Residents of Daehyeon-dong, Daegu opposing the construction of a mosque in the area will hold another “meat feast” on Thursday, despite the Supreme Court's earlier ruling that enabled the project to continue. The “Daegu Anti-Mosque Committee,” residents against a mosque in their neighborhood, said Monday they will hold a protest where they will consume boiled pork and beef soup. The town adjacent to Kyungpook National University became a hot spot for conflict after t

Social Affairs Jan. 31, 2023

“Making hanbok can be called ‘linking the past and the present,’” said Kim Ji-hu, a student of textile art at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage. Hanbok-making embodies knowledge and skills developed by people in the past, according to Kim. “I learn all processes of making hanbok at school, from weaving cloth to transforming it into garments,” Kim said. “The work begins with understanding the features of traditional textiles and clothes.

weekender Jan. 28, 2023

Herald Corp. staff photographer Park Hae-mook was awarded three consecutive grand prizes in the monthly news photo contest by the Korea Press Photographer’s Association on Thursday. The association announced the winners of the 238th, 239th and 240th monthly news photo contest. Park won for best portrait in October, November and December. The works by Park are “Korean dance harmonized with nature,” “Joseon era seonbi’s ‘hanryangmu’ as danced by millennial

People Jan. 26, 2023

South Koreans’ Seollal gift packages appear to have no limit on what they can contain. Gift packs full of spam, preserved tuna or soap are the most frequently exchanged. However, there are thousands of different Seollal gift sets. South Korean convenience store chain GS25 in December unveiled its Seollal gift catalog with more than 850 kinds of gift sets, which include a 9 million-won ($7,260) bottle of Le Pin wine while another includes a rabbit-carved gold medal for the coming year of th

Consumer Jan. 23, 2023

Seollal is one of Korea's two main holidays along with Chuseok. Both kick off a mass movement of people going to visit their hometowns. The race to return home involves people competing for bus, train and air tickets online, as well as at ticket booths. Just a few years ago, however, people lined up at train stations and bus terminals, with thousands queueing up for tickets. Some even camped outside, while thousands more braved the expressways in their cars. With the network of expressways

Social Affairs Jan. 21, 2023

AI SDGs Camp “AI X Moonshot 2023” was held on Wednesday, setting the stage for 120 students to compete with their ideas for achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals. “AI X Moonshot 2023” -- a program in the Ministry of Education's “Digital New Software, AI Camp” -- project took place at Interbulgo Hotel in Daegu with 200 attendees, the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) and Daegu National University of Education jointly announced on

People Jan. 18, 2023

A traditional wind player Hong Ji-hye attributes K-pop’s global popularity to its unique features handed over from Korea’s traditions. “At the bottom of the globally appreciated K-pop, there lie Korea’s unique music culture and customs, especially those with ‘Heung’ (joy and excitement),” the 32-year-old musician said. Hong is a member of the National Gugak Center, a state institution responsible for preserving and developing gugak, Korea’s traditi

weekender Jan. 14, 2023

The 48-day Korea Grand Sale 2023 kicked off on Thursday for foreign nationals who look to visit South Korea. Korea Grand Sale, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has taken place each year since 2011. The campaign aims at boosting the tourism industry during the winter season, when the lowest number of tourist visit South Korea. Dozens of companies including major airlines and hotel chains opened online booths with special advantages in four categories of “flight,&rdq

Travel Jan. 12, 2023

Murder suspect Lee Ki-young’s four pets have all been adopted, avoiding the alternative of euthanasia. All three cats and a dog left in Lee’s residence were sent to their new families, who had watched reports about the pets and applied for adoption, according to the Paju, Gyeonggi Province, city government and the Korea Animal Rescue and Management Association. The pets were rescued from Lee’s home in Paju on Dec. 29, three days after Lee was apprehended on suspicion of murderi

Social Affairs Jan. 10, 2023

1. Tough living conditions ① COVID cases The number of COVID-19 cases grew by 28.2 million this year due to the highly transmissible omicron subvariant. The figure was 635,253 on Jan. 1 but surged to 28.7 million at the end of this year. ② Inflation Fried chicken: 9.2% Gas: 36.2% Ramen: 12.6% Cooking oil: 43.3% (Nov. 2022, Year-on-year increase) South Korea has been no exception to global inflation, with “everything has risen except my salary” becoming a popular catchphrase. 2. U

Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2022

The coming year will see a number of changes ranging from minimum wages to university admissions fees. Each will have varying degrees of impact on day-to-day lives, below are some of the changes likely to have a direct effect on the lives of the individual. 1. Minimum wage increase The minimum hourly wage will rise by 460 won from Jan. 1 to 9,620 won ($7.60) an hour. Employees working eight hours, five days a week, will earn over 2 million won a month, including 346,000 won of holiday pay. 2.

Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2022

“I want to leave drawings that can be publicly praised by people in the present,” Kwak Seon-hye, majoring in traditional fine arts at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage said. Kwak studies Korea’s traditional Buddhist arts in college. She sees her role as a bridge between the past and future, underlining the importance of drawing beautiful and valuable works of the traditional genre. “As (ancestors’ present) became our tradition from the past, what we

weekender Dec. 31, 2022

The number of commuter buses between Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province is set to increase next year, adding about 4,000 more seats during rush hour. Seoul and Gyeonggi governments on Monday agreed on a plan to provide more buses during rush hour on 33 routes that link residential neighborhoods across Gyeonggi Province and Seoul’s business districts, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced. The move allocate 58 additional buses from 6-9 a.m. and 5-10 p.m. The

Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2022

“Sounds from machines and tools echo in this huge space. I feel comfortable listening to the sounds while working with the timbers here,” said traditional architecture students Kim Jun-ha and Kwon Seong-jun as they showed their workspace. Kim and Kwon are students at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, which specializes in training students in traditional crafts. With a plane and saw in hand, they are on their way to being masters of traditional Korean building constr

weekender Dec. 17, 2022

The Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. (KOMSCO) and BTS’ label Bit Hit Music jointly launched the K-pop band’s official 10th anniversary medal and began reservation on Friday. KOMSCO began taking pre-orders for the first edition of medals projected to be sent starting in March, KOMSCO announced. There are three types of gold medals and a single type of silver medal. A total of 10,000 gold medals are sold in 28-, 14- and 7-gram sizes to signify the 10th anniversary. There will

K-pop Dec. 16, 2022