Spotify secures IU’s music for K-pop listeners

Kakao Entertainment and Spotify Technology on Thursday announced that it will make songs distributed by the Korean company available on the Swedish audio giant’s streaming platform across the globe, after a one-week suspension. The agreement will allow listeners overseas to resume enjoying songs by popular Korean artists, including IU and Zico, which were removed temporarily from the Spotify platform from the beginning of March. The platform operator at the time explained that the song

PerformanceMarch 11, 2021

Yang In-mo explores ‘The Genetics of Strings’

Violinist Yang In-mo, also known as In-mo Yang or sometimes “Inmonini” -- a nickname after the legendary violinist Paganini -- released a new album on Tuesday. The album, named “The Genetics of Strings,” is his second album following “Paganini: 24 Caprices for Violin,” in 2018 after winning the 2015 Paganini International Violin Competition. Yang was the first Korean to win the top prize at the competition. “After the Paganini album, I was searching

PerformanceMarch 10, 2021

Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho selected for MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2021

The artist duo Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho were selected as the winner of the MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2021. The two artists have explored the role of art in the rapidly changing world which faces a variety of issues such as contradictory capitalism, historic tragedies and climate change that are threatening humanity. Their representative projects include “News From Nowhere” which the two artists have been working on together since 2012, inspired by the eponymous utopian nov

Arts & DesignMarch 10, 2021

'Minari' earns 6 nominations at British Academy Film Awards

"Minari," a drama film about a Korean American immigrant family, has been nominated in six categories at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards. In the nominations for the upcoming 2021 BAFTA Film Awards announced Tuesday (British time), "Minari" directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung was listed in the categories of best director, best film not in the English language, best casting, best supporting actor, best supporting actress and best original

FilmMarch 10, 2021

Hybrid 2021 ASEAN Cinema Week to screen 15 films starting Friday

ASEAN Culture House, run by the Korea Foundation, will host the 2021 ASEAN Cinema Week, screening 15 films from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, both in theaters and via online platforms from Friday to March 25. This is the second year that the ASEAN Culture House, located in Busan, is holding the cinema week. The event aims to present new perspectives on Southeast Asian culture through the films. The films selected this year reflect diverse cultures and traditions fr

FilmMarch 9, 2021

Orchestras to bring League of Legends music to life

Music from the hit video game League of Legends will be brought to life by an orchestra at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul. “League of Legends Live: The Orchestra” will be held at the Sejong Center in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, April 2-3. The concerts were originally to be held in November, but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first time for the Sejong Center, a major performing arts venue in Seoul, to present a show with music from a video ga

PerformanceMarch 9, 2021

Pandemic-hit musicals on strong rebound

Though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to restrict many aspects of our lives, the local musical scene has been striving to bounce back. After the government relaxed the social distancing rules for performing arts venues in early February, local musical productions have been recording sell-outs with musical fans returning to theaters. According to the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS), aggregate ticket sales of performing arts productions recorded 16.7 billion won in

PerformanceMarch 9, 2021

Seoul Fashion Week runways to expand to Korea's landmarks, museums

The next edition of Seoul Fashion Week will expand its runway stages to Seoul landmarks and museums, taking advantage of the online platform to move beyond its usual main venue, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where the country’s largest fashion week has been hosted for the last seven years. The Seoul Metropolitan Government, the organizer of the show, unveiled details of the upcoming 2021 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week that kicks off March 22, including the venues and participating designers.

Arts & DesignMarch 9, 2021

Busan to host G-Star through 2028

The Korea Association of Games Industry announced on Monday that Busan will continue to host the G-Star gaming exhibition until 2028. G-star is the country’s largest gaming exhibition held annually in November featuring games and developers from around the globe. After kicking off in Seoul in 2005, it relocated to Busan in 2009 and has been held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center ever since. Previously, K-Games decided the G-Star venue for the upcoming two years and allowed a

CultureMarch 9, 2021

67 indie music groups to perform for 5-day #saveourstages Korea

Korean online music festival #saveourstages kicked off Monday with the aim of supporting indie music venues hit hard by COVID-19. A total of 67 groups will be performing through Friday at five different stages -- Rolling Hall, West Bridge, Prism Hall, Radio Gaga and Dream Hall -- all located in the Hongdae area in Seoul, which is known for its indie music scene. Each venue will host about two acts per day, giving guests a diverse choice of music to listen to. “We can’t solve this

PerformanceMarch 9, 2021

Artist Kim Sung-ho presents contemporary ‘chaekgeori’ depicting desires

Artist Kim Sung-ho uses books as the main objects for his art, believing that they have helped build up his own world. The 40-year-old painter came up with the concept of a stack of books called “volume tower” that he pursues using hyperrealism. The artist is presenting a new volume tower series inspired by “chaekgeori” - Korea’s traditional paintings that depict books, a variety of scholars’ ornaments and fruits displayed on bookshelves -- at Park Ryu Sook

Arts & DesignMarch 8, 2021

More Korean stars go vegetarian

It is no secret that Korea, a country well-known for its grilled meat like samgyeopsal, or pork belly, has not been particularly vegetarian-friendly. Celebrities revealing their love for meat is seen as natural, whereas stars who reveal their vegetarian diets are often treated as out of the ordinary in the media.   However, recent years have seen a growing number of Korean stars going vegetarian and actively talking about it. Claudia Kim, also known as Kim Soo-hyun, who appeared in 201

FoodMarch 8, 2021

'Minari' wins best foreign language film at Critics Choice Awards

"Minari," a drama film about a Korean American immigrant family, has won two prizes, including best foreign language film, at this year's Critics Choice Awards. In the awarding ceremony of the annual 26th Critics Choice Awards held Sunday (US time), the best foreign language film award went to "Minari," directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung, beating "Another Round," "Collective," "La Llorona," "The Life Ahead" and "Two Of Us

FilmMarch 8, 2021

Weekend box office hits 4-month high thanks to 'Minari'

South Korea's box office hit a four-month high over the weekend on the back of upbeat performance by the award-winning US immigration film "Minari," data showed Monday. A combined 524,000 people went to theaters from Friday to Sunday, according to the data by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). It is the largest three-day weekend figure since the second weekend of November, when the box office posted a total of 580,000 moviegoers before the third wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic s

FilmMarch 8, 2021

Hong Sang-soo wins third Silver Bear at Berlinale with ‘Introduction’

Director Hong Sang-soo won the Silver Bear for best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival for his 25th feature film, “Introduction,” on Friday. The three-part movie, starring Shin Seok-ho, Park Mi-so and Kim Min-hee, revolves around a young man named Young-ho’s journey to visit his father, his lover and his mother. “More than telling a story, or advancing a narration with efficiency, this script fabricates those momentary intervals between one action and

FilmMarch 7, 2021

Historic Buddhist temple destroyed in suspected arson attack

While the main hall at Naejangsa, one of the country’s oldest Buddhist temples, burned down Friday in a suspected arson attack, a monk representing the temple denied the claim that there was a disagreement between the monks there. According to reports citing local police, the fire at Naejangsa in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, was reported Friday at 6:37 p.m., a few minutes after it is believed to have started. A Buddhist monk reportedly called the fire authorities and was apprehended

PeopleMarch 7, 2021

Orchestral music to return this spring

The 2021 Korean Orchestra Festival will be held from March 30 to April 22 at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul. Though the COVID-19 pandemic presents new restrictions to classical music performances – especially for symphonic works which require large orchestras – this year’s festival will be held under a “new normal” theme, reflecting the virus-plagued times. The festival features the biggest lineup in nearly a decade with 21 orchestras participating. Las

PerformanceMarch 7, 2021

Napoli-style coffee in Seoul

In the morning, caffeine-seeking early birds stroll into Leesar Coffee Roasters’ latest espresso nook and put in their orders at the counter. Those in the know swiftly lay their receipts down in the front of the barista, who then expertly pulls shots from a semi-automated espresso machine. Once extraction is complete, the barista sets tiny steaming cups of caffeine next to their corresponding receipts, passing off tips if needed, for instance, if the brew should be stirred a specific n

FoodMarch 6, 2021

Lee Bul’s early ‘soft sculptures,’ performances presented in Seoul

Lee Bul is one of the most influential contemporary artists both at home and abroad, known for challenging the conventional and pushing the boundaries of art. “Lee Bul – Beginning” at Seoul Museum of Art focuses on Lee’s early works from the late 1980s and 1990s that reflect the artist’s conscious rejection of conventional art when she was only in her 20s and early 30s. Born in 1964, she lived in an era of oppressive dictatorial regime in South Korea, observing p

Arts & DesignMarch 6, 2021

Hybrid JEONJU film fest to kick off April 29

The 22nd edition of the JEONJU International Film Festival will be held from April 29 to May 8, under the slogan “Film Goes On.” Last year, the 21st edition of the international film fest, which was initially scheduled to commence April 30, was pushed back once and then was forced to be held behind closed doors in May due to the spread of COVID-19. The organizer at the time held a hybrid event, going both online and offline, for 114 days. This year’s festival will also be a h

FilmMarch 6, 2021