Filmmaker Park Chan-wook to speak at Seoul International Book Fair

Filmmaker Park Chan-wook, renowned for his visually striking and psychologically complex films, will participate in the 2025 Seoul International Book Fair, the annual book fair's organizer announced Wednesday. Park has often drawn inspiration from literature, adapting several novels into screen productions including the HBO series "The Sympathizer" (2024) and the BBC series "The Little Drummer Girl" (2019). During his talk on June 20, titled Park Chan-wook's Literary Anchors, Park will discuss e

May 21, 2025

'Silence is dangerous. We must keep talking,' says bilingual novelist Yoko Tawada

Yoko Tawada, a celebrated novelist who writes in both Japanese and German, is skeptical about the use of artificial intelligence in literary translation. “I’ve heard predictions that AI translations will decline in quality year by year,” Tawada said at a press conference in Seoul on Monday. “Since these systems learn from the sentences produced by a wide range of anonymous translators, I believe the proportion of poorly constructed sentences will inevitably increase. In the long term, I don’t th

May 20, 2025

Dance takes over Busan beaches as International Dance Festival returns in June

For five days in early June, Busan will transform into a sprawling stage as the 21st Busan International Dance Festival brings contemporary movements to its beaches, cinemas and cultural centers. Running June 4 - June 8, the festival is set to fill the city’s early summer beaches and urban landscape with the vibrant energy of dance from around the world. This year, more than 30 works will be performed by approximately 300 artists from 10 companies representing 15 countries. Performances will tak

May 19, 2025

Debut picture book on curious cat's adventure wins Italian children's literature prize

Korean author Choi Yeon-ju’s debut picture book "Mo Story," "Gatto Mo e gli amici del bosco" in Italian, has won the Ragazze e Ragazzi at Italy’s Premio Strega, one of the country's most important literary awards. The story follows a curious cat named Mo who sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night and embarks on an unexpected adventure. The jury praised the book as a “sweet, simple and profound fairy tale that takes young readers on a journey of growth and discovery.” The Premio Streg

May 19, 2025

Ballet Festival Korea welcomes season of connection and legacy

As late spring melts into early summer, Seoul once again turns to ballet to usher in the season with elegance and power. The 15th edition of Ballet Festival Korea kicked off on May 9, with a double bell from the newly established Seoul Metropolitan Ballet — "Walking Mad" and "Bliss" — by acclaimed Swedish choreographer Johan Inger, running through Sunday. This year’s program under the theme of connection, brings together 12 dance companies for 26 performances and five accompanying events, rangin

May 16, 2025

‘A village of dust in hindsight was a field of blossoms’

The village I passed, thick with dust, now that I’ve come far, it was a field of peach blossoms These lines, from the poem “Red Dragonfly,” open "All Living Things Are Beautiful," the posthumous poetry collection of Shin Kyung-rim (1936-2024), released to mark the first anniversary of his death. They speak to the realization that a life filled with hardship and dust, once viewed from a distance, was in fact beautiful. At a press conference held Wednesday at Changbi Publishers’ office in Seoul, p

May 15, 2025

Interview: Marcos Morau’s strange and beautiful worlds

Marcos Morau, one of Spain’s most compelling contemporary choreographers, has straddled contradictions: innocence and critique, humor and darkness, elegance and unease. "I'm still feeling like I'm a kid," said Morau in a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. "I like to create things that are a mix of innocence and humor, but also darkness and a criticism (of how we live)." Three of Morau’s works arrive in Seoul this May, each a portal into his rich, often bizarre imagination. The choreographer

May 14, 2025

Interview: Lee Young-ae on how antihero 'Hedda' brought her back to stage after 30 years

In a theatrical coincidence that has stirred anticipation among theatergoers, two major Korean productions of "Hedda Gabler" have been going head to head this spring. The LG Arts Center Seoul’s version of Henrik Ibsen’s famous psychological drama premiered May 7 with Lee Young-ae in titular role. Directed by Jun In-chul and based on Richard Eyre’s contemporary adaptation, the LG Arts Center production transposes Hedda Gabler into the present day. (**The NTCK's production postponed its premiere b

May 14, 2025

Did Simcheong truly want to give herself up for her father? 'Pure Heart' asks

At the prow of a boat amid crashing waves, a small girl plunges into a vast ocean. The iconic scene of Korean folktale "Simcheong" is the epitome of filial devotion: The girl casts herself into the Indangsu Sea to restore her blind father’s sight. In “Pure Heart,” the National Jeongdong Theater’s latest reinterpretation of this age-old tale, Simcheong awakens after plunging into the shadowy abyss not in darkness or deep blue, but in soft pink light and waves, in a glowing, luminous undersea real

May 12, 2025

Matthew Bourne’s all-male ‘Swan Lake’ returns to Korea for 30th anniversary

Matthew Bourne’s groundbreaking "Swan Lake" — the ballet that catapulted the British choreographer to international fame — is returning to Korea for the first time in six years to mark its 30th anniversary. Reimagined with a menacing and powerful male ensemble of swans in place of the traditional female corps de ballet, the production has garnered both critical acclaim and popular attention worldwide. Since its Korean debut in 2005, the production has been staged four times in the country, drawi

May 12, 2025