Practicing yoga in unexpected places

Friday is a big day for yoga, as it marks the fifth International Day of Yoga.In 2014, the UN declared June 21 the International Day of Yoga, saying that the sport could contribute to development and peace. Celebrating the day, around 1,200 people gathered at Gwanghwamun Plaza on Sunday to practice yoga together. The massive yoga session at the center of Seoul drew attention to the thousands-year-old practice, which has lately seen a resurgence.Boosted by a rise in its popularity, yoga classes a

CultureJune 20, 2019

BTS' 2016 music video 'Save ME' tops 400 mln YouTube views

The music video of K-pop boy band BTS' 2016 song "Save ME" has topped the milestone of 400 million YouTube views.The "Save ME" music video, off the septet's 2016 compilation album "Young Forever," surpassed the YouTube record Thursday morning, according to the group's agency, Big Hit Entertainment. It is BTS' eighth music video that has surpassed the 400 million mark, including "DNA," which topped 700 million, and "Fire," "Fake Love&quo

PerformanceJune 20, 2019

Daegu show sheds light on painter who influenced ’80s minjung art

A relatively unknown painter, Park Saeng-kwang, is being highlighted at a Daegu museum in an attempt to reassess the artist. Although the artist’s name is not familiar to most of us, he is considered to have influenced many artists who came after him. Though he did not have any direct ties to minjung art -- a sociopolitical art movement that emerged in South Korea in the 1980s – he greatly influenced the movement, said the Daegu Art Museum’s chief curator, Lee Jin-myung.Born in

Arts & DesignJune 19, 2019

Pianist Mikhail Pletnev to perform in Seoul

Pianist Mikhail Pletnev is to hold a recital in Seoul next week.For the June 27 recital at the Seoul Arts Center, the Russian pianist will perform Beethoven’s Rondo in C Major, Piano Sonata No. 23 “Appassionata” and a series of compositions written by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.  Pletnev, 62, is a multi-faceted musician, who is a pianist, conductor, composer and also a cultural figure.The winner of the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, Pletnev atte

PerformanceJune 19, 2019

[Seoul Food Alley] Behind jewelry shops, pairing pork, kimchi and oysters in Jongno

Note: This is the last installment of the Seoul Food Alley series. Over the last two months, The Korea Herald has explored back alleys of Seoul, introducing clusters of restaurants specializing in local delicacies, including stir-fried baby octopus, tteokbokki, sundae and grilled meat. - Ed. Tucked away behind the shiny jewelry district of Jongno 3-ga are decades-old restaurants serving bossam, boiled pork wrapped in kimchi. Though bossam is widely enjoyed in Korea, the restaurants here a

FoodJune 19, 2019

CCF 2019 to focus on content creator culture

An upcoming global forum in Seoul from June 30 to July 2 will delve into the internet content market. Culture Communication Forum 2019, an annual event organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute, invites figures from around the world to experience Korean culture and promote their own culture. Twelve “content creator” delegates have been invited this year. They are bestselling author Ito Ogawa from Japan; US pop columnist Jeff Benjamin; film director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy

CultureJune 19, 2019

[K-Talk] Mamamoo to hold fan event next month

Girl group Mamamoo will hold a fan appreciation event next month, agency RBW said Wednesday. The event will be held at Korea University at 5 p.m. on July 13, and will be the band’s first fan event since October 2017.Following the Seoul event, the group will play July 27-28 at the Daegu Exhibition & Convention Center. The concert title is “4season F/W.”  Tickets for the fan event will be available at 8 p.m. on Friday, but members of Mamamoo’s official fan club wil

PerformanceJune 19, 2019

New art appraisal company enters market

A new art appraisal company has recently launched its services, filling a void created after the disbandment of a major player in the field here. Previously, local art appraisal services were offered mainly by a network consisting of the Korean Art Appraisal Board and the Korean Art Appraisal Association in cooperation with the Galleries Association of Korea. The appraisal board opened in 2001 and started to offer appraisal and authentication services in cooperation with the Korean Art Appr

Arts & DesignJune 18, 2019

Korea allows permanent overseas exhibition of cultural heritage for 1st time

The Cultural Heritage Administration has authorized two early 20th century paintings to be exhibited in Australia, marking the first time state-designated cultural heritage has been allowed to be exhibited permanently outside the country. According to the administration, a Chaekgado painting and a Lotuses painting, originally created as folding screens, were recently sold by a private owner to the National Gallery of Victoria to be exhibited in its Korean exhibition halls.After the go-ahead from

CultureJune 18, 2019

Commemorative Resistance Film Festival to kick off next month

The 2019 Resistance Film Festival will be held in Seoul from July 4-7, commemorating the spirit of the Korean independence fighters during Korea’s 1910-45 Japanese colonization, screening 27 films depicting resistance movements around the world.Preparing for the festival’s second edition, organizers expressed their hopes the film festival will become an annual event, eventually to be held at the National Memorial of Korean Provisional Government, slated to open in 2021. This year, it

FilmJune 18, 2019

S.M. Entertainment pressed to answer activist shareholder’s demands

S.M. Entertainment, South Korea’s largest K-pop powerhouse by market cap, is at a crossroads having to decide on taking action ahead of a deadline issued by an activist investor to merge with another firm owned by founder and Executive Producer Lee Soo-man.S.M. must respond by Thursday to these and other demands by KB Asset Management, which has publicly called on Like Agency -- a private company owned by Lee -- to be merged with the entertainment firm in order to keep intact the corp

PerformanceJune 18, 2019

Little luxuries from France

Luxury parasols and umbrellas, with elaborate embroidery and lace, precious tortoiseshell handles and silver and ivory shafts offer a glimpse into the French culture of luxury in the 17th to 20th centuries. Platform-L, a modern and contemporary art venue in Seoul, is holding “Summer Bloom,” an exhibition featuring antique French umbrellas and parasols from different periods, collected by Michel Heurtault. Born in 1966, Heurtault may be the only state-certificated master in the world

Arts & DesignJune 17, 2019

Sono Village offers special discount for foreigners

For foreigners in South Korea who are planning a summer retreat in Gangwon Province, Daemyung Hotel & Resort’s Sono Village may be an option. On Wednesday the resort chain announced a promotion for foreign guests staying at Sono Village, a Vivaldi Park property in Gangwon Province, a two-hour drive from central Seoul. Under the promotion, a silver suite at Sono Village costs 215,000 won ($181), a deluxe gold suite 241,000 won, a grand gold suite 263,000 won and a royal deluxe suit

TravelJune 17, 2019

[Herald Review] ‘School of Rock’ delightfully charming, as talented cast rocks on

I never thought I’d say this, but having watched the musical adaptation of the 2003 Richard Linklater film “School of Rock,” I actually prefer the stage version. Nobody can recreate Jack Black’s uncontained quirkiness, unorthodox charisma and unhinged charm, qualities whch formed the backbone of the movie. Dewey Finn is a role made for Black, and no one will fit into it better than him. Ever.But while the film was really a one-man show starring Dewey, the musica

PerformanceJune 17, 2019

Feeling great, Ensemble Ditto disbands after 12 years

This month marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one for classical music, as Ensemble Ditto wraps up its 12-year journey.The all-male chamber ensemble was launched in 2007 with the aim of introducing classical music to a broader audience. Young musicians, including star violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill, teamed up to present artistic and innovative repertoires. But the journey will soon come to an end, as this is the last season for the ensemble. The last Ditto festival, “

PerformanceJune 17, 2019

[Newsmaker] BTS fans complain of tight ID checks at Busan concerts

On the first day of K-pop sensation BTS' first-ever fan event and concert in Busan this weekend, a number of people were blocked from entering the venue although they had tickets in their hands.Officials from Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of BTS, demanded buyer information on the tickets match the ticket holder's identity documents at the event Saturday. Teenage fans who bought tickets using their parents' names were turned down, while students who brought copies of their stu

PerformanceJune 17, 2019

Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' wins Sydney Film Festival top prize

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" has grabbed the Sydney Film Prize, the main award of the 2019 Sydney Film Festival, according to the festival's homepage Monday. The awarding of the AUD60,000 ($41,288) cash prize, which took place during the festival's closing ceremony at the State Theatre in Sydney on Sunday (local time), follows the tragicomedy's winning of the prestigious Palme D'Or at Cannes in late May."'Parasite' has an outrageous disregard for genre conv

FilmJune 17, 2019

BTS captivates fans on 2nd day of Busan concerts

K-pop band BTS fascinated fans with dazzling performances for a second day during their fan meeting and concert event held in South Korea's southern port city of Busan on Sunday.Some 22,000 fans from at home and abroad, known as "ARMY," gathered at Busan Asiad Auxiliary Stadium for the second and final day of the septet's "5th Muster [Magic Shop]" tour performances in the country's second-largest city. The event marks BTS' first live solo performances in Busan, the hometown o

PerformanceJune 16, 2019

Ex-YG head Yang may face police probe over snowballing drug and cover-up scandal

Yang Hyun-suk, the former head and chief producer of YG Entertainment, may face a police investigation over drug allegations involving the agency’s high-profile artists, amid a series of scandals that have damaged the reputation of the leading agency behind the rapid growth of the K-pop industry.On Saturday, police told local media that Yang may face criminal charges if the allegation that he threatened a whistleblower turns out to be true. Yang could be summoned for questioning if the whi

PerformanceJune 16, 2019

'Parasite' surpasses 8 mln in admissions

The Cannes-winning "Parasite" surpassed 8 million in total admissions on Saturday, looking poised to join other films in the 10 million club.According to data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), "Parasite" reached over 8 million in admissions just past 3 p.m. Saturday, the 17th day since its much anticipated release. The family satire directed by Bong Joon-ho earned the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival and has stayed at the top of the local box office since it

FilmJune 16, 2019