National Museum of Korea to reopen with largest exhibition of state-designated treasures

The National Museum of Korea is reopening on Wednesday with its largest-ever exhibition of national treasures. The Cultural Heritage Administration and the National Museum of Korea have jointly organized “The New National Treasures of Korea” running through Sept. 27, showcasing cultural artifacts that were designated as treasures and National Treasures from 2017 to 2019. Online streaming of the exhibition will kick off on Tuesday, as originally planned before Sunday’s announ

July 20, 2020

[Graphic News] Exports of cultural goods top $10b on games, character IP

　South Korea’s annual exports of cultural goods exceeded $10 billion won for the first time in 2019, led by gains in the games and character intellectual property sectors, a government report showed. 　The estimate of combined overseas exports of some 2,500 firms in 11 culture and entertainment sectors last year reached $10.4 billion, up 8.1 percent from 2018, according to the annual content industry statistics produced jointly by the Culture Ministry and its affiliated Korea Creative

July 20, 2020

State cultural institutions in Seoul metropolitan area to reopen

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Sunday that its affiliated institutions -- museums, art galleries, libraries and performance venues – can resume operations. The Culture Ministry’s announcement follows the government’s statement Sunday that the social distancing campaign for facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area would be relaxed. The shutdown of state-run cultural institutions began at 6 p.m. on May 29. The ministry’s 10 museums, art galleri

July 19, 2020

Government’s Hallyu department announces plans to support Hallyu expansion

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s new Hallyu department on Thursday announced detailed plans to support the Korean Wave in a press briefing in Seoul. Before the new department was launched in June, the ministry has only had task forces and committees conducting Hallyu-related projects. Three main strategies -- diversifying Hallyu content, fostering other industries through Hallyu content, and creating a sustainable environment for the growth of Hallyu -- were introduced by

July 16, 2020

[Video] Newly coined online terms fun for young Koreans, puzzle for others

As with other cultures and countries, Korea’s youth have their own vocabularies, slangs and some creative expressions reflecting a range of trends and ideas. Korean teenagers are producing a torrent of new slangs that defy easy interpretation by those in other age groups. The objects, ideas and definitions behind the newly coined words are not entirely new, but they are still a sign of the time in general and what is linguistically fashionable among the young generation. Cryptic acron

July 16, 2020

Busan Biennale to showcase mixture of literature, visual and audio art

Works of literature will merge with visual and recorded audio forms of art at this year's Busan Biennale, one of South Korea's largest art festivals, the organizers said Wednesday, with the biyearly event moving forward despite concerns of the spread of the new coronavirus. Under this year's banner theme "Words at an Exhibition -- An Exhibition in Ten Chapters and Five Poems," the biennale will kick off on Sept. 5 and run until Nov. 8 at several art venues in Busan, 450 kilometers so

July 15, 2020

2020 IYF World Camp ‘The World Connected’ to start online on July 26

The International Youth Fellowship will be holding its 2020 IYF World Camp online from July 26 to 29, with an aim to offer positive message and inspiration to college students who will lead the next generation. Along with the Good New Corps, which participates in volunteer service activities around the world, the World Camp is an annual project by IYF, hosted in Korea to promote cultural exchanges between teens and college students from around 50 countries, Through the World Camp, IYF hopes t

July 15, 2020

Boryeong Mud Festival goes online

The Boryeong Mud Festival will be held online this year starting from Friday, due to the continued spread of COVID-19. The annual celebration of mud along its sandy beach in South Chungcheong Province has become the most popular festival in Korea with foreign participants, with 380,000 of the 1.81 million participants last year being foreigners. Mud wrestling and the mud slide are highlights of the annual festival that also aims to promote the beneficial properties of Boryeong mud. For this y

July 15, 2020

Andong Mask Dance Festival canceled due to COVID-19

The Andong City government announced on Tuesday that it had decided to cancel the Andong Mask Dance Festival, which was set to start Sept. 25, due to the danger of COVID-19. According to the organizer of the 10-day festival, diverse performances were planned for Hahoe Village in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province. “We are sorry to announce the cancellation of the ‘Andong Mask Dance Festival.’ We will provide diverse events next year as a world-class festival organizer,&rdquo

July 14, 2020

Take VR tour of Korea’s first Western-style building at Deoksugung

The Cultural Heritage Administration’s Deoksugung Palace Management Office and South Korea’s top mobile carrier, SK Telecom, on Monday launched a virtual reality tour of Deoksugung’s Western-style Seokjojeon building. Viewers will be able to enjoy the VR tour through SK Telecom’s Jump VR app with a series of 360-degree VR videos that take visitors on a guided tour of Deoksugung. VR headsets are not required. “Due to COVID-19, Deoksugung has remained closed for

July 13, 2020

A step toward globalization: Accepting Korean spoken with a foreign accent

When K-pop girl band (G) I-dle member Shuhwa, who hails from Taiwan, appeared on JTBC’s “Knowing Bros” in January, she expressed hopes of appearing on a South Korean talk show someday. However, hosts Shindong and Jang Sung-kyu teasingly suggested that her Korean wasn’t good enough. After the show, many viewers said the comments were inappropriate and made them feel uncomfortable, leading Shuwha to defend the show’s hosts in an Instagram post. As more nonnative K

July 13, 2020

KSIF provides online courses on Korean culture

King Sejong Institute Foundation is offering 15 online courses on Korean culture for foreigners as untact (contactless) learning is gaining ground amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The institute will offer online courses on five themes for the first session starting Monday -- culinary, handicrafts, paintings, dwellings and traditional wedding -- in Korean, English, Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese via its website -- www.iksi.or.kr The second session of the online classes will kick off in October w

July 12, 2020

CHA offers look at animals living at palaces, royal tombs

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Friday announced it has released six photos and six videos of animals living at palaces and royal tombs in Korea. The CHA added there are also photos of the sites of palaces and royal tombs for people who would like to visit the sites but cannot do so due to the virus situation. The palaces and royal tombs have been shut down since May 29 due to the spread of the COVID-19. The organization highlighted that the video content includes raccoons playing

July 10, 2020

Petitioners urge to lift government's ban on church gatherings

Over 330,000 people have signed a petition asking to the government to cancel the health authority’s decision to ban small gatherings and meetings in churches on the government‘s online public petition platform as of Friday. The public petition was first posted on the website on Wednesday immediately after the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said Protestant churches will be barred from hosting small Bible classes, choir practices and lunch services from Frid

July 10, 2020

Culture Ministry to inject W156.9b to support artists amid COVID-19

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday it will inject 156.9 billion won ($131.28 million) to support artists who are suffering financially from the spread of COVID-19. The amount accounts for around 45 percent of the total 346.9 billion won third extra budget of the ministry. “Since the overall culture industry has been hit by the COVID-19, we have worked hard for this third extra budget,” Oh Yeong-woo, first vice minister of Culture Ministry, said during a pr

July 8, 2020

Herald Corp. opens video studio to drive up digital strategy

The Korea Herald is set to accelerate its digital drive with the opening of a brand new studio. The newspaper plans to maximize the use of a multipurpose studio to meet demand for multimedia content, including video and podcast productions. After a month of construction, Herald Corp. held an opening ceremony for its new studio at the company’s building, Herald Square, in Seoul’s central Yongsan district on Wednesday.  “With the completion of a studio that will lead the

July 8, 2020

National Assembly passes W346.9b third extra budget to support cultural industry amid COVID-19

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on Friday that the National Assembly passed a third extra budget of 346.9 billion won ($289.4 million) to support the cultural industry that has been suffering financially due to the spread of COVID-19. The ministry added that the amount increased by 7 billion won from 339.9 billion won, the initial budget plan it had submitted on June 3. The National Assembly has approved the Culture Ministry’s project plans for increasing jobs and

July 8, 2020

[Eye Plus] Daejanggeum Park, birthplace of K-drama

Daejanggeum Park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is one of the largest open sets in South Korea, where period dramas, movies and commercials are filmed.  It is a semipermanent set that has been modeled after the architectural styles and traditional Korean houses of the Three Kingdoms period, Goryeo kingdom and Joseon era.  Starting with the production of the drama “Shindon” in 2005, numerous dramas and movies, including “Daejanggeum,” “Jumong” and

July 4, 2020

Catholic archdiocese in Gwangju suspends on-site Masses

The Catholic archdiocese in the southwestern city of Gwangju has decided to put off public masses due to a recent resurgence in novel coronavirus infections in the region. "As part of concerted efforts to prevent further infections and join the government-led precautionary measures, the diocese will suspend Masses and gatherings in parishes and institutions within Gwangju until second-level social distancing ends," the Catholic Archdiocese of Gwangju said in a message posted online o

July 2, 2020

How do you promote Korean culture post-COVID-19?

The Korean Academic Society for Public Relations on Wednesday held a symposium to discuss promoting Korean culture in the post COVID-19 era. The event was sponsored by the Korean Culture and Information Service. “Next year is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of KOCIS. It is meaningful to have discussions like this at this time,” said Choi Yoon-hee, second vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. During the talk, Eulji University’s public rela

July 1, 2020