The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that South Korea has become a signatory to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performance. Since the treaty deals with performers’ intellectual property rights, the ministry expects it to benefit celebrities leading the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, such as K-pop boy band BTS, show presenter Yoo Jae-suk and actress Jun Ji-hyun. The Beijing Treaty was adopted June 24, 2012, and will

Culture April 22, 2020

The sums that cinemas contribute every month to a fund to support local film will be reduced by 90 percent as part of a plan to assist theaters hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday. The number of moviegoers plunged to 1.83 million in March, the lowest for the month since the Korean Film Council began compiling box office data in 2004. Currently, movie theaters are required to contribute 3 percent of their ticket sales to the Korean Film

Film April 21, 2020

The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism announced Monday that it has resumed some of its Templestay programs. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, an affiliate of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, currently operates Templestay programs at 139 temples around the country. All its programs were suspended Feb. 24 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In line with the government’s social distancing guidelines, only Templestay programs for individual participants have reopened. Group programs rema

Culture April 20, 2020

The first work of Korean literature to be translated into English was “The Cloud Dream of the Nine” in 1922, translated by Canadian missionary James S. Gale. That was almost a century ago, but until recently Korean literature still did not get much exposure in the global market. “The markets in the US and UK are growing a lot for Korean books,” founder of the BJZ Agency Barbara J. Zitwer told The Korea Herald by email.  Based in New York City, the agency speciali

People April 19, 2020

The Korean Culture and Information Service on Friday posted “A Letter From Wonderland,” a video on South Korea’s response to COVID-19. “Foreign media are praising Korea’s success in battling the virus. To connect this image to the general image of Korea, we created this video, sharing our success stories and delivering a message to work together to move forward,” KOCIS official Park Byeong-gyu said in a statement. The clip can be watched on KOCIS’

Culture April 17, 2020

The Seoul run of the musical “The Phantom of the Opera,” which was suspended after its cast members were confirmed with COVID-19, will resume on April 23. On March 31, a Canadian ensemble cast member was confirmed with the virus infection. Two days later, her colleague, an American actor, also tested positive. The production initially decided to halt the musical shows until April 14 but delayed it further after the second infection. Before confirmed as having the coronavirus , t

Performance April 17, 2020

Last month, Baek Hee-na, a children‘s book author and renowned picture book artist, won the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest children’s literature prize, becoming the first Korean to do so. Many Korean children’s books, however, still have not received the global attention they deserve. “We do not concentrate much on assisting the children’s book genre yet,” a Literature Translation Institute of Korea official told The Korea H

People April 15, 2020

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism provided an update Tuesday on the progress of efforts to assist the tourism industry as it struggles to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since February, the ministry has announced 21 different plans to assist the tourism industry. The government said it tried to reflect the industry’s needs when drawing up the support programs. The ministry said it had received 78 suggestions from the industry and that 59 were reflected in its programs. &ldqu

Culture April 14, 2020

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Monday that it was taking part in UNESCO’s media campaign “#ShareOurHeritage.” The UNESCO campaign aims to promote world heritage to people who are unable to visit the sites due to the coronavirus pandemic. The international organization provides videos and information about world heritage sites around the world on its YouTube channel and on the website https://en.unesco.org/covid19/cultureresponse. “At this moment, 89

Culture April 14, 2020

  As the highly contagious COVID-19 continues its firm grip on the country, Christian churches found creative ways to celebrate Easter, considered a time of renewal and rebirth by the faithful. While some Protestant megachurches held their Easter services online, others convened offline to mark the special day on the Christian calendar. Saemoonan Presbyterian Church in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the oldest Presbyterian church in the country, was one of those churches that held Easter services both

Culture April 12, 2020

Literature Translation Institute of Korea on Thursday announced that it will start a program to foster professional translators of Korean cultural content. The 12-week program will teach how to translate Korean movies and webtoons into English, Spanish and Vietnamese. The classes will begin on June 15 and around 10 students for each language will be selected. Anyone who has a bachelor’s degree with official language test scores can apply for the program. LTI Korea will accept applica

Culture April 9, 2020

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Wednesday announced that it has created material about the site of Wolseong, also known as Moon Palace, in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in three foreign languages -- English, Chinese, Japanese. Wolseong was a royal dwelling of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935), and stood until the kingdom collapsed. An archaeological dig by the CHA in 2017 led to the discovery of bones of two people under the west walls of Wolseong Palace, suggesting that the

Culture April 9, 2020

Local churches laid out their plans for Easter this coming Sunday after the government announced Saturday that it was extending its social distancing campaign for another two weeks. Initially, South Korean churches hoped they could normalize their activities this Monday, the day after Palm Sunday. Holy Week, the week preceding Easter, is a meaningful time in the church calendar. Nonetheless, due to COVID-19, most of Korea’s Protestant megachurches have decided to hold their Easter serv

Culture April 7, 2020

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Monday that its affiliated institutions -- museums, art galleries, libraries and performance venues -- will remain closed until April 19. The Culture Ministry’s announcement follows the government’s announcement on Saturday that it was extending its social distancing campaign for another two weeks. The campaign was originally scheduled to end Sunday, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare extended it to April 19 in an effort

Culture April 6, 2020

Critical comments online are accumulating after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc proposed bilateral cooperation to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic with President Moon Jae-in on Friday. In phone talks with Moon, Phuc proposed coordination in efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Vietnamese leader told Moon that South Korea’s diagnostic testing on the coronavirus is drawing global attention as a model, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Phuc also

Foreign Affairs April 4, 2020