AmorePacific Group wins Korea Image Award

A leading South Korean cosmetics company, AmorePacific Group has been selected as the top prize recipient of the Korea Image Awards 2015 for promoting South Korea’s image overseas, the organizer Corea Image Communication Institute announced on Monday. This year’s Korea Image Stepping Stone Award goes to AmorePacific Group for “spreading Korean beauty and brand power all over the world through its innovative research and development,” the institute said in a statement.Since 2005, CICI has honored

PeopleDec. 16, 2014

Gray-haired lovers become cinema hit

A documentary about a couple who have been married for 76 years is storming the box office, with more than 1 million tickets sold so far, a rare feat for an indie-film in Korea. “My Love, Don’t Cross That River,” directed by Jin Mo-young, nabbed the top spot on Korea’s box office chart over the weekend, beating out blockbusters “Exodus” and “Interstellar.”The film has attracted a total of 1.06 million viewers since it premiered on Nov. 26, according to the state-run Korea Film Council. It seems

FilmDec. 15, 2014

North Korea criticism fuels ‘Interview’ box office hopes

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― The obvious question is: Where is Kim Jong-un’s sense of humor?It’s hard to understand why North Korea is taking “The Interview” ― a madcap comedy about a fictional CIA plot to kill the elusive leader ― so seriously.The film ― starring American comic actors Seth Rogen and James Franco, and due in theaters on Christmas Day ― is full of scatological humor and sexual jokes.It’s basically a cross between a slapstick James Bond and a “Hangover” movie, aimed squarely at an audience

FilmDec. 15, 2014

Violinist Lee to perform 3 sonatas

Violinist Lee Sung-juViolinist Lee Sung-ju will present violin sonatas of Beethoven, Strauss and Franck in a recital at the IBK Chamber Hall of Seoul Arts Center on Dec. 17. Together with her longtime musical partner Oliver Kern on piano, the professor of the Korea National University of Arts will present a full program that cuts across classical, romantic and contemporary string repertoires. The concert will open with Beethoven’s violin sonata “Kreutzer” and conclude with a Strauss work, Violin

PerformanceDec. 15, 2014

[Herald Interview] Aedas chairman: Problems with Lotte World Tower ‘unusual’

Koreans seem to be keener than ever on safety issues after witnessing a series of accidents this year, including the Sewol ferry disaster that killed more than 300 passengers and the deadly collapse of a ventilation grate at a concert venue.Adding to the safety concerns recently have been the geological problems and construction flaws affecting the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, which is expected to be the sixth-tallest building in the world when completed in 2016. Keith Griffiths, the chairman of

Arts & DesignDec. 15, 2014

Syrian wins Arab song contest, keeps clear of politics

BEIRUT (AFP) ― A Syrian from war-torn Aleppo was declared the winner of this year’s “Arab Idol” singing contest at the grand finale of the grueling four-month television competition in Beirut last weekend.The audience at Saturday’s finale broke into applause and cheers, chanting “Syria! Syria!” and “Hazem!” when the jury of the pan-Arab song contest announced Hazem Sherif as the winner.The 21-year-old kept clear of politics, avoiding taking sides in the nearly four-year conflict that has divided

PerformanceDec. 15, 2014

[Herald Interview] Making sense of Confucian printing woodblocks

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang Province ― Despite their historical and cultural value, Confucian printing woodblocks are barely studied. Most people don’t even know they exist. That’s why Lee Yong-doo and his researchers at the Advanced Center for Korean Studies can’t slow down after the 10-plus-year campaign to salvage the relics from the threat of theft and damage. Deciphering the wisdom of Joseon scholars carved onto the slabs and making them readily available for today’s guidance-seeking Koreans i

CultureDec. 14, 2014

Why Confucian printing woodblocks matter

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang Province ― The legacy of Joseon, Korea’s last ruling dynasty, is alive and strong in this historic town. Billed as the heartland of Korean Confucianism, Andong boasts a number of private Confucian academies and clan villages from the 1392-1910 Joseon era, living proof that this region was home to many of the most prominent Confucian scholars of the time. What’s little known to the outside world, and even to many Koreans, is that the essence of the spiritual world of Jose

CultureDec. 14, 2014

Modern take on ‘soondae’ soup

Damso-story, a Gangnam, Seoul-based franchisor of Korean sausage “soondae” soup, offers the popular dish with a modern twist.It attempts to break the stereotype of the dish ― strong pork smell, low quality and the usual drab interior of soondae dining places. Soondae is steamed pig intestine stuffed with a mixture of sticky rice, bean sprouts, cabbage or other vegetables seasoned with garlic, ginger, sesame oil and fermented bean paste. Damso-story specializes in soondae soup. For broth, it uses

FoodDec. 14, 2014

Warmth, comfort of handmade crafts

A hand-carved ceramic vessel, an origami-inspired molded ceramic bowl and a tree-shaped vertical wooden clothes rack. The craftwork to be showcased at the ninth edition of the Craft Trend Fair on Thursday at Coex attempts to bring elegance and warmth to functional modern lifestyles. It is the biggest showcase of craftwork in Korea, and its 2014 exhibition is dealing with a theme entitled “Temperature of Craft at 36.5 degrees Celsius” to highlight the heartwarming humanism of handmade craftwork.“

Arts & DesignDec. 14, 2014

Smith, Swift own the night at Jingle Ball

NEW YORK (AP) ― If you wanted to make a time capsule of what happened in pop music this year, Friday night’s Jingle Ball ― the annual extravaganza held in Madison Square Garden put on by pop station Z100 ― would most likely provide the most accurate account. There was Pharrell ― with the hat ― crooning his hit “Happy”; Iggy Azalea rapping and posturing as she breezed through “Fancy”; Jessie J and Ariana Grande playfully one-upping each other in the power-vocal showcase smash “Bang Bang”; and Meg

PerformanceDec. 14, 2014

2NE1 snags Billboard’s best K-pop album pick of 2014

As the countdown to 2015 approaches, the assessment of the year’s best songs, albums and industry newcomers is in full swing. Rounding out the year, Billboard’s top picks of the 10 best K-pop albums of 2014 land the feisty K-pop icons of 2NE1 the crown. The ladies’ second full-length album, “Crush,” was praised for cleverly exploring hybrid genres including reggae and R&B and landed them at the No. 1 spot, beating out other much awaited K-pop heavy-weight comebacks such as Seo Taiji and Rain.The

Dec. 14, 2014

[Weekender] ‘Where we live defines us’

A box-shaped apartment complex has been a dominant housing option for Koreans for decades. The government has encouraged the development of such complexes, considering them as the most efficient type of housing to accommodate a large number of people in the country given its limited land. The popularity of apartments has was the most profitable investment tool in Korea until the housing market bubble bust, hit by the global economic downturn in 2008.Against this backdrop, with the demand for a b

Arts & DesignDec. 12, 2014

[Weekender] ‘HOUSHOW’ brings dream houses to life

The Association of Young Architects launched the HOUSHOW initiative, a dream house-building project, in 2012. For the first project, it selected six candidates among 80 applicants and then met with them in person to discuss the design of their dream house. As a gift, the project offered them a floor plan, a perspective drawing and a model so that they could build the actual house one day. Below is the brief introduction of four such houses.01. Raon HausA couple in their early 40s with two young

Arts & DesignDec. 12, 2014