Excited and nervous ahead of their landmark first concert at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday, the members of K-pop boy band BTS said they will make history at the heart of world pop music."We are finally here at Wembley Stadium after everybody's anticipation and waiting. First of all, (we are) very honored. I want to thank our fans for this honor," BTS member J-Hope said in a press conference at the prominent football stadium, hours before their concert here. "Our mindset, th

PerformanceJune 2, 2019

The eighth edition of Art Busan kicked off Thursday at the Bexco Exhibition Center in Busan, featuring some 4,000 works from 164 galleries in 17 countriesMany galleries at this year’s art fair agreed that the quality of the annual event is getting higher. “The fair underwent many changes, and it seems to have finally settled in, particularly in terms of its program,” a representative from Seoul-based Hakgojae Gallery said.This year’s edition of the country’s second-

Arts & DesignMay 31, 2019

Legendary Irish rock band U2 will perform at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Dec. 8, marking its first-ever visit to South Korea. The upcoming concert is an extension of the band’s worldwide Joshua Tree Tour of 2017, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of its seminal album “The Joshua Tree.” The six-month tour in 2017 attracted some 2.7 million people to 51 concerts in North America, Europe and Latin America. The Joshua Tree tour in 2019, which covers Asia, will r

PerformanceMay 31, 2019

Jin, a member of global stars BTS, joined the UNICEF Korea's club of top donators, having contributed to the United Nations organization since last year, its Korea office said Friday.Jin's financial donation to the Korean office of the United Nations Children's Fund has surpassed 100 million won ($84,000) since he started contributing in May last year, according to UNICEF Korea.  This entitled him to join the UNICEF Korea's Honors Club, a group of people who donated more than 100 million wo

PerformanceMay 31, 2019

Fruit bingsu at Millennium Seoul Hilton Millennium Seoul Hilton’s Cilantro Deli presents bingsu, topped with summer fruits. Four varieties of bingsu, Koreans’ favorite summer desert made with shaved ice, are offered, featuring melon, pineapple, avocado and mango as the main topping. Large-sized, they are designed to be shared by two to three people.Each bingsoo is accompanied by small bowls of nuts, sweet red bean paste and rice cakes. Bingsu is priced between 43,000 won to 48,000 wo

FoodMay 31, 2019

The scent of candied strawberries fills T.o.ch Coffee’s small showroom, emanating from freshly ground beans of Bourbon and Castillo varieties hailing from the El Paraiso association in Colombia. Once extracted as pour-over coffee, this brew unleashes an initial layer of lemon peel, followed by the sugary, dairy-rich scent of strawberries and cream.“This coffee possesses a very clear character,” said T.o.ch Coffee CEO Lee Min-kyu. The 35-year-old seems to view character as

FoodMay 31, 2019

1. The first on-screen kiss in South Korea was in 1954.Nearly six decades after the first on-screen kiss occurred in the West in the 1896 film “The Kiss,” there was an uproar in South Korea in 1954 when the two protagonists of “The Hand of Destiny” had their lip-to-lip moment.Although this lasted for only a few seconds, it was a symbolic moment in Korean cinema that highlighted the clash of Confucian values and the ever-growing Western influence. The director and the actr

FilmMay 31, 2019

Cannes-winning "Parasite," directed by Bong Joon-ho, took off with unstoppable momentum and topped the local box office on the first day of its release.The family satire attracted some 568,000 viewers on Thursday, sharply outnumbering the runner-up, Disney's live-action film "Aladdin," with 74,000, according to data from the Korean Film Council. It showed on 1,783 local screens, with 8,263 viewings on the day.The film, starring Song Kang-ho, is expected to hit a cumulative to

FilmMay 31, 2019

Last Saturday, renowned Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” became the first South Korean film to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. As the auteur said, it was a “timely gift” to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Korean cinema, which has grown in leaps and bounds to become the fifth-largest player in the world film industry by the number of box office admissions, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Although the box offi

FilmMay 30, 2019

Ultra Korea 2019 has finalized its lineup of artists for this year’s event, consisting of 107 teams, including recently united Swedish House Mafia.The organizers of the annual event confirmed the list encompassing world-famous DJs, dance teams and graffiti artists. Other headliners include Jamie Jones, Knife Party, Martin Garrix, Skrillex, Underworld and Virtual Self.Supporting artists are Art Department, Eats Everything, Hot Since 82, Infected Mushrooms, Kayzo, Nghtmre, YG, Zeds Dead, and

PerformanceMay 30, 2019

Parasite(Korea)Opened May 30Drama, Black ComedyDirected by Bong Joon-hoThe Kims, a poor, jobless family of four, find their way into the wealthy glamorous Park family by landing jobs through deceitful means. They earn the affection of the Parks, who are worlds apart from them and yet are somewhat alike. Their new way of life is turned upside down when an unexpected visitor comes knocking on the door, kicking off a series of unexpected events.The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil(Korea)Opened May 15Cr

FilmMay 30, 2019

Everland Rose FestivalLaunched in 1985, the long-running Everland Rose Festival opens every year in May. This year it continues until June 16. At a 20,000-square-meter rose garden, visitors can see various kinds of flowers while enjoying the amusement park.It is held inside Everland, South Korea’s largest theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and is open to visitors of all ages.To find out more about the event, including admission fees and how to get there, visit everland.com for inform

TravelMay 30, 2019

The ninth Ballet Festival Korea is slated to take place from June 18 to 30 at the Seoul Arts Center, introducing 14 ballet recitals from classic to modern.Since 2011, the annual festival has introduced the genre to a wider audience in an effort to promote the overall ballet scene. For this year’s event, the Korea National Ballet and Gwangju City Ballet will cooperate with private ballet companies and young dancers. The opening performance will feature Korean ballerinas who are members of f

PerformanceMay 30, 2019

D.O., a member of the popular boy band EXO, will join the military in July, putting his flourishing entertainment career on hold, his management agency said Thursday. The 26-year-old, whose real name is Do Kyung-soo, will enlist in the Army on July 1 to fulfill his mandatory military service, according SM Entertainment. "D.O. wanted to fulfill his duty of national defense as soon as possible after Xiumin started his military service on May 7 as the first EXO member to do so," SM said.

PerformanceMay 30, 2019

Seoul’s alleys are filled with eateries specializing in particular dishes. The Korea Herald takes you on a foodie trip to narrow alleys where decades-old establishments beckon diners with their secret recipes, often handed down through generations. -- Ed.The Wangsimni area, located 3.9 kilometers east of Gyeongbokgung, is a household name for gopchang.Eating the internal organs of cows and pigs is popular here -- for instance, gopchang (small intestine), daechang (large intestine) and makc

FoodMay 30, 2019

Three rising K-pop stars and their agencies have recently gotten into trouble following revelations that the stars bullied classmates in their school years.They are Yoo Young-hyun, member of the popular indie band Jannabi, singer Hyolyn from the now-disbanded girl group Sistar and Yoon Seo-bin, once the front-runner of the popular idol competition show "Produce 101."Behind the globally flourishing K-pop scene often characterized by electronic music, indie band Jannabi has quietly but s

CultureMay 29, 2019

The Bauhaus school’s workshop wing in the German town of Dessau is well known for its stark white volumes, gridded windows and the Bauhaus sign that runs vertically down the facade. The iconic building, conceived by the school’s founding director Walter Gropius in 1919, will be shown at the upcoming Gwangju Design Biennale 2019, which kicks off Sept. 7 for a 55-day run.  Coming to the festival is a 15-square-meter mobile version of the monumental modernist building, set on a tra

Arts & DesignMay 29, 2019

Bong Joon-ho is just a brilliant storyteller. His films encompass the hard-hitting issues confronting today’s society and they reek of cynicism, yet they are just fun to watch. This is the difference between him and other directors, such as Kim Ki-duk, whose films are hard to watch: Bong’s films don’t rattle you and force you to think. They lure you in with interesting stories, get you hooked, then leave you lost in thought about what you’ve just seen as you leave the the

FilmMay 29, 2019

Returning to the small screen for the first time since his sensationally popular role in the 2016 drama series, "Descendants of the Sun," actor Song Joong-ki plays a half-neanderthal hero who fights against a well-equipped chieftain in the upcoming TV fantasy series "Arthdal Chronicles." The 18-episode series, set against the background of the early civilization period around the Bronze Age, on a mythical continent called Arth, depicts a power struggle by competing chieftains

TelevisionMay 28, 2019