Believers in the power of music to heal

  It had been raining all morning, when violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill stepped into the lobby of Myongji Hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday for a special performance for the hospital’s staff and patients. The acclaimed violist began the concert with the familiar “Bach’s Air on the G String” from the program, which he designed to be meditative. It was an emotional performance for the musician, for whom this was the first live performance in front

PerformanceMay 22, 2020

Kansong Art Museum to auction treasures

The Kansong Art Museum -- a private museum in Seoul that has collected valuable artifacts since the Japanese colonial era -- has put two state-designated treasures up for auction. The Buddhist sculptures are the first items to be sold by the museum in its 82-year history. The trading of state-designated cultural treasures is also a rare occasion in the auction market. Founded in 1938 as the country’s first private museum, the Kansong Art Museum is a point of cultural pride in Korea.

CultureMay 21, 2020

May 31 declared ‘Korean Church Worship Restoration Day’

The United Christian Churches of Korea have proclaimed May 31 “Korean Church Worship Restoration Day,” and are aiming for 80 percent attendance at Sunday services throughout the country on that day. Two churches in Incheon, Palbock Church and Onlove Church, had a scare recently when a cluster of infections traced to Seoul’s Itaewon area affected two church members and led to around 780 people being tested for the virus. The churches followed social distancing guidelines and as

CultureMay 21, 2020

SPO cancels onstage concert amid COVID-19 fear

Though the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra had been looking into putting on an onstage full orchestral performance in front of the audience for its May 29 concert, the show was canceled late Wednesday afternoon following renewed concerns about the CVOID-19 spread. The Seoul City-funded orchestra had been looking into getting its 95 players tested for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 before rehearsals begin for the May 29 concert at the Seoul Arts Center, as it was considering to performing t

PerformanceMay 20, 2020

PIPFF to proceed offline next month amid COVID-19

The organizers of Pyeongchang International Peace Film Festival announced the details of this year‘s edition of the event slated for next month in an online press conference Tuesday. “We are proceeding with the festival in the hopes to heal what has been perished by COVID-19 and recover our peaceful everyday (existence),” festival director Pang Eun-jin said. The second edition of PIPFF, established in August 2019, will take place June 18-23 in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province,

FilmMay 20, 2020

Two S. Korean animated films invited to Annecy fest

Two South Korean animated films have been invited to a competition section of this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival, organizers said Wednesday. According to the 2020 lineup released by the France-based festival to be held online from June 15-30, "Beauty Water" and "The Shaman Sorceress" will compete in the Contrechamp competition category for feature films. A total of 10 animated films, including "On Gaku: Our Sound!" by Japanese director Kenji

FilmMay 20, 2020

Cultural artifacts brought to life with immersive digital technology

If you’ve ever wanted to experience life in Joseon society, the National Museum of Korea’s Immersive Digital Gallery, which opened Wednesday, gives you the chance. Visitors can join a Joseon king’s procession, become a researcher restoring cultural heritage and place their photos on a shelf painting from the Joseon dynasty. Immersive digital technology includes virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality that attempts to emulate a physical world through digital me

CultureMay 20, 2020

[Herald Interview] Rapper Cheetah makes film debut with ‘Jazzy Misfits’

Ten years after her debut as a rapper, Cheetah, whose real name is Kim Eun-young, is debuting as an actress with the film “Jazzy Misfits.” While acting was an unplanned event for her, as Kim put it, she is debuting big in the lead role, teaming up with veteran actress Cho Min-soo to portray a mother-daughter duo. In “Jazzy Misfits,” Kim plays Sun-deok, who also goes by the name Blue, a jazz singer who lives and works in Itaewon. She goes on a day trip with her mother -

FilmMay 20, 2020

Long-running TV programs disappear into history on new media trend

In recent years, many famous TV shows that had lasted around 20 years at public TV stations like KBS and MBC have disappeared into history amid changes in the media landscape. Over the past three years, the two broadcasters have ended or launched a complete facelift of around 10 long-running programs. MBC terminated its 23-year-old investigative journalism program "Sisa Magazine 2580" in August 2017 and the following year it stopped airing the hit reality show "Infinite Challe

TelevisionMay 20, 2020

[Newsmaker] Actress denies having partied in Itaewon amid outbreak

Actress Lee Min-jung on Wednesday denied allegations that she partied in Seoul's nightlife district of Itaewon after the area emerged as a hotbed for coronavirus cluster infections earlier this month. "Lee did not visit Itaewon. Instead she went to a friend's birthday party at a cafe in Cheongdam (in southern Seoul). All she did was take a picture while dropping off a gift," a representative at MSTeam Entertainment, Lee's management company, told Yonhap News Agency over the phone on

TelevisionMay 20, 2020

Jeonju film fest announces 8 films in international competition

Jeonju International Film Festival organizers announced that eight films will compete in the international competition category this year, during an online press conference streamed Monday on Naver’s V Live channel. All eight films are either first or second films by rising directors with unique visions and styles. The lineup of finalists include the first fictional feature-length title from Chinese director Gao Ming “Damp Season” and Uruguayan director Alex Piperno’s s

FilmMay 19, 2020

[Herald Interview] Transforming Korea’s traditional arts

Since the age of 5, percussion master Kim Duk-soo has dedicated his life to Korea’s traditional performing arts. Now, more than 60 years later, his dedication is as strong as ever. Kim, 67, is the founder of “samulnori,” a new school of traditional Korean music. Having its origins in the art of “pungmul,” an outdoor Korean traditional folk music genre, samulnori employs the jing (medium-sized gong), buk (barrel drum), kkwaenggwari (hand-held gong) and janggu (h

PerformanceMay 19, 2020

Hwang Jeong-eum, Yook Sung-jae offer mysterious counseling at ‘Mystic Pop-Up Bar’

South Korean rom-com queen Hwang Jeong-eum is returning to the small screen after two years -- this time as a mysterious, hot-tempered bar owner named Wol-joo in the upcoming JTBC drama “Mystic Pop-Up Bar.” Based on a popular Korean webtoon of the same title, the fantasy drama tells the story of Wol-joo and her employees, Han Kang-bae and Chief Gwi, who visit their customers in dreams to help them resolve their inner demons. Singer-actor Yook Sung-jae plays Kang-bae, and veteran ac

TelevisionMay 19, 2020

Korea Opera Festival to begin from June 4

The 11th Korea Opera Festival, which was postponed from May due to the spread of the new coronavirus, will begin on June 4. The festival, which will take place in three different theaters of the Seoul Arts Center, will have two separate parts this year to avoid too many people gathering. The first half of the performance will be held in June and the other half will take place from August to September. From June 4-14, the festival will be held at Seoul Arts Center’s Jayu Theater. From

CultureMay 19, 2020

Royal palaces resume events, group tours

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced Tuesday that it would start holding tours and events at the country’s royal palaces, which have been suspended since Feb. 27 due to the risk of spreading COVID-19. On Wednesday, the changing of the royal guard ceremony at Gyeongbokgung will be the first event to resume. Saenggwabang within Gyeongbokgung, where tourists can experience a traditional tea ceremony and enjoy dessert, will be open from May 27 to June 29. The popular night tours

CultureMay 19, 2020

S. Korean directors poised to advance to Hollywood

Two talented South Korean film directors are set to make their directorial debut in Hollywood, which is seemingly opening its doors to the colleagues of Oscar-winning Bong Joon-ho. Director Jang Joon-hwan will direct the English-language remake of his 2003 science-fiction cult movie "Save the Green Planet!," with a script written by Will Tracy, according to CJ ENM. CJ ENM, which is behind the family satire "Parasite" that won four Oscar trophies, including best picture, wi

FilmMay 19, 2020

LCK sees several changes during off-season

Changes in roster and coaching staff are happening daily before the June 17 kick-off of the 2020 League of Legends Champions Korea Summer Split. The most exciting of the announcements made in the off season by Riot Games so far has been the Mid-Season Cup, to be held for four days starting on May 28, where the top four teams from China and Korea will compete for prize money of $600,000. Going into the summer split, Team Dynamics will replace Griffin in the LCK, which will allow new faces to e

CultureMay 19, 2020

Football fiasco: FC Seoul accused of placing sex dolls in home stands

FC Seoul posted a formal apology on social media on Monday for putting mannequins, which many contend are sex dolls, in the stands for the team’s first home game of the season, which was held Sunday without spectators. “We apologize to all the fans for causing deep concern regarding the cheer-mannequins set up during the game on the 17th. Although the mannequins differed from previous ones in that the material is human-like, from the start we confirmed that these products were not

CultureMay 18, 2020

[Herald Interview] Writer says ‘Extracurricular’ digs into society’s wounds

Prostitution is not a common subject in South Korean television dramas, let alone dramas in which the main characters are teenagers. Jin Han-sae, creator of the sensational Netflix original series “Extracurricular,” says he felt a huge burden when writing the story, in which he says the protagonists are pushed into situations that are extreme beyond imagination. “I felt like I was setting a time bomb, as it might end up looking like glorifying wrong behaviors. I almost compu

TelevisionMay 18, 2020

Catalog of Korean collection in German museum includes rare craftwork from early 20th century

The Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, an affiliate of the Cultural Heritage Administration, on Monday announced that it had published a report on the Korean collection at the Mission Museum of St. Ottilien Archabbey in Germany. “We hope that this catalog will strengthen the groundwork for future research on the Korean collections of museums overseas and help to enhance the public’s knowledge of Korea’s cultural heritage located abroad,” the Overseas Korean

CultureMay 18, 2020