It’s kimchi-making season! There are hundreds of kimchi varieties in Korea. Pogi kimchi is the most common variety. The taste of kimchi varies widely, depending on the seasoning ingredients. Every household has its own version. Various kinds of jeotgal (salted seafood) are used to give kimchi its distinct pungency and to aid the fermentation process. Saeujeot (salted shrimp) and myeolchiaekjeot (fish sauce made with anchovies) are the two that are most commonly used. I almost always use both of

FoodNov. 15, 2013

Rice is the star ingredient of celebrity food stylist Hong Shin-ae’s new restaurant, Ssalgage, which translates to “rice store” in English. At the food show star’s brick-and-mortar spot in Seoul’s Sinsa-dong, freshly milled rice is served up daily with numerous side dishes as part of a set menu. “We mill the rice ourselves,” said sous chef Kim Jin-woong. The milling is done at the restaurant because the rice ― a mixture of white and brown rice called “obundomi” ― should ideally be consumed withi

FoodNov. 15, 2013

The 2013 MelOn Music Awards on Thursday recognized the biggest acts in Korean music including SHINee, Busker Busker and EXO, who walked away with “Artist of the Year,” “Album of the Year” and “Song of the Year,” respectively. The MelOn Music Awards are among the biggest in the country and hand out prizes based on digital sales and online votes. SHINee’s award marked the first time they were crowned artist of the year at the annual awards ceremony, beating out rival boy band Beast, who had taken

PerformanceNov. 15, 2013

Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon will be dispatched to Lima, Peru, by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to advise its municipal administration.On Friday, Oh completed the overseas aid agency’s weeklong education course for advisers being sent to developing countries. The agency launched the advisory group in a ceremony at the training center for World Friends Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. In the event, he received a certificate of course completion from KOICA president Kim

PeopleNov. 15, 2013

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The Brookings Institution, a top U.S. think tank, is expected to pick Katharine Moon, a female Korean-American professor, as its first Korea studies chair, an informed source said Thursday.The Washington-based institution is preparing to launch a chair position for Korean studies in partnership with the Korea Foundation and SK Group, a South Korean conglomerate.“Brookings has been in search for a figure to lead the program. It has drawn up a short list of Korea experts

PeopleNov. 15, 2013

PARIS (AFP) ― British-born singer-actress Jane Birkin was awarded the Japanese foreign ministry’s top honor Thursday for her support to Japan’s relief work after the devastating 2011 earthquake.Best known as the muse of iconic French singer Serge Gainsbourg who wrote several of her albums, Birkin rushed to Japan after the 9.0-magnitude quake and ensuing monster tsunami.“We were struck by her immediate reaction to the earthquake,” said Japanese ambassador Yoichi Suzuki, after awarding her the Jap

PeopleNov. 15, 2013

South Korean singer Ailee on Thursday made her first stage appearance since the nude photo incident at the 2013 Melon Music Awards.The 24-year-old singer put on a dazzling performance with singer Shin Seung-hoon and hip-hop group Baechigi after being named one of the top 10 artists at the ceremony.The fans chanted Ailee’s name after the performance and the singer shed tears onstage.A U.S.-based Korean pop news site uploaded what appeared to be her nude photos on Nov. 10, touching off a storm of

PerformanceNov. 15, 2013

The National Theater Company of Korea has released a compilation of three Korean plays translated into English, titled “Three Plays.” The 150-page book features the well-loved plays Bae Sam-sik’s “March Snow,” Ko Yeon-ok’s “The Master Has Arrived,” and Park Geun-hung’s “Red Bus.” The book also contains commentaries written about the writers’ lives and works by honorary professor at Pennsylvania State University, Richard Nicole. The National Theater Company of Korea has sent copies to more than 1

CultureNov. 14, 2013

Nam June Paik was an artist ahead of his time and his influence on today’s media artists is greater than when he was alive in the 80s and 90s, according to Doug Aitken, winner of the 2012 Nam June Paik Art Center Prize. “Paik was incredibly ahead of his time ... his works were about mixing up the media and this has been the DNA of today’s media artists,” said Aitken at the press opening of his exhibition at Nam June Paik Art Center in Korea last week. Aitken was awarded the NJP Art Center Prize

PerformanceNov. 14, 2013

The Naju National Museum, the 13th central government-funded museum under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will open to the public on Nov. 22. Located about a 20 minutes’ drive from central Naju, South Jeolla Province, in a rural setting, the museum will be a place where the past meets the present and future of the Yeongsangang River area, said Park Jung-hwan, director of the museum.“In the past, we built national museums in city centers, but this time we are reenacting history: The

CultureNov. 14, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― A prized 1963 Andy Warhol painting that captures the immediate aftermath of a car crash sold for $105 million Wednesday at a New York City auction, shattering the record for the famed pop artist amid a spending frenzy at the high end of the art world.The 3.96-meter painting titled “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” depicts a twisted body sprawled across a car’s mangled interior. It has only been seen once in public in the past 26 years. The buyer wasn’t immediately identified.T

PerformanceNov. 14, 2013

Nearly three years after the release of his last album, popular ballad singer-songwriter Lee Juck has returned to the music scene with the release of his fifth studio album, “The Meaning of Solitude.” The entire 10-track album was written and composed by the artist and features the sweet and soulful melodies that fans have come to expect from the singer; however, this time around, Lee has also decided to delve into new waters by taking on a number of hip-hop and even club-style tracks in keeping

PerformanceNov. 14, 2013

MBC has stopped sales of “I Got C,” a song featured on the entertainment show “Infinite Challenge” that is in hot water over plagiarism claims.The broadcaster said it reached the decision to stop all sales of the song with Amoeba Culture Entertainment, which represents the hip-hop producer Primary, until the issue is settled. It said it would stop selling the CDs, which feature other songs made for the show, after Nov. 15 in a banner message on its website. The decision was made as the controver

PerformanceNov. 14, 2013