Royal Tomb of King Sejong will partially open in May to the public, two years after restoration, the Cultural Heritage Administration, in charge of the tomb management, said Friday. The tomb, located in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, was built for the Joseon era’s fourth King Sejong and Queen Soheon. Entrance to the historic site was temporarily shut down since November 2017 for restoration.  Although visitors are allowed to tour the royal tomb, other historic sites near the tomb, incl

Gallery Hyundai, one of the representative commercial art galleries in Korea, is holding a special exhibition to commemorate its 50th anniversary, showcasing major works of art once displayed at the gallery over the past half century. The special exhibition runs in two phases for three months at the gallery located in Jongno, central Seoul. The first part, unveiled through an online preview on the gallery’s website, will run until May 31 and features some 70 masterpieces by 40 contempor

Catholic churches in Seoul on Thursday held their first Masses in about two months as South Korea is preparing to go back to normal, months after the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Some 150 people participated in a Mass held at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul starting at 10 a.m. Wearing face masks, they sat at intervals of one or two meters. It was one of the first Catholic services held since the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul, the biggest in South Korea with 1.52 million followers,

After a 3-1 victory against DragonX on Wednesday, T1 has punched its way to the LCK finals to play against GenG on Saturday, marking the two teams’ first clash in the domestic finals in seven years. While the playoffs were conducted online, the LCK 2020 Spring Finals best-of-five will see T1 and GenG battling for the prize money of 100 million won ($81,000) at LoL Park in Jongno, central Seoul, starting at 5 p.m. Saturday. The teams will be playing to an otherwise empty venue, with no au

Runners were present on the tracks along the Han River on Tuesday despite the strong wind and the coronavirus pandemic. Since spring arrived last week, hundreds of runners have filled Han River Park. Running crews at the park mostly consist of people in their late 20s to mid-30s who must apply to join, but some crews are open to anyone. Members gather two to three evenings a week to run together, but many running crews took a winter break -- one that was prolonged this year with the spread of

S. Korea to reopen economy in phases

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that South Korea has become a signatory to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performance. Since the treaty deals with performers’ intellectual property rights, the ministry expects it to benefit celebrities leading the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, such as K-pop boy band BTS, show presenter Yoo Jae-suk and actress Jun Ji-hyun. The Beijing Treaty was adopted June 24, 2012, and will

South Korea’s youngest patient, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 8 at just 27 days old, had higher viral loads for a longer period of time than her mother despite being exposed to an identical infection source at around the same time, medical staff said Tuesday. SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus responsible for COVID-19 -- was detected in all of the baby’s samples including blood, urine, stool and saliva, according to pediatrician Dr. Han Mi-seon of the Boramae Medical Center in sout

The English Premier League’s Son Heung-min and a number of national team athletes are working with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to provide exercises that people can do at home. The “Week of Sports,” which falls on the last week of April, will be marked online this year due to the spread of COVID-19. In honor of the Week of Sports, Son Heung-min shared simple exercises to do at home using a soccer ball that can be viewed online at the National fitness Award (nf

The South Korean religious community is set to resume public meetings and services that have been on hold for nearly two months due to the novel coronavirus, after social distancing guidelines were eased. The government earlier said it will extend social distancing for two more weeks, but it has partially eased the rules, conditionally allowing churches, bars, gyms and cram schools to resume operations. The decision came as South Korea's new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases have remained under

The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism announced Monday that it has resumed some of its Templestay programs. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, an affiliate of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, currently operates Templestay programs at 139 temples around the country. All its programs were suspended Feb. 24 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In line with the government’s social distancing guidelines, only Templestay programs for individual participants have reopened. Group programs rema

South Korea's state-run art and history museums, libraries and national theaters will continue to remain closed despite a recent drop in new COVID-19 cases, the culture ministry said Monday. A day earlier, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announced the government will partly soften its social distancing guidelines, conditionally allowing churches, bars, gyms and cram schools to resume business. The decision came as South Korea's new daily confirmed coronavirus cases have remained under 20 for

From crystals to vivid patterns, sweet-toothed sculptor hopes donut designs that helped him overcome his limitations encourage those daunted by COVID-19

South Korea reported over the weekend the first case of a heart disease linked to novel coronavirus infection, suggesting the virus most commonly known to cause respiratory distress may have a wider spectrum of complications. In Daegu, Korea’s worst affected city with 64 percent of the total virus tally, a 21-year-old woman without preexisting medical conditions suffered an acute myocarditis from COVID-19. The young patient initially exhibited typical symptoms of the virus including a c

The first work of Korean literature to be translated into English was “The Cloud Dream of the Nine” in 1922, translated by Canadian missionary James S. Gale. That was almost a century ago, but until recently Korean literature still did not get much exposure in the global market. “The markets in the US and UK are growing a lot for Korean books,” founder of the BJZ Agency Barbara J. Zitwer told The Korea Herald by email.  Based in New York City, the agency speciali