Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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[Seoul Saunter] Webtoon characters liven up streets
Seoul is a vibrant megalopolis with modern high-rises crowding the city’s major arteries. Nestled among the gleaming buildings are maze-like alleys that appear to have escaped the passage of time. The Korea Herald explores the many nooks and crannies of Seoul, proclaimed the capital of Joseon in 1392, that reveal a multifaceted city. -- Ed. Murals line the Kang Full Cartoon Alley in Seongnae-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, in these photos taken Wednesday. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)On the wall of
April 3, 2017
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Van Hove asks, ‘idealism or practicality?’ via ‘The Fountainhead’
To pursue what one believes in or to compromise is a question that ails nearly every soul, but this question can be even more pressing for someone walking down the path of art.Such a dilemma is what Howard Roark -- protagonist of novel-turned-play “The Fountainhead” -- confronts as the young architect refusing to compromise his artistic and personal vision for worldly success.According to Ivo van Hove, director of the acclaimed drama, this theme was the main motivation in producing a theatrical
March 30, 2017
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Political satire on SNL returns after Park’s fall
The new season of “Saturday Night Live Korea” launched Saturday with the tvN comedy show poking fun at the political situation involving ex-President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil.The return of blatant satire to the show -- which at one point had resorted to relying mostly on sexual innuendo -- is a reminder that the Park administration’s controlling hand over pop culture is no more.In one sketch on Saturday, actor Kim Min-kyo dressed up as the imprisoned Choi. His character was
March 26, 2017
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Gender-bending fashion on Tokyo runway bang on trend
TOKYO, (AFP) -- If gender bending fashion is suddenly all the rage in the West, think Pharrell Williams promoting Chanel’s new unisex handbag, then nowhere has the look excelled more than in Tokyo.Japan, for decades a pioneer of the androgynous look in the style of Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto and Kenzo, is spawning young designers blurring the lines expertly between masculine and feminine.Genderless-looking boys are gaining traction in fashion circles and on the streets of Tokyo -- gay but
March 25, 2017
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[Weekender] Lifelong learning takes first step in Korea
About 40 percent of South Korean adults aged under 70 have received college-level or higher education, according to a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The figure is far above the OECD average of 30 percent.The Paris-based organization also said its 34 member countries (currently 35) posted 40.8 percent in the proportion of adults that had participated in various types of lifelong learning such as not-for-credit courses by universities, lessons at priva
March 24, 2017
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Poland’s WWII museum opens amid an uncertain future
WARSAW (AP) -- A major World War II museum opened in northern Poland on Thursday amid plans by the conservative government to change its content to fit the government’s nationalist views.The Museum of the World War II in Gdansk is at the center of a standoff between the historians creating it and Poland’s populist government, which is seeking a court order to have it closed and then wants to reshape its current multi-national focus.The museum was initiated in 2008 by then-Prime Minister Donald T
March 24, 2017
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Korea retracts application for Seoul City Wall's UNESCO heritage listing
The South Korean government scrapped a plan to put an ancient wall built in 1396 on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Cultural Heritage Foundation said Tuesday.The decision came after the International Council on Monuments and Sites, an advisory group to UNESCO, ruled earlier this month "not to inscribe" the wall onto the World Heritage list.The Seoul City Wall is an 18.6-kilometer-long wall surrounding Hanyang, the former capital of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and present-day c
March 21, 2017
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[Seoul Saunter] Odd but pleasant mix of past, present in Ikseon-dong
Seoul is a vibrant megalopolis with modern high rises crowding the city’s major arteries. Nestled among the gleaming buildings are maze-like alleys that appear to have escaped the passage of time. The Korea Herald explores the many nooks and crannies of Seoul, proclaimed the capital of Joseon in 1392, that reveal a multifaceted city. -- Ed. Walking out of the Jongno 3-ga Station in central Seoul, you will find vibrant streets of jewelry shops, tourists, couples on dates, street vendors and movie
March 20, 2017
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MMCA opens its shopping bag
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea is showcasing its shopping bag, exhibiting a selection of its purchases and acquisitions from 2013 to 2016 at its Seoul branch. The title of the exhibition, “Samramansang: From KIM Whanki to Yang Fudong,” is appropriated from New York-based Kang Ik-joong’s “Saramansang,” which stands majestic at the entrance of the show. It is apt as “samramansang” can be interpreted as “all things and phenomena of the universe” and can hence be taken to
March 19, 2017
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[Weekender] Minimalist lifestyle: Detoxing mind and body
Being a minimalist is confined not only to reducing the possessions of material things but giving up on unnecessary and superficial social relationships in life, according to an author who wrote a book in Korean about how to live a minimalist life and take care of domestic work.“Having deep relations with two people is more comfortable and (psychologically) healthier than having superficial relations with 10 people. Because you don’t say much and say only necessary things to a person you deeply
March 17, 2017
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Comedy or politics? No need to pick in today's TV
The political scandal of former President Park Geun-hye, rooted in her decades-long relationship with her confidante Choi Soon-sil, is one of the biggest, if not strangest, in modern Korean history. It's also too good a topic for TV networks to just pass up.But it's one thing for network executives to order new shows that deal with the latest politics. It's another for showrunners to take the inside minutia of politics and actually make it interesting and engaging, not just for political junkies
March 11, 2017
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Culture Ministry pushes for ‘anti-blacklist’ bill
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday vowed to push for legislation that would protect artists from discrimination, including political oppression, as part of its follow-up measure aimed at preventing the government from drawing up a blacklist of cultural figures.Investigation of the corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil has revealed that the ministry kept a list of artists who were to be excluded from recei
March 9, 2017
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LVMH to reenlist Frank Gehry for applied arts center
LVMH will tap architect Frank Gehry once again to create a center for applied arts beside his Louis Vuitton Foundation, the luxury group and the City of Paris announced Wednesday.The celebrated Canadian-American architect, 88, will be tasked with renovating and transforming a disused museum located a stone’s throw from the futuristic Foundation he built on the western edge of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne.“The new center will be dedicated to artists, live performances and to the applied arts and
March 9, 2017
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Local tourism braces for fallout from strained Korea-China ties
Following the joint Korea-US decision to deploy the THAAD battery in Korea last July, a de facto Hallyu ban has been in place in China. Following is the second article in a three-part series that examines the impact of the unofficial Hallyu ban on the Korean entertainment and tourism industries. --Ed.With China clamping down on Korea-bound tourism -- widely suspected as retaliation for the upcoming Seoul-Washington deployment of the US missile defense system here -- the tourism industry is searc
March 7, 2017
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[Seoul Saunter] Haebangchon: Home to artists, once a refuge for the displaced (Video)
Seoul is a vibrant megalopolis with modern high rises crowding the city’s major arteries. Nestled among the gleaming buildings are maze-like alleys that appear to have escaped the passage of time. The Korea Herald explores the many nooks and crannies of Seoul, proclaimed the capital of Joseon in 1392, that reveal a multifaceted city. -- Ed. Navigating through the Haebangchon neighborhood of Yongsan can be a challenge. Houses are perched on steep hills. Cars squeeze past labyrinthine roads while
March 6, 2017
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‘The Fountainhead’ to premiere in Seoul
Ivo van Hove’s “The Fountain” will be performed in Seoul from March 31 to April 2, marking the second time that the theater director will visit Korea to stage his production. The Fountainhead, a stage adaptation of a 1943 novel by Ayn Rand of the same name, was first unveiled in 2014 and has received mostly positive reviews. The four-hour show’s protagonist is a young architect Howard Roark who refuses to compromise his artistic and personal vision for worldly success. The character’s interactio
March 5, 2017
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[Eye Plus] Flowers on their way to Gwanghwamun to soothe citizens
During winter, the Park Geun-hye scandal dumbfounded many citizens, with the irregular situation in administrative affairs still ongoing.Political ups and downs can be likened to the stock market. Stocks that have nosedived to rock bottom often recover at a rapid pace. Life is the same. Put the anger aside for a moment and observe spring knocking on our windows. It has come to soothe the people. Beautiful flowers are poised to placate those who have grown sick and tired of the political fiasco.C
March 3, 2017
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Met Museum chief quits amid expansion and deficits
The head of the Metropolitan Museum of Art resigned Tuesday as the New York institution struggles to tame a budget deficit despite pulling in record crowds.Thomas P. Campbell, a British expert on tapestries who has been director and chief executive officer of the Met since the beginning of 2009, said he would step down at the end of June.The Met, one of the world’s largest museums with collections spanning the globe from antiquity onward, opened a modern art annex, the Met Breuer, last year and
March 1, 2017
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Ancient Celtic art uncovered in ‘unique’ gold hoard
Two amateur treasure hunters have uncovered a bracelet decorated with some of the earliest Celtic art ever found in Britain in a trove of gold jewelry revealed Tuesday. A handout image made available by Staffordshire County Council on Tuesday shows a collection of Iron Age gold jewelry that were discovered in a field in Staffordshire, central England in December 2016. (AFP-Yonhap)Metal detectorists Mark Hambleton and Joe Kania made the discovery of the three torques and a bracelet, which may hav
March 1, 2017
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Ursula K. Le Guin, Ann Patchett voted into arts academy
Ursula K. Le Guin, Ann Patchett voted into arts academyNEW YORK (AP) -- Not even an honorary National Book Award kept Ursula K. Le Guin from being surprised by her latest tribute: membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.``My reputation was made as a writer of fantasy and science fiction, a literature that has mostly gone without such honors,‘’ she told the Associated Press recently.Known for such classics as ``The Left Hand of Darkness‘’ and ``The Dispossessed,‘’ Le Guin has won n
Feb. 28, 2017