The Korea Herald

Hallyu seeks sustainability

In 1998, a group of entertainment insiders gathered at the French vacation spot of Cannes to attend Midem, an international entertainment market. About 20 groups from the local cultural content market participated. “We returned with less than positive responses,” recalled Lee Gyeong-hee, a former journalist and YG Entertainment executive, at the Global Culture Exchange Forum held on Jan. 31 at Press Center in downtown Seoul.In 2013, a total of 67 parties participated in the same event. Things ha

Feb. 12, 2013

Restorers put finishing touches on Sungnyemun

After nearly five years, the newly restored Sungnyemun, the historic gate in downtown Seoul, is expected to officially open to the public in April, the government said Monday. The Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday said that it would open the Sungnyemun site, which is now receiving the final touches before the unveiling to the press Thursday. The National Treasure No. 1 was damaged in an arson attack on Feb. 10, 2008, by an elderly man who was later revealed to be suffering from a mental

Feb. 11, 2013

Restorers put finishing touches on Sungnyemun

K-pop arena to be built in Ilsan’s Hallyu World

An arena dedicated to K-pop performances will be built inside Hallyu World, a theme park for hallyu, or the Korean Wave, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Friday. Hallyu World, located in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, will host the arena with an 18,000-seat main concert hall, a 2,000-seat hall, a pop music museum, a Hall of Fame and an educational facility for pop music. The selection was made after the authorities looked into a total of 18 candidate sites bidding for the arena. The t

Feb. 11, 2013

Brazil Carnival honors S. Korea, Korean immigrants

SAO PAULO (AFP) ― With samba music and allegorical pageantry, the Brazilian Carnival pays glowing tribute this year to South Korea’s ancient culture and technological prowess, and to 50 years of Korean immigration.Friday, South Korean popstar Psy was a star guest at Carnival celebrations in the northeastern city of Salvador, wowing the crowd with his “Gangnam Style” hit that made Internet history last December by clocking more than one billion views on YouTube.Saturday, he was warmly applauded a

Feb. 11, 2013

Brazil Carnival honors S. Korea, Korean immigrants

3-year-old admitted to Mensa

A 3-year-old British girl has been allowed to join Mensa, a society for people with high IQs, becoming the club‘s youngest member, officials said.Alice Amos has an IQ of 162 -- higher than those of Albert Einstein and Steven Hawking, both of whom had IQs of 160, The Sun reported.“It is clear that she has the capacity to do almost whatever she wants in life,” said child expert Joan Freeman.Alice achieved the high score in English, which is actually her second language, after Russian, which her pa

Feb. 11, 2013

Chile court orders remains of poet Neruda exhumed

A Chilean judge has ordered the remains of poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda exhumed in a probe into whether he died of cancer as commonly believed or was killed by agents serving Augusto Pinochet.The exhumation was announced Friday by the foundation that manages his literary legacy.The leftist poet, who died 12 days after the 1973 military coup that ousted socialist president Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, was long believed to have died of prostate cancer.But

Feb. 10, 2013

Television still most powerful among news media outlets: study

Korea’s three largest-circulation daily newspapers account for more than half of all newspapers’ power to influence public opinion, a government panel concluded Thursday.Television proved to be the most powerful media outlet, while conventional print media is losing ground to online media. This is the first time a survey on the concentration of media outlets’ power to influence the formation of public opinion has been conducted, with the aim of getting “an objective view of the media market.” Ac

Feb. 7, 2013

Scent like no other

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, many will be struggling to come up with unique and personalized gift ideas for that special someone. Fragrances such as perfumes and colognes are always among the top gift purchases for the day, but with so many varieties and brands to choose from, finding the perfect fit for a loved one may seem a difficult task. Thanks to customized aroma blending, however, this may no longer be the case. Nowadays fragrance shopping is becoming more and more customi

Feb. 7, 2013

Work begins on Pompeii’s 105 million euro makeover

POMPEII, Italy (AFP) ― Conservation workers at the long-neglected Roman city of Pompeii began a 105-million euro ($142 million) makeover partly funded by the EU on Wednesday, a day after former site managers were put under investigation for corruption.The project, which is being funded to the tune of 41.8 million euros from the European Union and is to be completed by 2015, is seen as crucial for the survival of Pompeii after a series of collapses at the 44-hectare site in the shadow of Mount Ve

Feb. 7, 2013

British Museum shows art from the Ice Age

LONDON (AP) ― The art world loves hype. Works are touted as the biggest, the rarest, the most expensive. Even in an age of superlatives, the British Museum has something special ― the oldest known figurative art in the world.The artworks on display in the new exhibition “Ice Age Art’’ are so old that many are carved from the tusks of woolly mammoths.But it’s not just their age that may surprise visitors. It’s their artistry.These are artworks, not just prehistoric artifacts. Some of the sophisti

Feb. 7, 2013

British Museum shows art from the Ice Age

People with mental illness are far more likely to smoke than those with no mental illness, U.S. researchers say.

A Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found U.S. adults with some form of mental illness have a smoking rate 70 percent higher than adults with no mental illness.The report also found 36 percent of adults with a mental illness were cigarette smokers, compared with 21 percent of adults who do not have a mental illness.Earlier research showed nearly 1-in-5 U.S. adults -- a

Feb. 7, 2013

People with mental illness are far more likely to smoke than those with no mental illness, U.S. researchers say.

Professor and comedians promote bibimbap in Thailand

A bibimbap video advertisement was screened on Thailand’s most high profile billboard, after a joint effort by a Korean comedy show and publicist.Korea’s weekly comedy show “Infinite Challenge” and Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, teamed up for a world tour to put out billboard ads of bibimbap, a Korean traditional dish made of steamed rice mixed with meat, fresh vegetables and red pepper paste. Seo has placed bibimbap ads in Times Square in New York and the New York Ti

Feb. 7, 2013

Professor and comedians promote bibimbap in Thailand

Asian students protest ‘racist’ frat party at Duke

An Asian student group at Duke University held a rally Wednesday against a fraternity party that some considered racist.The Asian Students Association and the Asian American Alliance held the “Race is Not a Party: Rally for an Inclusive Duke” rally to decry last week’s Asian-themed party held by the Kappa Sigma fraternity. “The events of the past week have deeply hurt students in our community,” wrote the group on Facebook. “We will use this opportunity to spread awareness of why the events of t

Feb. 7, 2013

Seowon whispers of seonbi life

A Seowon was not simply a building of academia or a shrine. It was a living organization with abundant tales, said Lee Bae-yong, head of the preparation committee for the institute’s addition to the UNESCO World Heritage list. “At Sosu Seowon, the first seowon established here, all pine trees behind the walls lean toward the classrooms. It is almost as if the trees wanted to share the knowledge of the wise men,” she said in an interview with The Korea Herald held at the Cooperation and Participa

Feb. 6, 2013

Seowon: The place for study, respect and nature

The Korea Herald is publishing “Korea’s Cultural Pride,” a 10-part series on the country’s cultural and natural heritage. A total of nine tangible and 14 intangible examples of heritage have been designated UNESCO World Heriage for international preservation. This year, 15 cultural properties are on the tentative list, awaiting designation. This installment explores Seowon, or Confucian academies established during the Joseon era (1391-1910). ― Ed.Long before private universities, there were “se

Feb. 6, 2013

Seowon: The place for study, respect and nature

Allen Ginsberg photos recall Beat generation

NEW YORK (AFP) ― The writers of the Beat Generation, who shocked America with their bohemian lifestyles and upended literature half a century ago, are celebrated in a new photo exhibit by one of their most famous members, Allen Ginsberg.The New York exhibition, “Beat Memories, the photographs of Allen Ginsberg,” comes just after the release of the movie “On the Road,” which has received generally good reviews for its dramatization of Jack Kerouac’s famous 1957 book of the same name.More than 80

Feb. 6, 2013

Allen Ginsberg photos recall Beat generation

Rockefellers mark 50 years of cultural ties to Korea

The Asian Cultural Council, chaired by fifth-generation Rockefeller Wendy O’Neill, is celebrating 50 years of promoting cultural exchange between the U.S. and Asia.As a guest speaker at a YEOL Society for Korean Cultural Heritage lecture held at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul on Tuesday, O’Neill spoke of the family’s long-standing relationship with Asia, which can be traced back 150 years to when John D. Rockefeller gave a small donation to a missionary group in Korea in 1863.The

Feb. 6, 2013

Lorin Maazel, not a replacement but a savior

Music fans might have been let down when they learned two weeks ago that Ricardo Muti, chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, fell ill and could not make it to the orchestra’s first visit to Seoul for its Super Concert on Wednesday and Thursday at the Seoul Arts Center. But there is exhilarating news ― Maestro Lorin Maazel, chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, is replacing Muti and will perform the quintessential Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Mendelssohn. Maazel, who is

Feb. 6, 2013

Lorin Maazel, not a replacement but a savior

NY library book returned 55 years late, with $100

A long overdue book has finally been returned to the New York Public Library _ 55 years late.The Daily News (http://nydn.us/UwbR9z ) says the biography of a 16th-century priest called ``Fire of Francis Xavier‘’ was checked out of the Fort Washington branch in upper Manhattan on April 10, 1958.Library manager Jennifer Zarr tells the newspaper the book arrived at the library on Monday wrapped in a plain brown envelope with a check for $100 to cover the dues inside.She says library records don‘t go

Feb. 6, 2013

90 percent of U.S. singles want to marry

Ninety percent of U.S. singles say they want to get married but 51 percent of women and 33 percent of men say they don‘t want a virgin, a survey found.Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers University and evolutionary biologist Justin R. Garcia of The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University said the 2012 study was based on a survey of 5,481 U.S. singles and 1,095 married people ages 21-65.The survey, sponsored by Match.com and conducted by MarketTools, found 47 percent of married peopl

Feb. 6, 2013

90 percent of U.S. singles want to marry