More service and sales workers in South Korea smoke than those in other job groups, a report said Thursday, suggesting occupation-specific measures should be taken to encourage people to kick the habit.The smoking rate of male service and sales workers aged 19-34 was 62.6 percent, topping that of people in other job groups, according to the report by Prof. Kim Seong-ryeol of Soonchunhyang University. The report is based on a survey of 9,283 people aged 19 years or older throughout the country.Th

A rural Chinese couple desperate to provide quality education for their son moved to Guangzhou, and has taken residence in a public bathroom due to expensive living costs.According to news reports, Liao Xiaoming and his wife Wang Xuanna decided to abandon their country life in 2004 so their only child could go to a better school. The pair became public toilet cleaners, which provided them free tuition for their son.The life in the big city, however, had proven to be too much for their meager inc

Following is part of a series on Seoul’s hottest bars and clubs. ― Ed. Hip-hop is a trend, culture and generation reminiscent of baggy pants, XXL shirts, rap music and spray paint on walls in the ’80s and ’90s. Fast-forward to the 21st century and now hip-hop music is considered much like heavy metal or punk rock, which bloomed in one generation but are now a thing for a small group of loyal fans. The current trend among party lovers in Seoul seems to be house and electronic music ― a genre that

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) ― From Mexico’s Maya Riviera to ancient sites in Guatemala, the region foresees a tourism bonanza from the fateful Dec. 21 date in the Mayan calendar, but indigenous groups are fed up with the doomsday myth.With one month to go before the end of the calendar’s 5,200-year cycle, tourists will find all-inclusive excursions and religious ceremonies in holy sites across Central America and Mexico.It is also a chance to celebrate the contributions of the Mayan civilization to man

Blended tea beverages reaching new heights

Controversies are mounting over the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, whose opening, which had been scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed indefinitely. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday said that the opening of the museum highlighting the past, present and future of the Republic of Korea has been officially postponed till “all things are rendered.” “There have been minor glitches ― the height of the exhibition desks was too high, the air conditioning was

French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, widely hailed as the guardian of modern piano compositions, will be performing for the first time in Korea at LG Arts Center in southern Seoul at 5 p.m. on Sunday.A master of Gyrgy Ligeti, a well-known composer who was Aimard’s teacher, he is expected to woo his Korean audience into the world of modern music with his transparent and honest approach. His program is filled with contemporary classical music: It includes Heinz Holliger’s “Elis: 3 Nocturnes for P

Challenges and opportunities ahead for government plan to attract 20 million inbound travelers by 2020

GENEVA (AFP) ― Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been appointed an ambassador of the U.N. program on HIV and AIDS and has been tasked with fighting discrimination against people living with the disease, the agency said Tuesday.“It is a great honor to be chosen as a champion for people who live on the fringes of society and struggle every day to maintain their dignity and basic human rights,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in a statement.“I would like to be the voice of the voicele

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday announced the appointment of Park Young-ju, chairman of Eagon Industrial, as chairman of the board of Seoul Arts Center. His term expires in February 2015. Park has played a leading role in nurturing the arts in Korea, having served as the president of the Korea Business Council for the Arts and mecenat for the National Museum of Contemporary Arts. He has been holding Eagon concerts for free for over two decades and received Montblanc de la

The Korean word of “arirang,” a well-known Korean folk song, was advertised on the front page of the European edition of the Wall Street Journal.“Arirang” was published in the Nov. 21 issue of the economic daily. It is the fifth Korean expression advertised in the newspaper by Seo Kyoung-duk, a Sungshin Women’s University professor who is famous for publicizing Korea abroad. The four other Korean words or expressions were “Dokdo,” “How are you?,” “Thank you” and “East Sea.”In an effort to public

You could not have asked for a more dramatic ending to a wedding.A wedding ceremony held recently in Berkshire, England, finished off with the bridegroom being dragged off by police, as the whole marriage turned out to be a sham, local media reported Monday.The U.K. Border Agency raided the ceremony on a tipoff that the 40-year-old Pakistani groom was staying in the country illegally, and his marriage to a 33-year-old Polish woman may be fraudulent. It has been reported the supposed couple neede

Round-the-clock cable network MBN enjoyed the highest viewer ratings among the four general-programming channels that have been in operation since Dec. 1 last year.According to the AGB Nielsen Media Research’s study on paid-television subscribers from Dec. 1 last year to Nov. 18, MBN marked an average viewer rating of 0.643 percent, followed by jTBC’s 0.565 percent and Channel A’s 0.552 percent. TV Chosun marked the lowest with 0.432 percent. MBN, formerly a 24-hour business news channel run by