South Korea will receive the spot light as the Country of Focus at the 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival, scheduled to take place May 10-14, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday. Founded in 1962, the literary festival is held every May in Brisbane, Australia. The Country of Focus program, initiated in 2022 with Aotearoa/New Zealand and Pasifika, celebrates a particular country or region within the Indo-Pacific region. Bora Chung, the author of “Cursed Bunny,” who w

Korean gardens have much to offer in terms of lessons for a greener future, says Korean-French duo behind project

Foreigners under the age of 19 can visit major royal palaces and tombs without paying admission fees starting next month, the cultural heritage authority said Wednesday. The Cultural Heritage Administration said it has recently revised its rules on visits to royal palaces and tombs to include free admission for foreign minors. The rules will come into force Saturday, it added. Currently, all foreigners are required to pay admission fees when they visit those sites, while admission is free for Ko

Noah Horowitz sees Seoul as another regional art hub in Asia

While some doubt the city's future as Asia's art hub, many more see no other Asian city replacing Hong Kong, for now

Despite prevalence of Christianity and Buddhism, indigenous shamanism lives on in everyday lives of Koreans

Publishing veteran says misguided efforts have slowed reach of Korean authors

A travel memoir, "The Korean Book of Happiness," by a New York-based literary agent who has represented big-name Korean writers such as Han Kang and Shin Kyung-sook overseas, hit the shelves on March 2, published by Short Books, an imprint of the Octopus Publishing Group. Barbara Zitwer shares her insights and experiences with Korea -- which boasts a flourishing culture while also upholding the ages-old principles of “han” (resilience) “heung” (joy) and “j

A committee set up in the aftermath of the death of cartoonist Lee Yoo-young, the original creator of hit cartoon and animation series “Black Rubber Shoes,” on Monday urged the fair treatment of creators. “It’s not the time to celebrate the popularity of K-culture. The most important thing is to protect the lives of creators and their self-esteem,” the committee said in a statement read during a press conference held at the National Assembly on Monday, adding th

Artist Oh Sea-young was a painter who strived to embody Korean aesthetics, which he interpreted in his own unique way. His paintings show how much he pushed himself as an artist during his life, based both in South Korea and the US. He constantly evolved his art throughout his career, creating large-scale paintings. Oh got much of his inspiration from Korean artifacts such as traditional earthenware and elements found in the national flag of Korea. His paintings -- for which he used acrylic,

College students look for cheap grub, parents reminisce about the good old days

In 2020, the traditional Korean music-inspired band Leenalchi took the nation by storm with its music for a series of tourism promotion music videos, “Feel the Rhythm of Korea,” created in collaboration with Ambiguous Dance Company and Korea Tourism Organization. The band has since also gained a global fanbase, completing an international tour last year. What most fans may not know, however, is that the band is named after Lee Nal-chi, a pansori master and "jultagi (tightrope wa

Arts Council Korea has appointed both the director and curator of a Danish art center as the artistic directors of the Korean Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition in 2024, the first-ever joint artistic directorship since the establishment of the Korean Pavilion in 1995. Jacob Fabricius, the artistic director of Art Hub Copenhagen, and curator Lee Seol-hui at Kunsthal Aarhus in Denmark will plan the Korean Pavilion around the theme, “Korean Scent Journey."

A kind of underground “refrigerator” which is believed to have been built in the Baekje Kingdom (18 BC to AD 660) has been unearthed at a site in Iksan, North Jeolla Province. The Cultural Heritage Administration announced Friday that it confirmed two low-temperature storage facilities made of stones at a construction site at Seodong Historical Park, at Geumma-myeon, Iksan-si. The two excavated units of similar sizes were located side by side. The facilities were both equipped with v

Some 120 books about Korea from the 1700s to the 1960s written by Westerners are on display for the first time at the Gallery Korea, Korean Cultural Center New York. Titled “The Wonder Unbound,” the exhibition is part of “Asia Week New York” celebrating Asian art in New York City, organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Asia Society. The books were selected from a collection of 1,350 books by Lee Seung-chul, an art professor at Dongduk Women’s University