Lotte to open new hotel in Cebu

Lotte Hotels and Resorts announced that it will open a new hotel on the famous Philippine resort island of Cebu. According to the hotel, the new Lotte City Hotel Cebu will be located on top of J Centre Shopping Mall in Mandaue City and is scheduled to open in 2014. The hotel is being built on the existing structure of the shopping mall, occupying the 6th to 23rd floors. Its construction began this month.The new hotel will feature 350 rooms as well as a swimming pool with kid’s pool, a sky lounge

Jan. 11, 2013

Round face with brown eyes most trustworthy: report

The most trustworthy face is a round one with a large chin, a big mouth and brown eyes, according to a study at Charles University in Czech Republic. Karel Kleisner’s team conducted the survey of rating faces with different features. Eye color and face shape were manipulated. People thought brown eyes were more reliable than blue ones, while the round face shape with a large chin, a big mouth was assumed the most credible, the study said. The face shape becomes more critical when it comes to men

Jan. 10, 2013

Namhansanseong Fortress, a rare type of stronghold

The ancient mountain fortress Namhansanseong, which served as a strategic defense facility at various times in Korea’s turbulent history, is one of the most frequently visited cultural heritage sites in the country today. The fortress stands testimony of past conflicts from the seventh to 17th centuries, enduring foreign invasions big and small since the Unified Silla era. Registered as National Historic Site No. 57, the fortress was included on the tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Site

Jan. 9, 2013

Rare Goryeo Buddhist painting found in Italian museum

A Buddhist painting from Goryeo period (918-1392) was found in an Italian museum, according to the National Museum of Korea on Wednesday. The full-length portrait of Amitabha Buddha was discovered when a curator of the Korean national museum was researching the collection of Korean artifacts at the National Museum of Oriental Art in Rome. “The painting was in good condition,” said Kwon Gang-mi, another curator of the museum. “And it wasn’t known to the academia in Korea or Europe.” The painting,

Jan. 9, 2013

Spanish police seize plundered ancient vase

MADRID (AP) ― The owner of an antique shop in Spain was arrested after police investigators found a vase there dating back to the late second century B.C., officials said Saturday.The antiquity had been illegally plundered from an Iberian era archeological site in the province of Alicante, an Interior Ministry statement said.Inspectors found it in a cardboard box during a routine search of the shop in the eastern town of El Campello.  “We are not yet aware of the full importance of this discover

Jan. 8, 2013

A place for time-honored knotty traditions

Following is part of a series exploring unique museums, collections and the passionate collectors behind them. ― Ed.Traditional Korean knots, also known as maedeup, are handmade decorative hanging knot and thread pieces, made using intricate threading techniques that date back as far as the Silla Kingdom (668-935). The use of these traditional knots was limited to the members of the royal family, but later spread among commoners. Knots in Korea have historically had the usual practical uses such

Jan. 8, 2013

Chicago church gives $12K to members

A Chicago church distributed $12,000 to congregation members with instructions to use the funds to help their community.The Rev. Jackson Crum ended his sermon about the city's struggles with crime and other problems Sunday at the Park Community Church by passing out envelopes containing amounts of cash between $2 and $102, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.Crum instructed church members to put the cash toward improving their community."Isn't that why we're here as a church?" Crum said. "Aren't

Jan. 8, 2013

English version of ‘Donguibogam’ to be published this year

An English translation of a 17th century Korean medical textbook will be published this year, according to the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine on Monday. The English version of “Donguibogam” is scheduled to be released around September this year. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the book’s publication.“The publication of ‘Donguibogam’ in English will be a great opportunity to promote the excellence and the value of Korean medicine to the world,” said an KIOM official who wished to r

Jan. 7, 2013

Myanmar gets steamed up by sex education magazine

With its glossy pages of pouting models and racy romance tips, Myanmar's first sex education magazine has got the usually demure nation hot under the collar as it cashes in on new-found cultural freedom. "Hyno" has sparked fevered debate since hitting Myanmar's bookstores in November, where it has become a must-read among the young and curious, just a few months after the end of direct censorship in the former junta-ruled nation.Perhaps tame by western standards, Hyno's photo spreads of semi-cla

Jan. 7, 2013

Report: Professors have least job stress

University professor is the least stressful job available to U.S. workers in 2013, a job-search website said Thursday.CareerCast.com said teaching at the college level combines relatively high pay with a median annual salary of more than $62,000, prestige and a comfortable environment."Their students are largely those who choose the classes they attend, and thus want to be in class," the website said. "Unlike elementary and secondary educators, the performance of college professors isn't evaluat

Jan. 4, 2013

Edvard Munch still struggles to win favor in native Norway

OSLO (AFP) ― He may be acclaimed in the art world and coveted by thieves but Edvard Munch is starved of recognition in his native Norway, where squabbles have delayed a new museum worthy of his oeuvre.This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the expressionist master, who painted the now iconic “The Scream.” But the anniversary is clouded by the city of Oslo’s inability to provide a proper setting for the art gems the painter left in his will.Munch, who died in 1944, bequeathed an en

Jan. 3, 2013

Gwageo: Gateway to success in Joseon

Long before the college scholastic ability test, TOEIC or TOEFL, there was Gwageo, a civil servant examination in Korea. Launched in 958 benchmarking the Chinese model, Gwageo became the official gateway to public officialdom, which was regarded as the “only honorable way” for noblemen to live in the Joseon era (1392-1910). It was abolished in 1894 when Westernization of the government system kicked off and the exam was named one of the bad, old customs. The National Library is holding a special

Jan. 3, 2013

People of lower social status crave bling

People who feel low in status try to compensate by buying high-status goods such as fur coats, cuff links, caviar and Italian suits, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Philip Mazzocco of Ohio State University‘s Mansfield campus said the findings cast doubt on the notion urban minorities have developed a corrosive “bling culture” unique to them.“Minorities don’t buy high-status products because of some ‘bling culture.’ It is a basic psychological tendency that we all share when we‘re feeling infer

Jan. 3, 2013

Journalist claims to have found Scientologists’ ‘alien space cathedral’

BBC journalist and scientology debunker John Sweeney recently claimed to have found a secret “alien space cathedral” built by the controversial cult of Scientology.According to a report published by British newspaper the Sun on Monday, Sweeney allegedly found a gateway to a secret bunker that the Church of Scientology built to protect their teachings from a nuclear holocaust they thought would take place in the future. It is near the remote community of Mesa Huerfanita, New Mexico, north of Rosw

Jan. 3, 2013

UNESCO-listed heritage enriches culture

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 Heritage for international preservation. This year 15 cultural properties are on the tentative list, awaiting designation. The series will explore some of those properties. ― Ed.The year 2013 will be crucial for the management of cultural heritage as the central and local adminis

Jan. 2, 2013

Clash of titans

Classical music fans can look forward to an exciting year as international household names will be visiting Korea.Here are some of the events scheduled from January to June.JanuaryMaestro Zubin Mehta will lead the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in a New Year Gala Concert on Saturday and Sunday at the Seoul Arts Center featuring Beethoven’s Ouverture Leonore 3 in C Major Op. 72b, Korsakov’s Spanish Capriccio Op. 34, and Strauss’ Waltz, and Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. Unusally for a concert i

Jan. 2, 2013

Paris' oldest bakery folds after 202 years

 The oldest bakery in Paris will close after 202 years in business because of rising rent and real estate prices, its current owner says.Claude Esnault, 66, has operated the Au Richelieu Boulangerie bakery, in the rue de Richelieu in central Paris, since 1969 and hoped to sell the store to a younger baker, but after landlords doubled his rent, it is au revoir to the business that sells about 200 baguettes per day, Radio France Internationale reported Friday.The rent on the facility is about to r

Jan. 2, 2013