International Youth Fellowship to tour Korea

International Youth Fellowship to tour KoreaThe International Youth Fellowship will be holding a series of events to share the experiences of its over 400 overseas volunteers, the group said Tuesday. 　The 2017 GoodNews Corps Festival will kick off Thusday in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, and will travel to 12 other cities -- 10 in Korea and two in Japan -- before ending in Hiroshima, Japan on Feb. 28.Overseas volunteers perform a traditional dance at the Good News Corps Festival. (GoodNews Corps

Feb. 14, 2017

Playboy magazine brings back naked women

Naked women are back in Playboy magazine, ending a year-old ban on the nudity that made the magazine famous. This image released by Playboy shows Playmate Elizabeth Elam on the cover of the March-April 2017 issue of the magazine. (AP-Yonhap)Playboy celebrated the reversal on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag (hash)NakedIsNormal.The about-face came Monday with the release of Playboy‘s March-April issue. The 63-year-old magazine had banished naked women from its print edition because it felt t

Feb. 14, 2017

Image of Turkish assassin wins World Press Photo award

Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici won the 2017 World Press Photo competition Monday, with jurors and colleagues lauding his courage and composure in capturing his image of a gun-wielding off-duty Turkish policeman standing over the body of Russia’s ambassador, whom he had just fatally shot.  Associated Press photographer and 2017 World Press Photo Contest winner Burhan Ozbilici (right) is interviewed by Lars Boering, managing director of the World Press Photo Foundation in front of h

Feb. 14, 2017

[Eye Plus] Blacksmith forging new year into shape

While the global political sphere enters an era of change and uncertainty, one family has found solace in their decadeslong tradition as blacksmiths. Kang Young-ki, 64, and his son Dan-ho, 37 have been working to protect, preserve and advance their metal workshop Dongmeyong Blacksmith in Cheonho-dong, Seoul. Photos by Park Hyun-koo (The Korea Herald)The workshop’s history traces back to the 1930s, when the senior Kang’s father jumped into the business. The founder, who devoted his entire life to

Feb. 10, 2017

[Foreigners Who Loved Korea] Symbol of Korean-Sino Amity and Cooperation, Chu Fucheng

President Park Geun-hye, who participated in the G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China, had a Korean-Sino summit with president of China, Xi Jinping in September. The meeting of the two leaders provided an opportunity to gauge the state of relations between the two countries made awkward by Korea’s decision to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system. President Xi’s opening statements mentioned the Korean provisional government’s (hereafter KPG) exile in China and Kim Koo’s struggle

Feb. 9, 2017

Iran displays ancient Persian artifacts returned from the US

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran is displaying hundreds of ancient and Persian artifacts, some dating back as far as 3,500 years and all of them recently brought back home from museums and collections in Western countries. Mohammad Hassan Talebian, deputy head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran, told the Associated Press that all of the items on display were repatriated over the past two and a half years from England, Belgium, Italy and the United States. He credits t

Feb. 9, 2017

Korean webtoon readership growing, themes need diversifying: report

Korean webtoons -- online comic strips -- have in recent years become the basis of various successful drama series, including “Cheese in the Trap” (2016), “The Girl Who Sees Smells” (2015) and “Misaeng” (2014). Rich in themes and offering timely commentaries on Korea’s current societal issues such as job unavailability and lookism, webtoons are now read by over 10 million readers here out of the country’s 50 million population, according to a report released Friday by the Korea Creative Content

Feb. 5, 2017

Korea seeks UNESCO World Heritage designation for 7 mountain temples

Korea‘s Cultural Heritage Administration submitted an application Friday to list seven Buddhist mountain temples for a UNESCO World Heritage site, the state-run agency said Thursday.The seven temples, all located on mountains, are Beopjusa on Songnisan, Tongdosa on Yeongchuksan, Buseoksa on Bonghwangsan, Bongjeongsa on Cheondeungsan, Magoksa on Taehwasan, Seonamsa on Jogyesan and Daeheungsa on Duryunsan. Beopjusa Temple (Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism) Buseoksa Temple Magoksa TempleWhether the t

Feb. 2, 2017

S. Korean comic book awarded at French Angouleme comics festival

The South Korean comic book "Bad Friend" received an award at a global comics festival, Korea Manhwa Contents Agency (KOMACON) said Sunday.The book by a South Korean cartoonist, who goes by her pen name Ancco, was awarded the Prix Revelation at the 44th Angouleme International Comics Festival, becoming the first Korean comic book to be recognized by one of the most renowned comics awards events."I used to consider myself to be someone who led a weird, lonely life in Korea. But now I am here. Thi

Jan. 29, 2017

Culture Ministry apologizes for blacklist

South Korea’s Culture Ministry on Monday publicly apologized for keeping a list of cultural figures to be excluded from receiving state support. However, the ministry did not offer any explanation as to how the list was created, what kind of damage it inflicted, or how and if those involved would be punished.On the heels of former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun’s arrest Saturday for her alleged involvement in creating the list, the ministry held a press conference at the government complex in Sej

Jan. 23, 2017

‘The Accusation’ wins British translation award

A collection of anti-North Korean stories written inside the reclusive state has recently won a translation award from by a UK-based literary group.“The Accusation,” by North Korea-based author Bandi, was among 10 PEN Translates’ Autumn 2016 winners. It was translated by Deborah Smith, who won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016 for her translation of “The Vegetarian” by Han Kang.The PEN Translates award is given by the English PEN, the founding center of worldwide writers’ association PE

Jan. 18, 2017

Quaker group marks centennial with ‘Waging Peace’ exhibit

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The American Friends Service Committee is celebrating 100 years of nonviolent activism with an exhibition, “Waging Peace,” that showcases the group’s accomplishments while also illustrating work that remains to be done.General Secretary Shan Cretin hopes both aspects of the exhibit inspire visitors.“We don’t want to just be looking backward, (but) a lot of the issues that are so urgent today -- how we treat immigrants, racial justice issues -- are issues we have been working

Jan. 17, 2017

‘Blacklist’ actors perform against government oppression

Artists on the government’s blacklist of anti-Park Geun-hye cultural figures were placed at a disadvantage in competing for state funding, as they were labelled by the Park administration as left-wing biased. Now, they have set up a stage of their own in Gwanghwamun Square in the heart of downtown Seoul to hit back at the government by performing precisely what it did not want to see. Black Tent is a makeshift theater inside a giant tent that hosts plays and performances dealing with social issu

Jan. 17, 2017

Artists seek legal action against government

A group of cultural figures in Korea on Monday announced it would file a lawsuit against the Park Geun-hye administration for the “blacklist” it kept of anti-government artists. Comprised of groups including Cultural Action, Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) and others in the culture circle, the association for legal action on the blacklist held a press conference to publicly invite fellow artists as plaintiffs in its lawsuit.“The Park administration abused the inherent disadvantage of

Jan. 16, 2017

Golfer Pak Se-ri presented Korea Image Award

The Corea Image Communications Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Korean culture worldwide, hosted the 2017 Korea Image Award ceremony at the InterContinental Seoul Coex on Wednesday. The winners of this year’s awards were Korean golfer Pak Se-ri, artificial intelligence program AlphaGo and Cho Tae-kwon, chairman of porcelain company Kwangjuyo and a promoter of Korean culinary arts.Since 2005, the event has recognized individuals who have enhanced Korea’s image abroad. Ab

Jan. 12, 2017

Symposium celebrates what’s gained in translation of literature

Marking the 10th anniversary of its founding, the Yoo Yeong Research Foundation hosted a symposium Wednesday that reflected on Korea’s progress in literary translation and honored those who have helped bridge the country and the world through cultural reinterpretation. The event held at Yonsei University bestowed the Yoo Yeong Translation Award to Uhm Il-nyeo, who translated Sarah Waters’ “The Little Stranger” into Korean in 2015. In partnership with the university’s English Literature Research

Jan. 12, 2017

Award honors individuals for globalizing Korea

Winners of the 2017 Korea Image Award ceremony, an event annually organized by the Corea Image Communications Institute, pose at the InterContinental Seoul Coex on Wednesday. (Corea Image Communications Institute)Winners of the 2017 Korea Image Award ceremony, an event annually organized by the Corea Image Communications Institute, pose at the InterContinental Seoul Coex on Wednesday. Since 2005, the venue has honored individuals who have promoted Korea worldwide, supported by Korea’s Ministry o

Jan. 11, 2017