Stay active and cool at Sports Monster

In the stifling midsummer heat in Korea, even walking five minutes outdoors can be a sweaty, sticky, endeavor. Seeking refuge from the sun, but restless with unconsumed energy, The Korea Herald’s five summer interns visited Sports Monster at Starfield Goyang for amusement. Sports Monster, located in the Starfield Goyang shopping mall, is a sports experience center with 30 different activities that are divided into four zones: Basic Zone, Exciting Zone, Adventure Zone and Digital Zone. Sports Mon

Aug. 6, 2018

Fading voices of 22 comfort women to be shown in theaters

When the documentary film “Twenty Two” started filming in 2014, there were 22 surviving “comfort women” -- euphemism for those forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II -- in China. As of 2018, only seven remain, and the film desperately attempts to capture what could be their last messages to the world on screen. “Twenty Two,” set for release here Tuesday, is directed by Ke Guo and tracks down the former comfort women living in China, two of whom are Koreans. The director just poi

Aug. 5, 2018

‘Counters’ shows raw anger in face of brazen xenophobia

How does someone shouting into the microphone, “Dear s--- Koreans whom I hate the most in the world, how are you?” make you feel? A civilized reaction would be to call the police, file complaints, or request a reasonable conversation about how we should all live together.One gut feeling for many people, of course, would be to get in the xenophobic jerks’ faces for a shouting match, or something more violent.“Counters” is a documentary about a civic group of the same name in Japan, who fought aga

Aug. 2, 2018

[Weekender] Korean surfers break away from ‘surfer dude’ stereotypes

Surfing has become a new growing scene for Koreans in recent years. It is a sport or hobby more and more Koreans are eager to give a try amid the sweltering heat. Only a decade ago, hitting the waves on a surfboard would have been considered bizarre to many locals. “If you searched for ‘surfing’ on the internet, the only results you would have gotten were either ‘wind surfing’ or ‘surfing the web’ 10 years back,” Lee Hyung-joo said in an interview with The Korea Herald. Lee Hyung-joo, one of the

Aug. 2, 2018

[Photo News] What’s redder than the sun?

A woman was spotted carefully drying the year’s precious harvest of chili peppers at a traditional Hanok village in Hamyang-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday.Vegetable harvest in Korea this summer has suffered due to 21 days of hot weather, resulting in a fall in supply and a rise in the prices of vegetables.On Wednesday, Korea saw a record high of 41 degrees Celsius in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. Staff of the national weather agency personally traveled to the region to verify the unp

Aug. 2, 2018

‘Lion King’ readies first ‘original’ performance in Korea

Beloved 1994 Disney animation “The Lion King” has been made into a Broadway musical seen by 95 million people across the world since 1997.More than two decades after its debut, the musical will land in Korea later this year for its first performance in its original language. An international tour of “The Lion King” will land in Korea in November for performances in Daegu, Seoul and Busan. It will kick off at Keimyung Art Center in Daegu -- where it will play from Nov. 9 to Dec. 25, before moving

July 30, 2018

[Eye Plus] Summer fun in the heart of city

A record heat wave has been scorching the peninsula this summer, with a temperature north of 40 degrees Celsius marked in Daegu. The heat wave even thinned out the crowds of the usually busy streets of Gwanghwamun Plaza of Seoul, as Seoulites seek refuge in the well air-conditioned indoors.Bustling with people, however, is the fountain area where children have the time of their lives running through the spouts of water shooting out from below their feet. Some adults join in to wash their faces o

July 26, 2018

[Weekender] Stereotyping personalities -- by blood type

When getting to know someone in South Korea, there is a good chance that at one point or another, you will be asked, “What’s your blood type?”　To outsiders, blood type may mean nothing more than information needed to find a match for a blood transfusion.　But in Korea, a person’s blood type -- either A, B, O, or AB -- is widely believed to be predictive of personality and temperament, similar to horoscopes in the West. 　Under the blood type personality theory, a person with Type A blood is dilige

July 26, 2018

[Eye]Trailblazing through botany

POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- At first, the achievements of Lee You-mi, director general of the Korea National Arboretum, as the first woman to be tapped as the chief of the organization in 2014 may simply sound genteel and classy.But just minutes into talking with Lee, there is so much more to her and her story.While the stereotype of botanists are of those examining plants in a research lab, Lee said they are in fact adventurists, setting out to explore and find rare plants in wildlife.Nicknam

July 26, 2018

[Weekender] Are men with type B blood really womanizers?

Kim Sang-hoon, 29, with type B blood rarely takes part in conversations about blood types linked with personalities. “Koreans have the misperception that a man with type B blood is selfish, a womanizer or hot-tempered. I don’t want people to judge me in such a way before getting to know me,” he said. Despite no scientific proof that blood types and personalities are linked, Koreans often ask about blood types to predict someone’s personality -- sometimes going further to judge relationships and

July 26, 2018

Late novelist posthumously receives highest cultural honor

The government on Tuesday bestowed the late novelist Choi In-hun with the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, the highest class of its kind, for his contribution to Korean literature. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jong-hwan visited the funeral parlor of the late writer at the Seoul National University Hospital to offer condolences to the bereaved family and present the medal on behalf of the government.  Do Jong-hwan (left) talks with the bereaved family of novelist Choi In-hun at a f

July 24, 2018

[Photo News] 2018 Waterbomb Festival blasts summer heat

The annual WaterBomb Festival was held Friday and Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. On the first day of the event, K-pop stars, such as Hyolyn and Jessi, appeared as guests with performances that doubled the fun. The second day was a blast as Black Pink members showed up on Sprite Island, the name of a stage at the event, in outfits that matched the soft drink brand’s colors. Jennie donned a green off-the-shoulder top with short pants, while Jisoo wore a green cropped blouse with white shorts

July 23, 2018

‘Karl Marx is on a train to Busan’

Slavoj Zizek, regarded among the leading intellectuals in the world, made his visit to a monthly gathering of the Gwangju Biennale to lecture on Marxism at the biennale’s conference hall in Gwangju. In the lecture titled “Is Marx Dead, Alive or Living Dead,” attended by some 200 people, Zizek talked about what people can do with Marxism in what he called a contemporary society ever-more disintegrated by increasingly permeating capitalism. Slavoj Zizek speaks at a lecture held on Saturday in Gwan

July 22, 2018

[Herald Interview] It all began with the house

Looking for Mark Tetto’s house in Gaehoe-dong, Seoul, Monday morning, I encounter groups of foreign tourists -- from the Philippines and Vietnam, mostly -- posing and taking pictures against the backdrop of narrow alleys lined with Korea’s traditional hanok. After walking up and down a hill, going round in circles under the blazing morning sun, I finally locate Tetto’s house, its slim gate hard to find between the walls of houses next to it on either side. I swear I had walked past this street 1

July 19, 2018

[Video] Sweetness overload at 2018 Seoul Dessert Fair

Thousands of people with a sweet tooth descended on the 2018 Seoul Dessert Fair to satisfy their cravings for all-things sweet on Saturday at the Setec Exhibition Hall.The theme for the two-day weekend event was watermelon. Many stalls infused watermelon elements into their desserts, such as green-and-red sweet bread, watermelon fruit punch and watermelon-flavored macarons.(Video shot and edited by Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald)Beyond indulging their taste buds, visitors were also treated to a

July 18, 2018

Baekje king of ancient fables may have been found

King Mu of Baekje, the protagonist of a “Romeo and Juliet”-esque fable, may have been found, as researchers said Wednesday human remains uncovered in April are likely to be his.Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage held a press conference to reveal the results of their examination of remains found inside what is believed to be a royal tomb from Baekje Kingdom, which existed in the southwestern Korean Peninsula from 18 BC to AD 660. The tomb in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, was d

July 18, 2018

Fourth Hangeul Idea Award to be held

A state-organized contest for Hangeul-themed content will be held in July and August.The fourth Hangeul Idea Award -- hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency and sponsored by Naver -- is about creating new products based on Hangeul.The poster for the fourth Hangeul Idea Award (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)The award categories are: content, referring to product plans introducing Hangeul-themed content, such as publications,

July 18, 2018

Tourism agency seeks to expand vacation subsidy, border tourism

The newly appointed chief of the state-run tourism body presented his vision on its future operation, including expansion of government vacation subsidy programs and inter-Korea border tourism, during a press meeting Monday.Ahn Young-bae, newly appointed president of the Korea Tourism Organization, expressed hopes that the KTO would lead the trend of work-life balance for Koreans. “I learned that so far this year, some KTO employees have not taken a single day off. ... Maintaining a high quality

July 16, 2018

[Photo News] Korean students go all-out for yearbook photos

Students at Uijeongbu High School in Gyeonggi Province dressed up for their yearbook photo shoot Monday, keeping their wacky tradition of creating eye-catching graduation photos. Uijeongbu High is an all-boys school that has made headlines both at home and abroad for its unconventional graduation pictures. The class of 2018 chose to dress up as Hog Rider of the mobile game “Clash of Clans,” a demon clown from the horror movie “It,” Sanrio’s lazy egg character Gudetama, South Korean Skeleton Olym

July 16, 2018

Daegu Chimac Festival to offer a mix of fried chicken and beer

The 2018 Daegu Chimac Festival will run from Wednesday to July 22 in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province. The festival's name is based on a compound word of chicken and beer in Korean that reflects Koreans’ enthusiasm for pairing fried chicken with beer. Daegu started the festival in 2013 with a crowd of 270,000. The number of attendees steadily grew in the following years, and topped 1 million in 2016 and 2017.Photo from 2017 Daegu Chimac Festival (DaeguChimacFestival)This year’s event is set to t

July 16, 2018