Kevin Laurence O’Rourke dies at 81

Kevin Laurence O’Rourke, a trailblazer of Korean literature translation, passed away Friday at the age of 81. O’Rourke, who has translated more than 2,000 Korean literary works into English, was a leading foreign figure in the Korean literature scene. According to Kyung Hee University, O’Rourke was born in Ireland in 1939. He became a Catholic priest in 1963. The following year, he started to serve as an assistant priest at Soyangro Catholic Church in Chuncheon, Gangwon Pr

Oct. 25, 2020

TV personality Tyler Rasch turns to environmental activism with 'There is No Second Earth'

What would you think of a friend who earns $2,000 a month but spends $3,500? Most people would see it as an unsustainable lifestyle bound for bankruptcy. In his latest book “There is no second earth,” which addresses climate issues in a palpable way, TV personality Tyler Rasch compares the status of humanity’s exploitation of nature with that spendthrift friend. He warns that we are all debtors to the earth because we are using resources 1.75 times faster than the rate at wh

Oct. 17, 2020

Female entrepreneur receives prestigious award from India

Entrepreneur Zena Chung, also known as Seon D. Chung, became the recipient of the 2020 Dr. Sarojini Naidu International Award presented by the Asian Academy of Arts. The award honors Indian writer and political activist Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949), the first Indian woman to preside over the Indian National Congress and India’s first female state governor. Called the Nightingale of India for her poetry, Naidu is recognized as an important force in India’s independence movement aga

Sept. 20, 2020

[Herald Interview] Ex-minister Kang Kum-sil envisions peace and life at DMZ

JeongSeon Forum 2020, hosted by the Gangwon Provincial Government and Gangwon Convention & Visitors Bureau, successfully finished its three-day session last week. On the second day of the forum, former Justice Minister Kang Kum-sil held an interview with The Korea Herald. Freshly appointed as chair for Gangwon Art and Culture Foundation this spring, she openly discussed her vison to make a better environment for artists and citizens living in the province. “I have two goals for now

Aug. 29, 2020

[Herald Interview] Busan Biennale resists adversities in pandemic time

The Busan Biennale, an international contemporary art show that takes place in the southern port city, is ready to demonstrate that the role of art has become more essential than ever in these pandemic-hit times. “In a situation of a crisis, an art space can be a space of reflection. It can be a space where you can think and share your thought with other people,” Busan Biennale Artistic Director Jacob Fabricius told The Korea Herald during an interview last week in central Seoul.

Aug. 24, 2020

Jazz legend dies at 77

Jazz vocalist Park Sung-yeon died Sunday at the age of 77. Park, who had kidney failure for more than two decades, had been in a nursing home in western Seoul for the past few years. The singer is often called the “godmother of jazz music” in South Korea. She opened Janus, the country’s first jazz-only club, in the college district of Sinchon, western Seoul, in 1978. “Korea, which had been a dead land of jazz music, has now become a thick forest, being home to numer

Aug. 24, 2020

[Herald Interview] How to declutter home and simplify life

Home is where most people start their day and wrap up the night. Yet, keeping your living space clean and tidy is no easy task. Remember how often you were instructed as a child to keep the space around you clean, but how you always found it terribly difficult, if not impossible? By now, you might have given up and forgotten about getting your house organized -- until you move to a new home. In a new abode, you and your family might be tempted to declare “a new beginning,” but afte

Aug. 11, 2020

[Herald Interview] Hotels prepare for post-coronavirus era

Touch-free services may be the key focus for hotels in the post-coronavirus era, according to Park Hyatt Seoul General Manager Samuel Dabinett. Luxury hotel Park Hyatt Seoul shut down in March after a guest confirmed with COVID-19 visited the hotel. After a nearly two-month break, it reopened in June, changing some of its service manuals in pursuit of contactless service. During the break, the hotel developed a new QR-code for its compendium, allowing guests to access all the information reg

Aug. 1, 2020

[Herald Interview] Gang Dong-won falls for zombie genre while filming ‘Peninsula’

Actor Gang Dong-won was not a big fan of zombie flicks until he starred in “Peninsula,” a zombie thriller that hit the theaters Wednesday. While filming the movie, he found himself physically challenged and his thoughts on zombie flicks have changed -- they are actually action movies disguised as horror movies, he said. “Before I filmed ‘Peninsula,’ I was not really interested in zombie movies because I always thought that Asian ghosts that hold grudges were much

July 15, 2020

[Photo News] KH layout editor awarded from FNA

  The Korea Herald publisher and CEO Kwon Chung-won (left) and layout editor Lee Yoon-joo attend an event to mark the 5th anniversary of the Foreign Language Newspapers Association of Korea at Dalgaebi restaurant in central Seoul on Monday. Editor Lee received a plaque for her contribution to enhancing The Korea Herald’s brand with outstanding page layouts and designs. Editor Lee (second from right) poses for the camera along with other awardees from Korea Times, Korea JoonAang Da

July 6, 2020

[Video] Subtle, ordinary moments of Seoul captured through lens

  James Lucian is a daytime kindergarten English teacher who wanders around the streets of Seoul, taking pictures of people and places. His work has gained attention from both amateur and professional photographers interested in Korea. James has close to 20,000 followers on his social media account where he posts stories. After his high school experience visiting the darkroom doing photography, James discovered his lifetime interest and decided to major in Fine Art Photography at the Univ

June 29, 2020

‘Hover Lab’ reports rumor despite warning from Song Joong-ki’s agency

As rumors of Song Joong-ki dating a lawyer spread across the internet, History D&C, Song’s agency since January, issued a warning on Thursday to anyone spreading “false rumors.” “These rumors are not true,” said History D&C. “As an agency, in order to protect our artist’s precious yet basic rights, we will take legal action against people who created and spread the malicious rumor as well as those that routinely write malicious comments.&rdquo

June 13, 2020

#Blackouttuesday floods social media amid skepticism

Many Korean celebrities joined the world in supporting the #blackouttuesday movement, posting black square images on their Instagram accounts on Tuesday. #Blackouttuesday was initiated by Atlanta Records marketing chief Jamila Thomas and Platoon’s Brianna Agyemang, who suggested putting the music industry on a pause and to think of ways to help the Black Lives Matter movement, following the police killing of George Floyd on May 25. With famous artists and major music labels joining the

June 3, 2020

KCDC’s #ThanksChallenge goes viral as celebrities join

Celebrities joined the #ThanksChallenge this week via their social media accounts to thank the medical personnel who have worked tirelessly to fight the COVID-19 pandemic The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the start of the challenge during its regular briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic situation on April 16. The challenge consists of posting yourself showing the word “respect” in sign language -- placing the right hand with the thumb up on top of the left

May 5, 2020

[Herald Interview] US literary agency founder says US, UK opening up to Korean books

The first work of Korean literature to be translated into English was “The Cloud Dream of the Nine” in 1922, translated by Canadian missionary James S. Gale. That was almost a century ago, but until recently Korean literature still did not get much exposure in the global market. “The markets in the US and UK are growing a lot for Korean books,” founder of the BJZ Agency Barbara J. Zitwer told The Korea Herald by email.  Based in New York City, the agency speciali

April 19, 2020

Notable Korean children’s book authors to be published in foreign languages this year

Last month, Baek Hee-na, a children‘s book author and renowned picture book artist, won the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest children’s literature prize, becoming the first Korean to do so. Many Korean children’s books, however, still have not received the global attention they deserve. “We do not concentrate much on assisting the children’s book genre yet,” a Literature Translation Institute of Korea official told The Korea H

April 15, 2020

Four notable Korean authors to be published in foreign languages this year

From Korean TV dramas and K-pop to the nation’s cinematic output, Korean content has taken the world by storm. This year, it may be Korean novels’ turn to engage global readers. According to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, a state-run institute that promotes Korean literature abroad, at least 91 Korean books are being published in 19 countries this year. “There might be more books that will be published overseas, this is the number that we have for now,&rdquo

March 30, 2020

Reinstated head quits, signaling peace for Korea National Opera

The Korea National Opera announced its recently reinstated artistic director Yoon Ho-geun quit on Monday, preventing chaos for the troupe that was to be led by two heads. According to the national troupe’s press release Tuesday, Yoon quit his position to “prevent confusion for the opera troupe, and to encourage the advance of the Korean opera scene.”  Earlier this month, the national opera troupe fell into confusion when its former artistic director Yoon Ho-geun retur

March 24, 2020

Daniel Dae Kim addresses xenophobia after testing positive for coronavirus

Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, spoke on social media about his coronavirus testing experience and xenophobia. On Friday, Kim posted a 10-minute video on Instagram announcing that he had tested positive and spoke about violence toward Asians stemming from xenophobia. He had also tweeted on Monday against ongoing acts of racism in the US. Kim, known for his roles as Kwon Jin-soo in “Lost” and Dr. Jackson Han in “The Good Doc

March 20, 2020

Churches continue with online Sunday services

Large churches in Seoul are continuing with their Sunday services online, as Korea is still in national battle against COVID-19. Like the past weeks, Sarang Church in southern Seoul, one of the several megachurches here, is going online for its Sunday services this week. On Sunday, more than 40,000 people viewed the online stream by the church.   “The decision was voluntarily made by the church community -- not by someone’s order. A church -- a religious community -- shares

March 13, 2020