'Old Korea': Presumed portrait of Joseon war hero revealed in revised book

A watercolor painting, 77 by 55 centimeters in scale, depicts a bearded man, presumably from the Joseon era, with a dauntless look on his face, wearing a military felt hat. Donning a blue hanbok robe, the man sits on a chair holding a whip. Behind him stands a screen with images of "geobukseon," or turtle ships, sailing in the water, along with smaller vessels. From the geobukseon images, those with even a passing interest in Korean history would assume that the painting is that of Y

Arts & DesignJune 10, 2020

Number of moviegoers rebounds in May

The number of moviegoers in South Korea rebounded from a month earlier in May on the back of an extended holiday and relaxed social distancing, data showed Wednesday. A total of 1.53 million movie tickets were sold in May, up from an all-time low of 970,000 tallied in the previous month, according to data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). It is the first on-month growth in 2020, since the film industry was hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The monthly figure came to 16.84 millio

FilmJune 10, 2020

Riot Games welcomes Pawn and Wadid to LCK 2020 Summer Split

League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) announced new members to its analyst desk and “shoutcaster” lineup Tuesday. Heo “PawN” Won-seok will be joining the analyst desk while Kim “Wadid” Bae-in will join the shoutcasters, providing commentary. PawN retired from professional LoL last year after suffering obsessive-compulsive disorder, which made him unable to play if the setup of his keyboard and mouse weren’t exactly in the position that he wanted. He

CultureJune 10, 2020

Lee Joo-young goes to bat for hope in ‘Baseball Girl’

  There are moments in life when we persevere, believing in our dreams and efforts, even as the rest of the world does not. Such trust in oneself makes the impossible possible. That is the message of upcoming indie film “Baseball Girl,” the story of 18-year-old Joo Su-in, who strives to join a professional baseball team. Directed by Choi Yun-tae, the film features rising actress Lee Joo-young as Su-in and Lee Joon-hyuk as Su-in’s coach Choi Jin-tae. According to Lee J

FilmJune 9, 2020

French economist Jacques Attali: Altruism is key to fighting COVID-19 pandemic

French economist and futurologist Jacques Attali said “to act altruistically” is the only way to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in an interview conducted as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ “Insight Series” on the post-coronavirus era. “By protecting others, you can protect yourself. However, many people thought the opposite,” Attali said in an interview with Choi Jung-wha, professor of the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translati

CultureJune 9, 2020

Festival to show ‘here and now’ of Korean music

The annual Yeowoorak Festival, a gugak-themed festival organized by the National Theater of Korea, is to kick off on July 3, featuring 12 performances over 23 days. This year’s festival, titled after an abbreviation for the Korean sentence meaning “our music (gugak) is here,” will focus on the “here and now” of gugak, with an emphasis on the expansion of the traditional music genre. Cheolhyeongeum (steel-stringed zither) player and percussionist Yoo Kyeong-hwa,

PerformanceJune 9, 2020

Novice TV directors dazzle S. Korean entertainment scene

JTBC's "The World of the Married" and SBS' "Hot Stove League" are some of the biggest hit TV series in the first half of this year. The two dramas have one thing in common: They are works by up-and-coming young directors who get a good head start on their careers in the rapidly changing media entertainment. Based on the BBC One TV series "Doctor Foster," which aired in 2015 and 2017, the JTBC series is about a dedicated wife, played by Kim, who finds out about he

TelevisionJune 9, 2020

CHA discovers Paleolithic stonewares at village inside DMZ

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Tuesday announced the discovery of two articles of stoneware from the Paleolithic Age and other relics in Daeseong-dong of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. This was CHA’s first survey inside the Demilitarized Zone since drawing up a plan in March to seek UNESCO listing of the DMZ. “It is hard to say that the findings will have a direct influence on UNESCO listing,” CHA official Cho Eun-kyung told The Korea Herald. “The UNESCO makes eval

CultureJune 9, 2020

Korean, foreign students invited to join content creation contest centering on traditional Korean music

The Korean Culture and Information Service and the Culture Ministry announced Tuesday that the 2020 “Nonjangpan” competition for students interested in the liberal arts was starting. South Korean students and foreign students living in Korea are invited to submit applications by June 28. The competition aims to cultivate in-depth and broad understanding of Korean culture by encouraging participants to create content using traditional music. “Ongojisin,” a Korean prov

CultureJune 9, 2020

[Herald interview] From baseball to LCK, Yi Mino’s production story

When Yi Mino came to Riot Games three years ago as the executive producer for esports broadcasts, he was without a broadcast team and the LoL Park Arena in Jongno, central Seoul, had yet to finish construction. With the opening of LoL Park Arena, Riot Games wanted to start self-production of League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), like other regions in the globe. Yi, who worked at terrestrial broadcaster MBC producing sports programs for 12 years and drama series for three years, was the man

CultureJune 9, 2020

Return of superstars, in different personas

“Hi, we’re Ssak 3!” said Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Hyo-ri and Rain, as they introduced themselves in the way such groups commonly did in the ‘90s. On the latest episode of MBC’s “Hangout With Yoo” on Saturday, the trio announced the name of the group as well as their individual characters, along with plans to release their song in July. The appearance of the three celebrities saw the show hit the highest viewership rating out of all Saturday entertainment pro

TelevisionJune 8, 2020

[Museum of One’s Own] Childlike paintings belie artist’s inner torment

  The following is part of a series that explores museums dedicated to the well-known Korean contemporary artists that bear their name --Ed. On a hill covered with green grass, a light blue building greets visitors. The Chang Ucchin Museum of Art in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, is composed of triangles and rectangles. Its design reflects the artist’s lifelong philosophy: simplicity. “If my father were alive, he would have loved this place,” Chang Kyeong-soo, t

Arts & DesignJune 8, 2020

Culture Ministry launches Hallyu department

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the launch of a new department to support the Korean Wave’s further expansion on Tuesday. “We are still working on the details related to the new department, including its English name,” a Culture Ministry official from the Planning and Coordination Office, Shim Min-seok, told The Korea Herald on Monday. The new department, which is under the ministry’s Content Policy Bureau, will have nine members. “We were

CultureJune 8, 2020

Discounts, new releases bring back moviegoers

Despite lingering criticism that a return to cinemas is premature while COVID-19 continues to spread, government-issued discount coupons for movie tickets seem to have done their part in luring South Koreans back. Last week, the state-funded Korean Film Council distributed discount coupons for tickets to films screened Thursday through Sunday. Over those four days, 485,000 people went to the movies. According to data from the Korean Film Council, over 84,000 people went to the cinemas each da

FilmJune 8, 2020

[Video] COVID-19 pandemic ushers in new ways of exploring art in Seoul

With the summer heat and the COVID-19 virus hitting the metropolitan area in South Korea, citizens are in search of places to avoid the scorching sunlight as well as the crowd. Citizens are making their way to a host of local museums and art galleries in Seoul, which have taken preventive measures to block the spread of the coronavirus. A case in point is D Museum, located in Seoul’s Hannam-dong, which opened its doors last month, after having been closed due to COVID-19. The museum&rs

Arts & DesignJune 8, 2020

‘Phantom’ to sing at MMCA

The international tour production of musical “The Phantom of the Opera” is to collaborate with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), sharing an online performance by its lead actors singing iconic numbers from the musical in front of the MMCA Seoul. The live outdoor performance will be streamed online Friday on MMCA’s YouTube channel and local video sharing platform Naver TV. The three lead actors will sing “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Agai

PerformanceJune 8, 2020

What should, or can, the Culture Ministry’s new Hallyu department do?

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is due to establish a separate department within the ministry to support the Korean Wave by June or July at the latest. While the ministry declined to give a specific opening date for the new department, saying it will make the announcement when the details have been confirmed, the decision was made on May 12 during the meeting of a pan-government Hallyu cooperation committee, which includes representatives from 12 ministries. While this marks the f

CultureJune 8, 2020

Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jung-jae promise great chemistry in ‘Deliver Us From Evil’

Top actors Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae, who showed great chemistry in the noir film “New World” seven years ago, are teaming up again for a new action flick. Their synergy in “Deliver Us From Evil” is unlike anything viewers have seen before, they say. The two actors and the director, Hong Won-chan, held a promotional press conference Friday ahead of the film’s release in July. While the 2013 film was notable for the bromance between the two actors, this time

FilmJune 8, 2020

BTS Suga’s new song sparks global fans’ interest in traditional music

The lead track of “D-2,” released in May by Suga of K-pop sensation BTS, has sparked global fans’ interest in traditional Korean music. The title of the piece, “Daechwita,” refers to a genre of traditional Korean music that was performed at a king’s parade and other military ceremonies. The music consists mainly of wind instruments and percussion instruments. The new hip-pop track, which was created based on the traditional sound source provided by the Na

PerformanceJune 7, 2020

‘Heart Signal’ under fire for participant with assault record

Channel A reality TV show “Heart Signal” is again under fire for one of its participant’s past actions. A woman in her 20s told the media on Friday that she was awarded 2 million won ($1,660) in damages after suing one of the participants on the third season of “Heart Signal” for kicking her in the stomach at a club in January 2017. Following the report, Kim Kang-yeul posted an apology on Instagram on Friday, admitting to the attack. “It’s been

TelevisionJune 7, 2020