Korea In Motion Festival offers up to 50% off show tickets

Foreign tourists can enjoy up to 50 percent off on a variety of shows in Korea, including concerts, musicals, dance performances and plays during their stay. The Korea In Motion Festival, organized by the Korea Tourism Organization, is offering 20 percent to 50 percent discounts on tickets until Oct. 5.  The dance troupe of “Bibap” performs in front of Myeongdong Theater in Seoul. (Korea In Motion Festival)Popular nonverbal dance performances including “Nanta,” “Jump” and “Bibap” are participati

PerformanceSept. 12, 2014

Big Bang’s Seungri involved in car crash

K-pop star Seungri, the youngest member of the popular idol group Big Bang, was reported to have been involved in a car accident early Friday morning. According to police reports, Seungri was driving his Porsche down the Gangbyeon Expressway in Icheon-1-dong, Seoul, at around 3 a.m. when he struck a Mercedes-Benz on Banpo Bridge, causing the entertainer’s car to hit a guardrail and flip over. At the scene, Seungri claimed that he was not injured and opted not to go to the hospital. However, YG o

Sept. 12, 2014

JYJ denies conflict with Taiwanese press

Idol group JYJ strongly denied a local report that a conflict had broken out with the Taiwanese press during a conference on Thursday.A Korean report stated that Taiwanese photographers and reporters declared a boycott against JYJ, with about 50 of them leaving the press conference. The agency, however, responded that the report was “exaggerated” and “misleading.” JYJ (C-JeS Entertainment)“There may have been a slight misunderstanding in communication when the emcee asked that camera flashes not

Sept. 12, 2014

Huh Ji-woong, KARA’s Goo Hara play cameos in ‘It’s Okay, That’s Love’

Entertainer Huh Ji-woong (top), actor Jo In-sung (center, left) and KARA Goo Hara (bottom) appear on the last episode of MBC's rom-com "It's Okay, That's Love." (SBS)Show entertainer Huh Ji-woong and Kara Goo Hara spiced up the final episode of the SBS rom-com “It’s Okay, That’s Love” as cameo characters. Huh played a new radio DJ after Jang Jae-yeol, a main character played by actor Jo In-sung. After the recording, Huh released a selfie with the Korean heartthrob actor on his Twitter. It was hi

Sept. 12, 2014

Big Bang’s Seungri involved in car accident, halting activities

(KBS)(KBS)K-pop star Seungri, the youngest member of the popular idol group Big Bang, was reported to have been involved in a car accident early Friday morning. According to police reports, Seungri was driving his Porsche down the Gangbyeon Expressway in Dongbu Ichon-dong, Seoul, at around 3 a.m. and struck a Mercedes-Benz on Banpo Bridge, causing the entertainer’s car to hit a guardrail and flip over. At the scene, Seungri claimed that he was not injured and opted not to go to the hospital. How

Sept. 12, 2014

HyunA lures in pure makeup

Cosmetic brand Tonymoly chose K-pop idol HyunA as its new model. The sexy icon wiped off her trademark ultravivid makeup and appeared with an almost natural face, pure and innocent. A matching white top added to her pure image. By Cho Han-na, Intern reporter (hnncho@heraldcorp.com)(Photo credit: Tonymoly)

Sept. 12, 2014

Park Si-yeon flaunts sexy back

Actress Park Si-yeon flaunted her trademark sexy curves in the official poster for TV Chosun’s upcoming drama “The Best Marriage,” released on Friday. In the poster, she is standing in profile, giving a seductive look. Her back is entirely bare, with the spaghetti straps of her red evening dress slipped off her shoulders. On the other side of the poster is the phrase, “Hereby we pronounce independence from marriage.” The drama, starring Park, Bae Soo-bin, Noh Min-woo and Uhm Hyeon-gyeong, launch

Sept. 12, 2014

Super Junior’s ‘Mamacita’ most-viewed K-pop music video in August

The music video for “Mamacita (Ayaya)” by idol group Super Junior was selected as the most-seen K-pop music video in August, according to local reports Friday.Billboard announced the 10 “Most Viewed K-Pop Videos Around the World: August 2014” last Monday, with “Mamacita (Ayaya)” in first place. Other singers included in the top 10 were Red Velvet, Taemin, Winner, 4L, Kara, BTS, Secret and Sistar.Super Junior released “Mamacita,” its seventh full-length album, on Aug. 29. By Kim Min-jin, Intern r

Sept. 12, 2014

Gwangju Biennale: Burn, destruct and rebuild

GWANGJU ― Gwangju Biennale square clearly represents the theme of the event’s 10th run this year. The large square in front of the exhibition hall displays two large cast-iron stoves by Sterling Ruby, which emit a wood-burning smell and gray smoke. Rock music is heard from a distance ― the 1983 hit-single “Burning Down the House” by U.S. rock band Talking Heads, from which this year’s biennale borrows its title. A huge octopus breaks out of the wall of the biennale exhibition hall in a banner pa

PerformanceSept. 11, 2014

Mathematical minds multiply at Toronto film fest

TORONTO (AP) ― In the Stephen Hawking biopic “The Theory of Everything,” two college girls rush into a ’60s-era Cambridge party before the sight of the attendees stops them in their tracks. “Oh, dear. Scientists.” So could the reaction be confronting this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where two of the most lauded and talked-about films are portraits of elite mathematical minds, curtesy of Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne. In “The Theory of Everything,” Redmayne plays theoret

FilmSept. 11, 2014

John Park returning with ‘U’

Korean-American singer John Park is returning to the spotlight with the release of his latest single, “U,” on Friday. The 45-second music video teaser for Park’s new up-tempo, U.K. pop-style single has racked up more than 56,000 hits on YouTube in less than a week. According to an announcement by Farm Music officials on Thursday, the single was produced by the international production team Joombas Music Group, which was the team behind Justin Bieber’s popular 2009 single “One Less Lonely Girl.” 

Sept. 11, 2014

2PM’s ‘Go Crazy’ tops 1m views in one day

2PM. (JYP Entertainment)To prepare for the release of their upcoming fourth studio album, the popular K-pop idols of 2PM have unveiled their latest music video, “Go Crazy,” which topped the 1-million-viewer mark the day of its release. According to a press release from JYP Entertainment on Thursday, the official music video for 2PM’s “Go Crazy” surpassed 1 million views on Sept. 11, less than 24 hours since it was posted on YouTube. The electropop dance single was written, composed and produced

Sept. 11, 2014

TaeTiSeo to drop EP ‘Holler’ next week

The Girls’ Generation spin-off trio TaeTiSeo will release its second EP, “Holler,” on Sept. 16, according to an announcement by SM Entertainment on Thursday. The group ― consisting of Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun ― will be dropping its first musical release since unveiling its debut EP “Twinkle” more than two years ago. According to the announcement, TaeTiSeo ― also known as Girl’s Generation-TTS ― is slated to release “Holler” on all the major online music sites on Tuesday, while the CD will be

Sept. 11, 2014

Musical all-stars take up McCartney in new album

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Bob Dylan, B.B. King and The Cure have all been covered extensively in their own right, but the artists have come together to interpret a giant ― Paul McCartney.On a new album that is striking for the caliber of performers, McCartney’s longtime back-up band entered the studio with leading acts who covered favorite songs by the former Beatle.“The Art of McCartney,” to be released on Nov. 17, will feature 42 songs from The Beatles or the songwriter’s solo career, an announcement s

PerformanceSept. 11, 2014

‘Champagne Supernovas’ explores ’90s fashion world

“Champagne Supernovas: Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, and the ’90s Renegades Who Remade Fashion” puts readers in the front row and three of the era’s biggest names in the catwalk spotlight. Author Maureen Callahan contends that the waifish, plain models and thrift-shop grunge aesthetic of ’90s fashion was an antidote to the “Glamazons” and gold-plated excess of the 1980s. There was a hunger for authenticity, and no one kept it more real than designers McQueen and Jacobs, and their mu

BooksSept. 11, 2014

Following the footprints of Korea’s past

Veteran journalist Lee Ki-hwan, with a writing career that has spanned almost three decades, believes that one can’t really live meaningfully in the present without references to the past.A journalist and history buff, Lee has been writing a history column titled “Lee Ki-hwan’s History with a Trace” for the vernacular daily Kyunghyang Shinmun since August 2011, focusing mostly on the Joseon era (1392-1910), but considering other periods as well.He begins his new book “History with a Trace” ― bas

BooksSept. 11, 2014