Most Popular
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Actor Song Jae-rim dies at 39
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'Are you a T?' is a new put-down in S. Korea
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Bitcoin hits record in Korea, even without ‘kimchi premium’
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Trump sours K-food outlook in US
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Korean study finds 'obese' BMI may actually be healthiest
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Boston Dynamics robot dog joins Trump’s security detail
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Hyundai’s Atlas robot takes the spotlight as Tesla's Optimus stumbles
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Leaked cables reveal Kim Jong-un’s orders to oppose human rights pressure at UN
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[Rising virtuosos] From Pororo to Paganini: 13-year-old violinist Lee Hyeon-jeong’s journey to the world stage
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Who are the K-pop stars taking Suneung this year?
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American film co-produced by Koreans competing in Venice
An American eco-thriller coproduced by Koreans has been included in the main competition lineup of the ongoing Venice International Film Festival. Titled “Night Moves,” the film stars American actress Dakota Fanning and actor Jesse Eisenberg in the lead roles. Directed by Kelly Reichardt, it tells the story of three young radical environmentalists who come together and plot to blow up a hydroelectric dam.Two Korean producers, Kim Sae-rom and Kim Sae-mi, participated in the production process of
FilmSept. 5, 2013
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Rumsfeld docu director puzzled by ex-defense chief
VENICE (AP) ― Director Errol Morris spent 33 hours interviewing Donald Rumsfeld for his new documentary “The Unknown Known.” But Morris says the former U.S. defense secretary proved hard to fathom.The director said Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival that he cannot tell if Rumsfeld, who narrates the film, was putting on a “performance” or being himself.“The Unknown Known” is competing for the top Golden Lion award. Morris’ “The Fog of War” won an Oscar in 2003 for its look at Robert McNamara,
FilmSept. 5, 2013
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Pessl’s strange ‘Night Film’ mesmerizes
Night FilmBy Marisha Pessl (Random)Labeling the films of enigmatic director Stanislas Cordova “scary” is a grotesque understatement. Cordova ― the unseen, menacing, malignant force at the heart of Marisha Pessl’s new novel ― makes movies that are terrifying, catastrophic; they are hypnotic black holes into which viewers plunge and emerge shaken and obsessed.“Maybe your next-door neighbor found one of his movies in an old box in her attic and never entered a dark room alone again,” the prologue s
BooksSept. 5, 2013
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‘Year of What Now’ is really a ‘what if?’
The Year of What NowBy Brian Russell (Graywolf)On the surface, Brian Russell’s first book of poems, “The Year of What Now,” seems nothing if not traditional.Winner of this year’s Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Bakeless Prize, it reads as a confessional, a sequence of reflections by a man whose wife is undergoing treatment for cancer.But if part of Russell’s purpose is to explore the dynamics of a relationship stretched by crisis, there is something else at work here also ― an exploration of genr
BooksSept. 5, 2013
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PEN to honor Joan Didion
What do Harrison Ford and Joan Didion have in common? They’ll both be at the PEN Center USA awards dinner in October, where he will present her with the lifetime achievement award. Their connection is personal rather than literary: The actor and author have known each other since 1971, when the not-yet movie star built her beach house.“He was a carpenter,” she explains by phone from New York. “I was happy with his work ― and even happier with his presence in the house because he was a great mora
BooksSept. 5, 2013
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Book explores retirement trends in Korea
A recently published collection of academic papers explores retirement trends in the Korean job market, focusing on the impact of forced retirement at a young age ― mid-50s for most workers ― and how it affects individuals. Coedited by scholars Thomas R. Klassen and Yang Yun-jeong, the book, titled “Korea’s Retirement Predicament: The Aging Tiger,” comprises a total of 10 academic papers regarding retirement issues in Korea and overseas, including income security for the elderly, retirement pens
BooksSept. 5, 2013
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Messi pays back millions to taxman: reports
MADRID (AFP) ― Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his father paid off 5 million euros ($6.6 million) they owed to the taxman ahead of their court appearance on tax evasion charges, media reported Wednesday.Spanish newspapers citing a ruling by a judge in Gava, near Barcelona, said the Argentine player’s father Jorge Messi deposited the payment, which covers more than 4 million euros in unpaid taxes plus interest, with the court on Aug. 14.Prosecutors accuse the two of defrauding the tax office of i
PeopleSept. 5, 2013
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Boryeong Mud Festival to appear in school textbook
The Boryeong Mud Festival will appear in a Korean high school textbook.According to Boryeong City, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday, the festival will be introduced in a high school textbook on social and cultural studies to be edited by Jihaksa Publishing Co. It will be described as one of three flagship provincial festivals of Korea on Page 104, along with the Celadon Festival in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, and the Rice Cultural Festival in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Currently, the mud
PeopleSept. 5, 2013
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Koo named to board of national contemporary dance company
Koo Cha-hoon, chairman of the board of directors of the LIG Arts Foundation, on Thursday was appointed a member of the board of directors of the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. Koo will serve the post for three years. Koo is also the chairman of LIG Investment and Securities, and has been engaged in nurturing the arts in the country including dance. In 2012 he received the Mecenat of the Year award in 2012. In 2007 he received a specia
PeopleSept. 5, 2013
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Polanski discusses impact of sex crime conviction
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ― Director Roman Polanski, in a rare interview published on Thursday, shares his frustrations and feelings about being the object of hatred due to a complicated legal case stemming from a sex crime more than 30 years ago.Polanski, 80, the Polish-French director of films such as “Rosemary’s Baby” and 2002’s Oscar-winning “The Pianist,” pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with 13-year-old Samantha Geimer during a photo shoot, fueled by champagne and drugs.In an interview wit
PeopleSept. 5, 2013
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Gorbachev lauds ailing Mandela
GENEVA (AFP) ― Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Wednesday lauded ailing Nelson Mandela as an icon of the global drive for democracy, after his South African fellow Nobel laureate was discharged from hospital.“He made a tremendous contribution. And this says it all. No more, no less. Tremendous is the word to characterize him,” said Gorbachev, whose role in ending the Cold War two decades ago won him the Nobel Peace Prize.“He made a tremendous contribution by taking a political position
PeopleSept. 5, 2013
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BoA makes drama debut
Director gives K-pop diva 75 points for first major television roleBy Jean OhK-pop diva BoA is set to put her acting prowess to the test in her first major television drama. Slated to star in KBS’ short, two-episode, rom-com “Expect to Date” (working title), this will be the 26-year old singer’s first small screen lead. After making a brief cameo appearance in SBS’ “ATHENA: Goddess of War” in 2010, BoA continued to forge a career in television with SBS’ hit music reality show, “K-Pop Star,” earn
TelevisionSept. 5, 2013
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Sumi Jo shares talent, life and love with younger fans
Twenty-seven years ago, fledgling soprano Sumi Jo auditioned in front of the legendary maestro Herbert von Karajan, who called her “the voice from heaven.” Her career skyrocketed from then on, and Jo won competition after competition, sang on the stages of world-famous opera halls, and collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists and orchestras. The soprano has a huge following in Korea where people have called her the “People’s Soprano.” Now, Jo is determined to share the love and respec
PerformanceSept. 4, 2013
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Malala says books can defeat terrorism at U.K. library opening
BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) ― Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban after campaigning for girls‘ right to an education, said books were “the weapons to defeat terrorism” as she opened a new library in her adopted English city on Tuesday.The 16-year-old gave a speech before unveiling a stainless steel plaque to mark the opening of Europe’s biggest public library, the gleaming new Library of Birmingham.Yousafzai, who was flown to the central English city for surg
PeopleSept. 4, 2013
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Louvre’s ‘Winged Victory’ flies off for restoration
PARIS (AP) ― “Winged Victory of Samothrace,” the hulking Hellenistic sculpture that dominates the Louvre Museum’s most frequented staircase, is taking flight ― away from tourists’ gazes for a restoration project.Officials at the famed Paris museum said the 2nd-century B.C. sculpture was set to be dismantled, hoisted onto rollers and wheeled into a closed cabin in another Louvre gallery for structural work and a meticulous cleaning to restore the original hues to its marble over the next nine mon
CultureSept. 4, 2013
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New work sets timeline for the first pharaohs
PARIS (AFP) ― Archaeologists drawing on a wide range of tools said on Wednesday they had pinpointed the crucial time in world history when Egypt emerged as a distinct state.Experts have wrangled for decades as to when turbulent upper and lower Egypt were brought together under a stable, single ruler for the first time.Conventional estimates, based on the evolving styles of ceramics found in human burials, vary hugely, from B.C. 3,400 to 2,900.A team led by Oxford University’s Michael Dee, report
CultureSept. 4, 2013
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KNUA to recruit foreign professors
The Korea National University of Arts will hire more professors from outside the country over the next five years, its newly appointed president Kim Bong-ryol said Wednesday. Aiming to recruit “masters” and “rising stars” in the international art scene to share their knowledge and know-how, the school will establish a special fund to meet international standards of pay, Kim said at a press conference. There are currently 146 professors at the school and Kim plans to raise the number to 165 in th
CultureSept. 4, 2013
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Kim brings incest and self-mutilation to Venice
VENICE (AFP) ― Korean director Kim Ki-duk, who won the Golden Lion award at Venice film festival last year, is back in the floating city with a tale of incest and self-mutilation.“Moebius,” a story about a father’s infidelity sparking a chain of violent events which lead to his wife dismembering their son, was initially banned in Kim’s home country.The Korean Media Rating Board put its foot down over the sex, nudity and incest and Kim had to cut out the offending passages before they would allow
FilmSept. 4, 2013
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Bhutanese exposition on dance to open Busan film fest
A Bhutanese film directed by a Buddhist monk has been selected as the opener of the upcoming 18th Busan International Film Festival. It is the first time for a Bhutanese movie to be screened as an opening film at an international film festival, according to the organizers. Directed by Khyentse Norbu, the film features Bharata Natyam, a classical Indian dance. Norbu is unable to attend the film festival, as he is currently occupied with his religious training.A total of 301 films, including 95 wo
FilmSept. 4, 2013
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Mungyeongsaejae trail breathes history
This is the eighth installment in an 11-part series that introduces some of the best walking trails in Korea. Based on each trail’s popularity and the recommendations of travel experts and the Culture Ministry, The Korea Herald selected the 10 best places for walking and hiking. The series received funding from the Korea Press Foundation. ― Ed.Hundreds of years ago, seonbi, literati of the Joseon era (1392-1910), walked hundreds of kilometers from the Gyeongsang region to sit the civil service e
TravelSept. 4, 2013