Kim Ki-min becomes first Korean ballerino to win top award

Kim Ki-min has become the first Korean ballerino to win the world’s most prestigious ballet award, organizers said Wednesday.　The organizing committee of Benois de la Danse 2016 declared him the best dancer on Tuesday, local time, for his role as Solor in the Paris Opera Ballet’s “La Bayadere de Rudolf Noureev” staged in late 2015. Ballerino Kim Ki-min (Mariinsky Theater)　The 24-year-old is currently the principal dancer with Russia’s Mariinsky Ballet.　Previously, two other Korean ballerinos --

PerformanceMay 18, 2016

Eight cities added to Big Bang’s China tour

Korean boy band Big Bang will restart its tour of China next month followings its concerts there that drew tens of thousands of people earlier this year, the group’s agency said Wednesday.　In March, Big Bang met about 182,000 fans in “The 2016 BigBang MADE [V.I.P.] Tour” of eight Chinese cities. After China, the band started on a tour of four Japanese cities, which runs from April 22 to May 29.　The boys will resume the China tour in June in view of the enthusiastic support of their Chinese fans,

PerformanceMay 18, 2016

Violinist Itzhak Perlman cancels performance over LGBT law

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- World-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman said he canceled his Wednesday performance with the North Carolina Symphony after he was told he would not be able to include a personal statement opposing the state’s new law limiting antidiscrimination policies for LGBT people in the event program.　In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Perlman said he will not perform in North Carolina until the law is reversed.　“If I’m invited, I will come once the law’s r

PerformanceMay 18, 2016

EXID to release new album on June 1

K-pop girl group EXID is making a comeback with its first full-length studio album on June 1, the group’s agency Banana Culture announced Wednesday.　“EXID has completed shooting promotional pictures and filming the music video,” local media reported Wednesday, quoting an agency insider.　The lead song of the upcoming album will present a completely different concept from the group’s past hit songs “Up & Down” and “Hot Pink,” added the source. K-pop girl group EXID (Official Facebook)　The five-mem

PerformanceMay 18, 2016

Actress Park Si-yeon files for divorce

Actress Park Si-yeon, 37,  and her husband surnamed Park are in the process of filing for divorce after five years of marriage, the actress’ agency MYSTIC Entertainment announced Tuesday.　“Despite Park’s efforts for an amicable agreement with her husband, Park is filing a divorce suit,” said the agency, asking the media to refrain from speculations. 　Park married her husband in November 2011, and the couple has two daughters. Actress Park Si-yeon (Yonhap)　Park, the third-place winner of the Miss

TelevisionMay 18, 2016

J.K. Rowling honored by PEN for literary and humanitarian work

NEW YORK (AP) -- J.K. Rowling's passion for free expression is so strong it extends to someone she’d otherwise not care to discuss: Donald Trump.　Speaking Monday night before hundreds gathered for PEN America's annual gala at the American Museum of Natural History, the “Harry Potter” creator noted that she opposed a recent petition calling for banning the presumptive Republican presidential nominee from entering the United Kingdom, saying such actions endanger everyone’s rights.　“I find almost e

BooksMay 18, 2016

Chilean-American writer Allende seeks inspiration after loss

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Isabel Allende begins writing all her books on Jan. 8. But when the day arrived this year, she struggled with writer's block. 　The practice began out of superstition. She started writing her first book, “The House of the Spirits,” on this date and it became an international best-seller. She then kept it as a discipline. But it was a strange year (she doesn’t want to call it a bad one). A year away from writing after great losses: her publicist, two friends, even h

BooksMay 18, 2016

Julian Barnes portrays troubled composer Shostakovich

“The Noise of Time: A Novel” 　By Julian Barnes　Knopf (224 pages, $25.95)　In Julian Barnes’ novel “The Noise of Time,” Dmitri Shostakovich considers the two types of composers in the Soviet Union: dead ones and frightened ones.　Call Shostakovich one of the frightened ones. His music is played around the world, but he also stands by the elevator in his fifth-floor apartment many nights, a valise packed with his favorite cigarettes, in case he is arrested by the NKVD for such nonsensical ideologica

BooksMay 18, 2016

Desperation, sublimation and loss seasoned with irony, humor

“LaRose” 　By Louise Erdrich　Harper (384 pages, $27.99)　Romeo Puyat, antihero and scourge of Louise Erdrich’s new novel “LaRose,” is a cursed man. Addicted to prescription drugs and anything else he can get his hands on, he lives in the shadows. Decades of ridicule and abuse run through his veins and fuel the rage that drives this story to its stunning end.　But once the scores have played out, Romeo stumbles into a moment of brief eloquence, a notable concession and measure of the affection that

BooksMay 18, 2016

Yoon Mi-rae, Tiger JK, and Bizzy named ambassadors for Social Welfare Society

The Social Welfare Society appointed rapper Tiger JK, singer and rapper Yoon Mi-rae and rapper Bizzy as its honorary ambassadors on Tuesday.　The married couple Tiger JK and Yoon, who have supported SWS for several years, will help raise awareness of the welfare society with Bizzy.  From left, rapper Bizzy, Social Welfare Society president Rhie Yong-heung, singer and rapper Yoon Mi-rae and rapper Tiger JK pose at the ceremony which saw the appointment of the project group MFBTY as honorary ambass

PeopleMay 18, 2016

‘Another Oh Hae-young’ sets new records

“Another Oh Hae-young,” tvN’s 16-episode TV drama series, keeps outdoing its previous viewership ratings. 　The show is a romantic comedy about Oh Hae-young (Seo Hyun-jin), who is stressed out by a seemingly ideal type of woman with the same name (Jeon Hye-bin) from the same high school who becomes a team leader at the same company. Seo Hyun-jin (left) and Mun Jung-hyuk star in tvN drama series “Another Oh Hae-young.” (CJ E&M)　The drama series began with a meager 2 percent viewership rating when

TelevisionMay 17, 2016

[Herald Interview] Uncovering Korea's overlooked modern history

Park Chan-kyong thinks it’s a shame that most Koreans are forgetting crucial parts of their modern history -- the Korean War and the subsequent division -- and live as if such historical facts don’t impact their lives. 　“I went to college in 1984. It was a time when students were more often seen in democracy protests on the streets than in classrooms. Political issues made up 80-90 percent of our generation’s life. From our younger days, we had been exposed to the nationwide anticommunist propag

PerformanceMay 17, 2016

Korean piano prodigies take top 3 spots in Prague music contest

Korean classical music artists continue to dominate elite international music competitions, with three budding Kumho Art Hall pianists snagging the top three spots at this year’s 68th annual Prague Spring International Music Competition held in the Czech Republic capital last week. 　Local piano prodigy Park Jin-hyung, 20, took home the crown in the competition's piano category Saturday, while his fellow Kumho artists Kim Jun-ho and Han Kyu-ho won the second and third place prizes, respectively.

PerformanceMay 17, 2016

Han Kang wins Booker award

Korean author Han Kang became the first Korean to win the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for her novel “The Vegetarian” on Monday. British translator Deborah Smith, who translated the novel from Korean to English, was jointly awarded the prize. 　“I wanted to depict a woman who refuses to exercise violence,” Han, 45, said in her acceptance speech at the award ceremony held at London‘s Victoria and Albert Museum on Monday night. 2016 Man Booker International prize for fiction winner Ha

BooksMay 17, 2016

More men add bold, colorful accessories to wardrobes

BALTIMORE -- Ethan Giffin doesn’t let working in a business setting prevent him from showing off his sense of style.　Giffin, CEO of the Little Italy-based Groove: Creative Marketing, Design & Development, is known for his extensive collection of accessories -- hundreds of patterned pocket squares, lapel flowers, designer cuff links, colorful socks and dress shoes.　“Many of my friends’ wives and girlfriends say 'I wish you can dress more like Ethan',” Giffin, 44, said. “It’s definitely something

Arts & DesignMay 17, 2016