The Grand Hilton to hold biggest Oktoberfest celebration in Seoul

Germany attracts millions of people from around the world to Oktoberfest every September. But those living in Seoul can celebrate the traditional German event at The Grand Hilton Seoul. The hotel, located in northern Seoul, invites guests for an evening of celebration with beer and traditional German food on Sept. 7. The largest Oktoberfest event in Korea draws more than 1,000 people every year.  Originated in Munich, the festival started as a celebration of the marriage between Crown Prince Lud

FoodJuly 25, 2013

Art questions what DMZ means to Koreans

Irish artist Jesse Jones holds a deck of tarot cards and asks audience members to put their hands on the card deck and think of a question related to the relationship between South and North Korea. She asks the audience again to speak about their questions. A member of the audience raises a hand and asks, “Will there be any changes in the Kim Jong-un regime?” A tarot card reader picks six random cards, telling the past, present and future and collective unconsciousness. According to the reading,

PerformanceJuly 25, 2013

YG launches channel on China’s video-sharing site

YG Entertainment on Wednesday evening launched its official channel on Youku, China’s largest video-sharing website. Youku Toudou Inc. content director Zhu Xiangyang, YG Entertainment cofounder and CEO Yang Min-suk, and China Samsung Electronics marketing director Park Jung-jun signed an agreement on the launch of the channel at a ceremony held at Beijing Conrad Hotel earlier in the day.  The launch of YG Family Channel is the first joint project by YG and Samsung Electronics aimed at expanding

PerformanceJuly 25, 2013

‘The Terror Live’ offers ample entertainment

After roles as a dorky man in “Love Fiction” and a hapless North Korean agent in “The Berlin File,” Ha Jung-woo returns as a driven, selfish news anchor who receives a terrorist threat during his live radio show in his latest film “The Terror Live.”The film is an ambitious, thorough and highly entertaining project ― arguably one of the best local thrillers so far this year ― created by up-and-coming director Kim Byeong-woo. Ha, whose previous collaborations with emerging directors including Na H

FilmJuly 25, 2013

‘Dogtripping’ will make you laugh

Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country AdventureBy David Rosenfelt (St. Martin’s Press)When was the last time you laughed out loud? When is the last time you cried tears of genuine sadness? When was the last time you did both while reading a 260-page memoir?David Rosenfelt, who is best known for a series of mystery novels, has written a book-length love letter to his canine companions through the years. “Dogtripping” is a delightful romp through his adventu

BooksJuly 25, 2013

A delightful and disturbing debut novel

Mario Alberto Zambrano has had a soaring career as a contemporary ballet dancer, refining moves with some of the most innovative dance troupes in Germany, Israel and the Netherlands. Now Zambrano choreographs words.His debut novel, “Loteria,” is out. It’s a polished tome of prose unreeling the tale of plucky little Luz Maria Castillo in the game of chance called life.Memories stir and storm for the 11-year-old narrator, Luz, as she flips over cards from the Mexican bingo-like game called loteria

BooksJuly 25, 2013

Bard gets modern-day rewrite

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Anne Tyler has never liked “The Taming of the Shrew.”“I have no favorite moments in this play,” Tyler said. “I first read it in college and disliked it intensely, and I can’t say my attitude toward it softened any when I read it again just recently.”Very soon, Tyler is going to get a chance to reimagine and make sense of “The Taming of the Shrew.” She’s writing a novel based on the play as part of a project by the publishing house Hogarth to commission novels base

BooksJuly 25, 2013

Fathers and sons struggle to connect

& SonsBy David Gilbert (Random House)The ghost of J.D. Salinger hovers over David Gilbert’s new novel, “& Sons.” Set amid the wealth and privilege of Manhattan’s toniest neighborhood, the novel centers on A.N. Dyer, a reclusive author best known for his coming-of-age story set in a boys’ prep school.When the novel begins, Dyer is preparing to deliver a eulogy for his lifelong friend Charles Henry Topping at a church in the heart of the blue-blood district that Gilbert knows and writes about so w

BooksJuly 25, 2013

South Korean celebrities feel pressure on ‘airport catwalk’

The airport is one of the most unlikely places to dress up, as it is a place where people prefer comfortable outfits more suitable for long plane rides. Recently, however, South Korean celebrities have become overly conscious about what to wear at the airport as media and paparazzi quickly spread pictures of them, with the public becoming fashion judges. “I feel so much pressure when I go to the airport,” said Heo Ga-yun, a member of K-pop girl group 4Minute, on a talk show. Her colleague Hyuna

Arts & DesignJuly 25, 2013

[Newsmaker] U.K. greets youngest celebrity

For British newspapers, a good story about the royal family sells, and they made the most of Monday’s birth of Prince William and Princess Kate’s new son. The Sun changed its “u” to an “o” to mark the birth, while three others splashed “It’s a Boy!” across their front pages.Fountains in London were lit up in blue, along with Niagara Falls and other landmarks in Canada and New Zealand.Away from the media scrum at the hospital, crowds flocked outside Buckingham Palace to catch a glimpse of an offi

Expat LivingJuly 24, 2013

Amis, Rushdie and McEwan appear together in New York

NEW YORK (AP) ― Put Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis and Ian McEwan on a stage and expect a night of high art and school boy humor, of reading, writing and Christopher Hitchens.And hysterical sex.The three literary stars, all in their 60s and friends for more than half their lives, appeared together Monday night at the 92nd Street Y on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Amis and McEwan were there to read from their latest novels, both now out in paperback. Rushdie handled the introductions and the question

BooksJuly 24, 2013

Exhibition commemorates 60 years of peace on peninsula

A black-and-white picture of stone-faced soldiers, taken moments before battle. A poignant video clip showing American war veterans giving testimonies of the hardships they faced in Korea, thousands of miles away from home. These are only some of the 120 photographs and 60 videos on display at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. The exhibition, titled “Sixty Years After the Armistice (1953-2013),” is to commemorate the 60th year of peace since the Korean Armistice Agreement in 19

CultureJuly 24, 2013

Drama-inspired tourist program offers Korean cooking class

There is more to Korean culture than Psy and K-dramas. For those interested in the country’s traditions, the state-run Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation is launching a tourist program to promote Korea’s food, music, dance and more.Titled “HAN STYLE,” the program features the traditional Korean cuisine hansik, the traditional Korean costume hanbok, the traditional Korean paper hanji and the Korean writing system Hangeul, as well as traditional dance and music performances. When the program is in

CultureJuly 24, 2013

Mick Jagger: Rock’s original bad boy turns 70

LONDON (AFP) ― Mick Jagger turns 70 on Friday ― and though the Rolling Stones frontman isn’t quite the image of rebellious youth he once was, he has lost none of his legendary swagger.Strutting onstage in a sequined jacket as the Stones headlined Britain’s Glastonbury music festival last month, it was hard to believe this was a man who should be collecting his state pension. One newspaper cruelly captioned its photos of the wrinkly British rockers “Night of the living dead!” ― but zipping throug

PerformanceJuly 24, 2013