Traditional desserts appeal to the young with creative visuals

Hangwa, or traditional Korean confections, and rice cakes are essential snacks during the Korean lunar new year holiday. After a memorial service for ancestors and sharing meals with the family, traditional desserts are enjoyed with tea. While Korean desserts have been mainly relished during the traditional holidays, they are becoming more diverse and enjoying popularity among younger generation with creative visuals. “Korean desserts come in a wide variety as customers expect visual

Feb. 13, 2021

[Video] ‘Yut Nori’ a time-honored game for Lunar New Year’s holiday

Millions of people in South Korea are set to drive for hours to reunite with their families and relatives for one of the country’s biggest celebrations: Seollal. Ceremonies and rituals are traditionally held during the big holiday to pay respect to ancestors. People usually bow to an altar table with fruits, liquor, fish and meat, wishing for prosperity and health. The Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 12 of the Gregorian calendar this year, and the holiday starts Thursday and runs through S

Feb. 11, 2021

Journaling -- more than just keeping records

Despite the prevalence of digital scheduling applications, it seems that demand for paper diaries never dies out. In fact, the pastime of decorating journals -- “dakku” in Korean -- is more popular than ever. Dakku, an abbreviation for a Korean word for decorating, refers to the use of colorful tape, memo pads, stickers and other stationery products to adorn journals. Dakku has always been popular among schoolchildren, but recently the trend has spread to those in their 20s and 30

Feb. 10, 2021

Seoul Institute of the Arts presents ‘Genoma Scenico’ with Nicola Galli

The Seoul Institute of the Arts livestreamed a dance workshop with Italian choreographer Nicola Galli on Tuesday through the school’s official YouTube channel. The workshop, streamed at 5 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m., is part of the “Crossing the Sea” project undertaken with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Its purpose is to connect the arts scenes in Italy, Asia and the Middle East. Italian choreographer Jacopo Jenna began the workshops in 2019, an

Feb. 9, 2021

Korean language learning booming on back of Hallyu: report

If you’re looking to pick up a new language this year, you might want to consider Korean. And if you’re a native speaker or have at least some knowledge of the language, then rejoice: Korean is currently the second fastest-growing language in the world, according to Duolingo’s 2020 “Year in Language” report, which was published in December. With over 500 million total users across 194 countries, Duolingo is the most downloaded education app in the world, meaning t

Feb. 7, 2021

KOCCA’s GSP Plus helps game companies go global

The Korea Creative Content Agency is making headway in helping small and medium-sized Korean game companies expand to the global market with its Game Global Service Platform Plus project. While previous years saw KOCCA assigning selected gaming companies with service companies to help them reach the global market, the agency reorganized the project last year to allow gaming companies to directly choose the service that they need from open market platform GSP Plus. Successful applicants are g

Feb. 7, 2021

[Weekender] Something special to celebrate a pandemic Seollal

The fear of the pandemic has forced many to cancel plans for visiting families and friends during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday this year, but instead, has made Seollal gifts more special. Many gift sets are still practical ones, with popular and affordable choices being daily items such as canned tuna or Spam, cosmetics products and health supplements. But local retailers have rolled out a list of eye-catching items for customers wanting to lift up the holiday spirit and deliver their

Feb. 6, 2021

Rookie artists to receive funds for artworks

Artists with less than two years of experience will be eligible to receive “art creation funds” from March, to help carry on their initial art productions with financial stability. Unfair practices that have lingered over the nation’s arts scene, such as overdue wages, are also to be addressed. The Korea Artists Welfare Foundation, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced its 2021 business plan on Jan. 27. On the agenda are the establishment of the New Arti

Feb. 5, 2021

National Museum wants people to visit Korea to see its artifacts

An exhibition hall for two Pensive Bodhisattvas, a science center for artifacts and the expansion of a children’s museum are some of the projects ahead this year for the National Museum of Korea. Director General Min Byoung-chan outlined the plans during a press conference Wednesday. “I hope that foreigners can one day say that they came to the country to visit the National Museum of Korea,” Min said. Other projects for the year include renovation of the exhibition halls show

Feb. 3, 2021

Culture ministry aims to revive pandemic-hit culture sector, spread 'hallyu' in 2021

The culture ministry said Tuesday it will focus on reviving the pandemic-hit culture and tourism industries here, as well as continue to support the spread of "hallyu," or the Korean Wave, around the world in 2021. Under the plan, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism laid out four major policy goals for the year, which were then divided into 15 agenda items, such as supporting sectors that took a blow from the new coronavirus, helping content producers go digital, strengthening

Feb. 2, 2021

[Feature] K-pop stars subjected to sexual objectification online

K-pop singers have risen to global stardom in recent years, but their popularity has a dark side: Many have become victims of sexual objectification online. The issue came to the fore recently as controversy surrounding artificial intelligence chatbot Lee Luda led to online debate about the sexual harassment of K-pop singers. The chatbot, developed by local startup Scatter Lab in December, came under fire after users taught it to use vulgar language against women and make discriminatory comme

Feb. 1, 2021

Hallyu fans consume more Korean content amid COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: survey

The number of foreigners consuming Korean content have continued to rise last year, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism. The Culture Ministry said on Thursday it surveyed 8,500 people in 18 different countries including China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Turkey, France and the US. The survey was conducted from Sept. 24 to Nov. 3 last year. Korean dramas were the most consumed type of content at 29.7 percent, followed by thos

Jan. 30, 2021

Packaged kimchi: how did it get its start, where is it going?

Park Kyung-suk, a Korean woman in her 50s, who has been making kimchi for her family for more than 30 years, decided to buy packaged kimchi for the first time last year. “My two sons moved out so we do not need as much kimchi as we used to,” Park said. “Also, I compared the price of the ingredients that I need to buy with the price of packaged kimchi and found that there is not much difference.” “I prefer buying small packaged kimchi in convenience stores once in

Jan. 28, 2021

Games and music sectors see biggest KOCCA budget increase

The Korea Creative Content Agency’s 2021 budget has been set at 484.2 billion won ($440 million), a 54.4 billion won increase from last year. KOCCA uploaded multiple videos on its YouTube channel on Monday, outlining the details of the budget distribution by sector. The broadcast sector will receive 49.6 billion won, games 61.5 billion won, culture technology 81.6 billion won, virtual interactive content 49 billion won, music 41.1 billion won and regional content 49.7 billion won, among

Jan. 25, 2021

Do Korean streaming services stand a chance against Netflix?

Over-the-top media giant Netflix stood out as the most popular OTT platform in South Korea last year, with over half of OTT users here subscribing to Netflix, according to data analyst Consumer Insight. In a survey of some 40,000 Koreans by Consumer Insight, 46 percent of respondents said they’d paid for OTT services last year with 24 percent subscribing to Netflix. The second-most-popular OTT service was YouTube Premium, with 15 percent of respondents subscribing. In December, Netfli

Jan. 25, 2021

Actor Lee Min-ho’s additional Hangeul promotional videos being released

Two additional videos promoting the beauty of Hangeul -- the writing system for the Korean language -- were released on Friday, starring actor Lee Min-ho. The new videos from the King Sejong Institute Foundation show Lee introducing the foundation to his fans who wish to learn Korean after watching his posts about his daily life on social media. “It is such an honor. I am glad to see content about my daily life contributing to promoting the beauty of Hangeul,” Lee said in a press

Jan. 22, 2021

Two-term lawmaker Hwang Hee named new culture minister

Culture Minister nominee Hwang Hee is a two-term lawmaker affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party, who began his political career in the late 1990s as a secretary to the late President Kim Dae-jung. He has served as the Democratic Party’s head of public relations and as its deputy floor leader. He was elected to his first term as a lawmaker in the general elections in 2016, and was reelected in 2020. Until recently, he was the administrator of the National Assembly’s defense c

Jan. 20, 2021

Koreans defend kimchi, ssam against Chinese claims

As popular Chinese YouTubers create videos implying Korean foods such as kimchi and ssam are Chinese dishes, Koreans have decided to take a stand in the name of Korea’s food culture. A Chinese agency for popular mukbang, or “eating shows,” terminated its contract with Korean YouTuber Hamzy on Sunday after she said that kimchi and ssam were both Korean dishes. The controversy began when Hamzy uploaded a video of herself eating snail soybean stew with ssam, or a vegetable wrap

Jan. 19, 2021

Konstantin Ishkhanov: 'Phenomenal' Korean classical music stars shine brightly at InClassica

From 17 April – 11 May, Malta will host the InClassica International Music Festival, a three week programme of classical music featuring world-renowned soloists, leading international orchestras and celebrated conductors. InClassica will be hosted at Malta’s historic Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC), a 16th century building benefitting from recent award-winning renovation in the capital city of Valletta, in addition to the iconic Manoel Theatre which will host the festival&rsq

Jan. 19, 2021

Won Buddhism appoints leader for centers in the Americas

Won Buddhism announced Monday that it had appointed Juksan Hwang Do-gook as its new leader in the Americas. Hwang’s appointment ceremony took place virtually on Jan. 13 with followers from 23 countries watching. Hwang is the first leader in charge of Won Buddhism centers located outside South Korea, according to the religious group. The decision to appoint a leader outside Korea was reached as Won Buddhism found it necessary to have a leader who understands the local situation. Hwang h

Jan. 18, 2021