Buddhist Jogye Order celebrates 10th anniversary of successful Templestay program

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Media mogul Rupert Murdoch said Wednesday that News Corp. would donate $1 million to help victims of superstorm Sandy in New York and New Jersey, and urged other firms to follow suit.“Newscorp. giving $1million to help families in NY and NJ badly hurt by Sandy. Hope other companies will do same,” Murdoch wrote on Twitter.The devastating storm left more than 50 Americans dead and millions of people along the U.S. East Coast without power. New York City and neighboring New Jersey

The Korea Tourism Organization unveiled a Korea tourism campaign on the world famous Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the U.S. The KTO installed a billboard advertisement on the exterior of Hollywood & Highland Center, a popular shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Wednesday that will be up for four months until Feb. 19. The KTO expects the billboard advertisement to raise the profile of Korea as a travel destination and to fully utilize the exposure to the mass international au

Notorious serial killer “Jack the Ripper,” who terrorized the streets of London in 1888, was a surgeon from Essex called Stephen Herbert Appleford, claims a statistics professor in Uruguay. In an essay called “Travelling through time to trap Jack the Ripper,” Professor Eduardo Cuitino at the University ORT in Montevideo said for the past two years he analyzed data related to Doctor Appleford and found clues linking the surgeon to the killer.According to the profile provided by Cuitino, Appleford

Nami Island, the small half-moon-shaped island in Chuncheon, is rising as one of the must-visit tourist destinations in Korea, attracting more than 500,000 foreign tourists so far this year. The island officials expect the number will reach over 600,000 by the end of the year. The number of foreign and Korean visitors is expected to be 2.5 million. “It’s the number of foreign visitors who come on group tours, and does not include the visitors who come individually,” said Minn Kyung-hyuk, executi

The Vienna Boys Choir, dubbed, “The harmony from heaven,” performed at Seoul National University Hospital in northern Seoul on Monday to raise the spirits of young patients battling illnesses. The choir sang, “O, Fortuna” by Karl Orff, “Eljen A Magyar” by Johann Strauss, and “Oh Happy Day!” with about 100 patients and their parents in attendance. The event was held after the sponsors of the hospital requested the world-class choir’s visit to cheer the children. This is the first time the choir h

Monk promotes temple food to the world

Making new friends is always exciting, especially if they share your interests and understand the hurdles of what you do.Two writers, one from Korea and the other from Thailand, meet for the first time during a literary event in Korea and shared their thoughts about each others’ work. Thai writer Uthis Haemamool and Korean writer Yun I-hyeong are among the 20 writers participating in this year’s Seoul International Writers’ Festival. The literary bash, which also serves as a networking event amo

Top chefs drawn to pickled extract with 120 ingredients at Savor Korea event

Descendants of the ancient Mayan royal family invited the South Korean ambassador to Guatemala to the “Doomsday” commemorative event slated for Dec. 21.The Korean Embassy in Guatemala said on Tuesday that nine descendents of the ancient Mayan royal family living in Chichicastenango, located 140 km northwest from the capital of Guatemala, visited the embassy on Oct. 17. During the visit, the descendants asked the Korean ambassador Chu Yeon-gon to attend the commemoration ceremony on Dec. 21, whic

CHICAGO (Yonhap News) ― Iowa became the 12th U.S. state Tuesday to sign a driver’s license reciprocity agreement with South Korea.The agreement, effective immediately, allows South Korean citizens over 18 to exchange their valid noncommercial South Korean driver’s license for an Iowa noncommercial driver’s license without a knowledge or road test.Iowa drivers will be able to exchange their Iowa driver’s license for a South Korean driver’s license.The deal was signed by Huh Chul, South Korean con

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was recently interviewed by Arirang TV president Sohn Jie-ae about the violation of the U.N.-backed cease-fire in Syria. In a one-on-one interview at the Shilla Seoul on Tuesday, Ban discussed his strong disapproval of using military force in dealing with the human rights crisis in Syria.  “I am appalled and outraged by the fact that the recent call for a cease-fire has been ignored and violated by both sides. There is no military solution. I condemn

Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan left an army training center Wednesday after completing four weeks of basic training.With the completion of boot camp, he met his active military service requirement. Related laws exempt Olympic medalists from full military service, requiring them only to undergo four weeks of basic training.The 23-year-old is the first Asian swimmer to win a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle. “I will try to show to my fans that I am further grown up through military t

 Actress Kim Yoo-jung walked the runway wearing a delicately decorated dress made of chocolate during a fashion show at the inauguration of the annual Salon du Chocolat in Paris on Tuesday.For the show, fashion designers and chocolatiers combined their creativity to design unique pieces of art including life-sized chocolate dresses such as a magnificently detailed milk chocolate robe that Kim wore for the closing stage.Stephane Bonnat, a chocolatier who created the dress in collaboration with de