The granite peak of Mount Geumosan rises prominently above a reservoir of the same name west of the city of Gumi. It’s rather on the fringes of the Taebaek Mountain Range, just as Gumi is decidedly off the radar of tourists. For many KTX passengers, Gumi is nothing more than a short stop on the way to Daegu or Busan. In fact, it’s the second-largest city in North Gyeongsang Province, behind Pohang, and helps power South Korea’s export economy through its production of cellphones, TV screens and

TravelMarch 21, 2014

Gourmet French dining at Millennium Seoul HiltonMillennium Seoul Hilton’s French restaurant Seasons is offering the 74th “Gourmet Circle Dinner” on April 4-5. The dinner promotion, which began in 1996, is offered four times a year during each season. Every time, the executive chef creates a special menu that is paired with a selection of wines. This year’s spring promotion begins with a champagne reception at 7 p.m., followed by a 7-course meal featuring bright, fresh and seasonal ingredients as

TravelMarch 21, 2014

If you have nicely fermented kimchi and a bag of flour, you can make this popular snack in no time. The flavor-packed sour kimchi is a wonder when it’s fried in a simple batter. Everything else is nice to have, but not necessary. Here, I added sweet rice powder to give a little bit of elastic texture to the pancakes. The juice from the kimchi is a must. It gives the batter the flavor and a nice orange hue. The chewy squid lends a nice textural contrast to the crunchy kimchi. For a spicier kick,

FoodMarch 21, 2014

Mon Chou Chou, the Japanese brand behind the popular Dojima roll, launched its South Korean flagship store this February. Until then, Mon Chou Chou sweets were only available at two kiosks in Shinsegae’s Gangnam store and Hyundai’s Apgujeong-dong outlet. Both stores opened last August to an overwhelming response.When the Osaka-based brand landed in both department stores in Seoul over six months ago, customers queued to purchase the much-coveted Dojima rolls, essentially cream-filled, supersoft

FoodMarch 21, 2014

After playing on the streets of Hongdae for spare change as a struggling troubadour looking to help his single mother and himself make ends meet, former Superstar K4 contestant Hong Dae-kwang is rapidly putting his tough past behind him and looking toward a bright future as a singer.Hong released the second half of his “Silver Lining” album, “The Silver Lining ― Part 2,” on Friday. The new EP features the lead track “Thank You My Love,” and despite being relatively slow-paced, it has the most up

PerformanceMarch 21, 2014

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― K-pop made fresh inroads Thursday when Lady Gaga revealed that South Korean girl group Crayon Pop will open her upcoming summer concerts in Canada and the United States.“I’m excited to announce June 26 through July 22 of Lady Gaga’s artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball will be opened by CRAYON POP!” the “Mother Monster” announced on her @ladygaga Twitter feed.The candy-colored quintet topped the K-pop charts last year when their danceable ditty “Bar Bar Bar” ― featuring their signature h

PerformanceMarch 21, 2014

The nation’s largest entertainment agency, SM Entertainment, is currently under investigation for allegedly evading tens of billions of won in taxes, The National Tax Service announced Thursday. According to news reports, the agency is suspected of having established “paper companies” in Hong Kong using famous artists’ names in order to avoid reporting the profits earned from performances overseas. The Seoul tax authorities have now launched a formal investigation into the agency’s finances and

PerformanceMarch 20, 2014

South Korean pop singer Kim Jang-hoon will hold a special exhibition of photos depicting Korean women forced into sex slavery by the Japanese military during World War II as part of his upcoming art show in Shanghai, his management agency said Thursday.Kim plans to hold the art show on South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo from April 17-26 at the Korean cultural center in Shanghai to help raise the Chinese people’s awareness that Dokdo is part of South Korea.The singer will add the special e

PerformanceMarch 20, 2014

Given Korea’s thriving classical music scene, it is surprising how little support there is in Korea for composers. With little public interest in contemporary classical music and anemic financial support for composition, composers often struggle to make ends meet with the music they make. Ryu Jea-joon, however, is an exception. The 43-year-old is making a name for himself in the tough field, although he is more recognized overseas than domestically. With an album with Naxos, a leading classical

CultureMarch 20, 2014

The long-anticipated Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park opens Friday with showcases of modern design works and a rare collection of traditional Korean art. To celebrate the opening, the DDP is holding five design and art exhibitions featuring works by high-profile modern designers, including the architect of the building, Zaha Hadid, as well as the prized collection of traditional Korean art of the Kansong Art Museum.“The exhibitions explore the role of design today. It’s the most important discus

Arts & DesignMarch 20, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) ― Sheldon Harnick has done some extensive spring cleaning and come up with a two-CD box set of very rare tunes. Harbinger Records said Wednesday it will release “Sheldon Harnick: Hidden Treasures, 1949-2013” on May 1 in conjunction with the Tony- and Grammy Award-winning lyricist and writer’s 90th birthday. The set will include some 53 demos and songs cut from 17 shows featuring such singers as Audra McDonald, Brian d’Arcy James, Hugh Martin, Charlotte Rae and Sheldon’s wife, actre

PerformanceMarch 20, 2014

Korean and foreign celebrities have joined hands to show viewers both at home and abroad what it is like to marry a person from another culture.Major South Korean broadcaster MBC and SM Entertainment are jointly launching the second season of “We Got Married ― Global Edition” in April.“We Got Married” is a television show that sets up celebrities in hypothetical marriages and shows how they live as “married couples” over the course of 15 episodes. The global edition of the show will feature both

TelevisionMarch 20, 2014

William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh BackBy Ian Doescher (Quirk Books)A long time ago in a galaxy far, far ― well, really about a year ago, William Shakespeare (died 1616) teamed up with Oregon author Ian Doescher to adapt filmmaker George Lucas’ “Star Wars” into a peerless 16th-century play.Now there’s a sequel, “William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back,” and it’s just as much fun.As the original film, “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” was darker and romantic than its predecessor,

BooksMarch 20, 2014

The Way of All FishBy Martha Grimes (Scribner)Martha Grimes is best known for her novels about British police detective Richard Jury, his aristocratic friend Melrose Plant and other residents of the postcard town of Long Piddleton. Those 22 novels meld the traditional village mystery with the police procedural, giving the plots a hard edge balanced by satire and humor.Jury and friends are absent in “The Way of All Fish,” Grimes’ 31st novel, but they won’t be missed in this witty satire on the pu

BooksMarch 20, 2014

Bruce Weber claims that traveling by bicycle isn’t “the contemplative, mind-meandering activity that it is generally presumed to be.”And the New York Times writer, whose “Life Is a Wheel” chronicles his 79-day, 6,600-kilometer pedal from Astoria, Oregon, back to his apartment in Lower Manhattan, has a point: riding 70, 80, 90 kilometers a day, sometimes on busy blacktops with tractor trailers rocketing alongside, on county roads that suddenly dissolve to gravel, through endless prairies wonderin

BooksMarch 20, 2014

If you adore Lorrie Moore, as so many of us do, you’ll find much to enjoy in her new collection of eight stories, “Bark.” All the sparkly balls are in play ― puns, politics, pop culture details, sometimes all at once, as when a character confuses an unnamed torture prison with a line from Jabberwocky, “the mome raths outgrabe.” (Abu Ghraib for $500, please.)Every story delivers the classic Moore club sandwich of melancholia and humor, and if none is the equal of the best stories in “Birds of Ame

BooksMarch 20, 2014

South Korea's tax office said Thursday it has launched an investigation into the country's largest entertainment agency amid rumors of offshore tax evasion by the company that manages some of the top K-pop celebrities. The National Tax Service (NTS) recently sent dozens of auditors to the headquarters of SM Entertainment located in Gangnam, southern Seoul, to secure accounting books and other financial records, according to the NTS and company officials. SM Entertainment is the country's leading

March 20, 2014

Investing in a country’s image abroad can be a costly wager. While it requires a well-coordinated strategy on various levels and dimensions, an army of skilled and passionate country marketers, and most importantly, sufficient time and money, there is no guarantee of measurable success, given its elusive target: global citizens. Yet, Won Yong-gi, Korea’s chief PR man, has a clear vision and ideas to realize it. “In the past, we may have lacked the substance (to show to the world.) But now we hav

CultureMarch 19, 2014

Among many features that define the cityscape of Seoul, one thing makes the capital distinct. That’s the gray skyline along row after row of near identical concrete apartments.The sea of concrete high rises stemmed from a public housing project initiated in the 1970s to accommodate the mounting urban population efficiently. It has now become the type of residence most preferred by a majority of Seoul citizens.An exhibition at Seoul Museum of History takes the audience on a journey through the hi

PerformanceMarch 19, 2014