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

April 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

April 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

April 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

April 26, 2020

Royal Tomb of King Sejong welcomes visitors 2 years after restoration

Royal Tomb of King Sejong will partially open in May to the public, two years after restoration, the Cultural Heritage Administration, in charge of the tomb management, said Friday. The tomb, located in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, was built for the Joseon era’s fourth King Sejong and Queen Soheon. Entrance to the historic site was temporarily shut down since November 2017 for restoration.  Although visitors are allowed to tour the royal tomb, other historic sites near the tomb, incl

April 24, 2020

Catholic churches in Seoul resume public Masses

Catholic churches in Seoul on Thursday held their first Masses in about two months as South Korea is preparing to go back to normal, months after the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Some 150 people participated in a Mass held at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul starting at 10 a.m. Wearing face masks, they sat at intervals of one or two meters. It was one of the first Catholic services held since the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul, the biggest in South Korea with 1.52 million followers,

April 23, 2020

T1 and GenG to play in LCK finals on Saturday

After a 3-1 victory against DragonX on Wednesday, T1 has punched its way to the LCK finals to play against GenG on Saturday, marking the two teams’ first clash in the domestic finals in seven years. While the playoffs were conducted online, the LCK 2020 Spring Finals best-of-five will see T1 and GenG battling for the prize money of 100 million won ($81,000) at LoL Park in Jongno, central Seoul, starting at 5 p.m. Saturday. The teams will be playing to an otherwise empty venue, with no au

April 23, 2020

Running crews in Hangang Park and COVID-19

Runners were present on the tracks along the Han River on Tuesday despite the strong wind and the coronavirus pandemic. Since spring arrived last week, hundreds of runners have filled Han River Park. Running crews at the park mostly consist of people in their late 20s to mid-30s who must apply to join, but some crews are open to anyone. Members gather two to three evenings a week to run together, but many running crews took a winter break -- one that was prolonged this year with the spread of

April 23, 2020

Korea signs WIPO Beijing Treaty to protect Hallyu artists’ rights

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that South Korea has become a signatory to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performance. Since the treaty deals with performers’ intellectual property rights, the ministry expects it to benefit celebrities leading the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, such as K-pop boy band BTS, show presenter Yoo Jae-suk and actress Jun Ji-hyun. The Beijing Treaty was adopted June 24, 2012, and will

April 22, 2020

Son Heung-min, other athletes provide indoor exercise videos

The English Premier League’s Son Heung-min and a number of national team athletes are working with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to provide exercises that people can do at home. The “Week of Sports,” which falls on the last week of April, will be marked online this year due to the spread of COVID-19. In honor of the Week of Sports, Son Heung-min shared simple exercises to do at home using a soccer ball that can be viewed online at the National fitness Award (nf

April 21, 2020

S. Korean religious community set to resume on-site services

The South Korean religious community is set to resume public meetings and services that have been on hold for nearly two months due to the novel coronavirus, after social distancing guidelines were eased. The government earlier said it will extend social distancing for two more weeks, but it has partially eased the rules, conditionally allowing churches, bars, gyms and cram schools to resume operations. The decision came as South Korea's new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases have remained under

April 21, 2020

Templestay programs resume, with strict limitations

The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism announced Monday that it has resumed some of its Templestay programs. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, an affiliate of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, currently operates Templestay programs at 139 temples around the country. All its programs were suspended Feb. 24 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In line with the government’s social distancing guidelines, only Templestay programs for individual participants have reopened. Group programs rema

April 20, 2020

National museums, libraries to remain closed despite drop in COVID-19 cases

South Korea's state-run art and history museums, libraries and national theaters will continue to remain closed despite a recent drop in new COVID-19 cases, the culture ministry said Monday. A day earlier, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announced the government will partly soften its social distancing guidelines, conditionally allowing churches, bars, gyms and cram schools to resume business. The decision came as South Korea's new daily confirmed coronavirus cases have remained under 20 for

April 20, 2020

KOCIS releases video on Korea’s experience battling COVID-19

The Korean Culture and Information Service on Friday posted “A Letter From Wonderland,” a video on South Korea’s response to COVID-19. “Foreign media are praising Korea’s success in battling the virus. To connect this image to the general image of Korea, we created this video, sharing our success stories and delivering a message to work together to move forward,” KOCIS official Park Byeong-gyu said in a statement. The clip can be watched on KOCIS’

April 17, 2020

Culture Ministry announces progress on financial aid for tourism sector hit by COVID-19 outbreak

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism provided an update Tuesday on the progress of efforts to assist the tourism industry as it struggles to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since February, the ministry has announced 21 different plans to assist the tourism industry. The government said it tried to reflect the industry’s needs when drawing up the support programs. The ministry said it had received 78 suggestions from the industry and that 59 were reflected in its programs. &ldqu

April 14, 2020

Jeju Island introduced to global audience via UNESCO media campaign

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Monday that it was taking part in UNESCO’s media campaign “#ShareOurHeritage.” The UNESCO campaign aims to promote world heritage to people who are unable to visit the sites due to the coronavirus pandemic. The international organization provides videos and information about world heritage sites around the world on its YouTube channel and on the website https://en.unesco.org/covid19/cultureresponse. “At this moment, 89

April 14, 2020

[From the scene] Virus spurs churches to find new ways to celebrate Easter

  As the highly contagious COVID-19 continues its firm grip on the country, Christian churches found creative ways to celebrate Easter, considered a time of renewal and rebirth by the faithful. While some Protestant megachurches held their Easter services online, others convened offline to mark the special day on the Christian calendar. Saemoonan Presbyterian Church in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the oldest Presbyterian church in the country, was one of those churches that held Easter services both

April 12, 2020

[Photo News] Easter service at parking lot

Members of a Christian church attend an Easter service at a parking lot in southern Seoul on Sunday.  The service in the parking lot is part of efforts to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.  (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

April 12, 2020

[Eye Plus] Jongmyo, the oldest royal Confucian shrine still preserved

Jongmyo is a special shrine for the deceased kings and queens of Joseon. It is the oldest extant royal Confucian shrine, according to UNESCO. In Confucianism, when a person dies, the soul is believed to be separated from the body, with the soul going up to heaven and the body returning to earth. The ancestors of modern-day Koreans thought it was important to have a place for the spirit of the deceased and a place for the body. Jongmyo, located in Jongno district, central Seoul, is adjacent

April 11, 2020

Amid COVID-19 scare, drive-thrus proliferate, from Korean short ribs to fresh seafood

While Korea’s drive-thru testing for the novel coronavirus grabbed the attention of countries across the world, the drive-thru model is recently being applied to other sectors of life here. Customers can now pick up diverse culinary dishes through drive-thru services, minimizing the chances of virus infection while still enjoying the delicacies. Drive for galbi and samgyetang Recently, a variety of Korean dishes, from galbi -- the short ribs widely enjoyed as Korean barbecue -- to samg

April 10, 2020