Sistar to collaborate with Italian producer Moroder

K-pop girl group Sistar is collaborating with Italian musician and producer Giorgio Moroder on a special project, according to the group’s management agency Starship Entertainment on Wednesday.An established name in the global music industry, the three-time Academy Award winner received his fourth Grammy Award in 2014 for his contribution to French electronic duo Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” album. In addition to working with international pop icons, Moroder wrote the official anthem for

PerformanceSept. 7, 2016

CCF delegates point to Korea’s modern adaptions of traditional culture　

This year's Cultural Communication Forum organized by Corea Image Communication Institute invited 20 leading cultural figures from 18 countries to experience Korean culture and to discuss ways to promote cultural communication across national borders. Following is an excerpt from interviews with some of the delegates who attended the three-day program.Benson PuahAfter building a notable career in hotel construction and management, Benson Puah reached a turning point in his life. “I asked myself,

CultureSept. 7, 2016

CCF 2016 Night wraps up three-day cross-cultural event

Traditional markets, theme cafes and palace visits in traditional Korean garment hanbok are the top three Korean trends both foreigners and Koreans alike would like to try, a Corea Image Communication Institute survey on Koreans’ and foreigners’ perceptions of Korea showed.The results of the survey of 307 Koreans and 223 foreigners were unveiled during the CICI’s Culture Communication Forum 2016 Night, held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul on Tuesday, also showed that Koreans and non-Koreans were both p

CultureSept. 7, 2016

Lawrence Wright shows the human side of Middle East turmoil in ‘The Terror Years’

“The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State”By Lawrence WrightKnopf (384 pages, $28.95)“The Terror Years,” Lawrence Wright’s wide-ranging and intensively reported collection of stories on the Middle East in the 9/11 age, begins with a pair of masterful profiles. The first, “The Man Behind Bin Laden,” tracks the upbringing and radicalization of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of al-Qaida. The second, “The Counterterrorist,” explores the career and death of John P. O’Neill, the FBI

BooksSept. 7, 2016

Murder lurks deep in the mind

“Hell Fire” By Karin Fossum, translated from the Norwegian by Karl DixonHoughton Mifflin Harcourt (272 pages, $24)With Scandinavian crime fiction all the rage and enormous attention paid to writers like Jo Nesbo, Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell, it’s almost, well, criminal, that Norway’s Karin Fossum isn’t better known.Translated into dozens of languages and winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic crime novel, Fossum’s exceptional qualities are on view in her new novel, “Hell Fire,” the

BooksSept. 7, 2016

How far will you go for your autistic child?

Being a parent is always full of ups and downs, of course, but being the parent of an autistic child, Carolyn Parkhurst writes in her splendid new novel, is a lot like riding a roller coaster that never stops to let you off and catch your breath. Sometimes you marvel at your child’s brilliance. Often, though, you are exhausted by her behavior. You may be prone, like Alexandra Hammond in Parkhurst’s “Harmony,” to compare your growing helplessness to the proliferation of bedbugs in your house.“It’

BooksSept. 7, 2016

Brooks to introduce ‘Young Frankenstein’

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- “Young Frankenstein” will come alive in theaters once again on Oct. 5, with a live introduction from writer-director Mel Brooks, who will pay tribute to the classic spoof’s late star Gene Wilder. The intro will be broadcast from the 20th Century Fox Lot in 500 theaters nationwide, according to an announcement by Fathom Events on Tuesday.  In addition to touring the studio lot, where much of the movie was filmed, Brooks is expected reminisce about his friend and collaborator W

FilmSept. 7, 2016

Raised in California and living in Seoul, novelist Krys Lee wrestles with Korean identities

Standing in the heart of Koreatown, novelist Krys Lee turned around.Was this direction to the Korean market where her family made a pilgrimage every weekend and her mother would rent her cache of Korean videotapes? Which way was the tofu restaurant she and her pastor father walked to countless times after her mother died and there was no one to cook him Korean food?And where was her father’s final apartment where he lived, broken, until he suffered a heart attack mid-sermon at the pulpit?The gle

BooksSept. 7, 2016

Children’s author, illustrator of Llama Llama stories dies

MONTPELIER, Vermont (AP) -- Best-selling children’s book author and illustrator Anna Dewdney, who gained fame with her series of Llama Llama stories, has died at age 50.Dewdney, who had a 15-month battle with brain cancer, died Saturday at her home in Chester, publisher Penguin Young Readers said. “The entire Penguin Young Readers family is heartbroken,” Jen Loja, president of Penguin Young Readers, said in a statement. “And as we grieve, we also celebrate Anna’s life, in dedicating ourselves to

BooksSept. 7, 2016

Actress Moon So-ri wins Italian film award

South Korean actress Moon So-ri has won an Italian film award on the sidelines of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, her management agency said Tuesday.The actress, who is a jury member at the festival, won the Starlight Cinema Award in the International Award category on Monday, according to CJES Entertainment.Now in its third year, the award is presented by an association of Italian female film critics. Al Pacino and Spanish actress Paz Vega won the award in 2014 and 2015, respective

FilmSept. 6, 2016

K-pop, tech, ‘ppalli-ppalli’ -- How foreigners view Korea in 2016

When Beth McKillop, research fellow of the Victoria and Albert Museum, was invited to Korea for the Culture Communication Forum 2016, she surveyed her extended family members on their impressions of the East Asian country.She was met with a range of answers, said the founding curator of the Korean Gallery in the prestigious UK museum, from “why are Koreans so keen on plastic surgery,” “why are so many great women golfers Korean” and “I love ‘Gangnam Style’” to “Korea’s advertising is 20 years ah

CultureSept. 6, 2016

‘Old Wicked Songs’ to hit Seoul stage this month

Exposing the convoluted and dynamic relationship between mentor and mentees, Jon Marans’ 1996 Pulitzer Prize nominated dramatic musical play “Old Wicked Songs” will hit the Seoul stage starting Sept. 21. Set in a rehearsal studio in Vienna, Austria, the seemingly simplistic two-man play is anything but. The storyline follows the relationship between Josef Mashkan, a Viennese music professor, and his new student Stephen Hoffman. The 25-year-old Jewish pianist was once considered a musical genius,

PerformanceSept. 6, 2016

Secret’s member Song Ji-eun returns with solo album

K-pop group Secret’s member Song Ji-eun is making a return as a solo artist for the first time in two years.　The 26-year-old singer released a teaser image for her second mini album “Bobby Doll” on Secret’s official social media channels Tuesday. 　The album’s lead song -- also titled “Bobby Doll” -- is a dance track with an acoustic-based tune, according to the artist’s management agency TS Entertainment. 　 The upcoming six-track mini album features lyrics and production by in-house composer Par

PerformanceSept. 6, 2016

Stars mull fourth Bridget Jones film at London premiere

LONDON (AFP) - The stars of “Bridget Jones's Baby” took to the pink carpet on Monday for the film’s London premiere, contemplating shooting another episode in the misadventures of cinema‘s most hapless singleton.Crowds gathered in Leicester Square to catch a glimpse of the cast of the third Bridget Jones film, in which Renee Zellweger plays the disaster-prone, chardonnay-swigging heroine.Ahead of the screening Zellweger suggested she would be open to a fourth film in the series. “I think it woul

FilmSept. 6, 2016

The biggest what? Dubai seeks glory in obscure world records

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The 6,148 whiskey shots perched atop glasses of energy drink waited for the push that might send them tumbling into the record books -- just another night in Dubai, and another chance to make a certain kind of history.Superlatives like “the world's biggest” and “the world’s first” are almost as ubiquitous as the skyscrapers and mega-projects that have come to define this city-state on the Arabian Peninsula, home to the tallest building and the busiest internati

CultureSept. 6, 2016

Big Bang to appear on CNN’s ‘Talk Asia’

In line with the 10th anniversary of its debut, K-pop global sensation Big Bang will appear on the upcoming episode of CNN’s “Talk Asia,” the group’s management company YG Entertainment said Monday.　The weekly program features in-depth conversations with prominent social, political and cultural leaders. It has interviewed individuals such as former Korean ice skater Kim Yun-a, Filipino professional boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao and Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani.  In anticipation

PerformanceSept. 6, 2016