[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival The 25th Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival is to open May 5. Every year, the city of Jeonju holds a hanji festival, celebrating the legacy of traditional handmade paper. In concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition of the festival will be held both offline and online for a month. The online part of the festival will feature lectures, contests, hands-on activities related to hanji, spanning over three weeks. In early June, the festival will wrap up wit

TravelApril 2, 2021

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Godzilla vs. Kong (US) Opened March 25 Action Directed by Adam Wingard Godzilla and Kong are the last known active titans on Earth‘s surface. One day, Godzilla suddenly attacks secret lab Apex Cybernetics. To avoid further disruption and protect mankind, Kong and his protectors undertake a dangerous journey to find the energy source of Hollow Earth. However, they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla. 　 The Box (Korea) Opened March 24 Drama Directed by Yang Jung

FilmApril 2, 2021

[Eye Interview] ‘All I did was get sick but suddenly I was turned into someone who had done a terrible thing’

On March 22, 2020, Soh Chang-rok was diagnosed with COVID-19. Henceforth, he would be known as “Seongbuk-gu #13” to the public. That Soh was a professor at Korea University and a human rights expert with years of experience at the UN did not mean anything. He was just the 13th confirmed case of COVID-19 in Seongbuk-gu. In the early days of the pandemic, authorities routinely posted information on confirmed patients, including their sex, age, the district where they lived as well as

PeopleApril 2, 2021

[From the scene] Three Korean Buddhist monks request special entry into Myanmar

The Ven. Jimong, chairperson of the Social and Labor Affairs Committee of the Jogye Order, the nation’s largest Buddhist sector, walked into the Myanmar Embassy to Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, late Thursday morning, holding a large envelope that says “Request for Assistance with Obtaining a Special Entry Permit to Myanmar.” The committee explained that the envelope contained documents requesting the Myanmar Embassy in Korea issue special entry permits for three Korean monks -- th

CultureApril 1, 2021

Will upcoming homegrown blockbusters bring audience back to cinemas?

Local movie theaters, which have been in the doldrums amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, are expected to get a fresh boost from several upcoming releases of homegrown blockbusters. The black-and-white historical drama "The Book of Fish" has spearheaded the potential spring run that would attract audience members who have been reluctant for nearly a year to come to theaters under strict social distancing. It garnered nearly 35,000 moviegoers on its opening day Wednesday, far outnumb

FilmApril 1, 2021

New CEOs take over at Korea Herald, Herald Corp.

The Korea Herald announced Wednesday the appointment of Choi Jin-young as The Korea Herald CEO and Jeon Chang-hyeop as the Herald Corp. CEO and publisher. Choi was a two-term mayor of Namwon, North Jeolla Province, and previously served as the president of Woolim Holdings. He is a graduate of Kyung Hee University. As The Korea Herald CEO, Choi is expected to focus on expanding digital content and strengthening The Korea Herald brand.  Herald Corp. also promoted Jeon Chang-hyeop, seni

PeopleMarch 31, 2021

National Folk Museum reopens exhibition with 20th-century items

  Some visitors may experience a wave of nostalgia after viewing old pop LP records, old-style record players and a nickel-silver “dosirak” container (lunchbox) at the National Folk Museum of Korea. The items are on display in Permanent Exhibition Hall 2, which reopened March 20 after extensive renovation. “Previously, the exhibition here focused on showcasing relics from the late Joseon era. The new exhibition not only showcases items from the Joseon era but also items

CultureMarch 31, 2021

S. Korean series 'Vincenzo' to remove controversial ad scene from overseas streaming services

Producers of the popular Korean TV series "Vincenzo" said Wednesday that they will remove the controversial scene featuring a Chinese product from overseas streaming services amid rising domestic anger over Chinese sponsorship. In the eighth episode of the dark comedy that aired on March 14 on tvN, an instant Chinese bibimbap brand was exposed while the lead characters Vincenzo (Song Joong-ki) and Cha-young (Jeon Yeo-bin) have a meal. Bibimbap is a popular Korean dish consisting of a

TelevisionMarch 31, 2021

[Photo News] HANBOK AT WORK

Employees of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism wear hanbok to work Wednesday. To promote wearing Korean traditional attire, the Culture Ministry has assigned the last Wednesday of each month as “A Good Day to Wear Hanbok.” (Culture Ministry) By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)

CultureMarch 31, 2021

Music returns to live clubs in Hongdae

Live clubs in the Hongdae area will now be able to hold performances under the current social distancing scheme, as details of the infectious disease prevention and control measures have been changed. “The Mapo-gu district office has decided general restaurants with stages and performance facilities in its jurisdiction can host performances while complying with the government’s infectious disease prevention and control measures for performing arts facilities,“ the Korea Live

PerformanceMarch 31, 2021

Ballerino Kim Ki-min’s performance in Seoul canceled

Ballerino Kim Ki-min will not perform at the staging of “La Bayadere” in Seoul in April, as the organizer said on Wednesday he was not granted an exemption from a mandatory two-week, self-quarantine in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim, the principal dancer of the prestigious Mariinsky Ballet in Russia, was to perform in the Korea National Ballet’s “La Bayadere“ scheduled for next month, along with Olga Smirnova, a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet. The K

PerformanceMarch 31, 2021

JTBC doubles down on denial of history distortion

Broadcaster JTBC on Tuesday hit back at criticisms of history distortion by releasing part of its plot for their upcoming drama “Snowdrop.” “Snowdrop,” a romance drama featuring actor Jung Hae-in and Blackpink’s Jisoo, is set to air in the second half of this year. Based on earlier released synopsis and character descriptions, some inferred that the plot revolved around a North Korean spy and the South Korean pro-democracy movement in the 1980s. Critics said th

TelevisionMarch 31, 2021

Gwangju Biennale to kick off after two delays due to pandemic

The Gwangju Biennale, one of Asia's biggest events of its kind, will kick off its 40-day run this week, overcoming two delays due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, organizers said Wednesday. Under the theme of "Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning," the 13th edition of the biennial festival will open on Thursday and run through May 9 in the southwestern city of Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the organizers. It will display 200 works of art by 60 artists from 40 countri

CultureMarch 31, 2021

Three Buddhist monks to request special entry into Myanmar

The Social and Labor Affairs Committee of the Jogye Order, the nation‘s largest Buddhist sect, on Tuesday announced that it will request the Myanmar Embassy in Korea to issue special entry permits for three Korean monks on Thursday. The permits will be for Ven. Jimong, the chairperson of the committee, along with Ven. Hyedo and Jongsu.　 “We see that it is a religious person’s duty to go to the scene where people are suffering and are in sorrow,” an official of the comm

CultureMarch 30, 2021

Picasso’s ‘Massacre in Korea’ to be shown in Seoul for the first time

A number of masterpieces by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, including “Massacre in Korea,” will be shown in Seoul for the first time in May at an exhibition marking the 140th anniversary of the artist’s birth. The exhibition “Into the Myth,” running from May 1 to Aug. 29 at the Hangaram Arts Center Museum, will feature some 110 works that Picasso completed from the early 1900s to the 1960s, according to the Vichae Art Museum, the organizer of the exhibition. The e

Arts & DesignMarch 30, 2021

Bands turn to silver screen to perform in pandemic times

With music halls and auditoriums shut down or under strict limitations due to the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year, bands are turning to “performing” at local cinemas. Under the government’s social distancing scheme, audience numbers at concerts are limited to under 100. Though the rules were relaxed in late-February for musicals and classical music performances -- the number of people in the audience is not capped as long as the middle-seat vacancy rule is practiced -

PerformanceMarch 30, 2021

Remake rights to Mnet's 'I Can See Your Voice' sold to France, Belgium, Canada

"I Can See Your Voice," a music entertainment show from South Korean cable music network Mnet, has been newly sold to three countries, the company said Tuesday. Mnet said it has signed new remake export deals with broadcasters in France, Belgium and Canada, raising to 18 the total number of countries that purchased the format, including the United States and Britain. Since launching in 2015, "I Can See Your Voice" has been highly popular in Korea, continuing into its eight

TelevisionMarch 30, 2021

Picasso's 'Massacre in Korea' to be exhibited for first time in S. Korea

Pablo Picasso's painting depicting the 1950-53 Korean War will be displayed for the first time in South Korea, an exhibition agency said Monday. The "Massacre in Korea", one of a series of anti-war paintings by the legendary Spanish artist, will be exhibited at the Hangaram Arts Center Museum inside the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, from May 1 to August 29, according to the organizer, Vichae Art Museum. The painting depicts a group of naked women and children threatened at a

Arts & DesignMarch 29, 2021

[Herald Interview] Installation artist Lee Seul-gi gets playful with metaphors

Korean-born and Paris-based installation artist Lee Seul-gi enjoys using metaphors. She explores metaphors in ordinary objects and different languages through installation works and folkcraft often in collaboration with community artisans. Some of her well-known artworks are her Korean “nubi,” or quilt blanket series, that show diagrammatic designs that are whimsically translated into Korean proverbs. Lee, who recently won the Korea Artist Prize 2020, is currently showing “D

Arts & DesignMarch 29, 2021

[#WeFACE] Creating zero-waste clothes by design

The zero-waste movement has spread rapidly in the global fashion industry. The fashion industry is one of the leading polluters, generating around 10 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “I know zero-waste fashion is growing in brands like Nike and Zara, who have released products that reuse materials, but I’ve never bought them,” said Yoon Na-ra, who has been trying to live a zero-waste life for the

Arts & DesignMarch 29, 2021