The Korea Herald

CNBlue singer Jung grilled over allegation of insider trading

Prosecutors on Tuesday summoned Jung Yong-hwa, the leader of the Korean boy band CNBlue, alleged to be involved in insider trading.He is suspected of having earned some 200 million won ($170,000) last year in illegal use of information on his entertainment agency’s plan for a contract with another celebrity.Jung reportedly bought 21,000 shares of the agency, to which he belongs, before July last year and sold the stocks after the announcement of the contract.He faces charges of violating the law

June 29, 2016

Bill Cunningham, NY Times fashion photographer, dies at 87

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bill Cunningham, a longtime fashion photographer for The New York Times known for taking pictures of everyday people on the streets of New York, has died. He was 87. Cunningham died Saturday in New York City, according to Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the newspaper. He had been hospitalized recently after suffering a stroke. “To see a Bill Cunningham street spread was to see all of New York,” New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet said in a tweet posted to the newspaper'

June 26, 2016

Winners of 2016 Young Architects Award unveiled

The Culture Ministry announced five winners of the 2016 Korean Young Architects Award on Wednesday. 　The winners were Kim Hyun-seok of June Architects and architect duos Shin Min-jae and Ahn Kee-hyun of AnLstudio as well as Lee Seung-taek and Lim Mi-jeong of STPMJ Architecture. Lim Mi-jeong (left) and Lee Seung-taek of STPMJ Architecture (Korea Architects Institute) Shin Min-jae (left) and Ahn Kee-hyun of AnLstudio (Korea Architects Institute)　The prestigious architect award established in 2008

June 22, 2016

Winners of 2016 Young Architects Award unveiled

[Hallyu Power] What it takes to be a K-pop fan

Following four sexual assault claims last week against Park Yoo-chun of boy band JYJ, a group of his fans announced that they will stop supporting the once-beloved celebrity. 　The fans, who were members of a popular online community said in a statement that they felt “deep disappointment and outrage” toward Park, adding that he had “betrayed the trust of 13 years and devoted support.” 　“We will strictly boycott all content or activities related to him,” the statement added. The fans said they wo

June 21, 2016

[Hallyu Power] What it takes to be a K-pop fan

Longoria asks film grads to use Rita Moreno as guiding light

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Eva Longoria has some advice for new graduates of the American Film Institute: Use Rita Moreno as a guiding light to use myriad points of view.Longoria presented the legendary stage and screen actress with an honorary doctorate of fine arts Wednesday in Los Angeles.“As you go on to write and direct and produce ... rise above caricature, as she does. Create complete and complicated characters, as she does,” Longoria told the audience of students and their family members -- inc

June 16, 2016

Longoria asks film grads to use Rita Moreno as guiding light

Writers Morrison, Coates and Sanchez talk art, Orlando, Ali

NEW YORK (AP) -- Speaking on stage at Broadway’s Ambassador Theatre, Ta-Nehisi Coates remembered studying at Howard University and being mesmerized by a few lines from the poem “Personal Letter No. 3.”“We are what we are what we never think we are.”The poet, 81-year-old Sonia Sanchez, was seated on one side of Coates on Wednesday night. On the other side sat a Nobel laureate and one of Howard’s most celebrated graduates, 85-year-old Toni Morrison.“I’m a little overwhelmed,” confided the 40-year-

June 16, 2016

Actor Lee Min-ho wins in Weibo Movie Awards

Korean actor Lee Min-ho has been named the most influential Asian film industry figure at a movie awards ceremony hosted by Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, his agency said Wednesday.Lee was chosen as the “Asian Cinema Pioneer” at the inaugural Weibo Movie Awards Ceremony held in Shanghai on Monday night, MYM Entertainment said.Winners were selected based on an online vote of 100 million Weibo subscribers who are film fans, according to the organizer. Lee Min-ho (Official website)Lee ca

June 15, 2016

Actor Lee Min-ho wins in Weibo Movie Awards

Web cartoon series to be based on actor Park Hae-jin

Actor Park Hae-jin will become the object of an autobiographical web cartoon series set to launch next month, his talent agency said Wednesday.The series, whose title roughly translates to “The Private Life of a Major Actor You Don't Know about,” will be created by up-and-coming cartoonist Hyesso, Mountain Movement Entertainment said. (Mountain Movement Entertainment)Only the founding members of Park’s official fan club CLUB Jin’s will gain access to the exclusive series.A teaser will be release

June 8, 2016

Web cartoon series to be based on actor Park Hae-jin

Live streaming of Park Hae-jin’s Chinese show prep hits 1m views

More than a million people watched the behind-the-scenes footage of Korean actor Park Hae-jin’s appearance on a Chinese entertainment show, his publicist said Thursday.Park’s every word and gesture was broadcast live on the Chinese social media website Weibo in the run-up to the pre-recorded session of “Jing’s Talk Show” last Friday, HNS HQ said.The video racked up 1.34 million views as of Tuesday, with the episode to air on Chongqing TV on June 16. Park Hae-jin appears on Chinese entertainment

June 2, 2016

Live streaming of Park Hae-jin’s Chinese show prep hits 1m views

Bolshoi dancer jailed for acid attack released

MOSCOW (AFP) - The Bolshoi ballet dancer who masterminded an acid attack on the troupe’s artistic director has been released on parole, his lawyer told Russian media on Tuesday. Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2013 for orchestrating an acid attack on artistic director Sergei Filin, has been granted parole and is already “back at home in Moscow,” his lawyer Sergei Kadyrov told TASS news agency. Kadyrov did not specify when his client, who had been s

June 1, 2016

[EYE] Pictures speak louder than words

Sometimes words just can’t express how you feel when you “speak” to someone on a mobile messenger app. Instantly, you go through different emoticons offered by the messenger service and choose what fits your state of mind, sending them without saying a word. 　Emoticons have become a crucial part of modern communication. They facilitate the new form of mobile communication in which senders and recipients communicate anytime and anywhere, but often face difficulties guessing what the person on th

May 27, 2016

Korean street dancer snatches ticket to 'World of Dance' competition

Korean singer and contemporary dancer Nam Hyun-joon, better known by his stage name Poppin' Hyun Joon, has secured a ticket to a global dancing competition in the United States, his agency said on Tuesday.The 37-year-old dancer, famous for his popping techniques, and his teammates won second place in the preliminary competition in Korea on Saturday, according to his management company Happy Face Entertainment.In Korea, Nam is considered to be one of the first-generation K-pop street dancers, alo

May 24, 2016

Yoon Mi-rae, Tiger JK, and Bizzy named ambassadors for Social Welfare Society

The Social Welfare Society appointed rapper Tiger JK, singer and rapper Yoon Mi-rae and rapper Bizzy as its honorary ambassadors on Tuesday.　The married couple Tiger JK and Yoon, who have supported SWS for several years, will help raise awareness of the welfare society with Bizzy. From left, rapper Bizzy, Social Welfare Society president Rhie Yong-heung, singer and rapper Yoon Mi-rae and rapper Tiger JK pose at the ceremony which saw the appointment of the project group MFBTY as honorary ambass

May 18, 2016

Yoon Mi-rae, Tiger JK, and Bizzy named ambassadors for Social Welfare Society

Weather anchor's dress sparks social-media firestorm

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It's become so common for some female TV weather reporters to dress like they are on the way to a cocktail party that their dresses should have long ago ceased to raise any eyebrows among viewers. 　But there was eyebrow-raising aplenty across the Internet this week after KTLA-TV weather anchor Liberte Chan’s cohost handed her a dull-looking, gray sweater and she pulled it on over her black, sparkly, spaghetti-strap evening dress while delivering her report Saturday. A screen

May 17, 2016

Weather anchor's dress sparks social-media firestorm

Despite damage, Palmyra retains authenticity: UNESCO

PARIS (AFP) -- The U.N. cultural agency said Wednesday that the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra had suffered significant damage at the hands of Islamic State fighters, but that the archaeological site retains much of its authenticity.　UNESCO sent experts to the world heritage site to study damage caused by the Islamic State group which held the city for nearly a year before it was retaken by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces last month.　Escorted by U.N. security, the mission inspected both the P

April 28, 2016

Despite damage, Palmyra retains authenticity: UNESCO

What to do with billions of useless humans?

It is no news that machines have come to largely replace physical labor and computers surpass human beings in processing data. But in the future, the development of artificial intelligence may render humans obsolete even in the realm of emotional intelligence, according to Yuval Harari.　“It is true that in one sense, AI doesn’t even come close to human emotion since it has no consciousness or mind and doesn’t feel anything,” said Harari at Tuesday’s opening ceremony of the 2030 Eco Forum, organi

April 28, 2016

What to do with billions of useless humans?

[Herald Interview] ‘English-language media is like face of Korea to world’

The first thing Paul Shin, a veteran English-language journalist, asked during an interview in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Monday was, “What desk do you work at?” 　“The culture desk did not take up a big part of English-language newspapers back in my day,” he said upon hearing the response. “International audiences were more interested in the authoritarian regime,” said Shin, 76, referring to the period of the Park Chung-hee administration in the 1960s and ’70s. 　Now, stories on Korean culture, ranging

April 27, 2016

[Herald Interview] ‘English-language media is like face of Korea to world’

Chilean poet Neruda reburied at his coastal home

ISLA NEGRA, Chile (AP) -- The remains of Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda were reburied on Tuesday at his favorite home in a Chilean town overlooking the Pacific Ocean, despite lingering questions surrounding his mysterious death.　The writer died in the chaos following Chile’s 1973 right-wing military coup, and some have speculated he was poisoned. His body was exhumed in 2013 to determine the cause of his death. Forensic tests showed no toxic agents in his bones. But Chile’s government sai

April 27, 2016

YouTuber Heopop wants to break rules in your stead

Just a year ago, Heo Jae-wo -- better known by his YouTube alias "Heopop" -- was a typical Millennial, moving from one job to another without purpose."I never lasted longer than a year in one job," he told Yonhap News Agency in an interview at KCON, the world's largest K-pop festival that took place in Japan over the weekend. He is now making some 10 grand a month, according one estimate by the entertainment giant CJ E&M, by uploading videos of wacky experiments involving slime, ostrich eggs and

April 14, 2016

Korean novelist Han Kang shortlisted for 2016 Man Booker Int'l Prize

South Korean fiction writer Han Kang has been shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize.Han's "The Vegetarian," translated by Deborah Smith, is among the six books contending for the 2016 prize, the organizer announced on its website Thursday. "The story of a Korean woman who awakens from uneasy dreams to find herself transformed into an enigma without a key. Evocative and suggestive, 'The Vegetarian' startles for the depth of its strangeness," the organizer said. Critically acclai

April 14, 2016