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) ― Oprah Winfrey is selling Harpo Studios in Chicago to a developer, but the studio will remain on the property for another two years. Winfrey filmed “The Oprah Winfrey Show” at the studio from 1990 to 2011, when she ended the talk show to start the Oprah Winfrey Network on cable. “We have entered into a purchasing agreement with Sterling Bay for the four-building Harpo Studios campus in Chicago’s West Loop,” Harpo told Crain’s Chicago Business in a statement. “We expect the transact

TelevisionMarch 17, 2014

Oprah Winfrey to sell Harpo Studios in Chicago

Corporate capital, a new SXSW paradigm

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ― Rapper ScHoolboy Q had a great time at his first South By Southwest a few years ago, but found himself getting angry this year as he played a series of shows at the annual music conference and festival. Everywhere he turned, his fans were standing outside venues festooned with corporate branding, unable to enter because they didn’t have a formal invite. “It’s stupid. They changed it all up. It’s corporate,” he said as he prepared for a show Saturday. “I don’t ever want to co

PerformanceMarch 17, 2014

Rachael Yamagata shines with dark charm and wit

On a dimly-lit stage in the Baekyang Concert Hall at Yonsei University in Seoul, American singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata charmed hundreds of fans with her captivating vocals and witty jokes on Friday night.As the concert was focused on a “live acoustic” sound, the stage featured only a piano and a simple instrumental set occupied by Yamagata’s accompanying musician and one-man-band Michael Chaves.Opening with a performance by New York-based, pop-jazz artist Emi Meyer, Yamagata’s concert was

PerformanceMarch 17, 2014

Rachael Yamagata shines with dark charm and wit