NEW YORK (AP) ― Bruno Mars will have help from the Red Hot Chili Peppers when he performs at the Super Bowl next month.Mars announced Saturday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will join him as part of his halftime show at the National Football League championship game. Super Bowl halftime performers often have collaborators. Last year, Beyonce had Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams from her Destiny’s Child days join her onstage, and two years ago Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. joined Madonna for h

PerformanceJan. 12, 2014

The Somerset Palace Seoul is hosting a special “Orthodox Christians New Year’s Event” for those looking to spend the New Year in Slavic tradition. Orthodox Christians traditionally celebrated the New Year holiday following the Julian Calendar ― which corresponds to Jan. 14 of the Gregorian calendar this year ― participating in festive ceremonies and wishing each other good health and prosperity throughout the year. This tradition continues to be celebrated in many Eastern European nations includ

PeopleJan. 12, 2014

The January edition of men’s magazine Maxim, featuring announcer Jung In-young on the cover, was sold out as of Friday, according to news reports. “Most of the January edition is out of stock both online and in-stores. This is only the second time this has happened,” an official from Maxim was quoted as saying. The magazine sold out in May 2012 for the first time, when the editor herself modeled for the cover. Jung posed for Maxim in a tight dress, flaunting her curves. She is currently hosting

TelevisionJan. 12, 2014

Exhibitions“Re-Atta, Part 1: On-Air Project”: Photographer Atta Kim, whose innovative, striking photographs have received much attention in the global art community, returns with a solo exhibition in Seoul. Kim presents new images to wrap up the “On-Air” project that won him worldwide attention, as well as his previous works such as city images taken with long exposure and introduce another ambitious, philosophical project that overlaps 10,000 snapshots of a city into one. The extensive survey o

CultureJan. 10, 2014

 Miss Granny (Korea)Opening Jan. 22Comedy. Drama. Directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. Oh Mal-soon (Na Moon-hee), a 70-something grandmother, lives with her son and his family. She is controlling and shameless, and has a difficult relationship with her depressed daughter-in-law. She is proud of her son, who is a university professor, and that she managed to raise him by herself against all odds. One day, Mal-soon’s daughter-in-law gets hospitalized after suddenly collapsing, and doctors strongly advise

FilmJan. 10, 2014

 TVXQ marks 10th anniversary with ‘Tense’TVXQ “Tense” (KT Music)K-pop legend TVXQ has returned to the music scene, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its debut with its new album, “Tense.” Although the duo has managed to produce an album that explores a wide range of musical genres, it has yet to overcome the void left behind by the three original members who left and formed a separate group, JYJ, in 2010.The album begins with “10 Years,” which notably fuses lyrics from former hits by TVXQ incl

PerformanceJan. 10, 2014

Leonardo DiCaprio’s most charismatic performance ever anchors Martin Scorsese’s robust and raunchy low lifes-of-high-finance comedy “The Wolf of Wall Street.” This is their greatest teaming, a veritable “Citizen Kane” of the post-“greed is good” era ― three hours of cocaine and orgies and high-living by the sorts of gauche gamblers who brought that age, and the world economy, to its knees.It is Scorsese’s “La Dolce Vita,” a manic, coke-fueled stock market “Goodfellas” following the rise and epic

FilmJan. 10, 2014

CHANGBAI, China (AFP) ― The spiritual birthplace of the Korean people is a volcano steeped in myth and legend. But with the peninsula divided for decades, South Koreans longing to see it must first travel to China.The peak ― known as Changbai in Chinese and Baekdu in Korean ― and its spectacular crater lake straddle the China-North Korea border.Small tour buses screech around hairpin curves before unloading South Korean tourists for a short walk to the rim to catch sight of the forbidden North ―

TravelJan. 10, 2014

Third anniversary promotion at La SeineLa Seine, a buffet restaurant at the Lotte Hotel Seoul, offers discounts and special events in celebration of the third anniversary of its reopening until March 31. The restaurant’s weekday lunch buffet is now priced at 79,000 won for adults and 53,000 won for children, 15 percent off the normal price. For an additional 20,000 won, restaurant guests can enjoy an unlimited amount of beer, five types of wine and soft drinks. Special promotional events include

CultureJan. 10, 2014

7Brau Pub’s second branch, which opened near Sinnonhyeon Station, takes its brews very seriously. Not only are there eight unfiltered craft beers on tap, including the brewery’s new Imperial IPA, even the grub is infused with the heady stuff. “We focused on using our beer in our food,” said 7Brau director Kim Kyo-ju. 7Brau beer goes into most everything. According to deputy executive chef Dan Kang, over 75 percent of the menu, from the beer-battered onion rings down to the burgers, the pulled po

FoodJan. 10, 2014

Doenjang, fermented soybean paste, is a staple Korean condiment and used as a base for stew or soup. As with doenjang jjigae (stew), doenjang guk (soup) is also one of the most representative Korean home-cooked dishes. While the stew version is typically hearty, thick and pungent, the soup is light and mild and has more broth. The doenjang-based soup made with baechu (Napa cabbage) is called baechu doenjang guk. Koreans cooking at home usually save the water used to rinse rice, ssalddeummul, and

FoodJan. 10, 2014

HAVANA (AFP) ― Cuban leader Fidel Castro has appeared in public for the first time in nine months, attending an art gallery opening near his home, the local press reported Thursday.Official media in Cuba and several foreign news outlets ran photographs showing a hunched Castro, 87, using a walking stick as he attended the inauguration of a gallery by Cuban artist Alexis Leyva.“He greeted artists and residents who applauded the new arrival with emotion,” the official Communist Party newspaper Gra

PeopleJan. 10, 2014

BEIJING (AP) ― Famed film director Zhang Yimou must pay more than $1.2 million in fines for having three children in violation of China’s strict family planning rules, officials said Thursday.A district government in the eastern city of Wuxi said in an online statement that investigators concluded that the director of “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers” and his wife, Chen Ting, flouted family planning policies by having the children without approval and before they were married.China limits mos

PeopleJan. 10, 2014

PARIS (AFP) ― French magazine Closer on Friday said President Francois Hollande was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, promising to back its claim with photographs after months of swirling rumors.The weekly tabloid’s website said its Friday print edition would feature seven pages of revelations and pictures on the 59-year-old president’s alleged relationship with Gayet.Closer, echoing reports published on various websites in recent days, said Hollande routinely drives through Paris on hi

PeopleJan. 10, 2014