Players angry with updates boycott major gaming companies

NCSoft’s Lineage 2M and Nexon’s Fifa Online 4 have come under fire for updates that undermine the efforts of the players and require them to spend more money. Players criticized NCSoft when a new package item update for Lineage 2M was released on April 22. While Lineage 2M is a MMORPG mobile game that is known for multiple in-app purchase contents, updates are generally welcomed by players as they mean new content. But this time many of the items required purchases. Lineage

CultureApril 29, 2020

Arts group breaks down wall between exhibition, performance

When watching a play, you may sometimes feel like the actors are actually “acting” rather than being real people. How about when the actors actually live as a character 24/7, communicating with the audience? Yulhyul Arts Group, a 20-year-old arts group in Seoul, has come up with an extraordinary two-year project that consists of different performances under the theme of “city and desire.” Their goal is to have the plays naturally permeate into real life. Five actors fr

Arts & DesignApril 29, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Beyond the Mountain’ looks at childhood of late Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan

Of all the remarkable moments in the life of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korea’s first Roman Catholic cardinal, the film “Beyond the Mountain” focuses on his childhood, as it is perhaps the most essential part of Kim’s life, according to director Choi Jong-tae. “It’s not a religious film. Cardinal Kim has always said he was ‘an ordinary person,’ and this is essentially where his greatness comes from,” Choi told The Korea Herald dur

FilmApril 28, 2020

New annual classical music fest to add to the calendar

A new classical music festival is coming to town, in the usually slow summer season. The Lotte Foundation for Arts is to host classical music festival Classic Revolution 2020 Beethoven in August.  On Monday, the Lotte Foundation announced plans to host an annual classical music festival, Classic Revolution, featuring diverse offerings from recitals and chamber music to concertos and symphonies. The festival will highlight a single composer each year, with the inaugural year dedicated t

PerformanceApril 28, 2020

PIPFF nominates eight films for international competition

The 2nd Pyeongchang International Peace Film Festival announced on Monday eight films nominated for its International Feature Competition. “A Distance Place” by Park Kun-young from Korea, “Dust and Ashes” by Park Hee-won from Korea, “Identifying Features” by Fernanda Valadez from Mexico, “Nafi’s Father” by Mamadou Dia from Senegal, “Negative Numbers” by Uta Beria from Georgia, “Tony Driver” by Ascanio Petrini from It

FilmApril 28, 2020

[Herald Interview] How Savina Museum of Contemporary Art had a headstart in adapting to coronavirus world

When the coronavirus hit the country earlier this year, art institutions found themselves suddenly having to cater to audiences who were isolating at home and craving cultural experience. The pandemic was a completely unexpected situation, with many galleries not prepared for weeks and even months of forced closure. As museums and galleries scrambled to go online to meet the demands of the new reality, Savina Museum of Contemporary Art in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul, stayed calm, carrying o

Arts & DesignApril 28, 2020

[Herald Review] ‘City of Han’ tests Seoul’s literary potential

While other metropolises around the world and similar cities in East Asia have staked out their places in the international literary scene, Seoul has left its potential largely untapped. So contends Sollee Bae, who organizes the “Fiction Writers in Seoul” workshop. With a small collection of short fiction spanning just over 100 pages, Bae seeks to explore Seoul’s potential from an expat’s perspective in “A City of Han.”  The anthology begins strongly w

BooksApril 27, 2020

[Herald Interview] Director challenges himself with action thriller ‘Time to Hunt’

After a two-month delay brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of a global release deal and subsequent legal wrangling, director Yoon Sung-hyun’s second feature, “Time to Hunt,” was finally released on Netflix on Thursday. “Although it is sad that I’m presenting my second piece in nine years’ time and I wish I could have returned earlier, I’m just happy that I can finally meet the audience,” Yoon said at an online press conference

FilmApril 27, 2020

Dansaekhwa master Yun Hyong-keun’s late works unveiled in Seoul

The late works of Yun Hyong-keun (1928-2007), the master of monochrome painting, or Dansaekhwa, from the late 1980s to 1990s, have been unveiled to the public at PKM Gallery in Seoul. The exhibition is the first that focuses exclusively on the master’s works from his later years. Titled “Yun Hyong-keun 1989-1999,” the exhibition features 24 paintings from the period. Yun’s works garnered the international spotlight through a retrospective held at Palazzo Fortuny in Ven

Arts & DesignApril 27, 2020

Enjoy Jarasum ‘online’ jazz festival at home

An online version of the country’s biggest jazz festival will be livestreamed May 8-11, as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic keeps jazz fans at home. Dubbed the Jarasum Online Alright Jazz Festival, the organizers of Jarasum International Jazz Festival said that it will be the first local music festival to be streamed online. The event aims to offer performance opportunities to local jazz musicians who have been struggling with the virus crisis, and also to encourage the stagnant performan

PerformanceApril 27, 2020

Number of Catholics edges up 0.8% in S. Korea in 2019

The number of Catholics in South Korea rose slightly last year as the religion has experienced a slowdown in its growth in recent years, data showed Monday. According to the data by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, 5.91 million South Koreans were registered with 16 dioceses in the country as of end 2019, up 0.8 percent, or 48,000, from a year earlier. The on-year growth has been hovering around 1 percent for the past decade and dropped to a 0.9 percent gain in 2018. Only in 2014, wh

CultureApril 27, 2020

UNESCO-listed Byeongsan Seowon spared from Andong fire

Byeongsan Seowon, a UNESCO-listed Confucian academy from the Joseon era (1392-1910), was spared from a wildfire in a mountainous area of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, which raged on for some 40 hours before being put out Sunday. Although the seowon is safe, some of the trees near it were burned. The Cultural Heritage Administration said it would assess the damage and work with the Andong City government to restore the forest. The fire, which broke out Friday afternoon and was put out Sun

CultureApril 26, 2020

Major multiplex operators to reopen cinemas

Cinemas that were closed due to the spread of COVID-19 will resume operations this week, with CGV announcing Friday that it is to reopen 36 cinemas. “We decided to resume business and revitalize the movie industry and local market in order to overcome the difficult times caused by COVID-19,” said CGV. The 36 cinemas set to reopen Wednesday include the Myeongdong and Daehangno branches in Seoul as well as eight cinemas in Daegu and the Gyeongsang provinces. Additional CGV cinemas

FilmApril 26, 2020

Over 1 million viewers watch T1 win LCK Finals

T1 continued its dominance over League of Legends Champions Korea with a 3-0 sweep against GenG in the 2020 LCK Spring Finals on Saturday, making them LCK champions for the third consecutive season. A total of 1,074,561 people, not including viewers from Chinese platforms, watched the finals online according to Esports Charts, setting a record for the highest number of viewers for this split. Compared to around 770,000 viewers for both summer and spring season finals last year, there was a not

CultureApril 26, 2020

S. Koreans cautiously join religious events amid eased social distancing

People in South Korea gathered at some churches and temples for religious services on the first Sunday since the government eased rules on social distancing amid signs coronavirus infections are on the decline. They, however, joined religious events in limited numbers without letting their guard down against the COVID-19 pandemic, while taking precautionary measures, such as wearing masks and keeping their distance from others inside buildings. About 1,200 people attended a service at the ma

CultureApril 26, 2020

Rise of comfort clothing in the time of virus

The coronavirus pandemic has created a “new normal” in many aspects of our lives, as more people are staying in, spending more time at home than ever before, working from home and taking classes online. Part of the new normal is the fashion trend of comfort clothing. More consumers are responding to the new lifestyle by staying in their pajamas. While some companies require their employees to dress up in business attire during online conferences or meetings, there are also those

Arts & DesignApril 26, 2020

Masks go premium, becoming fashion statements

Wearing masks has become the norm now for facial protection against the novel coronavirus. Though masks are worn for safety, fashion designers are putting their own spin on the item, turning them into fashion statements.  While campaigns are taking place online to support the global fight against the virus, fashion designers here have decided to become part of the movement, with the Strong Together challenge.   The challenge involves decorating face masks with printed patterns or enco

Arts & DesignApril 26, 2020

[Eye Plus] N Seoul Tower, a landmark

The N Seoul Tower, with its pointy ramrod body and a donut shaped 360-degree observation deck in midriff, is an iconic piece of architecture visible from anywhere in central Seoul, given the view is not obstructed by a skyscraper. The N in the tower’s name is short for Namsan, the mountain on top of which the tower stands.  Combined with the height of the mountain, the tower is some 480 meters above sea level, and has been a prime vantage point for a sweeping view of Seoul for th

TravelApril 25, 2020

More revenge coming in second part of ‘The World of the Married’

While a divorce usually signals the end of a relationship between a married couple, in the case of Ji Sun-woo and her cheating husband Lee Tae-oh in JTBC’s drama “The World of the Married,” it is only the beginning to the real revenge. Halfway through the 16-episode set, JTBC’s sensational drama “The World of the Married” is gaining more popularity with each episode as the relationship between the divorced couple intensifies. The series marked its highest vi

TelevisionApril 24, 2020

Former K-pop star Park Yoo-chun in hot water, again

Only a day after being cleared of punishment for unpaid damages by a local court, singer-turned-actor Park Yoo-chun is in hot water again, this time for his untimely meeting with a local governor. Park on Thursday issued an official explanation about his private appointment with Mayor Ahn Byung-yong of Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province, earlier that day, stating the meeting was a courtesy call. “Today’s meeting with the mayor was arranged thanks to the connection between the mayo

TelevisionApril 24, 2020