‘Soviet chic’ restaurant favored by KGB spies reopens in Moscow

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Moscow’s Aragvi restaurant, once the legendary haunt of KGB spies and cosmonauts, has reopened with its Soviet-era grandeur restored.　The high-end eatery on the main Tverskaya Street, which opened in 1938 at the height of Stalin’s purges, has relaunched under the same name after a $20 million restoration.　The restaurant opened on the initiative of Stalin’s notorious security chief Lavrenty Beria for the use of officials from his NKVD agency, the Soviet secret service later rename

FoodMay 17, 2016

Weather anchor's dress sparks social-media firestorm

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It's become so common for some female TV weather reporters to dress like they are on the way to a cocktail party that their dresses should have long ago ceased to raise any eyebrows among viewers. 　But there was eyebrow-raising aplenty across the Internet this week after KTLA-TV weather anchor Liberte Chan’s cohost handed her a dull-looking, gray sweater and she pulled it on over her black, sparkly, spaghetti-strap evening dress while delivering her report Saturday.  A screen

PeopleMay 17, 2016

SNSD's Tiffany to hold solo concert

Tiffany of Girls’ Generation will kick off her first solo concert as the sixth singer of S.M. Entertainment’s concert series “The Agit,” the singer’s agency announced Monday. 　“The Agit” -- inviting fans to the artists’ hideout -- began last October with a solo concert by SHINee’s Jonghyun. This was followed by solo concerts from Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation and Kyuhyun and Ryeowook of Super Junior. Another Super Junior member, Yesung, is scheduled to hold concerts from June 3-5 and 17-19. Promo

PerformanceMay 17, 2016

Interracial marriage drama prompts Oscar buzz at Cannes

CANNES, France (AFP) -- US filmmaker Jeff Nichols said Monday he hoped his rapturously received Cannes contender “Loving,” about an interracial couple’s landmark marriage-rights case, would help change the current vicious tone of America’s culture wars.　The movie, which prompted early Oscar buzz after a press preview, tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a Virginia couple who battled before the Supreme Court in 1967 for their right as a white man and an African-American woman to live t

FilmMay 17, 2016

‘The Handmaiden’ director defends sex scenes as necessary

CANNES, France (AP) -- Director Park Chan-wook is defending his use of elaborate lesbian sex scenes in his erotic thriller “The Handmaiden,” saying that avoiding them would be like “a war film without battle scenes.”　The film, adapted from the Welsh novel “Fingersmith,” is the tale of a young maid who is hired to seduce a rich heiress, only to fall in love with her. Together the two women plot their revenge on the men who tried to destroy them.  From left: Actress Kim Min-hee, film director Park

FilmMay 17, 2016

AOA returns with new album, tearfully apologizes

Girl group AOA returned Monday with a powerful summer tune and a tearful press conference.　As the press showcase for the group’s new album “Good Luck” began at a concert hall in eastern Seoul, a teary-eyed Ji-min apologized for a recent controversy. She and Seol-hyun were heavily criticized when they were unable to identify the picture of a famous Korean historical figure on a TV show last week.　“I’m sorry that a regrettable incident happened right before our comeback. I’m very sorry,” she said.

PerformanceMay 16, 2016

Daegu Int’l Musical Fest celebrates 10th anniversary next month

The annual Daegu International Musical Festival, the world’s first established international musical festival, is celebrating its 10th year with more than 20 productions from Korea and abroad. 　Hosted by the city of Daegu and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the annual event was first established in 2006 to promote the city of Daegu as a musical hub in Asia. 　This year’s festivities will be held from June 24 to July 11 and will feature 22 musicals from five countries: th

PerformanceMay 16, 2016

May university festivals list up (16~22)

(The Korea Herald)The month of May is a time for university festivals. While these festivals are mainly student-organized, with unique games and cultural performances of all sorts, there are also high-profile K-pop celebrity stages which help attract people other than university students to visit and add to the atmosphere. The celebrity line-ups often remain a secret until the day of the festival to rally up excitement among speculative visitors. The Korea Herald has compiled the dates of each u

Expat LivingMay 16, 2016

China's Cultural Revolution, now highly collectible

SHANGHAI (AFP) -- At the “East is Red” shop in Shanghai, every nook and cranny is packed with memorabilia of China’s Cultural Revolution, from small badges of Chairman Mao Zedong to gigantic posters of his iconic image.　Owner Guo Bing himself is a child of the Cultural Revolution, born in 1966, the year the chaotic and violent decade was launched on May 16. His parents named him with the Chinese character for “soldier,” a common practice at the time.　But now, Guo sees profits rather than Communi

CultureMay 16, 2016

K-pop stars and 'character education'

K-pop production companies are notorious for the rigorous training of their entertainers who undergo years of dance and vocal training before they enter the competitive market. 　When singers started appearing on TV dramas and films, acting classes also became essential. And when the K-pop wave went global, foreign language classes were added into the already harsh training regimes.　　Now, in an age when K-pop stars’ every word and action are prone to scrutiny worldwide, agencies have started to f

PerformanceMay 16, 2016

British director says ‘shocking’ US poverty drove Cannes entry

CANNES, France (AFP) -- British filmmaker Andrea Arnold said Sunday the “shocking” poverty she saw travelling across America drove her to make her Cannes contender, and appreciate the relatively intact state of her own country’s social safety net.　“American Honey” stars maverick Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf and a cast of amateurs playing disadvantaged youths who shuttle from town to town selling magazine subscriptions in a country that has long abandoned print media for digital.　Arnold, 55, a fo

FilmMay 16, 2016

Baek A-yeon to make comeback

Singer-songwriter Baek A-yeon is set to mark her return, a year after her last single “Shouldn’t Have,” the singer’s agency JYP Entertainment announced Monday.　Baek uploaded a teaser image accompanied with the words “2015. 05 Shouldn’t Have/ 2016. 05 So So/ BAEK A YEON” on her official Facebook page at midnight on Sunday, announcing her return in May. Teaser image of Baek A-yeon’s upcoming digital single “So So” (JYP Entertainment)　In the teaser image, Baek has her head resting on a desk in a ro

PerformanceMay 16, 2016

JYJ Junsu to release love song

K-pop boy band JYJ’s Junsu will release the new song “..Is You” at midnight on May 19, the singer’s agency C-JeS Entertainment announced Monday. 　The new song will be included in the singer’s fourth full-length studio album “Xignature,” scheduled for release at the end of May, added the agency.　The singer also unveiled the upcoming song’s lyrics on the group’s official Facebook on the same day.   A promotional image shows the lyrics to JYJ Junsu’s “..Is You.” (C-JeS Entertainment)　The song is a

PerformanceMay 16, 2016

'The Handmaiden' premieres at Cannes

Park Chan-wook’s latest film “The Handmaiden” premiered at the 69th Cannes Film Festival at the Grand Theatre Lumiere on Saturday evening. The film is in competition for the Palme d’Or prize.　 At a press conference following the film’s press preview on Saturday morning, Park discussed his fondness for the unfamiliar.　“Countries like England, France, Japan, the U.S. and South American nations are completely different from the world I live in, which is why I have always had a curiosity for foreign

FilmMay 15, 2016

[Herald Interview] How Greenpeace was born

According to documentary filmmaker Jerry Rothwell, the now global environmental organization Greenpeace originally started out with “a few hippies on a boat.” 　“It began with a small group of Canadian activists who set out on a fishing boat in 1971,” the British filmmaker told The Korea Herald in an interview last Tuesday in Seoul.  　The activists were trying to stop then American president Richard Nixon from conducting a nuclear test in Alaska. Though their attempts were seen as foolhardy, the

FilmMay 15, 2016

‘Descendants of the Sun’ star takes China

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- Song Joong-ki, the male lead of the megahit TV series “Descendants of the Sun,” has arrived in Beijing to kick off a tour through eight cities in China and other neighboring countries.　The Chinese media reported Saturday that Song landed in the Chinese capital a day earlier and held a press conference, where he reflected on the hit drama and discussed his future plans.　“I didn't think ‘Descendants of the Sun’ would become so popular,” Song was quoted as saying. Song Joong-ki

TelevisionMay 15, 2016

Platform Changdong 61 looks to be Seoul’s new ‘hot spot’ cultural hub

The newly opened Platform Changdong 61 complex -- Seoul’s newest comprehensive cultural hub in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu -- is paving the way for northern Seoul to become the capital’s newest up-and-coming “it” district.   　Located in a revamped parking lot, Platform Changdong 61, a three-story container complex next to Changdong Station, is Seoul’s newest “container” complex, mirroring Seoul’s Common Ground container mall in Gwangjin-gu.  The newly opened Platform Changdong 61 cultural arts and per

CultureMay 15, 2016