Hours-long plays stand out amid short form tidal wave

While “short form” or “mid form” content which immerse audiences in a story with rapid plot developments appear to be an irreversible trend in movies and TV dramas, a number of stage plays have gone against the tide with productions that run as long as eight hours. “Angels in America,” “The Brothers Karamazov,” and “The Geumjo Story,” are among the many recent works that are far longer than the typical play length of 80 to 100 minute

PerformanceFeb. 14, 2022

Korean content’s global popularity reaches new heights: survey

Korean cultural contents, led by the rise of K-pop and K-dramas, continued to gain global popularity in the past year, a survey showed on Monday. An annual report jointly released by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, revealed consumption of Korean cultural contents rose in all categories -- beauty, drama, fashion, entertainment show, game, animation, publication -- in 2021. Some 61.1 percent of all respondents who said

CultureFeb. 14, 2022

Artist under fire for ‘mocking’ Yoon’s wife, Michael Jackson in song

A recently-released contemporary folk song became the subject of bitter dispute on Monday for supposedly mocking presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife and “King of Pop” Michael Jackson. In his latest single “A Woman That Looks Like Michael Jackson,” released Friday, Ahn Chi-hwan sings of an unspecified woman who has changed her name and looks several times, berating the person for her greed. It is widely believed that the woman Ahn is referring to is Kim Ke

PerformanceFeb. 14, 2022

‘Hellbound’ director Yeon Sang-ho joins hands with Smilegate

Director Yeon Sang-ho, best known for producing the Netflix series “Hellbound” and directing smash-hit zombie film “Train to Busan,” has signed a partnership deal with South Korean game developer Smilegate. The game company is responsible for the popular role-playing PC game Lost Ark in November 2018. The South Korean game developer and Yeon will together create a new universe with its own storyline which can be adapted for use in games, movies, TV dramas and webtoons

FilmFeb. 14, 2022

[Herald Interview] French expat seeks to connect place and people through shared community

Living in a foreign country, finding hidden cultural gems is not easy and in these pandemic times, such discoveries are even rarer. But Cristina Clisson, 50, felt the charms and beauty of Korean handicrafts the moment she set her eyes on Insa-dong, an old Seoul neighborhood known for its alleys of craft galleries and art shops. In 2017, two years after her arrival, Clisson co-founded Les Francaises Consulting company with a colleague, to promote and support independent Korean craft designers

PeopleFeb. 14, 2022

'All of Us Are Dead' drops to 2nd in world's top TV show rankings

South Korea's zombie apocalypse drama "All of Us Are Dead" has dropped to second place on Netflix's popular TV show rankings after 15 days on the throne. According to data released by streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, "All of Us Are Dead" lost one notch from the top position on its daily chart for the most-watched Netflix TV shows on Sunday, replaced by the American drama "Inventing Anna." The Korean-language Netflix original had remained at No. 1 for 15 days in

TelevisionFeb. 14, 2022

[Video] What’s the secret behind Kim Jong Un’s weight loss?

We talked to a plastic surgery specialist, a North Korea expert, and a North Korean defector in search of the secret behind Kim Jong Un’s weight loss.  By Team Konnect Kim Min-jung (minjung.kim@heraldcorp.com) Jung Ji-eun (jungje@heraldcorp.com) Choi Jeong-yoon (jychoi@heraldcorp.com) Kim Jeong-ryul (ryul@heraldcorp.com)

EntertainmentFeb. 14, 2022

Gallery Hyundai to launch NFT art platform ‘ETNAH’ in March

Gallery Hyundai, a major commercial art gallery in South Korea, plans to launch a non-fungible token-based art platform called ETNAH, that will feature digital works by renowned domestic and overseas artists. ETNAH will have a three-month test run starting May and be officially launched in August. Do Hyung-teh, president of the gallery, has formed AIT as a startup to launch the NFT art platform in collaboration with Andrew Ku, CEO of ALTAVA Group -- an IT company based in Seoul and Singapore

Arts & DesignFeb. 13, 2022

Documentary film ‘Comfort’ tells untold story about former ‘comfort women’

The late Kim Soon-ak had been testifying about her experience living as a wartime sex slave of the Japanese military, and also her life living as a housekeeper after Korea‘s liberation before she died in 2010. However, there were parts of her life that she had been reluctant to speak out in public about for quite some time. After the Japanese colonial period ended, she lived in prostitutes’ quarters and did sex work at a US military camp town to survive. Director Park Moon-chil&

FilmFeb. 13, 2022

High fashion brands foray into F&B in a bid to lure shoppers

High-end European fashion brands have opened stores serving food and beverages to satiate Korean consumers‘ voracious appetites for luxury goods and fine dining experiences. Swiss watchmaker Breitling opened its largest boutique to date in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, earlier this month. The opening has accelerated the brand’s move into new offerings that go beyond its core watchmaking business, according to Breitling Korea officials. While Hannam-dong is known as a trendy distric

Arts & DesignFeb. 12, 2022

[Eye Plus] Special museum dedicated to craft artworks from past, present

  The Seoul Museum of Craft Art located in Jongno-gu, central Seoul is a special space where people can enjoy all kinds of crafts from the past to the present. Opened last year, the Seoul Museum of Craft Art has more than 23, 257 craft artworks and related data.   The new museum is built on the former Poongmoon Girls‘ High School site. This location is special because it is where the house of King Sejong’s son Prince Yeongeung was located and the place where King Sejong

CultureFeb. 12, 2022

[Visual History of Korea] Cutting-edge Stone Age tool Jeongok-ri handaxe of Korea

Long before the Upper Paleolithic Period, the late Stone Age, during which our immediate ancestors the Homo sapiens inhabited the Korean Peninsula, there were ancient Hominin, a group consisting of extinct human species and all our immediate ancestors who lived in Korea. The Stone Age all over the world was characterized by the use of rudimentary chipped stone tools, of which an abundant variety are found in Korea. When an Acheulean-like handaxe, a Paleolithic period tool, which was the cutti

CultureFeb. 12, 2022

[Holly’s Korean Kitchen] Easy Korean japchae

When I was in my early 20s studying at a college in the US, I was invited to a dinner party at a Korean professor’s home. He was treating all students from Korea and students majoring in Korean at his home. His wife was an amazing cook – she was more popular among the students than her husband who was teaching Korean at the university. She showed me how she made her japchae, the ever famous Korean glass noodle stir-fry, and I was converted. Her japchae noodles were very chewy and

FoodFeb. 12, 2022

What the Korean dictionary says about society

Korean men who grew up in the 1980s or 90s would likely remember the first time they were taken to the barber shop, a transformative moment of entering the realm of men instead of tagging along with their mothers to join other women at the hair salon. Hair salons are for women, and barber shops are for men. This was the mainstream view back then. But these places are no longer defined as such, and changing definitions in the Korean language reflect changes in society. The National Institute of

CultureFeb. 12, 2022

Two Korean artists to show at Venice Biennale's main exhibition

Two Korean interdisciplinary artists -- Lee Mi-re and Jeong Geum-hyung -- will participate in the main exhibition of the upcoming Venice Biennale in April, which will take place at the Central Pavilion and Arsenale. Lee and Jeon are among 213 artists from 58 countries who were invited to join the international exhibition, the main exhibition of the biennale where 80 countries will also showcase works through their national pavilions. Among the artists participating in the international exhibit

Arts & DesignFeb. 12, 2022

'All of Us Are Dead' most popular Netflix TV series for two weeks straight

South Korea's zombie apocalypse drama "All of Us Are Dead" has been the most popular TV series on Netflix for two consecutive weeks, a market tracker said Saturday. According to data by streaming analytics firm Flixpatrol, the 12-part show has stayed atop its daily list of top TV series from Netflix all around the world for 14 days since it was released on Jan. 28. The Netlix original topped the rankings in 37 countries, including South Korea, Japan, Britain, France, Hungary, Greec

TelevisionFeb. 12, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] T-ara’s Jiyeon to wed baseball player Hwang Jaegyun

    Jiyeon of girl group T-ara announced Thursday that she will marry baseball player Hwang Jaegyun. 　 With a handwritten letter posted on her Instagram, she said she met someone last year through an acquaintance and he became a boyfriend who taught her what happiness is. She added that he is like a present in her life and they have promised each other to get married in the winter. 　 “I will have a good, happy life with my boyfriend who has held me steady and given me a sho

EntertainmentFeb. 11, 2022

Farming evolves with the help of IT, AI

Becoming a farmer carries a high risk, with volatile weather and soil conditions affecting farm crops in a blink. The risk, exacerbated by global warming, has been mitigated for Lee Kyung-ju, a former IT office worker-turned farmer who has been growing cucumbers with the help of a smart farm system since 2020. He kicks off his day by checking his smartphone application showing the farming weather forecast and agricultural commodity prices. He then arrives at his 6,000 square-meter farm in C

PeopleFeb. 11, 2022

Virtual influencer Rozy to debut as singer this month

Rozy, the first virtual social media influencer in South Korea, is set to make a debut as a singer this month, according to Sidus Studio X Friday. Rozy’s debut song will be produced by Vanilla acoustic’s Jung Jae-won, who has worked with artists such as Bolbbalgan4, while Music Vine is participating in the project as a production company. Sidus Studio X, which produced the virtual human based on AI, hinted that Rozy’s debut song will feature a warm melody and the virtual in

PerformanceFeb. 11, 2022

Three years into pandemic, single Koreans in no rush to find new dates

A twenty-eight-year old surnamed Lee has been watching Netflix‘s “Single’s Inferno” and Tving’s “Transit Love” over the past month, despite the many controversies surrounding the hit dating shows. “Seeing men and women in such ideal conditions, in exotic places, and, what’s best, without a mask, somehow gives me a sense of excitement and energy,” said Lee who works at a data analysis management company in Seoul. Lee has not dated an

CultureFeb. 11, 2022