Ku Hye-sun to hold art exhibition in Shanghai

Popular actress, filmmaker, singer and artist Ku Hye-sun is to hold a solo art exhibition in Shanghai, according to her local agency YG Entertainment.The upcoming exhibition, scheduled to be held at the Korean Cultural Service Shanghai from Aug. 17 to 31, will feature some 20 artworks by Ku. The 28-year-old’s works are said to explore the themes of nostalgia and memories.On the opening day of the exhibition, Aug. 17, Ku will attend a special event where she will meet underprivileged children in

Aug. 7, 2013

Media Rating Board OKs screening of Kim Ki-duk’s controversial ‘Moebius’

The Korea Media Rating Board has lifted its ban on the screening of filmmaker Kim Ki-duk’s “Moebius” in Korea, after the director re-submitted the film twice and cut two minutes and 30 seconds from the original version. “Moebius” received an R rating, which prohibits teenagers under 18 from seeing the movie.The film initially received a “restricted screening” rating from the state-run rating agency in June, for its controversial subject matter ― especially for scenes that depict incestuous encou

FilmAug. 7, 2013

Super Junior to release travel book

K-pop group Super Junior members are becoming tour guides with their new travel book, “Super Junior’s Experience Korea NEWS+Seoul.” The two-volume guide, which will include four separate sections titled “Tasting,” “Feeling,” “Making” and “Enjoying,” is set to hit the shelves Aug. 16.For the making of the book, 10 of the group’s members traveled in pairs around Korea during different seasons. Siwon and Donghae traveled to the northern part of the country, Kyuhyun and Yesung to the east, Shindong

Aug. 7, 2013

Mnet’s ‘M Countdown’ to hit L.A. this month

Mnet, a cable music channel owned by CJ E&M, will be bringing its popular weekly music program “M Countdown” to Los Angeles later this month. Titled “M Countdown What’s Up LA,” the program will be part of the Korean culture festival “KCON 2013” that will run for two days starting on Aug. 24. The lineup for the event includes K-pop artists G-dragon, 2AM, Dynamic Duo, f(x), EXO, You Seung-woo and more. Marking Mnet’s first entry into the U.S., the event aims to show just how influential K-pop is b

Aug. 7, 2013

Modern luxury meets Soviet retro chic as GUM turns 120

MOSCOW (AFP) ― In Soviet days, people queued here to buy Romanian boots or East German bras, but Moscow‘s vast GUM shopping arcade, which turns 120 this year, is now a luxury emporium that plays on Soviet nostalgia.The official 120th birthday celebrations will take place in several months at the Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin (GUM), or State Universal Store, whose three cream-walled arcades topped with a 16,000-square meter glass roof opened opposite the Kremlin in the Tsarist era on Dec. 2,

Arts & DesignAug. 7, 2013

Kim Yu-na No. 6 on Forbes rich list of female athletes

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na has earned the sixth most among female athletes in the world in the past year.The Internet edition of Forbes business magazine on Tuesday ranked Kim as sixth on the list of the world’s best-paid female athletes between June 2012 and June this year.Forbes estimated Kim’s yearly earnings at $14 million. Russia’s Maria Sharapova topped the list, earning a total of $29 million. Tennis took the top four positions. World No. 1 Serena Williams of the United Sta

PeopleAug. 7, 2013

Joe Yun set for post as U.S. envoy to Malaysia

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― Joseph Yun, a Korean-American diplomat, plans to begin his work as the new top U.S. envoy in Malaysia in late August or early September, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.Yun, principal deputy assistant secretary of state handling Southeast Asian affairs, underwent a Senate confirmation hearing last week for his nomination as ambassador to Malaysia.“He was confirmed by the Senate last week. He is expected to start his work in late August or early September,” the source

PeopleAug. 7, 2013

Scholar discloses diary by manager of WWII Japanese military brothels

New evidence showing that the Japanese military methodically mobilized so-called comfort women, or sex slaves during World War II, has been revealed. It also shows that frontline Japanese units had brothels as part of their organization and that they took comfort women as well as set up brothels whenever they moved. Ahn Byong-jick, a Seoul National University honorary professor, on Tuesday disclosed a diary kept by a Korean who had managed comfort stations, or de facto brothels, for Japanese sol

PeopleAug. 7, 2013

Gwangju International Center finds new home

The Gwangju International Center has found a new home after a fund-raising campaign to save it.The center faced eviction from its offices in the city’s Jeonil Building after the building was earmarked for demolition to make way for a park.A new office has been located about 400 meters away in the Samho Center, but the move, originally slated for July 31, has faced delays.GIC management coordinator Kim Singsing explained that the delay was partly due to uncertainty over the amount of financial as

Expat LivingAug. 6, 2013

Foreign students to compete in sports festival

Budding athletes are invited to apply to compete in the International Students Sports and Cultural Festival on Sept. 28.Set up by the Korean International Students Support Association, the festival is in its third year, and will this time be held at the University of Seoul.KISSA assistant director Sara Rai said that last year’s festival had a large turnout, but that this year’s events would be streamlined because of venue limitations and quality control.“We were successful in quantity, so we tho

Expat LivingAug. 6, 2013

Makoto Shinkai’s latest work arrives in Seoul

Japanese anime director Makoto Shinkai has a solid fan base in Korea, with his previous works “Voices of a Distant Star” and “Children Who Chase Lost Voices” well received by anime lovers here.To their delight, Shinkai’s latest film is hitting local theaters this week. Titled “The Garden of Words,” the 46-minute film premiered in Korea during last month’s Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. Tickets for its screening sold out during the festival, and it received positive reviews from bo

FilmAug. 6, 2013

Webcam to broadcast from Andy Warhol’s U.S. grave

PITTSBURGH (AP) ― The Andy Warhol Museum is launching a live video feed from the pop artist’s gravesite to honor his 85th birthday.The project, a partnership with the EarthCam webcam network, was to go live Monday at midnight, the museum said.Warhol museum director Eric Shiner said the project is titled “Figment” because of a Warhol quote in which the artist said, “I always thought I’d like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph and no name. Well, actually, I’d like it to say, ‘Figment.’”The s

PerformanceAug. 6, 2013

Hallyu Camp 2013 kicks off in U.S. capital

The King Sejong Center in Washington, D.C., has kicked off its annual Hallyu Camp once again this week, giving young American children the opportunity to immerse themselves in workshops and activities all revolving around traditional and pop culture. The camp is designed to give fans of Korean pop culture a more in-depth understanding of the country and its people. During the five-day program, participants get to experience what it means to be Korean through a variety of interactive workshops, l

Aug. 6, 2013