Jang Hyuk, Cha Ye-ryun named best dressed at Herald Donga awards

Actor Jang Hyuk and actress Cha Ye-ryun were named the best dressed at the 2014 Herald Donga Lifestyle Awards on Tuesday. “It’s my first time receiving the best dressed award,” said Jang at the award ceremony at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. Jang gained huge popularity when he appeared in the reality entertainment show “Real Men” in which eight male celebrities experience life in the army. His comedic role in the TV drama “Fated to Love You” received praise from fans and viewers.  Cha, a former model,

PeopleDec. 10, 2014

Angle magazine to release charity Christmas album

Ulsan-based arts magazine Angle has teamed up with musicians from across the South of the peninsula to create a Christmas album in aid of Habitat for Humanity.Titled “Home for the Holidays,” the album has eight tracks, all by different artists, and will be available online Wednesday, with a very limited run of CDs to be released later.Angle magazine cofounder Philip Brett said he chose Habitat for Humanity because it was the cause that resonated most with him at this time of year.“Many people as

Expat LivingDec. 9, 2014

Rock shows to raise funds for HOPE Christmas events

Two concert fund-raisers will take place Thursday and Friday to help expat charity group Helping Others Prosper through English run its Christmas programs for underprivileged children.HOPE plans to run events at the children’s cancer ward at Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul, and at the Mulmangcho Adolescent Shelter, an adjustment center for North Korean defectors who have recently arrived in South Korea.The concerts will feature Angry Bear, Colin Phils, Magna Fall and Mineri on Friday and Be

Expat LivingDec. 9, 2014

Kim Min-hee cast in Park Chan-wook’s new thriller

Korean actress Kim Min-hee was cast in Park Chan-wook’s upcoming Korean film “Agassi (Lady),” opposite the male lead Ha Jung-woo, its producers said Tuesday. The model-turned-actress, best known for starring in “Helpless” (2012) and “Very Ordinary Couple” (2013), will play a young, wealthy heiress, who falls for a female petty thief, played by rookie Kim Tae-ri.  Actress Kim Min-hee. (Yonhap)Park’s new thriller is a screen adaptation of the 2002 crime novel “Fingersmith” by British author Sarah

FilmDec. 9, 2014

Artist in a turbulent time

Artist Po Kim was a victim of political upheavals in Korea. He was accused of being a communist and tortured by the South Korean authorities in 1950, right after he returned from a drawing trip with his students to an island in the West Sea.When the Korean War broke out shortly after, he was cleared of charges, but then arrested again, this time by the North Korean People’s Army for being a pro-American activist. “As soon as I was cleared of charges and freed from prison I walked to Gwangju. But

PerformanceDec. 9, 2014

Is Mona Lisa Chinese? Italian’s theory raises eyebrows

BEIJING (AFP) ― An Italian historian’s theory that Mona Lisa might be a Chinese slave and Leonardo da Vinci’s mother ― making the 15th-century polymath half-Chinese ― sent online commentators into a frenzy Wednesday.Angelo Paratico, a Hong Kong-based historian and novelist from Italy, told the South China Morning Post: “On the back of Mona Lisa, there is a Chinese landscape and even her face looks Chinese.”Chinese Web users expressed astonishment and disbelief Wednesday, posting dozens of parodi

PerformanceDec. 9, 2014

[Herald Interview] French native looks to pave the way for blues music

After moving to New York from Paris with wide-eyed dreams of moving to Harlem to pursue a life with jazz, David Naze instead found himself unexpectedly enthralled with Korean culture. Living in Big Apple for two years and being exposed to the city’s large Korean community, Naze said that he was so eager to discover Korean culture that he decided to pack his things and do away with his American dreams to move here despite having no concrete plans. Now in his third year in Korea, Naze has founded

PerformanceDec. 9, 2014

‘Happy,’ ‘Frozen’ top iTunes end of year list

A scene from FrozenNEW YORK (AP) ― The soundtrack for “Frozen” and Pharrell’s viral “Happy” are the year’s top-selling album and song on iTunes. Apple announced Monday that Taylor Swift’s “1989,” just released in October, is behind “Frozen.” Coldplay’s “Ghost Stories,” Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” soundtrack round out the Top 5 albums. John Legend’s “All of Me,” Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse,” “Talk Dirty” by Jason Derulo and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” follow “Happy”

PerformanceDec. 9, 2014

Psy’s ‘Hangover’ tops YouTube K-Pop chart

The music video of South Korean rapper Psy’s latest single “Hangover” was the most viewed K-pop clip on YouTube this year, the global video-sharing site said Tuesday. The song, debuted in June and featuring U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg, is a follow-up to Psy’s international hit “Gangnam Style,” which has drawn more than 2.1 billion world views and prompted YouTube to upgrade its viewer count system since the number of clicks went over the bounds. The exact figure for hits on the video clip is not avai

Dec. 9, 2014

‘Metamorphosis’ depicts ever-changing society

How do people react to the waves of change in society? Theater director Choi Won-seok pondered this question before writing “Metamorphosis” in 2009. Some people ride the tides, while others swim against the current or just evade the turmoil. There is no right or wrong answer. It is only a matter of choice, says the director. “Byeontae,” a homonym for a pervert, is the play’s title in Korean. The poster, showing half-naked body of an actress, gives an impression that the play is R-rated or contai

CultureDec. 8, 2014

Barenboim bids La Scala farewell with ‘Fidelio’

MILAN (AP) ― Daniel Barenboim emerged triumphant from his last gala season opener as music director of La Scala on Sunday, bringing the entire orchestra onstage to bask in a standing ovation. “I am deeply happy for this evening and for all of these years. An evening like this doesn’t come out of nowhere,” Barenboim said backstage. “I feel that all we have done since 2005 had a guiding line and arrived at the point where we are today. Everyone ― the singers, the soloists, the chorus, the orchestr

PerformanceDec. 8, 2014

‘Hunger Games’ tops slow weekend at the box office

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay ― Part 1” continues to dominate the domestic box office, but awards season hopefuls “Wild” and “The Imitation Game” proved their might with impressive limited release showings on this sleepy post-Thanksgiving weekend. In its third weekend in release, “Mockingjay ― Part 1” earned an estimated $21.6 million. Lionsgate’s penultimate chapter in the massively successful franchise has now earned $257.7 million domestically, according to studio estimates

FilmDec. 8, 2014

TVXQ discusses staying fresh after decade of performing

Going on nearly 11 years in the K-pop game, the members of TVXQ kicked off their latest international concert tour with two sold-out performances in Seoul over the weekend. As the duo’s first solo concert in Korea in nearly two years, the first leg of TVXQ’s “T1Story” live concert tour attracted 24,000 fans, who flocked to Olympic Park’s Gymnastics Stadium on Saturday and Sunday. Looking to maintain their originality and remain relevant as one of K-pop’s veteran acts, U-Know Yunho and Max Changm

Dec. 8, 2014

‘Roaring Currents’ earns record $2.58m in North America

LOS ANGELES ― A South Korean mega-hit movie about a 16th-century Korean admiral’s astonishing victory over Japanese naval forces became the top-selling Korean film that has ever been shown in North American theaters, earning more than U.S. $2.58 million, the movie’s distributor said Sunday.The film, “Roaring Currents,” posted the box-office haul nearly four months after it was released in 30 cinemas in the United States and Canada on Aug. 15 under the title “The Admiral: Roaring Currents,” accor

FilmDec. 7, 2014

Pope Francis film in works in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES ― A biographical film on Pope Francis’s childhood and life as a cardinal and archbishop before becoming pontiff will be shot next year in his native Argentina, producers said Friday.The pope will be played by Dario Grandinetti, a prolific 55-year-old actor who gained international recognition with his 1992 film “The Dark Side of the Heart” and is also known for his role in Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s 2002 film “Talk to Her.”Filming will begin in January under Spanish director

FilmDec. 7, 2014

’Tis the season for ‘Nutcracker’

A year-end tradition continues as Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Nutcracker,” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” and other seasonal favorites all return to Seoul’s cultural scene. From Seoul Arts Center in the south to the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in the north, the always-popular returning classics take up a large part of the lineup, while some new productions add a spice of diversity.Here’s a guide to the music and performing arts scene this festive season, including seasonal favorites as

CultureDec. 7, 2014