The lobby of Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall was packed with concertgoers Wednesday afternoon, as if a K-pop band were due to play. The people were eagerly awaiting a performance by concert pianist Cho Seong-jin. Fans lined up to buy Cho’s autographed album. Another line was formed to take a photo in front of the recital placard. Compared to other classical music performances, the audience was mostly relatively younger woman in their 20s and 30s. Cho, 26, who won the 2015 Cho

Performance Nov. 5, 2020

The first panda cub born in South Korea has been named Fu Bao 100 days after her birth, according to Everland, a theme park under Samsung C&T, Wednesday. The female panda cub was born July 20 at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Fu Bao is a Chinese name, meaning a treasure that brings happiness. The name was selected by 50,000 people who voted both online and offline. It is an international custom to give a panda cub a Chinese name some 100 days after birth. According to Everland, p

Travel Nov. 4, 2020

Comedian Park Ji-sun, 36, was found dead Tuesday with her mother at a house in Mapo-gu, western Seoul, police said. 　 Park’s father contacted the police after Park and her mother did not answer their phones. When he entered the house with the police, the two had already passed away. Park was under treatment for a medical condition and Park’s mother was staying with her in Seoul. Police investigating the case said there were no signs of external injuries to Park or her mother.

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2020

Under the new five-tier social distancing system announced by the authorities on Sunday, performing arts theaters and cinemas will not be required to leave an empty seat between every audience member when Level 1 social distancing is in effect. 　 When South Korea eased the social distancing scheme to the lowest level of the three-tier system on Oct 12, major performing arts theaters and cinemas, both public and private, continued to leave an empty seat between every audience member in concern

Performance Nov. 2, 2020

The 25th Busan International Film Festival wrapped up its 10-day run Friday with an online press conference. The acclaimed film fest kicked off Oct. 21 with “Septet: The Story of Hong Kong,” an omnibus work by seven renowned Hong Kong directors, at the Busan Cinema Center in the southern coastal city of Busan. It was a hybrid event, going both online and offline due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  “During the festival, 192 films from 68 countries were screened, gathe

Film Oct. 30, 2020

Singer-songwriter and pianist Jung Jae-hyung, known for his appearances on various TV shows, will present a piano ensemble performance at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Gwacheon on Friday. The MMCA’s Gwacheon venue, located south of Seoul, will release a new video titled “MMCA Live x Jung Jae-hyung” on its YouTube channel at 4 p.m. Friday as part of its MMCA Live series. The video will show Jung playing the piano against the backdrop of an outdoor ins

Performance Oct. 30, 2020

  Seoul International Cafe Show The 2020 Seoul Cafe Show will take place Nov. 4-7 at the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul.  The annual event was launched in 2002 to promote the coffee, tea, bakery and dessert culture and related industries. The event aims to introduce the latest trends in the cafe scene. This year the organizers have set up a COVID-19 Free Zone to ensure everyone’s safety.  Tickets cost 18,000 won per person for a one-day admission

Travel Oct. 30, 2020

Only classical music can enlighten us, according to pianist-turned-producer Park Chang-soo. The veteran pianist heads The House Concert, a production company that plans small salon concerts. This weekend, classical music will run from 5 p.m. on Friday to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the recording studio Yul Haus in southern Seoul, as The House Concert presents the third edition of its “24hours Project.” “I want the audience to enjoy the essence of classical music, which forms th

Performance Oct. 29, 2020

Though 2020 has brought unprecedented changes to the performing arts scene, including the world of ballet, “The Nutcracker” will wrap up the year as it does every year. The holiday tradition of enjoying Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece “The Nutcracker” in the Christmas season will continue despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Universal Ballet will go onstage with “The Nutcracker” Dec. 18-30 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul

Performance Oct. 28, 2020

The 23rd Seoul International Dance Festival, SIDance for short, will be held online Nov. 6-22, presenting local and overseas dance programs across various genres. As has been the case with most festivals this year, SIDance, organized by the Seoul section of the UNESCO-based International Dance Council, will be held online, streaming dance performances on its official website as well as its channels on Naver TV and YouTube. The festival will be led by Lee Jong-ho, its founder and artistic di

Performance Oct. 26, 2020

Kevin Laurence O’Rourke, a trailblazer of Korean literature translation, passed away Friday at the age of 81. O’Rourke, who has translated more than 2,000 Korean literary works into English, was a leading foreign figure in the Korean literature scene. According to Kyung Hee University, O’Rourke was born in Ireland in 1939. He became a Catholic priest in 1963. The following year, he started to serve as an assistant priest at Soyangro Catholic Church in Chuncheon, Gangwon Pr

People Oct. 25, 2020

Adjusting to the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul will stream short-form plays under the Play Clips project. The Seoul Arts Center is to launch Play Clips as a part of its Sac on Screen project which brings performing arts to the virtual stage through online screening. Play Clips will introduce plays, divided into five- to six-minute-long videos. The art center said it hopes to suggest a new paradigm of performing arts for the younger generation who enjoy

Performance Oct. 25, 2020

Autumn forest at Everland Everland’s Forest Camp is offering eco-friendly programs for visitors this fall. Forest Camp is a park spread across 90,000 square meters of land, managed by amusement park Everland for the past 50 years. The park has a dense forest of some 34,000 trees and plants. Various programs are available, from trekking, meditation, yoga and music concerts to barbecue party events. For more information in Korean, English, Japanese or Chinese, visit reservation.everlan

Travel Oct. 23, 2020

INCHEON -- Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno stressed that “freeing the air” is one of the most important agendas for humanity at the Herald Design Forum 2020, held virtually in Incheon on Thursday. Saraceno is an Argentinian artist based in Berlin whose works span from architecture involving future cities and the environment to climate issues, all striving to work up a “quasi feasible utopia.” At the annual design event, he made a special speech titled “Free th

Arts & Design Oct. 22, 2020

The 2020 Herald Design Forum was held Thursday, sharing design ideas that envision the next 10 years, at Paradise City Chroma in Incheon.  At the event, Hans Ulrich Obrist, an influential art curator, delivered a speech titled “Toward a New Era of Social Imagination,” which also streamed online. The Swiss-born curator shared his thoughts on the role of art and design. Obrist is the director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, which boasts a wide selection of contemporary

Arts & Design Oct. 22, 2020