HUFS chief to lead Korea Arab Society

Kim In-chul, the president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, was recently elected head of the Korea Arab Society, officials said Friday.According to HUFS, Kim was appointed the KAS chief on Wednesday at the organization’s board of directors meeting. Kim began his two-year term immediately after the appointment, succeeding Ali Hamad Mubarak Al Marri, the former Qatari Ambassador to South Korea.The 56-year-old educator recently emphasized the need for bilateral cooperation between Korea and

Oct. 31, 2014

From job to job, a life lived ― and lost

ELIZABETH, New Jersey (AP) ― Fumes poured from the Kia SUV as soon as an emergency medical technician broke one of the rear windows. Inside, the body of a dark-haired young woman reclined in the driver’s seat, keys dangling from the ignition. But who was she? How was it that her life had ended here, in a convenience store parking lot? Waiting for the vapors to clear so they could search her belongings, police noted the most obvious clue: She was wearing a familiar white-and-brown uniform. By tha

Oct. 27, 2014

S. Korean satellite scientist dies

Choi Soon-dalChoi Soon-dal, a pioneer in South Korea’s satellite-building program who contributed greatly to technological development in this field, died of old age late Saturday. He was 83. The scientist, who was an honorary professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University and went to the United States to get his master’s at the University of California, Berkeley and his doctorate in electri

Oct. 19, 2014

Ex-MBC anchorwoman wins court battle with husband

The husband of former MBC anchorwoman Kim Ju-ha was sentenced to eight months in prison with two years’ suspension, a Seoul court said Wednesday. The Seoul Western District Court found the husband, surnamed Kang, guilty of assaulting Kim four times since July 2008. The court accepted Kim’s claim that her husband slapped her in the face, causing injuries that required up to four weeks to recover. The court also ruled Kang guilty of attempting to forge his wife’s identification in order to review

Oct. 16, 2014

From Jimmy Buffet to Genesis ace, guitarists flock to fix-it factory

ORLANDO, Florida ― It’s called a factory, but there’s no assembly line, no automated production.Instead the sawdust-caked Orlando shop known as the Guitar Factory has built a decades-long reputation among local and national musicians as a go-to place for stringed-instrument repairs, as well as custom-built guitars, basses and ukuleles.It’s also a haven for workbench wisdom, where discussions range from politics to parenting to the particulars of replacing a pick guard on an old Martin acoustic.I

Oct. 15, 2014

Bernhard Schlink wins Park Kyung-ni Literary Prize

German novelist Bernhard Schlink has been picked as this year’s recipient of the Park Kyung-ni Literary Prize, the award’s organizers said Wednesday. The 70-year-old writer is best known for his award-winning 1995 novel “The Reader,” which was also adapted into an eponymous screenplay, and “Homecoming” in 2006. His works shed light on the postwar generation’s view of Nazism through a strong narrative structure, the award organizer, the Toji Foundation of Culture, said in a press statement. Bernh

Sept. 25, 2014

Ice Bucket Challenge raises W700m in Korea

Park Seung-il. (Seungil Hope Foundation/Yonhap)The viral fund-raising campaign the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has raised over 700 million won ($689,500) in contributions to Seungil Hope Foundation, established to build a special hospital for patients of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in Korea. “Over 7,000 people have participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge,” said the singer Sean on Sunday through a statement from his agency, YG Entertainment. Sean cofoun

Sept. 1, 2014

Poet Ko Un receives Golden Wreath Award

Renowned South Korean poet Ko Un has won this year’s Golden Wreath, one of the world’s most authoritative awards for poets, the Korean National Commission for UNESCO said Monday.Ko received the award at the end of an annual poetry festival in the southern Macedonian town of Struga on Sunday for his overall body of work, the commission said.The 53rd edition of the Struga Poetry Evenings, an international poetry festival that has been held annually since 1962, was held on Aug. 21-24. This photo pr

Aug. 25, 2014

Korean pro-baseball fan gets hero’s welcome in Kansas City

Lee Sung-woo, a 38-year-old South Korean office worker, has become an online sensation after visiting Kansas City in the U.S. at the invitation of its pro baseball team the Royals early this month.He was given a hero’s welcome in the city and drew a great deal of attention from citizens and Royals’ officials, players and fans.The club invited him as he has been an ardent fan of the Royals for nearly two decades despite having no connection with the U.S. pro baseball team or the city. Lee Sung-wo

Aug. 19, 2014

Korean teens win silver in world culinary cup

Korean participants pose in Incheon International Airport before leaving for the Philippine Culinary Cup in Manila on Aug. 3.A group of Korean teenagers aged 15 to 19 won silver medals in the world culinary cup in Manila, Philippines, last week.Six students ― Kim Min-seung, Kim Ji-young, Kim Tae-gyeom, Baek Jang-sun, Jang Hong-chang and Hong Ji-young ― were awarded 10 silver medals in four sections in the 2014 Philippine Culinary Cup. The four sections included pasta, poultry, plated desserts an

Aug. 11, 2014

Older Americans take ‘encore’ jobs

After Fred Wallace was laid off from a high-paying job in 2011, the 56-year-old knew the odds of landing a comparable position were slim.He polished his LinkedIn profile and networked like crazy. But his yearlong job search yielded only a handful of interviews and no offers.So he shifted gears, embarking on an “encore” career by working part time at a child and family services organization in San Bernardino, California.Wallace is among millions of older Americans launching professional second ac

July 16, 2014

U.S. workers encountered man left in cell for days

SAN DIEGO (AP) ― Four U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration employees saw or heard a handcuffed San Diego student locked in a cell for five days without food or water, but did nothing because they assumed someone else was responsible, investigators said Tuesday.The U.S. Justice Department’s inspector general faulted several DEA employees for their handling of the April 2012 incident that left Daniel Chong in grave physical health, cost the agency a $4.1 million settlement and led to nationwide ch

July 10, 2014

(Photo News) 15th anniversary of Beyond Donga

Kwon Chung-won, CEO of Beyond Donga, a cable TV channel of Herald Corporation, speaks at the 15th anniversary of the opening of Beyond Donga (formerly Donga TV) at La Vie Douce in Jung-gu, Seoul, Wednesday. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)

June 26, 2014

Documenting Asian Games history through photography

For over 30 years, South Korean sports photographer Kim Min-jae has taken pictures at major international sports events, including the Olympics and the Asian Games, capturing iconic moments in sporting history.As Korea undertakes the final preparations to host the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, Kim seeks to document, for the first time, the decades-long history of the biggest global sports event in Asia through a photography exhibition to be held in Incheon during the upcoming games.“The exhibit s

June 26, 2014

Sheraton Seoul D Cube City appoints new general manager

Matthias Sutter, general manager of Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel. (Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel)Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel has appointed a Swiss veteran hotelier as its new general manager. Matthias Sutter has built up a career in the hospitality business for 15 years, mainly in Asia and North America. Prior to joining the Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel, Sutter served as a hotel manager at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok. Sutter also worked in Korea at Park Hyatt Seoul and H

June 25, 2014

Pontiff to meet Sewol families

Pope Francis will visit South Korea on Aug. 14 to attend a Catholic youth festival and preside over a ceremony to beatify 124 Korean Catholic martyrs, the Vatican and the local preparation committee for the visit said Wednesday.During the five-day state visit, the pope will conduct four Masses, including one for the beatification ceremony and another for the closing ceremony of Asian Youth Day. He will attend an official welcoming ceremony at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and pay a visit

June 18, 2014

No six-party talks without progress: Korean diplomat

South Korea has not given up on the six-party talks, but there must be tangible progress before talks can be resumed, a senior diplomat said Monday at the World Journalists Conference in Seoul.“The history of the six-party talks has seen far more failure than success. North Korea should be more responsible with its actions and words,” South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong told journalists from around the world at a special lecture during the second World Journalists Conference, hosted

June 16, 2014

Artist has her first show ― at age 82

PHILADELPHIA ― Patricia Ray Guckes’ husband never wanted her to work. So she painted.Up at 5 every morning, before her husband and two daughters, Guckes sat on a stool facing her easel in the kitchen of her Lower Moreland, Pennsylvania, home.She imagined pretty pictures and painted them, many smaller than a playing card. Then the chaos of the morning took over.For decades, Patty Ray Guckes’ routine yielded portraits, ocean scenes, and paintings of delicately rendered birds, but only recently did

June 11, 2014