Yeondeunghoe, the lotus lantern festival that accompanie Buddha’s Birthday, has been designated as an intangible cultural heritage by the Cultural Heritage Administration said Monday.The first form of the festival dates back to Korea’s Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-935 A.D.), and has been held on the day of Daeboreum ― a Korean holiday that celebrates the first full moon of the lunar calendar. The religious ceremony now takes place annually in Seoul on the nearest Sunday to Buddha’s Birthday.“Though Ye

April 10, 2012

GORI, Georgia (AP) ― A museum that has honored Josef Stalin in Georgia since 1937 is being remodeled to exhibit the atrocities that were committed during the Soviet dictator’s rule.Georgian Culture Minister Nika Rurua said Monday that his nation, which became independent in 1991, can no longer host a museum “glorifying the Soviet dictator.’’Stalin was born Josef Dzhugashvili in the central Georgian town of Gori in 1879, and the museum opened here in 1937, at the height of purges that were later

April 10, 2012

Director Woo stresses role of foreign media and opinion leaders in promoting KoreaIn the eyes of the foreign media, South Korea has been seen mainly as confronting the militant North Korea or an economic success story. It is time to divert their attention from the country’s complicated political issues to its amazing, yet relatively unknown culture, the new head of Korean Culture and Information Service said.“The new era will soon come with culture leading the country’s economy, not industries.

April 8, 2012

A British man who bought a handful of sketches at a Las Vegas rummage sale for $4.76 said one of them turned out to be an Andy Warhol worth $2.06 million. Andy Warhol`s "Marylin" -- This photo is not directly related to the story. (AFP-Yonhap News)Andy Fields of Tiverton, England, said he bought a few pieces of art from the sale in 2010 and later learned one of the pieces was an original sketch be

April 6, 2012

Experts call for government support for cultural exchanges to prevent anti-Korea movementThe Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday launched an advisory committee of 19 leading figures in the country’s cultural scene to discuss ways for Korea to keep hallyu going and also to introduce the lesser-promoted cultural sectors to the world.The advisory committee will hold monthly meetings to share ideas on developing high-quality and consistent cultural products, revising the legal framewo

April 3, 2012

Seok Tong-youn, former international advisory ambassador of Gyeonggi Province, has been appointed the new secretary general of the Northeast Asian History Foundation, the state-run history research institute announced last week.Considered one of the leading experts on Korea-China relations, Seok served as the spokesperson of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2002 to 2003, deputy chief of mission at the Korean Embassy in China from 2003 to 2006, and consulate general in Hong Kong

April 2, 2012

The Culture Ministry has launched an updated version of its online Korean language learning center to promote globalization of the language, officials said on Monday. The website (www.sejonghakdang.org) operated by the state-run The King Sejong Institute is now available in eight different languages, from the previous six languages, including Russian and Indonesian. The institute named after King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), who invented Hangeul, the Korean writing system, has been

April 2, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Think of the music that defines Los Angeles and often three words float to the surface: The Beach Boys. Which is why The Grammy Museum’s new exhibition, “Trouble in Paradise: Music and Los Angeles 1945-1975,” has carefully chosen not to overemphasize the group that helped cement L.A.’s reputation as the Land of the Endless Summer, filled with sandy beaches, tricked-out automobiles and beautiful women. Think such songs as Surfin’ USA,” “Little Deuce Coupe” and “California Girls

April 1, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― A British auctioneer says that a first class menu from the Titanic’s last lunch has sold for 76,000 pounds (about $120,000.)The menu, kept by prominent San Francisco banker Washington Dodge, bears the date April 14, the day in 1912 that the reputedly unsinkable ship hit an iceberg and fell to the bottom of the Atlantic.Devizes, England-based auctioneer Henry Aldrige & Son says the menu is one of the “rarest items of Titanic memorabilia to be sold in recent years,” adding it made it

April 1, 2012

Epic disasters ― the anguished cries, the stories of heroism ― are the central narratives of our age, both enthralling and horrifying. And our obsession began a century ago, unfolding in just 160 terrifying minutes, on a supposedly unsinkable ship, as more than 1,500 souls slipped into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. And the band played on.It was the Titanic. And ever since, we’ve been hooked on disasters, in general ― but the tale of the great luxury liner, in particular. And the approach

April 1, 2012

Employers looking to ramp up productivity in these dog-eat-dog times might consider letting their staff bring Fido to the office, a scientific study published Friday suggests. (Bloomberg image)Dogs at work can not only bring down stress levels among their owners, but they can also help make work more satisfying for other employees as well, according to the study in the latest issue of the Internat

April 1, 2012

Two 10-year-old boys and a woman whose bodies were found in northern Mexico were sacrificed to Santa Muerte, the saint of death, investigators say.Figurine of Santa Muerte. (MCT image)The Sonora State Investigative Police announced Friday that eight people have been charged with the killings, CNN reported. Most of the suspects are members of a single family and one is only 15.The bodies were disco

April 1, 2012