Most Popular
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[KH Explains] Are underground parking bans for EVs fueled by fear or fact?
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Samsung phones for N. Korean Olympians could breach UN sanctions: Seoul
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Is S. Korea neglecting children's call to abolish 'no-kids zones'?
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Concerns grow with e-scooters following BTS Suga’s drunk driving
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Korea to rethink minimum wage
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Suga's agency issues another apology over 'kick scooter' mention
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Anti-corruption official leading first lady probe found dead
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S. Korea ties own Olympic record of 13 gold medals, aims to beat it
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[Herald Interview] K-drama remakes aim to cater to streaming viewers
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Hybe Chairman Bang spotted in LA with livestreamer Seyeon
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Indians take to Buddhist chanting to alleviate urban stress
NEW DELHI (AP) -- The bank executive, the book publisher and the social worker had one thing in common: Their hectic lives in the crowded Indian capital had become so chaotic and stressful, they’ve turned to chanting Buddhist mantras in search of calm. The practice is catching on among India’s well-off urban professionals, growing by word of mouth as a way to relieve stress. Most of those picking up the practice are Hindu, but they say they see no conflict between their religious beliefs and the
April 28, 2016
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New plainclothes morality police prompt criticism in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Tehran resident Sousan Heidari has stopped letting her headscarf slip casually down over her neck and shoulders while driving in the Iranian capital. These days, the 22-year-old with a taste for bold makeup makes sure to pull it tightly over her dark hair, fearful of running afoul of a newly established undercover division of the morality police. “Every single man or woman could be a member of the unit,” she cautioned. “I don't know. Maybe some plainclothes have already repo
April 28, 2016
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Barcelona bookstores reinvent themselves to survive
BARCELONA (AFP) -- Faced with falling sales and the rise of ebooks, bookstores in Barcelona, the Spanish-language world’s publishing capital, are remaking themselves as cultural centers that offer concerts, classes and hard to find books to draw customers. “We had to change. Either we reinvented ourselves or it was really impossible to stay open,” said Montserrat Serrano, the lively owner of the Bernat bookstore located just off the Diagonal, one of the main avenues in Spain’s second-largest cit
April 27, 2016
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Lights celebrate Buddha’s birthday
The annual Yeondeunghoe, the lotus lantern festival, is set to light up Seoul streets to celebrate Buddha’s birthday falling on May 14 this year. The festival, designated Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 122, will take place at Jogyesa and Bongeunsa temples and along Jongno Street on May 6-8. The origin of the three-day festival dates back to the Unified Silla era over 1,300 years ago, when the festival was held on Daeboreum, a day celebrating the first full moon of the lunar
April 26, 2016
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Nepalese temple, 4 other sites receive funding totaling $1M
NEW YORK (AP) -- The World Monuments Fund announced grants Monday totaling $1 million for five historic sites, including a 16th-century Nepalese temple destroyed in last year's massive earthquake. It comes one year to the day after the Char Narayan temple was decimated by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake, which claimed 9,000 lives, injured 22,000 people and destroyed 600,000 homes. The temple, located in the main square of the city of Patan, will be 90 percent rebuilt with salvaged pieces and seis
April 26, 2016
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Fascinating cultural experiences await at the center of Gangnam
The creative culture festival “C-Festival 2016” will be taking place at the Convention and Exhibition Center in Samseong-dong from May 4-8. The annual festival, jointly launched by Coex and the World Trade Center Seoul in 2015, will present events and programs featuring K-pop, art, culture, and technology. It will also feature programs that cater to specific needs such as family time, romance, exhibitions and conventions and healing. More details can be viewed on its website www.c-festival.com.
April 26, 2016
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[Foreigners Who Loved Korea 15] Mowry, ardent supporter of Korean independence
Eli Miller Mowry was born Jan. 23, 1880, as the third of nine children to Samuel Mowry and Mary Miller in a suburb of Bellville, Ohio. He participated in the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions in his college years and resolved to become a missionary. After being ordained in May 1905 by the American Presbyterian Church of Worcester, he and his wife came to Korea on Oct. 2 and mainly worked in the Pyongyang Mission chapter. After learning Korean, he taught general biology, genetics
April 25, 2016
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Revisit Joseon era at royal culture festival
At the 2016 Royal Culture Festival, visitors to major royal palaces in Seoul will be able to immerse themselves in the royal lifestyle of the Joseon era (1392-1910). From April 28 to May 8, Joseon-era palaces -- Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung -- and Jongmyo Shrine will host a 10-day celebration of Joseon royal life. In its second year, the festival will hold some 30 programs consisting of concerts, performances, culinary events and exhibitions at the four major pa
April 25, 2016
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[Weekender] Tea resurgence brews
Long before the invasion of western coffee, Korea was a tea-drinking country with a rich ceremonial tea culture and heritage preserved for more than a thousand years. Tea has always been at the center of the country’s tradition, culture, poetry, drama, art and song. But little attention was often paid to it in the post-war era, making it difficult to maintain its significance in society. Korean tea eventually lost its once prominent role to coffee, as the product of the West became more access
April 22, 2016
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[Foodie’s Seoul] Editor’s choice for dinner: Sundaeguk
When it comes to blood sausages, Korea has a special take on this international delicacy: sundae. The Korean blood sausage, which is cooked with vegetable fillers until it becomes thick enough, is a perfect combination of pork blood and potato starch noodles. Like with many other Korean recipes that have a lot of regional variations, food lovers will be hard-pressed to agree on which sundae to taste first -- from kimchi sundae with soybean paste to sundae stuffed with squid. But as is always the
April 22, 2016
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Shakespeare’s hometown welcomes world for 400th anniversary
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, United Kingdom (AFP) -- William Shakespeare's hometown is bracing for a surge of visitors from around the world this month as it marks 400 years since the death of the foremost playwright in the English language. A parade to Shakespeare’s grave and fireworks will round off a day of theater, dancing, music and parades in the picture-postcard streets of Stratford-upon-Avon. And some of Britain's finest actors are returning to the town’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre to perform his
April 21, 2016
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Morocco: one of the world’s oldest libraries is renovated
FEZ, Morocco (AP) -- The settling dust from renovations and the banging of tools are not ideal sights and sounds for a library -- but this is no ordinary library. Founded 12 centuries ago by a pioneering woman and nestled in the old medina of Fez, Morocco’s University of al-Qarawiyyin library is one of the world’s oldest libraries, home to unique Islamic manuscripts treasured by historians. Yet it has been largely hidden from the public. The architect leading its restoration, Fez native Aziza Ch
April 20, 2016
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Technology meets tourism at new K-Style Hub
Seoul’s newest culture tourism facility, the K-Style Hub, is technology at its finest, offering the very best in information and education on Korea’s traditional culture as well as one-stop shop for hallyu. The hub, which hosted President Park Geun-hye and hallyu star Song Joong-ki at its opening ceremony last Monday, is one of the city’s most sophisticated and technologically advanced tourism centers. Located on the second through fifth floors in the former headquarters of the Korea Tourism O
April 18, 2016
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Bolshoi's new director promises the best of classical ballet
MOSCOW (AP) -- Just a few weeks into his job, the new artistic director at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater is making only one big promise -- to keep doing what he says Russia does best -- classical ballet. But that doesn’t mean that the illustrious ballet company will be stuck in the past, Makhar Vaziev told the Associated Press in his first interview with a Western media outlet since starting at the Bolshoi last month. “Any young generation of dancers who come to ballet, in one way or another, they
April 18, 2016
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Four centuries after his death, Cervantes intrigues and enchants
MADRID (AFP) - He is best known for “Don Quixote," but the eventful life of Spain’s revered author Miguel de Cervantes was just as intriguing as any adventures of the delusional wanna-be knight of his famous novel. Cervantes -- whose death on April 22, 1616 will be commemorated in Spain this week, just as Britain marks the passing of Shakespeare 400 years ago -- survived a sea battle, capture by pirates, five years of captivity in Algiers and stints in prison. “What gives such power to Cervantes
April 18, 2016
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History sleuths track down Leonardo da Vinci's living relatives
ROME (AFP) - Italian researchers said Thursday they have discovered living relatives of Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci, despite the loss of his body centuries ago. Historians Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato told a press conference in Florence they had uncovered modern-day relatives of the 15th-century painter, engineer and mathematician -- among them a star on Italy's contemporary art scene. Their research, which began in 1973, led them to track down some 35 indirect descendants of th
April 17, 2016
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Grim new details of IS destruction in Syria's Palmyra museum
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- The first foreign experts who visited the museum in Palmyra after it was taken over from Islamic State militants said they spent a week collecting fragments of priceless broken sculptures from the museum grounds and preparing them for transportation to Damascus in a rescue mission they hope will help salvage most of its contents. Back in the Syrian capital Saturday, they offered grim new details about the extent of the destruction caused by the extremists during their 10
April 17, 2016
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[Foodie’s Seoul] Gamjatang
Be ready to get your hands busy when eating Korean pork stew with potato, gamjatang.Gamjatang, is steaming, spicy red broth filled with generous amounts of savory bones of meat, meaning that you have to pick, extract the bits of meat on the bones and suck on the most tasty soup from tiny crevices: forks or chopsticks are too clumsy for the job. Interestingly, gamja means potato, and tang is soup, so gamjatang is supposed to mean a potato soup but it’s not. The soup has some chunks of potatoes in
April 17, 2016
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[Foodie’s Seoul] Itaewon’s must-eat cuisine
Eating out in Korea goes far beyond local cuisine with kimchi.You will be surprised to see a wide diversity of dishes from Alabama-style barbecue to German schnitzel. First things first: favorite restaurants in Itaewon, the most exotic and global tourism site in Seoul. With its proximity to a huge U.S. army base Itaewon is known for its diverse food culture, which features cuisine from around world. May you enjoy your meal -- or as they say in Korea, “Masit-ge Deu-se-yo!”◇ VATOS URBAN TACOS181-8
April 17, 2016
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Prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings come to S. Korean city of Gwangmyeong
The South Korean city of Gwangmyeong will host an exhibition of prehistoric cave drawings from France as one of many cultural exchanges to commemorate the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, the city announced Friday.In a joint press conference held in Seoul, Gwangmyeong city Mayor Yang Ki-dae and former French Culture and Communications Minister Fleur Pellerin said the upcoming event will showcase the Paleolithic drawings from the Lascaux Cave in southwestern France.
April 15, 2016