Korea to host Mrs. World Pageant 2016 in Sept.

South Korea will host the 28th Mrs. World, a global pageant for married women, hoping to boost cultural exchange and the nation's thriving beauty business, the organizing committee said Monday. Mrs. World 2016 will run from Sept. 20-Oct. 4, bringing representatives from over 70 nations, the Mrs. World Korea Organizing Committee said. Currently, the western port city of Incheon and southeastern port city Busan are competing to host the event, it said.  "We will jointly work with local businesses

TelevisionMarch 14, 2016

KBS tightens grip with ‘Descendants of the Sun,’ ‘Signal’ hogs cable viewership

KBS continued its ratings lead over terrestrial networks with its drama "Descendants of the Sun" last week, with tvN's "Signal" capturing the top cable viewership as it held its season finale, data showed Monday.Starring actor Song Joong-ki and actress Song Hye-kyo, "Descendants of the Sun" fetched 28.0 percent of viewers between last Monday and Sunday, data by Nielsen Korea showed.In Seoul, it claimed 31.2 percent on Thursday, the first time the show has entered the 30 percent range."Descendant

TelevisionMarch 14, 2016

Surprise Kendrick Lamar album debuts at No. 1

NEW YORK (AFP) - A surprise new album by Kendrick Lamar opened Sunday at No. 1 on the U.S. chart in the latest triumph for the critically acclaimed rapper.　The album -- the fourth by the 28-year-old, entitled “untitled unmastered.” -- sold 178,000 copies or the equivalent in streaming in the United States in the week through Thursday, Nielsen Music said.　Lamar released “untitled unmastered.” without previous notice on March 4 in the wake of the Grammys, where he was the music industry gala's big

PerformanceMarch 14, 2016

Five Bacon paintings reported stolen in Madrid

 MADRID (AFP) - Five paintings by British artist Francis Bacon worth an estimated 30 million euros ($33.5 million) have been stolen from the Madrid home of their owner, El Pais reported Sunday.　Sources close to the investigation said the theft appeared to have been a highly professional operation that took place while the owner was away, with the perpetrators disabling the alarm system.　The thieves, who left no trace of their handiwork, had tracked the owner's movements to ensure he did not retu

PerformanceMarch 14, 2016

Zootopia takes No. 1 in fourth weekend of opening

Disney's animated adventure "Zootopia" rose to the top of local box office in its fourth weekend, ending the two-week reign of a local film about Korean women forced into sex slavery during World War II.After being at No. 3 for three weeks in a row, Zootopia showed a remarkable performance on the weekend of March 11-13, pulling in a whopping 342,917 viewers, according to data from the Korean Film Council.The movie saw a 15.7 percent increase in attendance its fourth weekend bringing the accumula

FilmMarch 14, 2016

First edition of Hwang Sok-yong's new essay sold out

Veteran South Korean novelist Hwang Sok-yong's new essay is off to a good start, its publisher said Monday.Five-thousand copies of the first edition of the essay, roughly translated as "Hwang Sok-yong's Rice Thief" went out of stock, Gyoyu Books said.Released on March 2, the book is already on its third edition and firmly remains on the bestseller lists at the country's major bookstores.The novelist said he would donate all of the royalties from the first batch of book sales to relief organizati

BooksMarch 14, 2016

Drama 'Signal' concludes with double-digit viewership

The popular crime drama "Signal" has ended with a double-digit viewership, defying the long-held notion that romantic comedies and family dramas are the only genres that can command such popularity in Korea.The finale of the 16-part series was open-ended on Saturday, with criminal profiler Park Hae-young (Lee Je-hoon) and detective Cha Su-hyeon (Kim Hye-soo) learning that officer Lee Jae-han (Cho Jin-woong), who has been missing for 15 years, may actually be alive at a hideout in a nursing facil

TelevisionMarch 14, 2016

Hidden Korean attractions beckon tourists from home and abroad

Chin Eun-sun, a 27-year-old Korean lecturer at a local college, is like no other Seoulite when it comes to craving a break from the daily grind and taking a few days off to travel.While a rising number of South Koreans, from typical office workers to travel enthusiasts, go abroad to escape from hectic urban life in Asia's fourth-largest economy, Chin, however, says she prefers spending time in quiet provincial areas to standing in long lines at Incheon International Airport."The merit of traveli

TravelMarch 14, 2016

'Descendants of the Sun' commands six-figure tag in Japan

Sensational South Korean television series "Descendants of the Sun" has been exported to Japan with a big price tag, industry sources said Sunday, reviving a foray into the market that the country had trouble reaching lately.The sources said the KBS 2TV drama has been sold at $100,000 per episode. It airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and the sixth episode of the 16-part series will be on air this Wednesday."Descendants of the Sun" is the first South Korean drama to command six figures per episod

TelevisionMarch 13, 2016

U.S. TV networks embrace ‘binge-watching,’ taking cue from Netflix

U.S. networks are changing the way they develop and release new shows, and even commercials, as they seek to adapt to new TV viewing habits and profit from the “binge-watching” made popular by video streaming services like Netflix.The changes could help offset declining audiences and the trend known as “cord cutting,” as a growing number of Americans opt to go without traditional cable or satellite television service and rely instead on Internet streaming video.Viacom Inc’s TV Land network is de

TelevisionMarch 13, 2016

Film on 'comfort women' surpasses 3 mln viewers

"Spirits' Homecoming," a South Korean film depicting the lives of women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II, surpassed 3 million viewers on the weekend, data showed Sunday.The film drew 120,432 viewers Saturday, its 18th day since the release, to reach a little over 3.03 million, according to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).Directed by Cho Jung-lae, the movie follows women who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during the war.Historians estimate that

FilmMarch 13, 2016

Bassist to head Newport Jazz Festival

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- Jazz impresario George Wein took another step to secure the future of his 62-year-old Newport Jazz Festival on Thursday, as the nonprofit foundation that runs it named Grammy-winning bassist Christian McBride as artistic director.　Wein, who is 90, also told the Associated Press that he planned to donate the bulk of his estate, around $10 million, to the foundation upon his death so that the jazz festival and its sister Newport Folk Festival can continue for years

PerformanceMarch 11, 2016