Held just before the Lunar New Year holidays, the 2012 Korea Travel Expo will be offering special gift and travel ideas for visitors, the Korea Tourism Association said.Some 400 local government organizations, travel agencies and related groups are participating in the largest travel expo in Korea, held under the theme “Artistic Landscape of My Country” this year. The Jan. 12-15 event will be held at COEX in Samseong-dong, southeastern Seoul with the opening day broadcast live on TV. Aimed at dr

KAMAISHI, Japan ― A roll cake flavored with soy sauce made by a company with old roots in the city of Kamaishi has become a popular symbol of reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake in Iwate Prefecture and around the nation.The Shoyu Roll cake is a collaboration between soy sauce producer Fujiyu Jozo and semipublic company Kamaishi Shinko Kaihatsu.Before the March 11 disaster, the company sold local specialties at its Kamaishi Tokusanhinten shop in the city. One-fourth of the company

LOS ANGELES ― Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy are slated to design their first opera costumes for the Los Angeles Philharmonic production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in May, which will be staged by modernist director Christopher Alden.The pair will join a creative team that includes conductor Gustavo Dudamel and architect Frank Gehry, the latter doing the set design. The production will be a homecoming for the Los Angeles designers, who started their label in 2005 and have been recogniz

GREEN, Ohio ― Teaching grade-schoolers to speak Mandarin might not be difficult in Asia, but in America, the challenge is daunting. But the students in J.T. Kuzior’s Green, Ohio, Primary School third-grade classroom are doing just that, using a computer application that helps them learn the language.Thanks to a local businessman, the nearly 1,000 students at the school in grades 1-3 are getting foreign language instructions and lessons in other subjects twice each week using the latest technolog

Nine ancient sites for private Confucian academies in South Korea have been included in a temporary list of potential UNESCO World Heritage locations on Tuesday, the government said.The nine included Dosan Seowon and Byeongsan Seowon, private Korean Confucian academies offering instruction in the classics and honoring prominent scholars with regular memorial rites during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The two academies are located in Andong, 268 kilometers southeast of Seoul.Dosan Seowon was es

This year is the best time for shopaholics, K-pop fanatics and foodies to check out Korea, CNN’s travel and culture information site reported, selecting 12 topevents and projects lined up in 2012 to lure overseas travelers. With 2010-2012 designated as “Visit Korea Year,” the country is offering exclusive discounts and promotions designed to make Korea more attractive to tourists. The coupons, train ticket discounts of up to 30 percent, free shuttle buses and hotel deals “won’t wait around forev

Actress Song Hye-kyo has fully funded the publication of a new Korean handbook for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, according to a Korea promotion expert.Song, one of the most popular Korean actresses who also starred in U.S. indie-film “Fetish,” has decided to cover the cost for the production of a new guidebook to help Korean tourists who visit the world-renowned museum, Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyoung-duk said. Seo helped in creating the new booklet which has been on dis

The Royal Asiatic Society’s Korea Branch is holding a lecture on Park Ji-won’s short stories, especially how he uncovered the world of ordinary people on Jan. 17.Park Ji-won, a nobleman, was a powerful advocate of a more open society in the late 18th century. He wrote short stories about people in Korea’s lowest class, who created their own cultural space in Joseon’s rigid society, and suggested new prospects for the future.The lecturer will be Emanuel Pastreich, a professor of humanities at Kyu

Asian-American comedian Esther Ku will be performing in Seoul on Saturday.Ku works as a stand-up in the U.S. and was a finalist in the sixth season of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” She also sings comedic songs in which she juxtaposes adult themes against her cutesy image.This will be the only show on her visit. The show is at Orange Tree in Haebangchon and starts at 9:30 p.m. Entry is 7,000 won on the door. To get to Orange Tree, leave Noksapyeong Station Exit 2 and bear left up the hill after 30