Five years after a blacklist of cultural figures drawn up by previous administrations was first revealed, efforts to recover from the scandal and prevent a repeat are still ongoing, the minister of culture, sports and tourism said on Thursday. Culture Minister Hwang Hee named a legislation that guarantees status and rights of artists, which is expected to take effect in September, as the biggest accomplishment. Out of the 85 subtasks that had been set, 62 have been completed while the rest ar

The official campaigning period for the upcoming presidential election kicked off Tuesday, with most candidates heading to traditional markets on the first day. One of the pledges made at these stumps over the past several elections has been revitalization of traditional markets, a pledge clearly aimed at the merchants. Before the onslaught of mass retailers, traditional markets were crowded day and night, humming with vibrant energy. Today, many neighborhood taditional markets struggle to su

The organizing committee of international art fair Kiaf Seoul has appointed Koo Ja-yeol, also known as Christopher Koo, as its new chairman. He succeeds Bahk Byong-won, who has led the committee since 2013. Koo, who is also chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, will oversee the direction of the committee and take charge of public activities, including building relationships with enterprises, according to Kiaf Seoul. Koo was appointed chairman of KITA in February 2021 for a th

When Ha Chong-hyun appeared at the press conference for his solo exhibition at Kukje Gallery on Tuesday, the 86-year-old artist evidenced the longevity of his distinct artistic style, some 50 years after he debuted his signature painting series “Conjunction. When unveiling his “Post-Conjunction” series at the solo exhibition, the leading Korean contemporary artist recommitted to his “war against oil paints and burlap canvas.” This “war” began in the

The first official chairman of the Asia Culture Center finally took office on Tuesday after years of an interim head system. Lee Kang-hyun became the first chair to lead the organization for the next three years. Previously, ACC was run by several interim heads since it was launched in 2015 as its previous five attempts failed to find a qualified person. ACC, located in the old center of the southwestern city of Gwangju, is a multicultural complex backed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports an

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Creative Content Agency held “Concept Korea NY 2022 F/W” online Wednesday, as part of programs scheduled for New York Fashion Week to promote emerging Korean designers overseas. The Culture Ministry and KOCCA launched Concept Korea in 2010 in tandem with New York Fashion Week. It provides an opportunity to show local brands’ collections at NYFW every season. The latest edition introduced three brands -- Nohant, Ul:kin and

First time travels are hard even for avid travelers. Regardless of the amount of time spent planning itineraries on local accommodations and food, spontaneous difficulties arise from the moment one arrives as a stranger to the city. To relieve solo visitors of some of their burden, particularly female travelers, an online guide book introducing the city’s major attractions was launched by the Busan Tourism Organization on Tuesday. The three-month project to produce “The Busan Guid

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Strongly believing that visual art has power to influence the human condition, UK-based interdisciplinary artist Hong Young-in has been exploring ways to contribute to the society as an artist. The exhibition “Young In Hong: We Where” at PKM Gallery is Hong’s first solo show after presenting her work at the 2019 Korea Artist Prize organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Born in 1972, Hong studied at Seoul National University and Goldsmiths Co

Korean cultural contents, led by the rise of K-pop and K-dramas, continued to gain global popularity in the past year, a survey showed on Monday. An annual report jointly released by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, revealed consumption of Korean cultural contents rose in all categories -- beauty, drama, fashion, entertainment show, game, animation, publication -- in 2021. Some 61.1 percent of all respondents who said

Living in a foreign country, finding hidden cultural gems is not easy and in these pandemic times, such discoveries are even rarer. But Cristina Clisson, 50, felt the charms and beauty of Korean handicrafts the moment she set her eyes on Insa-dong, an old Seoul neighborhood known for its alleys of craft galleries and art shops. In 2017, two years after her arrival, Clisson co-founded Les Francaises Consulting company with a colleague, to promote and support independent Korean craft designers

Gallery Hyundai, a major commercial art gallery in South Korea, plans to launch a non-fungible token-based art platform called ETNAH, that will feature digital works by renowned domestic and overseas artists. ETNAH will have a three-month test run starting May and be officially launched in August. Do Hyung-teh, president of the gallery, has formed AIT as a startup to launch the NFT art platform in collaboration with Andrew Ku, CEO of ALTAVA Group -- an IT company based in Seoul and Singapore

High-end European fashion brands have opened stores serving food and beverages to satiate Korean consumers‘ voracious appetites for luxury goods and fine dining experiences. Swiss watchmaker Breitling opened its largest boutique to date in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, earlier this month. The opening has accelerated the brand’s move into new offerings that go beyond its core watchmaking business, according to Breitling Korea officials. While Hannam-dong is known as a trendy distric

  The Seoul Museum of Craft Art located in Jongno-gu, central Seoul is a special space where people can enjoy all kinds of crafts from the past to the present. Opened last year, the Seoul Museum of Craft Art has more than 23, 257 craft artworks and related data.   The new museum is built on the former Poongmoon Girls‘ High School site. This location is special because it is where the house of King Sejong’s son Prince Yeongeung was located and the place where King Sejong

Long before the Upper Paleolithic Period, the late Stone Age, during which our immediate ancestors the Homo sapiens inhabited the Korean Peninsula, there were ancient Hominin, a group consisting of extinct human species and all our immediate ancestors who lived in Korea. The Stone Age all over the world was characterized by the use of rudimentary chipped stone tools, of which an abundant variety are found in Korea. When an Acheulean-like handaxe, a Paleolithic period tool, which was the cutti