Mainstream Protestant church groups -- the National Council of Churches in Korea and the United Christian Churches of Korea -- on Friday asked the government to investigate leaders of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus here. “The government should clarify facts about the spread of the infectious disease and arrest Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee and the leaders of its 12 tribes to investigate them,”...

OTT service provider Watcha Play on Friday announced that it is discussing with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety about providing a free service for a month to COVID-19 patients and those under self-quarantine. The company explained that it is providing the service to support those who are having a hard time due to the outbreak of the virus. “We reached out to the government first with th...

The Museum of Korea Emigration History on Friday announced that it is asking Korean emigrants in South America to donate historic items for a special exhibition to be held in early July. “It has been 60 years since Korea officially began emigrating to Brazil in 1961. The first immigrants, who were adults at the time, are now in their 80s and 90s, and many of them have already passed away. Before...

“For February, we had to expand our capacity as the number of members rose from around 9,000 to over 10,000. We also had over 10,000 people signing up for the class in March,” startup Dano spokesperson Lee Jae-woo said. The startup’s app My Dano provides a personal fitness coaching program, through which a trainer helps the member work out and manage what they eat. “When our members send photos o...

National Solidarity for Shincheonji Victims on Thursday asked President Moon Jae-in to order an investigation into the religious group Shincheonji. “We are filing charges against Shincheonji and also urging the president to have a meeting with us,” the group’s head Shin Kang-shik said at a press briefing held in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. Shin explained that he was holding the briefing in...

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday urged Protestant churches in South Korea to halt gatherings as the novel coronavirus continues to spread. Culture Minister Park Yang-woo on Tuesday visited the central office of the United Christian Churches of Korea in Jongno, central Seoul, to ask the organization’s head, Kim Tae-young, for active cooperation. He emphasized that now was a...

Shincheonji founder Lee Man-hee, the figure at the center of the spread of COVID-19 in Korea, refused to answer a question about eternal life, concerning a claim he is said to have made to his believers, during a press briefing held in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. As of 4 p.m. on Monday, the number of novel coronavirus patients had jumped to 4,335 in Korea with more than half of the pati...

The chief executive also revealed her vision for a program for people outside Korea with an interest in Korean culture. “It is still only in my head. I am hoping to create a residency program for those who are interested in Korean culture like K-pop. We would like to bring them to Korea and provide them with our materials regularly to support their research,” she said. Suh is the first library ...

Korean films continue making history at the three big prestigious film festivals-- Berlin, Cannes and Venice. South Korean director Hong Sang-soo on Saturday in Berlin won best director at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival for “The Woman Who Ran.” Last year, director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” won the country’s first Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It might seem like the countr...

Protestant churches in South Korea are considering canceling Sunday worship services this week due to the spread of COVID-19. The disease became an even more serious concern for churches after a pastor at Myungsung Church in eastern Seoul, which has more than 100,000 members, was diagnosed with the virus on Tuesday. He is reported to have attended several services on Feb. 16. Myungsung Church a...

Hwangbo said she realized the potential of this business model after seeing people in Japan at Bunkitsu Bookstore. “It was a bookstore, but it was charging entrance fees,” she said. Once she decided to charge an entrance fee, she did a lot of market research about pricing. “At first, we considered charging our users like comic book cafes in Korea,” Hwangbo said. Comic book cafes here typically ...

The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism announced Monday that it would suspend the operation of its Templestay program until March 20 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, an affiliate of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, currently operates a Templestay program at 137 temples around the country. “As people’s concerns about the coronavirus rise due to the number of...

YouTubers Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal on Wednesday posted a clip saying the social media platform discriminates against Koreans by featuring English comments more prominently. Their channel, Korean Englishman, has over 3.7 million subscribers. “We realized that there’d be a Korean comment at the top with like 700 likes. Above it, there’d be like 10 English comments with maybe 100 likes each,”...

The organizer added that it was working to reschedule the dates and venues for the artist’s concerts in Asia. British rapper Stormzy was supposed to perform in Korea for the first time on March 29 but decided to push back his concert to November. The organizer said details about the new date will be revealed soon. Jazz saxophonist Kenny G also delayed his concerts on Friday and Sunday in Seoul ...

도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 20일(현지시간) 콜로라도주 집회에서 유세 도중 한국 봉준호 감독의 기생충이 아카데미 작품상을 받은 것을 비난했다. “올해 아카데미상 시상식이 얼마나 형편없었나. 다들 봤는지”라고 이야기를 시작한 그는 아카데미 시상식 사회자를 흉내를 내며 “올해의 수상자는 한국에서 온 영화…도대체 이게 다 무슨 일”이라며 조롱에 가까운 연설을 이어갔다. 트럼프 대통령은 이어 “우리는 한국과 이미 무역 문제가 충분히 많은데 오스카는 그들에게 작품상을 줬다. 그렇게 좋은 영화냐. 나는 모르겠다”고 비꼬았다. 그는 또 “‘바람과 함께 사라지다(1939)’ 같은 영화를 기대했다“며 ”그런데 수상작은 한국에서 온 영화였다“며 한국 영화에 대한 반감을 숨기지 않았다. 트럼프의 발언 직후, 트위터 ...