Hangeul competition for foreigners marks King Sejong’s birthday

A hundred foreign nationals participated in a Hangeul contest to mark the 627th anniversary of the birth of King Sejong, the architect of the Korean writing system. At the National Folk Museum of Korea on Wednesday, contestants from over 46 countries who were selected from some 500 applicants wrestled with Hangeul sentences as they were tested in dictation. “We have long wanted to build on the expanding awareness of Hangeul with grassroots participation,” a Culture Ministry official

Arts & DesignMay 15, 2024

Artist Oh Chi-gyun invites people he misses to Oh Museum of Art

The newly opened Oh Museum of Art is located in an alley of small buildings in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul. The monochrome-colored, rough textured facade of the building, reminiscent of the artist’s paintings, may make it difficult for passersby to spot the museum. Artist Oh Chi-gyun, 68, renovated the four-story building used as the artist’s studio and office for the past 15 years to create the museum that holds the legacy of his 40 years of artistic practice. When he bought the buil

Arts & DesignMay 15, 2024

'The Roundup: Punishment' sets another record with 10m admissions

The crime-action film "The Roundup: Punishment" set another record by attracting more than 10 million viewers on Wednesday, after 22 days of screening, data showed. According to the data from the movie's distributor, ABO Entertainment, the fourth installment of the "The Roundup" crime-action film franchise topped more than 10 million. With Wednesday's record, three installments in the "The Roundup" series attracted more than 10 million viewers each. "

FilmMay 15, 2024

Historic sites to offer 5 fee-free days to mark renaming of cultural heritage agency

Entrance fees to 76 historic sites in South Korea, including the popular royal palaces and shrine in Seoul and tombs across the country connected to the Joseon era (1392-1910), will be waived from Wednesday to Sunday to mark the renaming of the Cultural Heritage Administration as the Korea Heritage Service, the agency managing heritage work. The name change, which will take effect Friday and is part of larger efforts to overhaul the agency, was passed by the National Assembly in April 2023. &ldq

CultureMay 14, 2024

‘When We Bloom Again’ depicts bereaved families’ strife, sorrow after Sewol tragedy

Over the past decade since the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, which claimed nearly 300 lives of high school students on a field trip, numerous documentaries on the tragedy have been made. In contrast, there have been just a few feature films, likely because this genre requires a careful and sensitive approach to dramatizing of the disaster. In “When We Bloom Again,” which has the Korean title “On the Day when Cotton Blooms,” (direct translation), the story is told from two di

FilmMay 14, 2024

Rain to meet fans in Korea, Japan

Singer Rain, also known as Jung Ji-hoon, is set to meet fans through performances in Korea and Japan. Rain will hold the solo concert "Still Raining" on June 8-9 at the Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul. The upcoming concert marks Rain's first solo performance in Korea since his "The Squall" concert in 2015. It is also an extension of the tour concert held in the United States last November under the same title. The title "Still Raining" signifies

PerformanceMay 14, 2024

Pianist Baik Kun-woo releases first-ever Mozart album

South Korean pianist Paik Kun-woo kicked off his Mozart trilogy project Tuesday with the release of “Mozart: Piano Works 1." The Deutsche Grammophon album marks the first Mozart album by the 78-year-old pianist, who has an extensive discography of more than 30 albums. "Mozart's works are inherently difficult. It feels like bringing pure, natural music just as it is. After much contemplation on how to interpret it, I discovered the 'as is' music that Mozart captu

CultureMay 14, 2024

[Latest Read] Bora Chung on finding utopia amid dystopian worlds

Few voices resonate as uniquely as that of Bora Chung, whose gripping stories like the haunting narratives of “Cursed Bunny” captivate readers worldwide. With her genre-defying short story collection, translated by Anton Hur, Chung became a finalist for the UK International Booker Prize in 2022 and the US National Book Award in 2023. Chung once again plunges readers into her blend of horror and absurdity, sprinkled with dark humor in her second short story collection “Your Utop

BooksMay 14, 2024

[Herald Review] 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' offers meticulously crafted scenes, layered characters

Upon its release in 2011, the classic Hollywood blockbuster IP Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy, backed by Oscar-nominated VFX techniques, captivated audiences worldwide with its shocking story of primates challenging humans as the dominant species on Earth. The series is back seven years later with a meticulously crafted fourth installment, which effectively prompts the question of what it means to be human -- and whether it will be possible for different species with high intelligence to co

FilmMay 14, 2024

[Media Art Now] HWI’s vocals possess ambient but absorptive power

HWI (Hwang Hwi) is an electronic musician and a member of the three-artist collective and audiovisual production, "eobchae." Her part in eobchae consists of making video and sound, as a co-producer of their speculative worldview. But before anything else, she is a vocalist, well-versed in combining the human sounds from her own singing with computer-generated digital effects. Her first single album, "ExtraPlex (2019)," includes works derived from hanging around shopping malls

Arts & DesignMay 14, 2024

[Herald Interview] Kimsooja expands Bottari philosophy with vast mirror installation

PARIS, France -- The building in the heart of Paris that once housed the Paris Chamber of Commerce and the Paris Stock Exchange was transformed into a contemporary art museum, the Pinault Collection, in 2021, with renovations by architect Tadao Ando. At the center of the building is a rotunda 29 meters across whose floor is covered a total of 418 mirrors. The mirrors are an installation entitled "To Breathe -- Constellation,” by South Korean artist Kim Soo-ja, who professionally goe

CultureMay 13, 2024

Herald CEO named chief of foreign language newspaper association

Choi Jin-young, the CEO and publisher of Herald Corp., was selected as the eighth president of Korea's Foreign Language Newspapers Association at its executive directors' meeting, the group said Monday. He will serve until 2025 as chair of the association, which consists of The Korea Herald, The Korea JoongAng Daily, The Korea Times and The Aju Daily. The Foreign Language Newspapers Association was established in 2015, with goals for joint research and collaboration among foreign-langu

PeopleMay 13, 2024

Kakao webtoon service exits from Europe

Kakao Piccoma, the overseas webtoon distributor of Kakao webtooons, said it would end its service in Europe, following an underwhelming performance in the French market. Kakao Piccoma currently distributes translated versions of Korean webtoons serialized on Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon as well as Japanese manga series,via its digital cartoon platforms in Japan and France. The company said it is scheduled to stop its services in France in September, two years after it commenced local services th

CultureMay 13, 2024

[Bridging Cultures] Czech Center director links ‘true culture’ to quality

In an era of instant messaging, appreciating longer forms of the arts, such as orchestral performances, has become challenging. That’s why quality matters more now than ever, because the way culture is presented determines how people explore their inner thoughts, according to Michal Emanovsky, the director of the Czech Center Seoul. “To be honest, money is a very important part of making decisions about projects,” Emanovsky said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. The

PeopleMay 13, 2024

Rising pansori stars bring 'Chunhyang' to 'Peerless Pansori'

The fourth installment of the National Changgeuk Company of Korea's "Peerless Pansori" series returns this weekend with emerging "pansori" performers Cho Yu-ah and Kim Soo-in. The shows, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Daloreum Theater, were sold out soon after tickets sales opened. The "Peerless Pansori" concert series was launched in 2021 to create opportunities for young and emerging pansori singers to explore the music and mise-en-scenes with conte

PerformanceMay 13, 2024

[New on the scene] Director Kim Se-hwi captures dark side of social media in thriller

While people’s obsession and dependence on social media services have only grown stronger in recent years, social media use can be a double-edged sword. It can be a tool used to gain important information and spread useful tips, or it can be a means to stalk people or even plot a crime. In director Kim Se-hwi’s debut film, “Following,” a real estate agent named Gu Jeong-tae (Byun Yo-han) has a strange if not perverse habit of peeping into other people’s lives. Wheth

FilmMay 13, 2024

[Herald Interview] Sculptor inspired by childhood friend nature

Wood sculptures that reveal both the soft inner bark and the rough outer bark appear to be stacked or clumped together – some may remind you of towers of stones carefully placed on top of each other, found along mountain trails and near mountainside Buddhist temples. The sculptures appear to breathe, their forms like blood vessels. The sculptures were part of artist Kim Yun-shin's solo exhibition at Kukje Gallery, which ran through April 28. "I do not know what kind of art is tre

Arts & DesignMay 12, 2024

Popular online game soundtracks rearranged as traditional music

The soundtracks of popular online games such as Black Desert and Lineage have been rearranged as traditional Korean music. The National Gugak Center is unveiling a series of single albums titled "National Gugak Center x Game Sound Series," which rearranges 13 popular game melodies into traditional Korean music, starting from last Thursday to May 24. Among the tracks are theme songs and background music from Lies of P, Skul, Sanabi, MapleStory, TalesWeaver, Epic Seven, Lost Ark, Guardia

PerformanceMay 12, 2024

‘Monk’ DJ spreading Buddhism goes global

A South Korean DJ-comedian in a Buddhist monk’s robe is making strides in Korea and abroad with the backing of Korea’s largest Buddhist sect that has employed him as part of its outreach to wider audiences. Youn Sung-ho, the DJ known as the Ven. New Jean, will close the three-day Lotus Lantern Festival on Sunday, with an electronic dance music performance echoing Buddhist verses. The show is set in front of Jogyesa, the main temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Sunday’

CultureMay 12, 2024

[New in Korean] Bee expert solves mysterious murder in 1930s Korea

"The Yellow Lady" By Lee Alam Safehouse Inc. In the gloomy and turbulent period of the 1930s, Han Kyung-ae, also known as the "Yellow Lady," returns to Gyeongseong, the name for present-day Seoul during the Japanese colonial period. Benefiting from her affluent pro-Japanese family background, she traveled the globe and studied entomology in the US following her education at a Japanese medical school. In the US, she was regarded simply as "the Asian woman," and upon

BooksMay 12, 2024