Lee Seung-yoon comes full circle with 'Album 0'

From a struggling bedroom musician to a festival headliner — this is the story of singer-songwriter Lee Seung-yoon. After a decade-long struggle as an indie musician singing in underground clubs, busking on Seoul streets and recording music at home, Lee had a breakthrough when he won the top prize on JTBC’s audition program “Sing Again” season 1 in 2021. The show, which started airing during the COVID-19 lockdown, became a huge hit as viewers wondered how such talented musicians could have been

'There Are No Words' airs the unspoken

For Korean Canadian film director Lee Min-sook, the COVID pandemic was the big push behind her documentary “There Are No Words,” a deeply personal and political film. “There Are No Words” is Lee’s ninth film in a career that spans 25 years. The film appears to be a departure from her previous works that have dealt with issues such as migrant farmers in Canada and city politics. “It’s taken me a while to approach this story because it’s the central story of my life,” Lee said during an interview

Lee Hye-young explores artistic value, freedom, desire through Hedda

Actor Lee Hye-young is on the floor stretching, as is the rest of the cast of the National Theater Company of Korea’s production of Henrik Ibsen's “Hedda Gabler,” preparing for a run-through of the play Thursday at the National Theater of Korea in Jangchung-dong, Seoul. “Hedda Gabler,” directed by the NTCK Artistic Director and CEO Park Jung-hee, is to be staged at the Drama Center Theater in Singapore from May 28-30, as part of this year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts. In a fitted l

Gwangju Biennale explores transformative power of art

Heading this year’s Gwangju Biennale is, in a way, a homecoming for Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen. Back in 2020, Ho was commissioned to create a piece for the 13th Gwangju Biennale GB Commission, marking the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, whose spirit is commemorated in the biennale. Ho’s commission, a two-channel video entitled “The 49th Hexagram” (2020), explores the history of uprisings that took place on the Korean Peninsula in the last century through animation created

The Met looks to grow Korean contemporary art collection

Ten 19th-century landscape painting scrolls known collectively as "Chilbosan" ("Seven Jeweled Mountain") in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City will undergo conservation and be remounted in their original format as a 10-panel folding screen at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul. Announced early last week, the two-year project is the latest instance of cooperation between the US museum and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, an affiliate of the state-run

Kim Yo-jong world’s most dangerous woman, says scholar

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was appointed director of the General Affairs Department of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea during the Ninth Party Congress that concluded Feb. 25, North Korea’s state news agency confirmed on Feb. 28. Her previously known official post was that of vice director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, a post she held starting in the spring of 2014. With much of the workings of North Korea’s pa

In 'Korean Bloom,' hair weighs down woman facing discrimination

This is one of a series of interviews in which Kim Hoo-ran, editor-at-large at The Korea Herald, speaks with leaders, trailblazers, unsung heroes and both well- and lesser-known figures who share the stories of their lives and their visions for a better world — Ed. An Asian character’s dark hair grows at an unrealistic speed, like blinds being pulled down. When people press their palms together and bow in greeting the Asian woman and when people touch her hair, it grows, spilling onto the floor.

Polar scientist calls for Korea to boost Arctic activities

This is one of a series of interviews in which Kim Hoo-ran, editor-at-large at The Korea Herald, speaks with leaders, trailblazers, unsung heroes, and both well- and lesser-known figures who share the stories of their lives and their visions for a better world — Ed. If you felt the weather this winter was erratic — unseasonably warm days followed by deep freeze — you would not be wrong. While the average temperature in January was minus 1.6 degrees Celsius, the coldest average January temperatur

'The best city is the one where you live'

This is one of a series of interviews in which Kim Hoo-ran, editor-at-large at The Korea Herald, speaks with leaders, trailblazers, unsung heroes and both well-known and lesser-known figures who share the stories of their lives and their visions for a better world -- Ed. She is an Energizer Bunny, filling the room with life. I pose a question, and she volleys back a response without pause. Her rapid-fire speech and adamantly spoken words convey confidence. Writing is her way of “releasing pent-u