[Weekender] National Gugak Center goes online

While the National Gugak Center in southern Seoul remains closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the center continues to put on creative gugak performances and make them available online. As more people became more reluctant to visit concert halls out of fear of COVID-19, the center recently launched various online programs to offer quality gugak performances. One of the highlights is the virtual reality gugak experience.  On Thursday, the center released 37 clips on its YouTube chann

PerformanceMarch 19, 2020

[Eye Plus] Gaze into dark history, hope for brighter future

Dark tourism has risen in recent years to respond to the contemporary generation’s drive for unique, impactful and meaningful experiences. In Europe, the Auschwitz concentration camp is a classic example of dark tourism, where traces of wartime genocides and ethnic cleansing are preserved. A more recent case is Ground Zero in New York’s Manhattan, where the World Trade Center Twin Towers had stood before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred in 2011. As for the Korean Peninsula,

TravelMarch 19, 2020

Christians worry that COVID-19 outbreaks at churches could feed anti-Christian hostility

As several COVID-19 infection clusters have emerged at churches, bringing religious institutions to the public’s attention as potential sources of contagion, some Christians worry that these incidents could feed hostility against Christianity. After the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, considered a cult by mainstream Protestant churches, became the epicenter of the outbreak in South Korea, cases have emerged at a number of other churches across the country. Criticism of churches escalated

CultureMarch 19, 2020

Why do Sunday services continue service despite coronavirus spread?

As cluster infections of the novel coronavirus among those attending church worship services increase in Korea, public concerns about the issue are also on the rise. This week saw at least 66 coronavirus cases related to River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. In response to rising concerns, the government of Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday issued an administrative order that imposes strict conditions on church worship services. The Gyeonggi Province government started

CultureMarch 19, 2020

Esports find opportunity online

The novel coronavirus pandemic is having an impact on all sports globally, but esports remains among few areas that have been relatively less scathed. As matches go online, changes in lifestyle brought about by the new coronavirus are turning into an opportunity for esports. At first, esports matches played in stadiums without an audience. However, concerns for player safety led to the postponement of leagues throughout the world as COVID-19 spread quickly across borders. But then matches resu

CultureMarch 19, 2020

Invitation to the world of salon music

It is said that Frederic Chopin loved to play at small venues for small audiences, and meaningful musical interactions for Chopin usually happened at salons. Though more than two centuries have passed and large concert halls now dominate the classical music scene, there are musicians who perform in intimate salon settings for the sheer joy it brings.  Going against the conventional grammar of classical music -- formal attire, absolute stillness and silence -- salons allow the audience t

PerformanceMarch 18, 2020

[Herald Interview] Portrait of two underdogs and their vain dreams

With methamphetamine worth 2 billion won ($1.6 million), the vain dreams of a young man to stay in South Korea and another young man to flee the country start. The portrayal of how the two hopeless young men try to fly but ultimately fall in the film “Dreamer” is so dry and realistic that it feels too cruel on the characters and the many dreamers they resemble. The film features two dreamers: North Korean defector Geun-soo who has just arrived in the South and is trying to settle i

FilmMarch 18, 2020

Celebrities around the globe join #SafeHands challenge

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is nominating high-profile people around the world to participate in WHO’s “SafeHands” challenge on Twitter, including K-pop boy band BTS. So far, 62 Twitter accounts have been targeted, with the list of nominees ranging from Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio to 17-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Of the 62 nominees, 15 had tweeted videos of themselves washing their hands as of Wednesday at noon. Phumzile

PerformanceMarch 18, 2020

Some films set to hit local screens amid slowdown in virus spread

The virus-hit South Korean film community is gradually regaining vitality, with some movies poised to hit local screens in the coming weeks, as the country's coronavirus infections have been seemingly slowing down. South Korea reported an additional 93 cases of COVID-19 infection on Wednesday, bringing the total to 8,413 with 84 deaths. The Wednesday figure marked the fourth consecutive day of double-digit daily increases. "Judy," a biographical drama film about American singer and

FilmMarch 18, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Acting is about cultivating knowledge’

Actress Shim Eun-kyung won the best actress award at this year’s Japan Academy Film Prize, six years after winning the best acting award at South Korea’s Baeksang Arts Awards in 2014. “I’m truly grateful for all the congratulatory messages. It still doesn’t feel real,” Shim, currently living in Japan, told The Korea Herald through an email. “I’m very thankful to all the staff members who took part in making ‘The Journalist’ and ever

FilmMarch 17, 2020

Cultural Heritage Administration plans to jointly seek UNESCO listing of DMZ with North Korea

The Cultural Heritage Administration seeks to register the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with North Korea, according to its plan for 2020 announced last week. CHA’s DMZ plan came after President Moon Jae-in raised the issue during his 2020 New Year’s Address. “The DMZ’s value is enormous and relates to ecology, history, peace and reconciliation between the South and the North. Jointly registering the DMZ on the lis

CultureMarch 17, 2020

[Newsmaker] Korean National Ballet fires dancer for breaking quarantine

The Korean National Ballet has fired a dancer for inappropriate behavior, the first such action since the troupe was founded in 1962. Na Dae-han, 28, corps de ballet dancer at the Korean National Ballet, was fired for traveling to Japan during home quarantine period. The national ballet company held a disciplinary committee meeting on Monday where the decision was made to fire Na. Other members of the state ballet company were suspended for conducting private lessons during the home quarant

PerformanceMarch 17, 2020

Conductor Teodor Currentzis’ Korean engagement canceled due to COVID-19

Conductor Teodor Currentzis and his MusicAeterna’s much-awaited performances in Seoul have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currentzis, a rising star conductor in the classical music scene, and MusicAeterna were to hold concerts at the Lotte Concert Hall on April 7 and 8.  “Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna have been strongly looking forward to their first ever concerts in South Korea, and to meeting with an audience that is well known for its appreciation of mu

PerformanceMarch 17, 2020

National Ballet dancer dismissed for breaking self-quarantine rules

A dancer at the Korean National Ballet has been fired for traveling to Japan during a self-quarantine period amid the rapid spread of the infectious coronavirus, the KNB said Tuesday. The decision about the dancer, identified only as Na, was made during a disciplinary committee the previous day. Na, a member of the corps de ballet, or the group of non-soloist dancers, went to Japan in late February and uploaded some photos of his trip with his girlfriend on a social media account. All member

PerformanceMarch 17, 2020

Jung Hae-in says ‘A Piece of Your Mind’ is enough to start love

Iconic romantic male lead actor Jung Hae-in will take on the role of an artificial intelligence programmer, Ha-won, who has loved one woman for a long time in the upcoming tvN series “A Piece of Your Mind.” The Korean title of the drama -- “Half of Half” -- comes from Jung’s line in the drama “Even half of the half of her (his crush) heart is enough.” The drama will tell four different stories of unrequited love of different characters. “The d

TelevisionMarch 16, 2020

[Herald Interview] Women of 40-somethings who still dream, challenge

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the film “Lucky Chan-sil” is maintaining a steady performance in the box office, just like the protagonist who endures unexpected hardships in the film. While the release of many films have been postponed due to the historically low turnout at cinemas due the spread of the highly contagious respiratory illness, director Kim Cho-hee said she decided to open her latest film as scheduled because of her belief, which she says is also the main message of &

FilmMarch 16, 2020

Hit musicals continue their successful run

Though COVID-19 has been pushing the performing art scene in South Korea to the brink, hit musical shows are continuing their run backed by avid fans. Popular musical show “Rebecca” wrapped up its four-month run at the Chungmu Art Center in central Seoul on Sunday. The show, now in its fifth season, opened in November and recorded sold out performances for 86 shows.   According to EMK Musical Company, an average of 92 percent of the 1,255 available seats were occupied for the

PerformanceMarch 16, 2020

[News Focus] Church services likely to lead to community spread of coronavirus

Another cluster outbreak of COVID-19 occurred near the capital, as 40 members of River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, were newly confirmed with the novel coronavirus infection on Monday morning. Another person who came in contact with a church member was also confirmed Monday afternoon. The first patient at the church was confirmed on March 9, followed by a couple on Friday. On Saturday, one woman was confirmed and on Sunday, the head pastor and his wife, both asympt

CultureMarch 16, 2020

Instsallaiton artist Anicka Yi chosen for Hyundai Commission show at Tate Modern

The Korean-American artist Anicka Yi was chosen as the sixth artist of the Hyundai Commission to hold an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London this year. 　 Yi is an installation artist whose work explores the links between art and science, addressing questions around migration, class and gender. Born in Seoul in 1971, Yi is now based in in US, according to Hyundai Motor, the co-organizer of Hyundai Commission. “Anicka Yi has developed a reputation for highly innovative work. Her inst

Arts & DesignMarch 16, 2020

‘The Plague’ by Albert Camus makes bestseller list

More and more Korean readers have found themselves cracking open “The Plague” by Albert Camus anew, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Camus novel was published in 1947 and is set in the same time, though it is believed to be based on the cholera epidemic that killed a large percentage of the population in the French Algerian city of Oran in 1849. “The Plague,” which portrays people’s diverse responses to the plague, won the French Critics’ Pri

CultureMarch 15, 2020