Slow boats to China

Some travelers enjoy the leisurely pace of train journeys, while some are hooked on the efficiency of air travel. Others fancy the freedom of road trips, or the challenge of long-distance cycling. Korea can satisfy all these types, but the happiest group of all might be the island hoppers and the seafarers. Apart from the dozens of local ferries, there are sailings to Vladivostok, Russia, from Donghae, Gangwon Province, and to Fukuoka, Osaka, Shimonoseki and Tsushima Island in Japan, departing f

TravelFeb. 28, 2014

Around the Hotels

Intraceuticals spa promotion at Conrad SeoulConrad Seoul is offering a special spa package featuring the premium Australian brand Intraceuticals, which specializes in oxygen therapy that brightens the skin. The package includes a 60-minute spa program with the Intraceuticals’ machine that uses high-pressure oxygen to deliver the spa serum deep into the skin. Guests can choose a treatment option from among Rejuvenate (for skin-hydrating), Opulance (for skin-whitening) and Clarity (for irritated s

CultureFeb. 28, 2014

Pain de Papa's second act

Pain de Papa owner-baker Lee Ho-young is something of a celebrity amongst local bread folk. Well, actually, he is a star. Ever since his small, butter yellow shop was featured in a food show that scouts out wholesome and earnest eateries, Lee has seen a boom in business. Now hoards of health-conscious patrons come to snatch up his delicious, crusty loaves of naturally-leavened sourdough and tangy rye bread, a potential thorn in the sides of loyal customers who have been frequenting his store fro

FoodFeb. 28, 2014

Bossam (boiled pork wraps)

Bossam is a boiled pork dish. The meat is boiled in a flavorful brine until tender and served thinly sliced. At the table, each person wraps the meat in salted napa cabbage leaves along with radish salad (musaengchae, or muchae) and saewujeot (salted shrimp). Sometimes, fresh garlic slices, chili pepper slices or fresh oysters are added. Salted napa cabbage is traditional, but you can also use lettuce or perilla leaves to make wraps. Or, enjoy it simply wrapped in a piece of well-fermented kimch

FoodFeb. 28, 2014

Rachael Yamagata, Emi Meyer to stage concert in Hongdae

Rachael Yamagata(left), Emi MeyerNew York-based singer-songwriters Rachael Yamagata and Emi Meyer will perform together in Seoul in March.Yamagata and Meyer will give their collaborative performance on March 12 at the YES24 Move Hall in Hongdae, northwest Seoul. Concert organizer Southern Star Entertainment said the concert would allow them to perform in a more intimate atmosphere than usual. Pop-jazz artist Emi Meyer ― who is half-American and half-Japanese ― is a highly acclaimed artist in the

PerformanceFeb. 28, 2014

New theater chief faces opposition

A group of thespians and theater professionals are demanding that the government cancel the appointment of a critic as artistic director of the state-run National Theater Company of Korea. In a statement released Thursday, members of the National Theater Association of Korea claimed that the post should have been given to someone with hands-on experience in theater, not to an outsider with an academic or administrative background. A long-time critic and professor of theater, Kim Yun-cheol took o

PeopleFeb. 28, 2014

Veteran anchor named to head Arirang TV

Former news anchor and reporter Chung Sung-keun, 59, has been named CEO of Arirang TV, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Friday. Chung will take over the chief post at the nation’s biggest English-language TV network from Sohn Ji-ae, a former CNN reporter. His three-year term starts March 1. He has served as a reporter, an anchor and an editor at the nation’s two largest radio and television networks, KBS and SBS. Arirang TV operates three channels ― Arirang World, Arirang Korea a

TelevisionFeb. 28, 2014

Gum Nanse hopes to be remembered as public conductor

Classical musicians often yearn to conduct a big-name orchestra to become a maestro. But that was not goal of renowned Korean conductor Gum Nanse.“My philosophy is to become a conductor for the public rather than one who conducted a great orchestra or conducted it in a great concert hall,” Gum said in a recent interview with The Herald Business, the sister paper of The Korea Herald. Gum, 67, is currently the CEO and artistic director of Euro-Asian Corp., which owns the Eurasian Philharmonic Orch

PerformanceFeb. 28, 2014

TVXQ wins big at Japanese music awards

South Korean pop duo TVXQ has scooped up five awards at the Japan Gold Disk Award 2014, including best Asian artist, the duo's management agency said Friday.Four other awards they won are Pop Album of The Year, Best 3 Albums, Song of the Year by Download and Best Music Videos, S.M. Entertainment said in a release.Girls' Generation, a K-pop group also management by the company, had two of its albums -- the second and third full-length albums -- on the Best 3 Albums list.Founded in 1987, the Japan

Feb. 28, 2014

Ham So-won announces breakup with Chinese property mogul

Actress Ham So-won has recently ended her four-year relationship with her Chinese boyfriend, real estate mogul Zhang Wei, Korean media reported Friday.“We decided to go separate ways to focus on our careers. We naturally grew apart as both of us have been extremely busy,” Ham told the Sports Chosun. “Zhang offered top-notch apartments in Beijing and land in Shanxi worth tens of billions won as farewell presents, but Ham turned down the offer,” a source close to the two was quoted as saying. The

Feb. 28, 2014

U.S. DJ hopes to bring more rappers to Korea

This may have been DJ Phalse ID’s first time in Korea, but he assured it wouldn’t be his last. The 25-year-old performed at Club Circle in Songtan, Gyeonggi Province, and Lucidream in Itaewon over the weekend and said he already had plans to return next month.“We’re already working on it,” he said.Growing up in Washington, D.C., DJ Phalse ID played multiple instruments, would make mixtapes for friends for $5 each in middle school, and in high school helped out his aunt at the radio station where

PerformanceFeb. 28, 2014

[Photo News] Learn before you go

PeopleFeb. 27, 2014

[Photo News] Kumho Asiana scholarship

PeopleFeb. 27, 2014

Paintings reflect childhood experiences

Paintings by French American artist Jean-Marie Haessle are often compared to those by abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. Haessle’s all-over paintings, which spread colors over the whole canvas without emphasizing a certain point, exude spontaneity, rapidness and primitive energy that his contemporaries strive to express. “I am me. I have both French and American side in me. I try to be both. Certainly my central color is French,” said Haessle during an interview with

PerformanceFeb. 27, 2014

Seoul Art Cinema shows 22 ‘important, underrated films’

Seoul Art Cinema will screen 22 modern films it thinks are important or severely underrated. The featured filmmakers include Brian De Palma, Nanni Moretti, Abbas Kiarostami and Takashi Miike. The special series, titled “Parallax,” will begin in March. Some of the films have already been released in theaters in Seoul, though they did not succeed commercially, while one of them ― Margarethe von Trotta’s “Hannah Arendt” ― is having its Korean premiere. “Hannah Arendt” is a drama about the eponymous

FilmFeb. 27, 2014