[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Boryeong Mud Festival The Boryeong Mud Festival takes place at Daecheon Beach in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province. With its slogan “On and Off,” the festival will be held both online and offline from July 23 to Aug. 1. The event is one of South Korea’s best-known festivals, attracting the largest number of international visitors to the beach. Visitors can enjoy the hybrid festival through various activities and programs. This year’s festival will feature 62 events on

TravelJuly 23, 2021

[Herald Interview] ‘Beetlejuice’ the ideal comedy musical: actor Jung Sung-hwa

The seemingly effortless improvisations and ad-libs during the musical “Beetlejuice” belie the meticulous planning down to the minor details and countless practices that went into the show, stage actor Jung Sung-hwa said. Inspired by the iconic 1988 Tim Burton film of the same title, the musical began its Seoul run at the Sejong Center on July 6. Jung plays the lead role Beetlejuice in the show, the lonely ghost who has been living in the Netherworld for 9.8 billion years by himsel

PerformanceJuly 22, 2021

MBC unveils 2nd half of the year’s most anticipated drama

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, local broadcaster MBC is launching a Friday-Saturday drama season for the first time with “The Veil,” the company announced in a press release Thursday. The drama, made by MBC with streaming platform Wavve as a co-investor, is a spy action series set to start airing in September. The new Friday-Saturday drama scheduling will offer more contents to viewers, according to MBC. MBC's analysis of viewer consumption of content on television and streami

TelevisionJuly 22, 2021

Kansong Art and Culture Foundation to tokenize national treasure as NFT

Kansong Art and Culture Foundation plans to tokenize Hunminjeongeum Haerye, National Treasure No. 70, in an effort to raise funds to operate the foundation. If realized as an NFT, the book will become the first national treasure to be traded on a blockchain platform. The 33-page book from the Joseon era details the promulgation of Hangeul, the Korean writing system, and usages of the letters.   An NFT, or nonfungible token, is a unit of data on the blockchain that represents ownership

Arts & DesignJuly 22, 2021

Screenwriter Yeon Sang-ho expects greater universe awaits for ‘The Cursed’

Screenwriter Yeon Sang-ho is certain that his upcoming movie “The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey,” a sequel to tvN drama series “The Cursed,” is a new type of zombie film. “Unlike the original, our zombies have intelligence, allowing them to drive a car, ” the monster-loving writer told reporters during an interview via Zoom on Wednesday. In the film, the new being called “jaechaui,” a moving corpse controlled by a shaman, plays the role of a fas

FilmJuly 22, 2021

'Black Widow' becomes No. 1 hit in S. Korea this year

Marvel's latest blockbuster "Black Widow" has become the most-viewed film in South Korea this year to date, its distributer said Thursday. The film posted 2.3 million attendees as of Thursday morning on the 16th day of its release, according to Walt Disney Company Korea. It outnumbered the previous No. 1, "F9," released in May, which garnered 2.28 million moviegoers. "Black Widow," which was originally scheduled to be released in May last year, is the first Phase

FilmJuly 22, 2021

‘The Cursed’ brings a multicultural zombie to the summer cinema

The writer of the Korean occult mystery thriller “The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey” Yeon Sang-ho said audiences are in for a different zombie experience this summer. “There are many fantastic films and dramas featuring zombies. The director and I wanted to show something more interesting to the audience, bringing a new picture,” Yeon said during an online press conference following a press screening Tuesday. “I wanted people to feel like ‘The Cursed: Dead

FilmJuly 21, 2021

Business support for arts drops during COVID-19: report

Korean businesses‘ support for the local arts scene decreased in 2020 as pandemic shutdowns dealt a devastating blow to the country, a report released Wednesday by the Korea Mecenat Association showed. Corporate funding for the art industry dropped 14.6 percent on-year to 177.8 billion won ($154.5 million) in 2020, when 390 companies helped finance 953 art projects, the report showed. In 2019, 547 companies spent 208.1 billion won on 1,431 projects. “It seems that corporations&rs

CultureJuly 21, 2021

Jecheon International Music & Film Festival considers plan B amid COVID-19 fourth wave

As Korea’s daily new coronavirus cases hit a fresh high of over 1,700 on Wednesday, the organizer of the 17th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival announced that it was considering turning most of the events online. The international music festival is set to begin Aug. 12 in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province and run until Aug. 17. “If the current virus situation does not continue and the government decides to loosen the social distancing rule to Level 1 or 2, we wil

FilmJuly 21, 2021

Late Samsung Chairman's vast art trove open for public view

Two national museums simultaneously kicked off exhibitions highlighting works from late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's massive art collection Wednesday, allowing the public to take a peek at Korean masterpieces of various eras and formats. "A Great Cultural Legacy: Masterpieces from the Bequest of the Late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee" and "Lee Kun-hee Collection: Masterpieces of Korean Art," taking place respectively at the National Museum of Korea (NMK) and the Seoul galle

Arts & DesignJuly 21, 2021

New ‘Kingdom’ series aims to resurrect global zombie sensation

“Kingdom: Ashin of the North,” directed by Kim Seong-hun, will be released July 23 as a special episode of the global Korean zombie sensation. “With the love and support from the audience, I was able to showcase this spinoff of the 'Kingdom' series,” Kim said during an online press conference held Tuesday. The director had not expected the series to develop on such a grand scale. After receiving the four-page synopsis from screenwriter Kim Eun-hee, he was surprised a

FilmJuly 20, 2021

Song Joong-ki to star in new JTBC drama

Actor Song Joong-ki is to star in the new JTBC drama “Youngest Son of Sunyang Family” (working title), the local cable channel JTBC said Tuesday. The drama is an adaptation of a web novel of the same title, and is a thriller and fantasy tale. Song will first appear as the top conglomerate Sunyang family’s personal secretary, who is put in charge of managing the family‘s financial risks and problems. Despite his devotion and loyalty to the family, the secretary, Yun H

TelevisionJuly 20, 2021

Gems of Korean art through the ages unveiled at highly anticipated exhibitions of Lee family donation

Some of the artworks from the collection of highly prized art donated by the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and his family in late April were unveiled to the press Tuesday in a special exhibition preview. A total of 135 masterpieces, including a number of National Treasures, are being shown in exhibitions at two state-run museums in Seoul from Wednesday. “A Great Cultural Legacy: Masterpieces from the Bequest of the Late Samsung Chairman Lee, Kun-hee” will be held at th

Arts & DesignJuly 20, 2021

Masterpieces of Korean modern art on show at MMCA

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea is showcasing a total of 54 modern art masterpieces in its Gallery 1. The masterpieces by 34 artists were selected based on their significance to modern art, according to the museum. Among the 1,488 artworks donated to the MMCA, around 60 percent are Korean modern artworks. Although what constitutes as Korea’s modern art period still remains controversial, the exhibition focuses on modern artists who were born in the 1930s or ear

Arts & DesignJuly 20, 2021

LEE KUN-HEE'S BEQUEST EXHIBITION

Members of the press look at the 19th century “Ten-panel Folding Screen with the Ten Longevity Symbols” during a press preview of the exhibition “A Great Cultural Legacy: Masterpieces from the Bequest of the Late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee” at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

Arts & DesignJuly 20, 2021

NMK exhibition shows creme de la creme of ‘Lee Kun-hee collection’

  The title “A Great Cultural Legacy: Masterpieces from the Bequest of the Late Samsung Chairman Lee, Kun-hee” is befitting of the massive trove on display at the National Museum of Korea which opens to the public Wednesday. The collection by the late business tycoon appears to show he had much appetite for amassing art as he had for growing his conglomerate group. “We selected items that have artistic and historic value for this exhibition,” NMK curator Lee So

Arts & DesignJuly 20, 2021

Three teams win 2021 Korea Young Architect Award

This year’s Korea Young Architect Awards went to architects Choi Yeon-yung and Lee See-woong of Apparat-C Architects, Cho Yoon-hee of Gubo Architects and Kang Woo-hyun and Kang Young-jin of Archihood WxY. A total of 49 teams were considered for the annual prize, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in announcing the winners on Tuesday. The award program was organized jointly by the Korea Architects Institute, Korean Institute of Architects and the Korean Institute of Female

Arts & DesignJuly 20, 2021

Park Sae-eun of Paris Opera Ballet eyes to become big 'etoile' in France

Park Sae-eun has already risen to the top dancer position at the Paris Opera Ballet (POB) when she was promoted to the principle dancer, or "danseuse etoile" in French, last month. But the 31-year-old South Korean aims higher: she wants to be the brightest star in the French ballet scene. "I think I've reached the highest position on my resume," she said in a press conference in Seoul on Monday. "I want to focus on things that I can do and have to do, so I became the

PerformanceJuly 20, 2021

Seoul Fringe Festival to support indie artists

Though most festivals have been canceled or have gone online amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Seoul Fringe Festival will be held as an in-person event across the Sangam-dong area in western Seoul from Aug. 4 to 29. The 24th Seoul Fringe Festival will feature some 300 performances by 72 artist acts of diverse genres from drama, performance, dance, music, visual art, photography to independent films, according to Seoul Fringe Network, the festival organizers, Monday. Allowing the a

PerformanceJuly 19, 2021

‘Guimoon: The Lightless Door’ turns cinema into haunted house with immersive tech

“Guimoon: The Lightless Door,” directed by Shim Deok-geun, is the first Korean film to be simultaneously created in three different versions: 2D, Screen X and 4DX. “I tried to make the audiences feel that they are not watching a movie in the theater. I wanted to bring them to the training center in the movie,” the director said during an online press conference held Monday. Although his goal was not easy to accomplish, he said it was made possible by using Screen X te

FilmJuly 19, 2021