Korea and China aim for perfect harmony

The 110 members of KBS Symphony Orchestra and China National Symphony Orchestra will have a special joint concert this month in both countries. The first performance will be held in Beijing on July 20 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, which will be followed by the Seoul concert on July 26 at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall. The Seoul concert will raise the curtain with Chinese composer Li Huanzhi’s “Spring Festival Overture” under the baton of Li Xin Qiao, principal director of

PerformanceJuly 15, 2013

Could rap lyrics shift after Wayne, Ross mishaps?

NEW YORK (AP) ― Since it began, rap has found ways to offend. Whether for political content, sexual imagery, misogyny, violence or coarse humor, rappers have found themselves having to defend their words on a regular basis, no matter how innocuous ― or extreme.Those defenses have typically been defiant. So it was a bit startling when both Lil Wayne and Rick Ross ― under intense fire over rhymes deemed offensive ― gave mea culpas for their words amid threats of boycotts and a loss of major endors

PerformanceJuly 15, 2013

Hugh Jackman talks ‘The Wolverine’

Following his visit to Seoul last year to promote “Les Miserables,” Australian actor Hugh Jackman made his fourth visit to the city, this time with the sixth installment in the X-Men Film series, “The Wolverine.”The actor, who made his first visit to Seoul in 2006 and his second in 2009, was appointed a goodwill ambassador for Seoul in 2009. “Actually, Korea is the only place in the world I can go out for dinner and it is still on my Wolverine diet ― that’s Korean barbecue,” the actor, who said

FilmJuly 15, 2013

U.S. homeland security secretary resigning

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced her resignation Friday to take over the University of California system, leaving behind a huge department still working to adjust to the merger of nearly two dozen agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the U.S. The former Arizona governor came to President Barack Obama’s Cabinet with plans to fix the nation’s broken immigration system, and she is leaving in the midst of a heated battle in Congress ove

PeopleJuly 15, 2013

Korea’s first legation in U.S. included in heritage trail

Korea’s first legation building in the United States has been designated part of a walking trail in Washington D.C.According to the South Korean Embassy in the United States, Cultural Tourism D.C., Logan Circle Heritage Trail Working Group and the Logan Circle Community Association officially unveiled D.C.’s newest walking trail, “A Fitting Tribute: Logan Circle Heritage Trail,” on Saturday.Korea’s first legation building in the U.S. is included in the 2.4-km trail. The unveiling ceremony showca

PeopleJuly 15, 2013

‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’ gets Korean premiere

Long before the emergence of El Zorro and Batman, there was Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy and at times silly Englishman who disguised himself as the elusive “Scarlet Pimpernel” to rescue French aristocrats from death in Revolutionary France.Hungarian-born British novelist Emma Orczy’s (1865-1947) 1905 novel “The Scarlet Pimpernel” is what created the “original hero with a secret identity,” that eventually inspired subsequent and famous literary hero characters such as Don Diego de la Vega, a nob

PerformanceJuly 14, 2013

N. Korean pianist’s quest for musical freedom

If music is a universal language North Korean pianist Kim Cheol-woong found perhaps one of its best uses.On Saturday, Kim illustrated his spoken account of his journey in pursuit of musical freedom with a mix of compositions at a concert at Haechi Hall in Seoul, organized by the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), for which Kim is a cultural ambassador.Kim, who comes from an elite North Korean family, entered the stage exuding modesty and a warm sense of humor.In between pla

PerformanceJuly 14, 2013

Johnny Depp’s interest in Wounded Knee causes a stir

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (AP) ― For months, questions have swirled about whether developers, activists or tribes would be willing to plunk down millions to buy a portion of the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark. Now there’s a new potential buyer in the mix: Johnny Depp.But is the star of “The Lone Ranger” really preparing to be the one who buys the property where hundreds of Native Americans were killed? Or is it just the latest rumor in the contentious debate over the landmark’s future?D

FilmJuly 14, 2013

Guitarist Shin Joong-hyun to play at Hyundai ‘City Break’ festival

Korean rock legend Shin Joong-hyun will be joining the all-star line-up at this year’s Hyundai Card Super Concert 19 City Break festival in August. Going head-to-head with rival summer music festivals such as Ansan Valley and Incheon Pentaport Rock Festivals, the two-day City Break event will feature the 75-year-old guitarist alongside headliners Metallica, Muse, Iggy and The Stooges and Limp Bizkit. They will be joined by local acts including Jang Ki-ha and the Faces and Kwon Soon-kwan. Shin st

PerformanceJuly 14, 2013

Bingsu evolution

Cafe Oven’s milk patbingsu derives its addictive interplay of textures and flavors from three basic components ― red beans, shaved ice and milk sauce ― three elements that seem deceptively easy to master. Fans of this traditional summer treat know better. When the red beans are good, when the shaved ice is perfect and when the ice’s sweet milk drizzle is spot-on then a bingsu, in its classic and simplest form, becomes transcendent.Perhaps that is why Korean shaved ices like Cafe Oven’s old schoo

FoodJuly 12, 2013

Calendar

Dance“Onegin”: Korea’s Universal Ballet Company is presenting John Cranko’s three-act ballet using Tchaikovsky’s music in an arrangement by Kurt-Heins Stolze. It is based on Alexander Pushkin’s 19th-century novel “Eugune Onegin,” which features the tragic love story of a young, but selfish and arrogant man. Two American Ballet Theater dancers ― Korean-born Seo Hee and Roberto Bolle ― have been invited to perform the leads. Meanwhile, the show on Saturday will be the troupe’s long time principal

PerformanceJuly 12, 2013

Eyelike: Roy Kim’s 1st album showcases soothing vocals

Roy Kim’s 1st album showcases soothing vocals Roy Kim “Love Love Love”(CJ E&M)Roy Kim’s first album, “Love Love Love,” shows off his soft, calming vocals with a mix of gentle acoustic sounds and soft rock. The album includes a total of nine tracks, including “Spring Spring Spring,” which was released in the spring as a single. The title track “Love Love Love” is one of the more fast-paced songs on the album, starting with a simple guitar and voice melody that builds up to a five-instrument ensem

PerformanceJuly 12, 2013

Box Office: RED 2, Mr. Go, Side Effects

RED 2Action. Comedy. Crime. Directed by Dean Parisot.Opening July 18While trying to enjoy a normal life, retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is notified by his old friend Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) that Interpol is hunting him. When Frank tries to clear his name, he gets reacquainted on a global mission to track down a missing nuclear device that was sneaked into Russia and reassembled. While Frank reunites his former team of elite operatives and is working on the mission,

FilmJuly 12, 2013

SeaWorld gets a black eye in new documentary

Filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite was something of a “SeaWorld mom.” She’d taken her kids to the San Diego location of the popular theme park corporation, “planted us firmly in the Shamu splash zone. We all just ate it up.”Then she read of SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau’s grisly death by orca in February 2010. She “just couldn’t come to terms with it. I could not understand how a highly intelligent, beloved mammal could make that decision. I was confounded. Was he playing? Did she drown

FilmJuly 12, 2013

Frasers eyes expansion in North Asia

With the number of tourists and business travelers in Asia growing, Frasers Hospitality, the company behind serviced residences Fraser Place and Fraser Suites, is planning to double its properties in North Asia and is eying unexplored areas of North America and South America, according to Choe Peng Sum, CEO of Frasers Hospitality Pte. Ltd. “We have seen growth in China, India and Japan, Taiwan and more. The whole of North Asia will see Frasers double its properties from 3,000 to 7,500 in the nex

TravelJuly 12, 2013

Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, a California icon

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK ― Japanese artist Hokusai liked Mt. Fuji. Really liked it. So in the 1820s and 1830s, he made a series of 36 woodblock prints of the mountain, from near and far, in summer and winter. When they went over well, he made 10 more scenes. Then, because an artist must follow his muse, he started a new series: 100 views of Mt. Fuji.When I’m looking at Half Dome, the great granite hood ornament of Yosemite National Park, I understand Hokusai and Fuji. You see Half Dome on a centur

TravelJuly 12, 2013