Most Popular
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Yoon rejects Lee's proposal for pension reform talks
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S. Korea to hold rotating presidency of UN Security Council next month
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US girding for possibility of N. Korea taking most provocative military actions in decade near election: NBC
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Chonnam international student found dead
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Tax-payers shouldering most of burden for pension childbirth credit programs
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Ottogi heir joins family business in US
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Korea signs off on new med school quotas
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NewJeans drops new album amid Hybe-Ador dispute
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Samsung denies report on HBM chips failing Nvidia tests
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Govt. to reduce tariffs on fresh food imports to curb inflation
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‘Practice, practice, practice’
The mere thought of speaking in public can strike fear in the best of us. Imagine that dread being compounded by having to deliver a speech in a foreign language.“Fake till you feel it,” advised Rah Seung-yun, a co-CEO of Oratio, an English communications consulting firm. Rah enjoys a near-celebrity status following her eloquent speech as a communications director at Pyeongchang’s final presentation for the 2018 Winter Olympics bid in Durban, South Africa, in July 2011.Noting that confidence is
PeopleMay 14, 2013
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Dance mimics modern pessimism
After American choreographer William Forsythe’s cutting-edge performance “Heterotopia” last month, Korea’s dance scene is welcoming yet another experimental work from overseas, this time by French choreographer Maguy Marin.Titled “Salves,” the dance features “pessimism that dominates today’s world,” according to its local promoters. The piece premiered in Lyon, France, in 2010, and received rave reviews from the French press.The 62-year-old is often compared to the late German choreographer Pina
PerformanceMay 14, 2013
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Seoul Media Art Biennale names Park Chan-kyong artistic director
The Seoul International Media Art Biennale, the biggest celebration and showcase of media art in Korea, aims to strengthen its identity as a leading international media art event while bringing fresh change to the upcoming event next year with the appointment of artist, art critic and movie director Park Chan-kyong as new artistic director for the 8th media art biennale in 2014. Park, also well-known as the younger brother of filmmaker Park Chan-wook, is the first artist to be appointed to lead
CultureMay 14, 2013
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Seoul Arts Center to put arts on film
The Seoul Arts Center will screen filmed performances at theaters, cinemas, schools and elsewhere to allow wider public access to high culture, SAC president Ko Hak-chan said Tuesday. Modeled after the “Met On Screen” program, which films internationally-acclaimed Metropolitan Opera performances for international distribution, “SAC On Screen” aims to enhance the brand image of one of the nation’s finest arts centers. “I believe there are people willing to see more arts performances but are deter
CultureMay 14, 2013
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German director slams cancellation of Wagner opera
FRANKFURT (AFP) ― The German theater director whose controversial staging of a Richard Wagner opera to a Nazi-era theme was cancelled after the premiere hit back Monday at what he saw as “censorship.”“What happened in Duesseldorf is the censorship of art. That is the real scandal,” Burkhard Kosminski told the weekly magazine Der Spiegel in an interview.Kosminski’s new reading of Wagner’s opera “Tannhaeuser” ― which set the composer’s story of the mediaeval knight-minstrel in the Nazi era and con
PerformanceMay 14, 2013
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From ‘Gatsby’ to Gosling, a preview of Cannes
For even those most accustomed to the frenzy of celebrity, the Cannes Film Festival can be a disorienting experience. For 12 days every year, the French Rivera resort town turns into one giant seaside swirl of glamour, high art and backroom deal-making. Like some sun-drenched phantasm, all of cinema comes alive in Cannes: its serious ambitions, bottom-line commerce and crass spectacle. “Every time I go to Cannes, it feels like I’m entering the helicopter scene in ‘La Dolce Vita,’’’ says Leonardo
FilmMay 14, 2013
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K-pop veterans Shinhwa to embark on Asia tour
The longest-running Korean idol group, Shinhwa, will embark on their Asia tour in June with their upcoming album, “The Classic.” They will make stops at the Asia World Expo in Hong Kong on June 8, Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, NK101 hall in Taipei, Makuhari Messe hall in Tokyo, MasterCard Center in Beijing and finish up at the Olympic Gymnastics Stadium in Seoul on Aug. 3 and 4.The 15-year old group will release a new album on May 16; it will be their 11th full-length album. Reservations for
PerformanceMay 14, 2013
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Psy to perform during final round of ‘American Idol’
South Korean rapper Psy will perform during the final round of “American Idol Season 12” this week, his local management agency said Tuesday. Psy will perform his new hit single “Gentleman” as a special guest on the American reality singing competition being aired Thursday (American Pacific time) on Fox TV live across the United States from Los Angeles, YG Entertainment said. “Gentleman,” the follow-up to his previous global hit, “Gangnam Style,” has been viewed more than 322 million times since
May 14, 2013
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FTIsland, CNBlue to rock out in Japan
The local boys of FTIsland and CNBlue are joining an all-star music line-up for this year’s Summer Sonic rock festival in Japan. The annual rock fest will be held simultaneously in Toyko and Osaka on Aug. 10 and 11 and will also include renowned headlining acts such as Metallica, Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pet Shop Boys and more. Summer Sonic is Japan’s largest summer international music festival and attracts around 200,000 fans during its two-day run. FTIsland is composed of
PerformanceMay 14, 2013
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Saudi Arabia to host Korean handicraft festival this year
Saudi Arabia will host a handicraft festival featuring Korean craftsmen’s works by the end of the year, the governments of Saudi Arabia and Korea announced Monday. The exhibition is hoped to boost Korea’s image as a center of art, to augment its economic and industrial reputation. At an agreement signing ceremony between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities held at the ministry office on Monday, Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz bi
PeopleMay 14, 2013
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Angelina Jolie: I had double mastectomy
NEW YORK (AFP) ― Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday that she has undergone a preventive double mastectomy because she had a very high risk of breast cancer.The 37-year-old American actress wrote in an opinion piece entitled “My Medical Choice” in The New York Times that she had chosen the procedure because she carries a faulty gene that increases her risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.Jolie, one of Hollywood’s best-known faces and the partner of actor Brad Pitt, said that because of this gene,
PeopleMay 14, 2013
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Reporter claims death threat over murder report
Facing possible arrest over his reporting on suspicions that a younger brother of President Park Geun-hye was behind a murder case, a well-known journalist claimed Tuesday that he had received a death threat in connection with the report.Joo Jin-woo, a reporter of the monthly news magazine Sisa IN, is accused of spreading false and defamatory information in his article that the president’s younger brother, Park Ji-man, was involved in the killing of his relative.“The wife of the victim has asked
PeopleMay 14, 2013
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Hangeul Museum to open next year
The Hangeul Museum will open adjacent to the National Museum in Seoul next year to boost public awareness of, and conduct research into, the alphabet often referred to as “scientific” and easy to learn. The construction of the 11,322 square-meter museum in Yongsan, which began in 2011 with a 32.6 billion won budget, is now 76 percent complete. The first floor of the museum, a building with three stories above ground and one underground, will have an archive and a lecture room alongside a cafeter
CultureMay 13, 2013
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Finding the exotic in familiar landscapes
The nature depicted by artist Kim Bo-hie looks familiar to many with common motifs such as leaves, trees and flowers. But what captures the viewers’ attention are the details ― such as an exotic-looking florescent blue lizard on a tree or colorful birds ― that bring life to her works. The exotic animals and the common natural motifs break the usual images viewers associate with nature paintings. Her “Towards” series is a mix of the nature she saw in Jeju, Korea and foreign countries during her
PerformanceMay 13, 2013
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N.K.’s historic sites step closer to UNESCO listing
North Korea’s historic monuments and sites of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) in Gaeseong have been recommended for UNESCO World Heritage Site listing by a UNESCO affiliate. The recommendation moves the ancient capital city’s relics, on a tentative list since 2000, a step closer to being acknowledged as a place worth international attention and preservation. The final decision on the listing will be made at a UNESCO congress in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on June 16-27. Those sites included in the reco
CultureMay 13, 2013
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YG looks to Chinese market
With the continued global success that Psy has seen since his “Gangnam Style” music video went viral, as well as the success of Big Bang’s first world tour last year, management at the K-pop stars’ local talent agency YG Entertainment is reportedly looking to China as the next big market for its artists. As the second most profitable entertainment agency in Korea after S.M. Entertainment, YG is looking to expand internationally, trusting that China will be the next big market for K-pop. “We now
PerformanceMay 13, 2013
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Lee Hi takes first solo concert in her stride
It has been less than a year since the young 16-year-old K-pop starlet Lee Hi made her official debut as a solo singer under YG Entertainment’s wing, after gaining fame as the runner-up of the survival audition TV program “K-pop Star” season one. With the young star having released her first full studio album “First Love” earlier in the year, the only remaining feat for Lee to tackle was putting on her first solo concert performance; she can now scratch that off the list. Lee’s first solo conce
PerformanceMay 13, 2013
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‘Seo Tae-ji kid’ director makes lyrical feature debut
“You live in my fantasy/ although everything is now falling apart.”These were the famous lines of the legendary Seo Tai-ji’s 1992 song “You in My Fantasy” that inspired up-and-coming director Kang Ji-na to change the title of her feature debut film, a tale of a young man losing his girlfriend in a tragic accident. The film “You in My Fantasy” (English title “Dear Dolphin”) is a rare movie, as Seo’s Seo Taiji Company rarely grants permission for other artists to use his music for their works. Kan
FilmMay 13, 2013
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Roh Tae-woo’s son divorces
Former President Roh Tae-woo’s only son Roh Jae-hon has divorced Shin Jung-hwa, ending 23 years of marriage.The Seoul Family Court said that Roh notified the court on May 2 of his intention to drop his lawsuit for divorce and compensation.His withdrawal came after Shin won a divorce suit in a Hong Kong court in July, last year. Roh appealed but later dropped the appeal. The Hong Kong court established their divorce in November.Court rulings in Hong Kong are effective in Korea as well.The Hong Ko
PeopleMay 13, 2013
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Fewer Britons believe queen’s role is for life: poll
LONDON (AFP) ― The number of Britons who believe Queen Elizabeth II should hand over to Prince Charles before her death has increased, although a majority still think she should reign for life, an opinion poll found on Sunday.Some 53 percent of voters said the 87-year-old monarch should resist any calls to abdicate, a decrease from 64 percent in March, the YouGov survey found. Some 33 percent said she should consider stepping down at some stage.The queen, who celebrated 60 years on the British t
PeopleMay 13, 2013