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

South Korean sci-fi bestseller inks six-figure film deal with Warner Bros

Cheon Seon-ran’s heartwarming science fiction novel "A Thousand Blues" is headed for the big screen in the US. Hubble, the literary imprint of Seoul-based East-Asia Publishing, said Saturday that it had signed a film adaptation deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, and that the novel is "now on track to meet a global audience on screen." The Hollywood studio behind blockbuster franchises such as Harry Potter and Dune, is said to have been drawn to the novel’s "original and compelling" storytelling. D

May 11, 2025

Korean-born German philosopher Han Byung-chul recognized in Spain for advancing humanities, social thought

Korean-born German philosopher and essayist Han Byung-chul has been named the recipient of Spain's 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, the award committee announced Thursday. The Princess of Asturias Awards recognize “the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work carried out at an international level by individuals, institutions or groups of individuals or institutions.” Considered one of the most prominent contemporary philosophers, Han has deve

May 8, 2025