Lee Hyori’s agency B2M Entertainment revealed the title of her upcoming album and the jacket image Thursday morning.“Monochrome,” the title of the album, explains why the singer maintained a black-and-white look throughout her music video for “Miss Korea,” the first single from the album.The agency posted the jacket image on Twitter with the words, “The long-awaited 5th album ‘Monochrome’ will be released on May 21! It will be available in two versions, special limited edition and regular! Pre-s

May 9, 2013

Famed Japanese writer Haruki Murakami is currently in the international spotlight for his recently released novel “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.” But Seoul’s Daehangno, the local hot spot for plays, is instead buzzing about his 2002 fantasy novel, “Kafka on the Shore.”The novel, famous for its literary blend of magical realism and a suspenseful plot, is currently being performed as a play for the first time in Korea.A production by American director Frank Galati, the show

May 9, 2013

Artworks of young artists are being offered at affordable prices online as part of efforts to boost art sales and promote young artists to a wider audience. Gana Art Gallery and Wemakeprice.com, a social commerce site, have launched a new project selling digital prints of the works of young artists at the website www.wemakeprice.com.“People find it hard to buy artwork because it is expensive to buy at galleries, but now we have a new platform that can distribute digital prints of artwork at affo

May 8, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― Two early casts from Auguste Rodin’s masterpiece “The Gates of Hell’’ have sold for a total of more than $16 million at a New York City auction.“The Thinker’’ sold Tuesday for $15.3 million, a new record for the figure. Sotheby’s hasn’t said who bought it.A later cast of the statue was auctioned for just under $12 million in 2010.The full-scale sculpture was commissioned by publishing magnate Ralph Pulitzer in 1906 and made under Rodin’s supervision.“Ugolino and His Children,’’ f

May 8, 2013

Cho Young-pil and his band will perform at the Super! Sonic 2013 music festival in August, according to the festival’s PR company. This will be the 63-year-old veteran singer’s first-ever performance at a rock festival.Fortune Entertainment unveiled the first lineup of this year Super! Sonic on Tuesday which includes Cho as well as British pop duo Pet Shop Boys and the electronic band Two Door Cinema Club, and Korean artists 10cm and the semifinalist of “Superstar K4” DICKPUNKS.  The annual even

May 8, 2013

Veteran four-member Korean rock band Delispice and Japanese group HY will be performing in Seoul at a special joint Seoul-Okinawa concert showcase on May 31. The concert will be held in the Live Hall at the KT&G SangsangMadang Center in Mapo-gu at 7:30 p.m. Making their start playing in various clubs in Hongdae, Delispice released its first studio debut in 1997 with the lead single “Chau Chau,” from its first, self-titled album.  Now more than 15 years later, Delispice is one of the nation’s big

May 8, 2013

Super Junior member Ye Sung, 28, left the spotlight temporarily to fulfill his two-year mandatory military service. Ye Sung enlisted with the 35th division in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on Monday for four-week basic military training. After basic training he will serve 23 months in a public service position.  The night of his enlistment, Ye Sung wrote a message to his fans on his Twitter account: “I will miss it all. Stages, songs... I look forward to the day we meet again, ELF. No worries,

May 7, 2013

Singer Jang Yoon-jeong’s pre-interview for SBS talk show “Healing Camp” was leaked last week, exposing her family’s private matters. The news was that the trot queen was heavily in debt due to her mother and brother. During the pre-interview, Jang cleared up rumors about her fiance approaching her for her money. “One day I checked my bank account and all I saw was a negative balance of 1 billion won. At this news, my father suffered a stroke,” she said. Since then her parents have filed for divo

May 7, 2013

Sounds of Korea will be heard in London during “The K-Music Festival 2013” to be held from June 14-22.The festival celebrating the 130th anniversary of Korea-U.K. diplomatic relations will be subtitled “War and Peace” in honor of the 60th anniversary of the ceasefire in the Korean War, a war in which the U.K. participated as part of the U.N. forces.The festival will introduce a selection of Korea’s most talented artists, from the traditional to the contemporary, to help boost understanding of Ko

May 7, 2013

Portraits by Alice Neel are on exhibit for the first time in Asia at Gallery Hyundai, Seoul. The exhibition “People and Places: Paintings by Alice Neel,” which began on May 2, features 15 portraits of Neel’s family, friends and lovers that are regarded as unique in the expression of her subjects’ inner personalities. Neel, who didn’t receive much attention during her lifetime, is now considered one of the greatest portrait painters of the 20th century, along with Lucian Freud, for her distinctiv

May 7, 2013

K-pop diva Lee Hyori has made her way back to the stage after a three-year hiatus from the music scene with her newest single “Miss Korea,” which was unveiled on Monday. “Miss Korea,” a pre-release single from her soon-to-be-released fifth studio album, achieved an “all-kill” almost immediately upon its release by topping all the major Korean music charts including Melon, Daum, Bugs and Mnet. “Miss Korea” was both written and composed by the diva herself and arranged by her jazz guitarist boyfri

May 7, 2013

The 16-year-old Lee Hi continues to soar as one of last year’s most successful debut singers, and is scheduled to take the stage for her first live solo concert at Sogang University’s Mary Hall on Sunday in front of 500 fans. The up-and-comer took to the spotlight as the first runner-up of the reality TV competition show “Survival K-pop Star.” After signing with YG Entertainment, Lee released her first single “1,2,3,4” on Oct. 28 and became an instant sensation. The track reigned at the top of t

May 7, 2013

Hollywood actor Will Smith made a surprise visit to South Korean agency YG Entertainment on Monday with his son Jaden Smith.YG Entertainment posted photos on its official blog, YG LIFE, showing Will, Jaden Smith and its Korean singers and producers getting together at its recording studio.In the unofficial visit, the two Smiths and YG members shared their musical interest while the emerging hip-hop artist Jaden played his music. They ate Korean traditional dishes like bibimbap and bulgogi togeth

May 7, 2013

With spring finally here, it is time to sit back, relax and listen to music. The Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music will be held from May 14-26 at various spots in Seoul, bringing noted musicians from around the world to perform one of the most intimate genres of classical music under the theme of “Far from Home.”Music written by composers who stayed far away from their homelands will be interpreted by musicians who are always on the road performing. Featured musicians include violinist Kang

May 6, 2013

Perched high on a hill in Pyeongchang-dong, Seoul, artist Youn Myeung-ro’s atelier overlooks the two greatest mountains in Seoul. Having the rocky Bukhan Mountain as a backdrop, Youn’s 35-year-old house has a breathtaking view of Inwang Mountain in the front. The artist may not need to look too far to find motifs for his paintings as he can see clearly the seasonal changes of nature and find its wonders inside of his house. A 200-year-old pine tree sits in the center of his home, built in a quad

May 6, 2013