Palace museum to host international meeting on heritage restoration

An international conference on the restoration of damaged cultural heritage will take place next week at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul. The conference entitled “Damaged Cultural Heritage of the World: Its Restoration and Future,” hosted by the state-run museum, will bring together government officials and experts on heritage from Korea, Japan and France. The Wednesday gathering will draw on the three countries’ shared experience in restoring and using cultural he

CultureJuly 4, 2024

Doctor fasts instead of joining medical strike

With medical professors at major hospitals joining the nationwide walkout of medical staff, a doctor at a Seoul-based hospital has chosen to continue practicing while showing his support by going on hunger strike. Professor Ko Beom-seok, a breast disease surgeon at Asan University, said he has been taking nothing but water, salt and coffee since June 23. Ko said could not take part in the ongoing walkout because he felt he could not leave his patients. ut also could not turn away from his coll

PeopleJuly 4, 2024

Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman say friendship transferred onto screen in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

Poised to be one of the most talked-about movies this summer, Marvel Studios’ first R-rated superhero flick “Deadpool & Wolverine” is expected to show off Ryan Reynolds' and Hugh Jackman’s long friendship on the big screen. The two, as well as director Shawn Levy who helmed the movie, are known as Hollywood best friends. Levy has also previously worked with each -- Ryan Reynolds in “Free Guy” (2021) and Hugh Jackman in “Real Steel” (2011).

FilmJuly 4, 2024

K-pop sensation NewJeans named South Korea's tourism ambassadors

The Korea Tourism Organization will officially appoint K-pop girl group NewJeans as honorary tourism ambassadors for 2024 in a ceremony next week, a KTO official confirmed Thursday. The announcement follows earlier local media reports that the five-member group had been chosen by the state tourism body to promote South Korean culture and attractions around the world. NewJeans joins a cadre of previous high-profile ambassadors, including Premier League soccer star Son Heung-min and K-pop groups E

PeopleJuly 4, 2024

[Herald Interview] Murder by design: 'The Consultant' examines dark side of corporate restructuring

The man is very good at his “job” -- crafting simple, elegant and effective solutions for “restructuring.” Not so obvious or messy, certainly nothing anyone would ever suspect as murder. The natural deaths he plans have always gone well: a medicine swapped here, a mechanism jammed there. But when his next assignment turns out to be someone he not only knows but cares about, he begins to question the role he plays in the vast, anonymous Company. This is the gripping plot o

BooksJuly 3, 2024

Dutch state museum shows Korean Buddha statue for first time

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is showing an 18th-century Korean Buddha statue, its first showing of a Buddha statue from Korea. Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, on loan from the National Museum of Korea, will be displayed at the Asian Pavilion of the Rijksmuseum for two years, through May 2026. Korea’s state-run museum arranged the loan as part of efforts to help museums around the world establish a more diverse collection of Korean artifacts, the museum said Wednesday. Avalokiteshvara Bodhisat

Arts & DesignJuly 3, 2024

[Herald Interview] As pianist and now actor, Yoo Sun Hee bridges cultures

Acclaimed Italian director Nanni Moretti’s latest film, “A Brighter Tomorrow,” which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, features a Korean-Italian interpreter. The character is not just an interpreter of languages, but also a link across cultures, introducing for instance how to drink soju. Though it’s a small role, for pianist Yoo Sun Hee, who is expanding her artistic horizons by venturing into acting with this role, it signifies what she

CultureJuly 3, 2024

Asia’s largest genre film fest, 28th BIFAN, starts Thursday

The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), Asia's largest genre film festival, will kick off its 28th edition Thursday, screening 225 short and feature films from around the world during its 11-day run. Opening the festival on Thursday is “Love Lies Bleeding,” a queer noir starring Kristine Steward and Katy O’Brien. Hong Kong action thriller “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” by Soi Cheang will close the festival. Both the opening and closing

FilmJuly 3, 2024

Travel reality show starring Jimin, Jungkook of BTS to stream on Disney+

A new Disney+ original series featuring Jimin and Jungkook of BTS on a trip will begin streaming in August, filling the void for fans as they wait for the bandmates to fulfill their mandatory military service. The eight-part series titled "Are You Sure?!" will feature the travel logs of the duo from the megahit boy band as they journeyed in the United States, Jeju Island and Japan's Sapporo in 2023. According to Disney+, the series will feature the duo's spontaneous journey a

TelevisionJuly 3, 2024

Paris Opera Ballet Gala comes to Seoul with etoile Park Sae-eun

Ballerina Park Sae-eun, the first Asian dancer to obtain the prestigious title of etoile, or principal dancer, at the Paris Opera Ballet, will head to Korea with her colleagues to perform the "Paris Opera Ballet Etoile Gala 2024” from July 20 to 24 at the Seoul Arts Center's Opera Theater in Seoul. The lineup includes six etoiles -- Park, Leonore Baulac, Valentine Colasante, Hannah O'Neil, Paul Marque and Guillaume Diop -- alongside four other members of the Paris Opera Ball

PerformanceJuly 2, 2024

Award-winning radio drama by Korean writer streaming on BBC World Service

Award-winning radio drama "Steady Eyes" by South Korean writer Kwon Hyuk-in, who also goes by her English name, Michaela Kwon, is available for streaming on the BBC World Service. The winning piece of the 28th International Radio Playwriting Competition, hosted biennially by BBC World Service and the British Council, premiered on June 16. The competition was held last October in two categories: English as a First Language and English as a Second Language. This is the first time a Korea

CultureJuly 2, 2024

Herald Media Group charity golf tournament held to advocate Hangeul

Herald Media Group, the publisher of The Korea Herald and Herald Business, organized a charity golf tournament Monday in support of the upcoming Sejong Hangeul Olympiad. Sejong Hangeul Olympiad is part of the media group's ongoing efforts to enhance the global significance of Hangeul, the Korean writing system. Some 320 people, including executives, representatives of embassies in Korea, celebrities and professional golfers participated in the event at Riviera Country Club in Hwaseong, Gyeo

PeopleJuly 2, 2024

Star-studded cast couldn’t save ‘Wonderland'

Movies with an all-star cast are normally guaranteed hits, as fans flock to the theater to see their favorite actors. However, the talented cast of director Kim Tae-yong’s fantasy romance “Wonderland” couldn’t save it from its shortcomings. The film portrays people reuniting through AI in a simulated virtual world called Wonderland. South Korean heartthrobs Suzy and Park Bo-gum star as a couple, while Chinese actor Tang Wei boasts good chemistry with Gong Yoo. Jung Yu-mi

FilmJuly 2, 2024

Gagosian to show Derrick Adams at gallery's first Seoul exhibition

Gagosian, one of the largest international galleries today, will hold its debut exhibition in South Korea in September, presenting new works by multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams, whose work expands narratives of Black life and culture. The exhibition “Derrick Adams: The Strip” will kick off Sept. 3 at APMA Cabinet, a project space on the ground floor of the Amorepacific Headquarters in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul. The exhibition will coincide with the third edition of Frieze Seoul

Arts & DesignJuly 2, 2024

[Herald Interview] Star producer Jung Jong-yeon wants to create different genres, IPs

With a string of hit shows such as tvN's "The Genius" and "Great Escape" series, as well as Netflix's "Devil's Plan," producer Jung Jong-yeon is seen as having popularized reality shows centered on solving puzzles and intellectual challenges. Jung has now returned with a new Netflix original reality show, "Agents of Mystery," a six-part series where celebrities, including Karina of aespa, singer John Park, actor Kim Do-hoon, comedians Lee Eu

TelevisionJuly 1, 2024

Oxford hosts inaugural Korean literature festival with actor-writer Cha In-pyo

The University of Oxford's Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies hosted its first annual Korean Literature Night on Friday, featuring Cha In-pyo, an accomplished actor and novelist, as a special guest. Held at the Ioannou Centre for Classical & Byzantine Studies, the event opened with Cha presenting his 2009 novel "Once We Look at the Same Star," which addresses the issue of sex slavery in the Japanese military during World War II. Korean linguistics professor Jieun Kiae

BooksJuly 1, 2024

Literature is evidence of liberation, says Booker-winning novelist Jokha Alharthi

The very existence of literature is evidence of liberation and freedom, according to Booker-winning Omani novelist Jokha Alharthi. "Literature transcends nations and cultures. By reading literature, humans can broaden their horizons and expand their experiential knowledge. They can experience another world," said Alharthi, who won the Man Booker International Prize in 2019 for her novel "Sayyidat al-Qamar," published in English as "Celestial Bodies." Alharthi is the

BooksJuly 1, 2024

Michelle Zauner to chronicle her journey of learning Korean in next book

Bestselling author and Grammy-nominated singer Michelle Zauner fondly recalled her mother’s words that if she lived in Korea for a year she could be fluent in the language. The author of the 2021 memoir “Crying in H Mart” Zauner is now following her late mother’s advice, living the “life of a humble Korean student”: She is documenting her yearlong immersion in learning Korean for her upcoming book. Six months into the process, she’s currently studying at

BooksJuly 1, 2024

[Better Together] Lace up your running shoes and run Seoul together

GWACHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- An increasingly common evening sight at Seoul's Han River parks is groups of runners wearing glowing wrist bands. While some people choose to exercise alone, many Korean runners run together by joining “donghohoe,” a Korean term similar to club, whose members share similar interests and goals. Most of these running crews are area-based, gathering runners from nearby districts and running a fixed course. However, Seoul Ddimbak, a running crew formed

CultureJuly 1, 2024

Maestro Chung Myung-whun likely to lead KBS Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Chung Myung-whun might lead the KBS Symphony Orchestra as the next music director. Discussions with Chung are in the final stages, an orchestra official told The Korea Herald on Monday. It would be Chung's first time leading a Korean orchestra after nine years. Since stepping down from his positions as director of both the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015, Chung has not held a directorial role. Instead, he has been conducting vario

PerformanceJuly 1, 2024