With lights, mythical creatures come to life

Korean artists Kwon Ha-youn and Jin Si-yon have installed their media artworks at a pavilion outside the Times Square building in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.Under the title of “Lunar Fantasy with Ancient Auspicious Animals,” the two Korean artists have presented their own digital renderings of eight mythical creatures from the Chinese tradition of Feng Shui, which are believed to bring luck, prosperity and wealth.  A pavillion in front of Times Square building in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong (Gana Art)“

Arts & DesignJan. 17, 2019

New guidebook to help tourists ‘live like a local’ in Seoul

If you are an Airbnb-style traveler, up for living like a Seoulite while in the city, new guidebook “A Curated Guide: Seoul” (Seoul Selection) may be the right choice.If you have a local friend who knows the latest trends, you may not need this book. But not every tourist visits Seoul with such connections. That‘s when the book comes in handy.The book’s two authors, Robert Koehler and Hahna Yoon, went beyond the traditional tourist destinations that typical Seoul guidebooks suggest and recommend

BooksJan. 17, 2019

[Around the Hotels] Promotions and packages

Lunar New Year at Grand Hyatt SeoulGrand Hyatt Seoul Hotel presents the Good Luck 2019 package in celebration of the Lunar New Year holiday. The package includes a one-night stay at the Standard Room, a breakfast buffet for two at Terrace, admission to an ice rink for two hours as well as skate rental for two and hot chocolate for two at the ice rink’s snack bar.Guests will also be offered complimentary shuttle bus services to and from Namsangol Hanok Village, where families can experience Korea

FoodJan. 17, 2019

[K-talk] Winner kicks off North American tour in Seattle

Winner made its first North American tour stop, “Winner Everywhere Tour in Seattle,” at the city’s 2,807-capacity Paramount Theater on Tuesday.This year marks Winner’s launch in the North American market, expanding from last year’s Asian tour. (YG Entertainment)The quartet performed a series of its best-known hits from “Really, Really,” “Everyday” and “Air,” as well as its latest releases “Millions” and “Movie Star.” Each of the four members also staged a solo performance to add to the show’s va

PerformanceJan. 17, 2019

[K-talk] Sunmi’s first world tour ‘Warning’ to premiere in Seoul

Sunmi is embarking on her first concert tour as a solo artist. Representing the singer, Make Us Entertainment released the list of stops and dates of the tour dubbed “Warning.” (Make Us Entertainment)Kicking off in Seoul on Feb. 24, the tour stops at eight North American cities -- San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, New York, Toronto, Washington -- and three Asian cities -- Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo.The notice also teased additional stops to be announced, which will include c

PerformanceJan. 17, 2019

MMCA announces 2019 exhibition calendar

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on Wednesday announced its exhibition schedule for 2019. Park Wi-jin, managing director and acting director of the MMCA, announced the museum’s calendar for this year, as the director post remains vacant. Twenty-three exhibitions will be held between the network of four art museums, which now includes the recently opened Cheongju branch. Some 10 billion won ($8.9 million) of the total annual budget of 63.2 billion won, a 4 percent increase from

Arts & DesignJan. 17, 2019

[K-talk] Monsta X makes Billboard’s list of top 10 most anticipated K-pop releases of 2019

Monsta X’s upcoming album was included in Billboard’s list of top 10 most anticipated K-pop albums of 2019, with Billboard introducing the group as having held “(its) biggest U.S. shows to date (in 2018)” and “the first K-pop group to play on iHeart’s Jingle Ball tour.”During the group’s interview with Billboard, its member Kihyun heightened anticipation for the new album, teasing, “(Monsta X) has some stuff with other artists, but it’s top secret.” (Starship Entertainment)The septet’s EP “The C

PerformanceJan. 16, 2019

[K-talk] BTS’ ‘Love Yourself’ concert documentary to hit cinemas Jan. 26 as one-day event

BTS’ 2018 “Love Yourself” world tour will be screened at 3,800 cinemas in 95 countries for just one day on Jan. 26. The film documents the August premiere of the ongoing 20-city world tour in Seoul. The Seoul shows, held for two days on Aug. 25-26 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in the city’s southern district of Songpa-gu, sold out 90,000 tickets. (Pathe Live, Big Hit Entertainment)The upcoming film is not the septet’s first concert documentary. “Burn the Stage,” which captures the group’s 2017 “T

PerformanceJan. 16, 2019

BTS album ranked on Billboard chart for 20th consecutive week

K-pop boy band BTS' latest album, "Love Yourself: Answer," ranked on the Billboard 200 album chart for the 20th week in a row, the latest chart showed Wednesday.The album came in 78th on the album chart for the week of Jan. 19, slipping from last week's 59th. It was the 20th week in a row or the fifth month that the album has been ranked since it landed atop the chart in early September.   (Yonhap)The same album also was No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums chart, with BTS topping the Social 50 cha

PerformanceJan. 16, 2019

[Kpop Herald x TwitterBlueroom] B1A4 notches 500,000 viewers on Twitter Blueroom live

K-pop boy band B1A4 met with fans at Twitter’s Blueroom live session at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, with the hourlong Q&A show exceeding 500,000 viewers.The trio is the first to hit the social media giant’s flagship live broadcast this year, held at Twitter Korea’s iconic headquarters situated on the 41st floor of a skyscraper in Gangnam, southern Seoul, capturing the city’s skyline. It was also a memorable moment for the band, as CNU will leave to begin his mandatory military service next week. With exc

PerformanceJan. 15, 2019

GOT7’s Jackson sings ‘Fendiman’ at Milan Fashion Week

Jackson of K-pop act GOT7 performed his song “Fendiman” at the end of the Fendi’s fashion show held Monday during Milan Fashion Week.A video released on Naver’s V Live showed the scene in front of the venue before the show. An overwhelming number of fans had gathered to see the rapper, calling out his name. At the end of Fendi’s show, Jackson appeared at the balcony on the backdrop of the runway singing the song “Fendiman” in English. The 26-year-old became the first artist to sing at a Fendi fa

PerformanceJan. 15, 2019

‘The Man Who Laughs’ wins big at 2019 Korea Musical Awards

“The Man Who Laughs” got the last laugh at the annual Korea Musical Awards Monday night at Seoul’s Blue Square, winning acclaim for best musical, best actor and best theatrical arts.Its lead Park Hyo-shin won best actor -- an honor he shared with Choi Jae-rim of “Matilda” -- for playing the role of Gwynplaine. He also won best actor at the seventh Yegreen Musical Awards on Nov. 5 for the same role.“It’s been quite a while since I started appearing in musicals, since 2009, and I haven’t done many

PerformanceJan. 15, 2019

‘Odd Family’ a rare zombie comedy with veteran actors

Zombie movies are scarce in the world of South Korean film, perhaps because domestic film budgets can’t compare to those in Hollywood. Then again, it may simply reflect the preference of moviegoers here. “The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale,” Lee Min-jae’s directorial debut, takes a rare path as a horror-comedy that draws laughs by focusing on the absurdity of the situation.“Most zombie films would start with a (zombie) virus spreading from a populated area, but (“The Odd Family”) is a story about a

FilmJan. 15, 2019

Seoul Jazz Festival invites world-class jazz musicians

Seoul Jazz Festival has announced its preliminary lineup, including Wynton Marsalis, Omara Portuondo of Buena Vista Social Club and Clean Bandit. Wynton Marsalis (Private Curve)　Nine-time Grammy-winner trumpeter Marsalis was the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1997 with “Blood on the Fields,” a jazz oratorio that is an orchestral rumination on slavery. He is currently the managing and artistic director of jazz at Lincoln Center.  Omara Portuondo (Private Curve)　Portuon

PerformanceJan. 15, 2019

LA Phil to play themes of ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Star Wars’ in Seoul

The Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform film scores from “Harry Potter,” “Star Wars,” “Jaws” and other Hollywood blockbusters, in tribute to John Williams, a legendary film composer. 　 The orchestra will hold a concert entitled “Celebrating John Williams” at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in eastern Seoul on March 17. Film composer John Williams (Mast Media)Williams is a film composer who created original soundtracks for various hit Hollywood productions. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel will lead the

PerformanceJan. 15, 2019

Seoul’s sweet rendezvous with chocolate, ‘Salon du Chocolat’

Seoul hosted Salon du Chocolat, a show dedicated to everything chocolate, over four days from Thursday to Sunday at Coex. The chocolate festival premiered in Paris in 1994 and has so far toured 16 countries around the world.Visitors could try their hands at dessert making at the cooking corner, shop for chocolate and drinks that go well chocolate such as tea, wine and coffee -- all of which were available to sample. A chocolate-themed fashion show and a chocolate art exhibition pleased the eyes

FoodJan. 15, 2019

[Photo News] 2019 Korea Musical Awards shines with stars

The night of the 2019 Korea Musical Awards shone bright with musical stars on the red carpet. With many musicals staged last year, a diverse group of stars nominated for awards attended the event held Monday. (Photo By Kim Hye-soo/The Korea Herald)Musical couple Kim So-hyun and Sohn Joon-ho stepped on the red carpet in a fairytale-like dress and tuxedo respectively. Kim wore a peach bell-shaped dress, looking like an empress -- just like the character Elisabeth she currently plays in the musical

PerformanceJan. 15, 2019

GFriend marks successful 4th anniversary with new full-length album

Six-piece K-pop girl band GFriend released their second full-length album, “Time for us,” Monday as the group marked their successful fourth year on the K-pop scene.“Time for us” is the band’s first full-length album since the release of their first, “LOL,” in July, 2016, and their first music release after their EP, “Sunny Summer,” in July last year.The 13-track album comes as the band celebrates this week the fourth anniversary of its debut with the EP “Season of Glass” in 2015.  (Yonhap)The m

PerformanceJan. 14, 2019

Artist Kim Joon wins 18th SongEun Art Award

Artist Kim Joon has been selected as the winner of the 18th SongEun Art Award, SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation announced Friday.Kim has been focusing on introducing installations that present sounds and photographs he collected on-site. Through his site-specific soundscape project, Kim has been attempting to explore the history of locations and to make landscapes audible. The artist is best known for his work delving into the ecology of Nanji, a landfill-turned-park in Seoul. Kim gradua

Arts & DesignJan. 14, 2019

Korea Grand Sale gears up for kick off

Korean tourism authorities were set Monday for the official opening of the Korea Grand Sale, an annual event for foreign shoppers with events, promotions and sales across the country. This year’s event, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Visit Korea Committee, will be held from Thursday until Feb. 28. The theme of this year is “Travel, Taste, Touch,” and will offer benefits of varying degrees from 51,497 businesses. According to the ministry, around 850 enterpr

TravelJan. 14, 2019