South Korea to resume flights with Vietnam, Russia

South Korea said Thursday it has agreed with Vietnam and Russia to resume flights following months of suspension over the new coronavirus outbreak. Flights linking Incheon, west of Seoul, with Vietnamese and Russian cities will start this and next month, according to the land and foreign ministries, helping businesspeople having a hard time due to months of disruptions in international travel. Under an agreement with Vietnam, flights connecting Incheon with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will oper

TravelSept. 24, 2020

[Herald Design Forum 2020] 8 renowned innovators to speak about future design at Herald forum

What will the future of design look like in the coming decade? Eight innovators who are expanding the boundaries of design in various fields will speak about what they imagine the future and the role of design is at the Herald Design Forum. Israeli industrial designer Ron Arad, famous for his warm and humorous expressions using diverse materials including wood, metal and glass, is a pioneer of design art. He is the former head of the design products department at the Royal College of Art in Lond

Arts & DesignSept. 24, 2020

[Herald Design Forum 2020] Herald Design Forum to discuss next 10 years

The annual Herald Design Forum, hosted by Herald Corp., has entered its 10th year. Having started with the intriguing title “Design changes the world” in 2011, the design forum has connected the insights of world-renowned design gurus, and inspired many who believe in the power of design for the past decade. Seeking to become the Davos Forum of the art and design world, the Herald Design Forum has grown into Asia’s largest design knowledge platform. At this year’s design

Arts & DesignSept. 24, 2020

[Herald Design Forum 2020] Herald Design Forum 2020 goes live

Herald Design Forum 2020 is to be broadcast live on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. An online forum was decided upon in consideration of participants’ health and safety amid COVID-19. However, the content of this year’s forum is more abundant than ever. Beginning with a congratulatory speech by Richard Armstrong of the Guggenheim Museum, one of the world’s most innovative art and design galleries, the forum will also feature a keynote speech by Ron Arad, one of the world

Arts & DesignSept. 24, 2020

Korean National Ballet to stage ‘Le Corsaire’ in November

The Korean National Ballet will perform “Le Corsaire,” also known as “The Pirate,” Nov. 4-8 at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul. The troupe was to perform “Romeo et Juliette,” choreographed by the iconic ballet dancer Jean-Christophe Maillot, in November, with the original production team visiting South Korea to direct the choreography. However, the ballet company canceled the show to avoid the risk of spreading COVID-19 through visiting foreign staf

PerformanceSept. 24, 2020

Warner Bros. to withdraw from S. Korean market

Warner Bros. will pull out of the South Korean market after years of weaker-than-expected performances, officials from its local unit said Wednesday. “We've already stopped making fresh investments in Korean films,” an official from Warner Bros Korea said. “We will also wrap up projects that are in post production or in production.” The South Korean production and distribution unit of the major US film studio is now handling three titles, including “Josee,”

FilmSept. 23, 2020

For the first time, the national art museum welcomes dogs as guests

An increasing number of people in South Korea live with companion animals, with approximately 30 percent of households having at least one. As the concept of dogs being a part of the family has grown considerably stronger in the country, more people are asking how people can better coexist with dogs in society. In response, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, has unveiled the first-ever exhibition in Korea that can be enjoyed with companion dogs. The exhibition, titled

Arts & DesignSept. 23, 2020

Composer Chin Un-suk appointed as TIMF’s new artistic director

The Tongyeong International Music Foundation appointed Chin Un-suk, Berlin-based composer of contemporary classical music, as the next artistic director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival. The contemporary music festival which honors the late-composer Yun I-sang is held annually in the coastal city of Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, every March. This year’s festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chin will lead the event from 2022 to 2026. “I am ho

PerformanceSept. 23, 2020

‘Night of the Undead’ features more than just absurd comedy

“When I first read the script, I was puzzled,” Lee Mi-do, one of the main actors in the upcoming science fiction comedy “Night of the Undead,” said during a press conference held at the CGV Yongsan movie theater in Seoul on Tuesday. The conference was held through livestreaming, with reporters and actors in separate parts of the theater due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. Lee’s reaction was understandable as the film’s director, Shin Jung-won, was not a

FilmSept. 23, 2020

KOCCA strives for K-animation success

Local animations funded by Korea Creative Content Agency projects are grabbing international attention. KOCCA has been trying to raise the competitiveness of Korean animations with many annual projects, including the domestic animation production support project that funds up to 2 million won ($1,700) for promising animations. One of the funded animations, “Bread Barbershop” by Monster Studio, was listed among the global top 10 most popular TV programs by Netflix just 14 days afte

CultureSept. 23, 2020

Boy band Monsta X to promote Korea cultural heritage via YouTube

K-pop band Monsta X will star in an online video series aimed at promoting treasured Korean cultural heritage overseas, according to cultural heritage authorities Wednesday. The YouTube series, titled "Korean Heritage Travelog," will premiere next Tuesday and will feature the six-member K-pop group alongside Seo Kyoung-duk, a liberal arts professor at Sungshin Women's University and a well-known Korea promoter, according to the state-run Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA). The se

CultureSept. 23, 2020

Seoul Fashion Week goes digital

After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week earlier this year, the fashion week showcasing the spring-summer 2021 collections will be held next month, reaching out to the global audience on an online platform. Some 45 South Korean fashion designers are participating in the 2021 SS Seoul Fashion Week -- 35 established designers for the Seoul Collection show and 10 rookie designers for Generation Next. The fashion shows, scheduled from Oct. 20-25, will be held

Arts & DesignSept. 22, 2020

Musical ‘Sonata of a Flame’ viewed online in 45 countries

Original Korean musical “Sonata of a Flame” has been viewed in 45 countries online, according to its production company Shins Wave on Tuesday. The musical, which kicked off its run on Sept. 11 in Daehangno, Seoul, livestreams 13 of 18 live in-person performances. The 13 performances are streamed globally, with the exception of China and Indonesia, via a local tech startup‘s online platform, Presented Live. According to a press release shared by Shins Wave on Tuesday, viewer

PerformanceSept. 22, 2020

Youth romantic TV series gain popularity in S. Korea

In recent years, youth dramas or youth romance series have not been the pick of many South Korean TV viewers, who think such series are boring and prefer R-rated melodramas or romantic thrillers, like "The World of the Married" (2020). Now, however, the latest youth shows "Record of Youth" and "Do You Like Brahms?" are spearheading the move that veers away from the prevailing tastes on the small screen. "Record of Youth," a 16-episode series on tvN, has

EntertainmentSept. 22, 2020

Protestant church groups fail to deliver highly anticipated decision on Jun Kwang-hoon

  Two major Protestant church groups -- the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea and the Presbyterian Church of Korea -- failed to make a decision in the case of the controversial Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon during their respective online general meetings on Monday. The two church groups had planned to decide at the meetings whether they considered the Presbyterian pastor a cult leader. But the meetings did not run smoothly and not everyone had a chance to speak, partially due to tech

CultureSept. 21, 2020

[Feature] Time running out for large rescued dogs

Bambi, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, was rescued last winter from an abusive owner who starved her. An animal rescue organization saw to her recovery, and last Tuesday Bambi was put on a flight to meet her new family in the US. Bambi, who at 16 kilograms is considered a large dog in South Korea, would have been hard to place domestically in a country where apartments are the predominant form of housing. Large dogs are often sent overseas to countries where they are more widely accepted as co

CultureSept. 21, 2020

Yoo Ah-in stars in ‘Voice of Silence’ without a single line

Actor Yoo Ah-in’s second film of the year has him playing a character with no lines. In the upcoming criminal drama “Voice of Silence,” Yoo plays Tae-in, whose job is to dispose of corpses and clean up crime scenes for an organized crime syndicate. “As an actor, a character without any lines was easy to act but at the same time challenging,” Yoo said during an online press conference Monday. “My character does make some noise in the movie, so I think he ca

FilmSept. 21, 2020

Tongyeong to expand Yun I-sang Award

Though many musical events have been postponed or canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the southern city of Tongyeong is looking forward to Isang Yun Prize 2020, which celebrates the legacy of iconic composer Yun I-sang (1917-1995). Tongyeong, a port city in South Gyeongsang Province, is Yun’s birthplace. Based in Berlin in his later years, the composer became internationally recognized for his attempts to bridge the music of the East and the West. The Tongyeong Internatio

PerformanceSept. 21, 2020

[Herald Interview] Connecting ‘comfort women’ and present-day experience through the eyes of a Korean immigrant

When writer Emily Jungmin Yoon released her 2018 book of poems “A Cruelty Special to Our Species,” it was to inform North American readers about the “comfort women,” a euphemistic term for military sex slaves of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. With the publication of the Korean translation of the book Aug. 14 with the full English version included in the back, Yoon sees her purpose as not to inform, as many Koreans are familiar with the history, but to c

BooksSept. 21, 2020

[Herald Interview] Shin Min-ah says ‘Diva’ is like flesh to her

For actor Shin Min-ah, her latest film “Diva,” slated to hit local theaters Wednesday, feels like a part of her flesh. “I put my whole self from head-to-toe into preparing for the film, and that is not something I can experience often,” Shin told local reporters during a joint media interview conducted through group chat due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 36-year-old actor is returning to the silver screen with her first commercial film since “My Love, My Bride&rd

FilmSept. 20, 2020