The Korea Herald

Spotify says it‘s reached 30 million subscribers

NEW YORK (AFP) - Leading streaming service Spotify said Monday that it had reached 30 million paying subscribers as the company suggested it would keep expanding to more countries.　The milestone was announced by Spotify's chief executive Daniel Ek as he commented positively about President Barack Obama’s historic visit to longtime US adversary Cuba.　“We have 30 million Spotify subscribers, but none of them are in Cuba ... yet. So cool to see Cuba opening up!” the 33-year-old Swedish entrepreneur

PerformanceMarch 22, 2016

Hanbok back in fashion among youths

The hanbok is coming back in vogue among young people in Korea. It has become a common sight to spot teenagers and those in their 20s donning the colorful Korean traditional costume in places such as palace tourist attractions and traditional neighborhoods Bukchon and Insa-dong. 　There has also been an increase in the number of local visitors looking for hanbok rental shops in Insa-dong, according to Han Min-jung of the Insa Traditional Culture Preservation Association. “Teenagers and those in t

CultureMarch 22, 2016

Emin launches show in Hong Kong as Art Basel comes to town

HONG KONG (AFP) - The pain of intimacy, raw physicality, love, sadness, loneliness: British artist Tracey Emin's trademark themes run through her new Hong Kong show “I Cried Because I Love You” -- her first in greater China.　A mix of painting, embroidery and neon, the exhibition comes at a time when, despite the economic downturn in China, collectors in the region are becoming increasingly knowledgeable and focused on who they want to buy -- and Emin is on their shopping list.　Her new show coinc

PerformanceMarch 22, 2016

Latest drama hit creates new travel boom

South Korean travelers are showing interest in a remote part of Greece, while cities here that are home to former mines and military facilities are undertaking major uplifts to attract Chinese tourists, thanks to a TV drama that has been a stellar success.Local travel agencies said Tuesday they have been getting inquiries about tour programs to Zakynthos, one of the Ionian Islands of Greece that is the background of the currently running South Korean drama "Descendants of the Sun." The drama is

TelevisionMarch 22, 2016

Time-honored hanbok attire in vogue among young

For many years, "traditional" has been a euphemism for "dull" for young South Koreans. But lately there seems one exception: hanbok, or Korean traditional attire.On Thursday's quaint cobblestones of Gyeongbok Palace, the largest royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), a throwback to an ancient era is on display: young people sporting colorful hanbok with matching hairdos and clutches."I saw lots of photos of my friends in hanbok posted on social media sites. I thought it would be cool to

Arts & DesignMarch 22, 2016

Victoria Beckham reveals exclusive dresses for Korean customers

Singer-turned-designer Victoria Beckham revealed four dresses for spring and summer exclusively for Korean consumers on mytheresa.com, an online luxury brand shopping website, Monday. “I picked these colors and silhouettes because I think these are well-suited to my Korean customers. They are cute, energetic and right amount of fun. We will have fun, but not too much fun,” said Beckham, at a press conference Monday in Seoul. Victoria Beckham (third from left) poses with Korean models wearing fou

Arts & DesignMarch 21, 2016

Victoria Beckham reveals exclusive dresses for Korean customers

Korean filmmakers to boycott BIFF unless autonomy guaranteed

Korean filmmakers will boycott this year’s Busan International Film Festival unless the organizer -- Busan Metropolitan Government -- guarantees its autonomy, a pan-film industry emergency committee announced Monday. 　The emergency committee, formed last year and comprised of local movie producers, directors and screenwriters, requested that the BMG withdraw an injunction filed last Monday to nullify the appointment of 68 new members to the festival’s advisory committee. It further urged the BMG

FilmMarch 21, 2016

Korean filmmakers to boycott BIFF unless autonomy guaranteed

‘Assassination’ might be released in Japan

Last year’s megahit Korean action film “Assassination” might soon hit Japanese screens, an official from the film’s distributor Showbox told local media on Wednesday. 　“It is uncertain whether it will be possible to release the movie in the country (Japan), but we are in talks for an exact release date, aiming for July,” added the official.　July is peak season for the film industry with many moviegoers flocking to theaters then. The movie has proved its immense popularity here, surpassing 12 mil

FilmMarch 21, 2016

‘Assassination’ might be released in Japan

Shin Kyung-sook's novel listed top bestseller in 10 years: data

Shin Kyung-sook's "Please Look After Mom" was listed as South Korea's most-read book for the past ten years, a local bookstore said Monday.The country's biggest Kyobo Book Centre produced the data based on the accumulated sales figure since 2006.Published in 2008, the book became an instant bestseller with the heartbreaking story of a mother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and her family who are haunted by her disappearance. Shin received the "Man Asia Literary Prize" in 2011 as the first K

PeopleMarch 21, 2016

Zootopia tops box office for second straight weekend

Disney's animated adventure "Zootopia" continued its hit performance in South Korea, sitting at the top of the list of most-viewed films for the second consecutive weekend, data showed Monday.The film amassed 358,012 viewers on 723 screens across the country during the March 18-20 weekend, representing 30.5 percent of all ticket sales, according to the computerized box office figures from the Korean Film Council.After being at No. 3 for three weeks in a row, Zootopia rose to the top of the box o

FilmMarch 21, 2016

Actress Song Hye-kyo denies dating actor Song Joong-ki

Actress Song Hye-kyo is not in a relationship with actor Song Joong-ki, her agency said Monday, ending rumors that the "Descendants of the Sun" couple is an item in real life, too."Song Joong-ki is her good colleague with whom she's done a TV series together," UAA Korea said in a statement.The two Songs star in the KBS 2TV series in which the actor plays an Army captain and the actress a doctor. The two fall in love as they try to save lives in the fictional war-torn country called Uruk.Speculat

TelevisionMarch 21, 2016

GOT7 returns with eight-track album 'Flight Log: Departure'

Multinational boy band GOT7 released a new mini album, “Flight Log: Departure,” including one of its title tracks “Fly,” at midnight Sunday. 　Another title for the eight-track album, “Home Run,” has not been made public yet. 　The comeback was announced Feb. 26 by Korean music industry giant JYP Entertainment, home to the budding seven-member band.　Its members contributed to writing lyrics and composing songs, according to JYP Entertainment.Multinational septet boy band GOT7 (JYP Entertainment)　

March 21, 2016

GOT7 returns with eight-track album 'Flight Log: Departure'

Ballet season to kick off this month with ‘Swan Lake,’ ‘La Bayadere’

With spring officially upon us, theater lovers will soon be able to regale themselves in a new season of dance as the nation’s two top ballet companies are gearing up to kick off their 2016 openers. 　With drastically different season repertories this year, the Korean National Ballet and Universal Ballet are not slated to have any clashing productions for the season, other than their annual holiday production of “The Nutcracker.” 　Universal and KNB will launch their season openers this month with

PerformanceMarch 21, 2016

Ballet season to kick off this month with ‘Swan Lake,’ ‘La Bayadere’

Jay Park releases digital single

Jay Park, Korean-American rapper and founder of independent hip-hop label AOMG, released digital R&B single “The Truth Is” along with a music video at midnight Sunday.　In his new R&B ballad, Park talks about his complex and volatile post-breakup feelings frankly from a third-person perspective in his song. The song was jointly produced with producer team Groovy Room. A screen capture of Jay Park in a trailer video for his new digital single, “The Truth Is.” (AOMG)　“The song features various com

PerformanceMarch 21, 2016

Famed publisher opens Paris’ first on-demand only bookshop

PARIS (AP) -- To many Parisians, the letters PUF have always been associated with the intellectual heart of the French capital.　So when the 95-year-old venerable publishing house specializing in human and social sciences was forced to close its historic bookstore on the Place de La Sorbonne in 1999, it left a big void in the heart of many students and researchers.　But Les Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) is back in town, just a stone’s throw from their previous location in the Quartier Lat

BooksMarch 21, 2016

Famed publisher opens Paris’ first on-demand only bookshop

Users pose as actor Song Joong-ki on social media

Fans of actor Song Joong-ki are forewarned of the existence, and rapid growth, of social media pages claiming to be managed by the actor personally, Song's talent agency said Monday.An Instagram user posing as Song shared a photo of the actor in Greece along with the comment, "THANKS for support," earlier this day, but the account has been declared fake by the agency Blossom Entertainment."Song Joong-ki was briefly on Cyworld in the past, but he hasn't used any social networking services (SNS) s

TelevisionMarch 21, 2016

EXO, fans quake Olympic arena in Seoul concert

South Korean boy band EXO, the darlings of S.M. Entertainment, rocked the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in its Seoul encore concert on Sunday, with an ear-popping mass chorus by its fans. EXO's nine heartthrobs shot up the temperature of the early spring stage for "EXO PLANET #2 The EXO'luXion [dot]," an encore concert held in the gymnastics arena at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul. The concert was an encore to the exclusive show that the band staged in Seoul in March 2015 -- herein comes the "dot

PerformanceMarch 21, 2016

'Descendants of the Sun' nears milestone

A popular TV series about a soldier and doctor who fall in love on the battlefield, inched closer to the 30-percent viewership mark, data showed Monday."Descendants of the Sun," the KBS 2TV drama starring actor Song Joong-ki and actress Song Hye-kyo, renewed its own viewership record at 28.5 percent last week, data by Nielsen Korea showed. In Seoul, the figure broke the 30-percent mark the week prior to last one.The Wednesday-Thursday night drama portrays the struggles of Korean peace-keeping tr

TelevisionMarch 21, 2016

Actor Song Joong-ki thanks fans on Instagram

Actor Song Joong-ki of the popular KBS 2TV series "Descendants of the Sun" on Monday expressed his gratitude for his fans on Instagram.Song, who plays Capt. Yoo Si-jin on the show broadcast in South Korea and China, posted a photo of himself in Greece along with the comment, "THANKS for support." Greece is where the scenes in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk were filmed.The post attracted hundreds of comments from fans all over the world.New episodes of "Descendants of the Sun" come out ev

TelevisionMarch 21, 2016

Bear bone discovery rewrites human history in Ireland

LONDON (AFP) -- Analysis of a bear bone found in an Irish cave has provided evidence of human existence in Ireland 2,500 years earlier than previously thought, academics announced Sunday.　For decades, the earliest evidence of human life in Ireland dated from B.C. 8,000.　But radiocarbon dating of a bear’s knee bone indicated it had been butchered by a human in about B.C. 10,500 -- some 12,500 years ago and far earlier than the previous date.　“This find adds a new chapter to the human history of I

CultureMarch 21, 2016

Bear bone discovery rewrites human history in Ireland