Two state-designated national treasures failed to sell at an auction held Thursday in Seoul, after South Korea’s oldest private museum sparked controversy for putting the national treasures up for auction. The two artifacts were the first national treasures to be put on the block in the country. National Treasure No. 73, Portable Shrine of Gilt-bronze Buddha Triad, and National Treasure No. 72, Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of Gyemi Year, were put up for auction at

Standing face-to-face with Hollywood stars and well-known politicians may be a lifelong dream to some. Those wishes may be partially achieved when in Jeju. The Movieland Wax Museum, which has on display some 150 wax dolls that resemble global celebrities and beloved animated characters, opened in Jeju Island’s Jungmun Tourist Complex, Jan. 6. The MWM, the oldest and largest wax museum, opened in Buena Park, California, in 1962. During its four decades of operation before shutting down in

Memorializing Korea’s disappearing mom-and-pop shops gives artist courage to carry on and grow old

24-hour unstaffed instant noodle stores and vending machines excite solo diners

YouTuber’s lies about owning luxury products, ensuing criticism offers hints at understanding high interest toward videos boasting wealth

Self-assessment of one‘s attractive qualities is a critical step to becoming a successful influencer, according to Ryo Chu-hyeop, a 36-year old YouTuber and South Korea’s first professor of “influencer affairs.” In order to make other people follow you online, aspiring influencers need to ruminate on their own ideas and thoughts and what kind of attributes they have to attract others. “Attractiveness does not necessarily mean (physical) beauty. It can be somet

The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture unveiled plans to build a stronger support system for artists impacted by the lingering pandemic. Under this year’s slogan, “Together with art, standing beside citizens,” the SFAC announced its three top items on the agenda and 10 action plans of the year at a press conference at the SFAC Daehangno Center, Wednesday. The three items call for diversifying support policies for artists, vitalizing cultural programs for Seoul residents a

The museum will not require vaccine certification after the government eased rules for museums

Young adults of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states picked South Korea as the most trustworthy country among all of the countries around the globe, a survey showed Tuesday. The ASEAN-Korea Centre conducted the survey of 1,800 young people in nine ASEAN nations, excluding Myanmar, 500 young people from 10 ASEAN countries living in South Korea and 100 Korean young people between August and September of last year. The participants were between the ages of 19 and 34.

LTI Korea expands its scope to translating all Korean-language content, not just literature

Seoul Museum of Art –- an art museum operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government –- will focus on integration in operating its eight art entities scattered across Seoul, as it looks forward to expand to 10 by 2024 with the opening of three additional art entities. They are: Art Archives Seoul Museum of Art, Seo-Seoul Museum of Art and Seoul Museum of Photography. Art Archives Seoul Museum of Art will open in August in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. It will hold and manage the museum

South Korean contents enjoyed robust demand overseas in 2020, defying the overall decline in exports and tepid growth in the domestic market, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism data showed on Monday. A 2021 research study on the cultural content industry which encompasses 11 sub-areas showed that the exports in 2020 jumped 16.3 percent to $11.92 billion from the previous year. “Exports of cultural contents have been setting a new record each year, but this time it is worth n

Hunminjeongeum exhibition opens at National Hangeul Museum

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has started a test run for “The More, The Better,” the largest installation work by video art pioneer Paik Nam-june after it initiated a restoration project in 2019. The national museum has finished the overall restoration work and began the test run on Jan. 17, which will continue for six months. Comprising 1,003 picture tube monitors, the video tower was installed in 1988 at MMCA Gwacheon, becoming the world’s larg

Queens of the Joseon era (1392-1910) had an average life span of 51 years and were outlived by royal concubines by an average six years, a new study has found. According to Lee Mi-seon, a researcher at the Academy of Korean Studies, queens lived longer than kings, whose average life span has been estimated to be 47 by other scholars. Compared to women from the noble class of that era, who lived to 45 on average, the queens also had a considerably longer life. But they were outlived by the