The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday said that it has appointed pianist and professor Chang Hyoung-joon as the new president of the Seoul Arts Center. Starting Friday, Chang will lead the country’s top art complex for the next three years. Born in 1962, Chang received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. He has been teaching piano at Seoul National University since 1995. He has collaborated with world-reno

An 8th-century gold leaf artifact from the Unified Silla Period found at the Na Zone of the Gyeongju Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, was unveiled by the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Culture Heritage, Thursday.  Discovered in November 2016, the artifact is an example of the finest metal craftsmanship of that time, with engraved bird and flower patterns carved at a thickness of 0.05 millimeters, thinner than a strand of human hair.  The artifact is available for public viewi

Pediatric psychiatrist says Korean parents make child-rearing into too much hard work

The nonverbal show “Nanta” is returning after two and a half painful years of hiatus, according to Song Seung-hwan, the creator of the long-running hit on Tuesday. “After 22 years of a great run, we surrendered to the impact of COVID-19. But we‘re coming back this summer,” Song, CEO & artistic director of PMC Production. “Nanta” will be back on stage in July in South Korea at the exclusive Nanta Theaters in Myeongdong in Seoul and Jeju. Song s

South Korean musician G-Dragon and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo are among the celebrities and artists from diverse genres featured on the second season of Chanel’s arts and culture podcast “Chanel Connects.” Moderated by model Park Soo-joo, one of the ambassadors for the fashion house, the episode titled “The Power of Sound and Vision” was the first-ever Korean language podcast for ”Chanel Connects.“ In the episode, G-Dragon and Hong talked about wh

With aims to rediscover the value of the country‘s cultural heritage amid the soaring popularity of K-content around the world, the 2022 Visit Korean Heritage Campaign kicked off on Tuesday with a press conference held at Cheong Wa Dae’s Yeongbingwan, central Seoul. Marking the campaign‘s third year, the Cultural Heritage Administration and Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation jointly introduced 10 routes that go through 75 destinations, which center around UNESCO World Heritag

An annual government-led campaign to lure more local and foreign tourists to Korean cultural heritage sites will return this month, with the former presidential complex of Cheong Wa Dae included in the popular heritage sites recommended for tourists, organizers said Tuesday. The Cultural Heritage Administration and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation have held the Visit Korean Heritage campaign since 2020 as the global boom of Korean pop music, films and TV dramas raises worldwide interest in

Details of presidential office’s art holdings to be published this year, exhibition under discussion

South Korean online webtoon service providers have launched their European operations in France as a test bed to target the European content market, industry data showed Monday. Naver Webtoon, an online platform for digital comics run by Korea's leading portal operator Naver, in March announced its plan to establish its European unit, Webtoon EU, in France within the first half. The company had started its French-language service in 2019, as well as Spanish in the same year and German in 20

The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories -- a Korea Herald series exploring subway stations and their surrounding areas across the city. – Ed Step out of Exit No. 12 at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station on the Seoul subway and turn left at the second corner, and you will yourself surrounded by the Cyrillic alphabet. The area is commonly known as the Gwanghui-dong Central Asia Street, with scores of shops run by Russians, Uzbeks and Mongolians. The street is one of the

Media artist argues terms ‘interactive art,’ 'artificial intelligence’ abused

As part of efforts to introduce a well-known Korean folk song to global audiences, a competition on “Miryang Arirang” is being organized by Miryang City and the Miryang Cultural Foundation. “Miryang Arirang” is one of the three major versions of “Arirang,” along with “Jeongseon Arirang” and “Jindo Arirang.” Although the date of its creation is unknown, records show that “Miryang Arirang” was sung at marches by independenc

One of the summertime dining staples in Korea is buckwheat noodles. Even when the scorching weather makes one easily lose their appetite, it is hard to resist the slurpable noodles that can be served either hot or cold. Known for their unique grainy texture, buckwheat noodle lovers seek those that are made entirely out of buckwheat. In Korea, such buckwheat noodles are recorded in the 17th-century cookbook “Eumsik dimibang.” The book defines buckwheat noodles as food shared by t

The Ven. Yeogeo entered monastic life 21 years ago at age 31, relatively late to become a nun in Korea. Thanks to her Buddhist parents, she had become familiar with temples at a young age. When she turned 19, she visited the temple Yongjusa in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, and decided to renounce secular life then. She became an enthusiastic member of Yongjusa’s Young Buddhist Association and began studying Buddhism in earnest. Memorizing sutras written in Chinese characters and understan

Some of the most powerful forces in nature are volcanoes and the hot molten lava which flows from the Earth’s mantle, often hundreds of kilometers deep underground. The Earth’s inner core is almost as hot as the surface of the sun at an estimated temperature of nearly 5,500 degrees Celsius. The hot molten lava, known as magma, bursts out of the Earth’s surface from time to time. The openings where such eruptions occur are called volcanos. As the molten lava snails around the