Smugglers use auction sites to sell cultural heritage

The Internet has linked the world to a new level, enabling exchanges and trade of nearly everything with just few clicks. But it has become a headache for governments as online auction sites have become a loophole in cultural heritage smuggling. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Friday said that five people have been apprehended for illegal trade of a total of 187 non-designated cultural heritage artifacts using eBay, the world’s largest auctioning site. The authorities have managed to rec

June 16, 2013

Booking for Accor Super Sale starts today

Accor Hotel Group, operator of 10 Accor Ambassador hotels in Korea, on Monday starts to receive bookings for the Accor Super Sale event which offers up to 50 percent discount for rooms at 2,000 Accor hotels worldwide between July 6 and Sept. 1. The discount program is available at Grand Ambassador Seoul; Pullman Ambassador Changwon; Novotel Ambassador Gangnam, Doksan and Daegu; Mercure Ambassador Gangnam; and the ibis Ambassador Seoul, Myeong-dong, Suwon and Busan. Rates start at $23 per room pe

June 16, 2013

‘Dam-in-dam’ to be installed to preserve Bangudae petroglyphs

The government on Sunday said it would build a polycarbonate “dam” inside Sayeon Dam in Ulsan to protect the rock faces of Bangudae, located on Daegokcheon Stream Cliff, from erosion. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, a memorandum of understanding was signed by Prime Minister Chung Hong-won, Cultural Heritage Administration chief Byun Young-sup, Culture Minister Yoo Jin-ryong and Ulsan Mayor Park Maeng-woo, which allows the installment of a “kinetic dam,” a portable, transparent protecti

June 16, 2013

Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ leaks, Internet goes crazy

LOS ANGELES ― “Yeezus,” the highly anticipated new album from Kanye West, leaked online on Friday morning, resulting in immediate Twitter trending and sending less-ethical fans all over the world to various illegal download and mirror sites to get a free copy.The back cover of the CD has also leaked, which shows the many samples and songwriters involved in West’s newest construction. Among those sampled include Nina Simone, whose version of “Strange Fruit” gets center stage on “Blood on the Leav

June 16, 2013

Good cup of green tea bestowed by nature

Korean green tea has been traditionally well known for its taste and quality thanks to the clean water found in Korean nature, according to Park Kwang-ok, director of the eastern Seoul office of the Korea Tea Culture Association. “The quality of water and temperature affect the taste of tea. Korea is known for the clean water, one of the important factors for making a good-quality tea,” said Park in an interview with The Korea Herald. “The high quality of tea has affected the tea ceremony of Kor

June 14, 2013

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Exhibitions“Gauguin and After: Voyage into the Myth”: Masterpieces of the French post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin are on exhibition in Seoul. The exhibition, which runs from Friday to Sept. 29 at the Seoul Museum of Art, is the first-ever comprehensive survey of Gauguin’s artistic career presented to a Korean audience. It showcases about 60 artworks on loan from 30 major museums around the world, created during the two major periods of the artist ― Brittany, Paris (1873-1891) and Polynesia

June 14, 2013

Korea, Japan quarrel over stolen Buddhist statue

A Japanese mayor is set to visit South Korea next month to urge the return of an ancient Korean Buddhist statue amid concerns that such a move could deepen friction between the two countries over the ownership of the artifact.According to Kyodo News Agency, Tsushima Mayor Yasunari Takarabe plans to visit Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration in Daejeon to request that Korea return the Geumdong Gwaneum Bosal statue stolen from Kannonji Temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki prefecture, last October. The

June 13, 2013

Dutch duo peddle old bikes as fashion, furniture

DELFT, Netherlands (AFP) ― Two Dutch entrepreneurs have found a novel way to make money out of the thousands of bicycles abandoned in the Netherlands each year ― by turning them into designer fashion items and furniture.Industrial design student Lodewijk Bosman, 25, and Hidde van der Straaten, 28, founded “The Upcycle” in university city Delft in January 2012 to exploit a typically Dutch problem.The Netherlands has more bikes ― 18 million ― than its 17 million population, and around a million ne

June 13, 2013

Seoul Philharmonic to hold ‘Summer Night Concert’ at Hangang River

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra is holding a free outdoor concert by the Hangang River on Saturday, featuring familiar tunes ranging from classical to jazz. “A Summer Night Concert with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra,” to be held at Neoreundeulpan in Yeouido Hangang Park on 7:30 p.m., will feature star conductor Sung Shi-yeon leading one of the country’s most prestigious orchestras to present Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”; Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite No. 2; as well as Leonard Bernstein’s Overtu

June 13, 2013

‘Snowpiercer’ to open in Korea on Aug. 1

“Snowpiercer,” the highly anticipated English-language film debut of director Bong Joon-ho, will hit local cinemas on Aug. 1, its Korean distributor CJ E&M said Wednesday. The opening will be the world premiere of the film starring international stars such as Tilda Swinton, Chris Evans, Ed Harris, Jamie Bell and Korean actor Song Kang-ho.The film will later be distributed by Weinstein Company and other distributors in the U.S., France, Japan, Russia and elsewhere. “Snowpiercer,” based on French

June 13, 2013

[Photo News] Moving travel info service

June 11, 2013

Mayan artifacts surface in El Salvador construction site

SAN SALVADOR (AFP) ― Salvadoran construction workers building a housing complex unearthed Mayan pots, ceramic fragments and other artifacts, an official said.The find was made in Colon, 25 kilometers west of San Salvador.Specialists alerted to the site also found pieces of obsidian and part of a human skeleton which may also be from the Mayan period.A technician from the Culture Ministry, Julio Alvarado, said the area where the find was made is one the Central American’s country’s richest from a

June 11, 2013

Old war diary likely to make it onto UNESCO Memory of the World list

A 16th-century war diary kept by famous Korean naval hero Yi Sun-sin is highly likely to be added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, officials said Monday.The war diary, called “Nanjung Ilgi,” has recently received a preliminary recommendation for addition to the list by the International Advisory Committee (IAC) of the UNESCO Memory of the World, Cultural Heritage Administration said.The move further increased the journal’s chances of getting a final recommendation from the committee dur

June 10, 2013

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Theater“La Dame au Violoncelle”: TV actress Lee Jae-eun, who started her career as a child actress, is making a comeback with a play written by French playwright Guy Foissy. Titled “La Dame au Violoncelle (The Lady of the Cello),” the drama tells the story of an unhappy, depressed woman who is accused of murdering her husband. It is said to be a story of “the quest for happiness.” The play runs from June 5-30 at You-Theater in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul. Tickets range from 20,000 won to 30,0

June 7, 2013

Museum brings makeover to crime-hit Marseille

MARSEILLE, France (AP) ― A new flagship museum dedicated to Mediterranean civilization in Marseille is hoping to shake off the southern metropolis’ reputation as France’s deadliest city with a drastic cultural makeover.The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations, which was inaugurated by French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday, is the centerpiece of Marseille’s turn as the European Capital of Culture for 2013, which aims to attract 10 million visitors to the city this year. Offi

June 6, 2013