[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Everland ‘Blood City’ Halloween festivalEverland theme park is holding the latest edition of its zombie-themed Halloween festival “Blood City” until Nov. 17.Parts of the park feature a horror theme, with around 100 staff dressed as zombies, clowns and monsters. Performances and photo spots are available, including at the recently unveiled Raptor Ranger attraction. Some of the most popular attractions, including T-Express, have a horror theme as well.For more information i

TravelOct. 3, 2019

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Joker(US)Opened Oct.2Drama, mystery & suspense Directed by Todd Phillips A clown-for-hire by day, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) aspires to be a stand-up comic at night. But finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study. Crazy Romance (Korea)Opened Oct.2RomanceDirected by Kim Han-gyeolJae-hoon (Kim Rae-won) is hu

FilmOct. 3, 2019

AMP recognizes beauty of Saemoonan Church

Saemoonan Church, the oldest Presbyterian church in the country, was recognized with the Architecture MasterPrize, a prestigious architectural award given by the Farmani Group. The new church building in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, was listed under the award’s Cultural Architecture category, announced Thursday.  The award introduced it as the “Mother Church” of Korea, referring to the history of it being the first organized church in the nation. Saemoonan Church was establ

Arts & DesignOct. 3, 2019

Adorable monsters to decorate Seoul lake

First came a rubber duck. Then came a supermoon, a pair of swans and a human-shaped figure. This year, it's going to be a group of monsters that shimmer under moonlight.South Korean retail conglomerate Lotte and the Songpa Ward office said Thursday that gigantic figures of Seoul-based creative studio Sticky Monster Lab will decorate Seokchon Lake in southeastern Seoul from Oct. 3-27.The exhibition, called the Luna Project, is the latest in a series of larger-than-life figures that have decorated

CultureOct. 3, 2019

Busan film festival set to kick off 24th edition

The Busan International Film Festival will open its 24th edition in the southern port city of Busan on Thursday, filled with more than 300 worthwhile movies and various intriguing programs.Starting with the opening ceremony to be held at the Busan Cinema Center in the city, located 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the festival will kick off its 10-day run. The ceremony will be co-hosted by South Korean actor Jung Woo-sung and actress Lee Hanee. "The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time," a K

FilmOct. 3, 2019

13th Gwangju Biennale takes shape

The 13th Gwangju Biennale, directed by Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala, is taking shape. The upcoming biennale, titled “Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning,” recently announced its first batch of participating artists as it kicked off the first program tied to the event slated to begin Sept. 4, 2020 in Gwangju.  The lineup for Korea’s largest art festival includes 31 international artists.“We chose artists who are very much engaged within their own diverse geographies, and w

Arts & DesignOct. 2, 2019

[Herald Interview] ‘Better working conditions for staff lead to better service’

The new general manager of Millennium Hilton Seoul was surprised by strong demand for staycations here. German-born Felix Busch, who joined the Hilton group 17 years ago, took the post here in August following stints in Edinburgh, London, Sydney and Nagoya, among others. “It is very popular for Koreans to escape for one night. Although they may live in Seoul, they check into a hotel in Seoul to have a night away from home. I think this is slightly unique to Seoul,” Busch told The Kor

PeopleOct. 2, 2019

Super Junior, Kang Daniel join lineup of Busan's annual K-pop concert

The organizer of the Busan One Asia Festival, a major annual K-pop concert in the city of Busan, on Wednesday announced the final lineup of its 2019 event, which includes Super Junior, NU'EST and Kang Daniel.BOF 2019 is scheduled to run from Oct. 19-25 at Busan's Hwamyeong Ecological Park, Haeundae Beach and the Busan Cinema Center, as well as other public areas in South Korea's biggest port city, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul.  The festival's three main events -- the K-pop Concert, Hip

PerformanceOct. 2, 2019

Asia's top film festival opens in shadow of 'Parasite'

BUSAN (AFP) -- Organisers of Asia's top film festival, which opens in Busan this week, warn that a surge of global interest in the critically acclaimed South Korean movie "Parasite" masks a damaging underinvestment in local independent cinema.Bong Joon-ho's darkly comic tale of class war in the Seoul suburbs won the Palme D'or for best film at Cannes and is firming as an Oscar favourite next year, in what would be the first ever win for a Korean film.It has been sold to 192 internation

FilmOct. 2, 2019

Tomorrow X Together to release 1st full album this month

K-pop rookie band Tomorrow X Together, also known as TXT, will release its first full-length album this month, its management agency said Wednesday.The upcoming record, "The Dream Chapter: Magic," set for release on Oct. 21, is TXT's second music release since the five-piece band debuted with "The Dream Chapter: Star" in March. The new album is also the second edition in the band's first "The Dream Chapter" album series that follows "the story of boys pursuing

PerformanceOct. 2, 2019

EXO's Chen drops 2nd solo EP with retro music

Chen, the main vocalist of popular K-pop boy band EXO, unveiled Tuesday his second solo EP, a six-track record led by the retro pop number "Shall We?"The new EP, "Dear My Dear," follows his first solo EP, "April, and a flower" released in April."Shall We?" targets the autumn music scene, which captures the sentiment of a man having to bid goodnight to his lover through Chen's trendy vocal quality.  Including the lead track, the new album carries "

PerformanceOct. 1, 2019

New Seoul Fashion Week director hopes to promote K-style to world

Fashion designer Jung Ku-ho has stepped down as executive director of Seoul Fashion Week after four years at the helm of the country’s largest fashion event.Taking his place is Jeon Mi-kyeong, a former editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar Korea with more than 25 years of experience in the fashion magazine industry. She will head Seoul Fashion Week with the Seoul Design Foundation for two years. The 2020 spring-summer Seoul Fashion Week -- the first edition led by Jeon -- is slated to t

Arts & DesignOct. 1, 2019

Police search multiple agencies over audition show's alleged vote rigging

Police on Tuesday raided multiple K-pop agencies as part of an investigation into allegations that the entertainment firm CJ ENM's cable music channel rigged the results of its fan-voted idol competition show, "Produce 101," police said.Cyber investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stormed several agencies that represent members of new boy band X1 in Seoul to secure related documents and information. The 11 members rose from obscurity to stardom in the Mnet audition sho

PerformanceOct. 1, 2019

Kwon Sang-woo as vengeful Go master in ‘The Divine Move: Ghost Move’

The 2014 film “The Divine Move” about a Go master was a brutal, violent film about vengeance and gambling, shattering any expectations one might have had about watching the millennia-old board game that is played completely silently with minimal movement. “The Divine Move: Ghost Move,” an upcoming spinoff and prequel, stars Kwon Sang-woo as the mysterious “Gwi-soo,” or “ghost move,” whose presence was never fully explored in the first film.In the n

FilmOct. 1, 2019

Ex-Virgin Music chief says BTS opened door to success in US for other K-pop acts

The wild global success of Korean boy band BTS is not a stand-alone case but has opened the door for many more K-pop music acts to make inroads into the American music market, a high-profile US music executive said Tuesday."BTS is a great success story. But BTS broke the ice; it is not the ice," Phil Quartararo, CEO of Tripod Partners, said in a press conference on the sidelines of MU:CON, the biggest K-pop fair in South Korea. Quartararo has served in top roles at Virgin Music, Warner

PerformanceOct. 1, 2019

Netflix announces fourth season of hit show 'Stranger Things'

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Netflix announced Monday a fourth season of retro sci-fi show "Stranger Things," the site's most successful original production, as it bids to fend off intense competition from other streaming platforms.The video subscription service added that it had entered into a multi-year deal with the hit series' creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, to work on unspecified film and series projects."Stranger Things," a nostalgic 1980s drama about a gang of suburban adolescent

TelevisionOct. 1, 2019

MAMA stirs controversy with decision to hold this year's event in Japan

CJ ENM is generating a bit of controversy over its choice of Japan as the sole destination for this year's Mnet Asian Music Awards despite unprecedented trade and diplomatic rows between Seoul and Tokyo.A week earlier, the media and entertainment unit of the conglomerate CJ unveiled Nagoya as the city to host the biggest K-pop award event in Asia, set for Dec. 4 at the 30,000-seat Nagoya Dome.This marks the third year in a row a Japanese city will be hosting MAMA after CJ held the award show as

PerformanceSept. 30, 2019

[Herald Design Forum] Daan Roosegaarde envisions ‘Landscapes of the Future’

Over the last few years, an aesthetically refined seven-meter-tall air purifier in Beijing became viral in Korea, which shares the Chinese capital’s troubles with smog and fine dust.  That Instagrammable “Smog Free Tower” by Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde did not just suck up air pollution: It also transformed particulate matter into jewelry and then into rings, which people could buy. Roosegaarde is an artist who has been utilizing technologies to raise aware

Arts & DesignSept. 30, 2019

[Herald Design Forum 2019] Mobility coping with future environment

Discussions about future mobility often involve technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving and innovations surrounding electronic vehicles. Alexander Mankowsky from Daimlers research unit takes part in such discussions. He looks ahead and keeps track of technological developments aimed at bringing new vehicles that fit future environments.Mankowsky will join Herald Design Forum 2019 to deliver a speech on future mobility and the vehicles of the future that he has been lo

Arts & DesignSept. 30, 2019

[Herald Design Forum 2019] ‘Treat plastic as precious material’

Dave Hakkens, a Dutch designer who launched Precious Plastic, a global network that invites hundreds of people from all over the world to work on solving issues related to plastic waste, is due to speak Oct. 10 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul as part of the Herald Design Forum 2019Hakkens’ goal is quite simple: Make things more sustainable. “The projects I have done have been often related to reducing waste or changing the way we do things so they are more efficient and better for the envir

Arts & DesignSept. 30, 2019