Three writers -- Sylvie Germain from France, Amitav Ghosh from India and John Banville from Ireland -- have been nominated for the 13th Pak Kyongni Prize, according to the award’s organizer, Toji Cultural Foundation, on Wednesday. The judging committee conducted a review of writers from around the world over eight months starting in October last year and narrowed down this year's candidates to three. Germain debuted with "The Book of Nights" (1985) to great acclaim, winning

'Lovely Runner' star Byeon Woo-seok’s moment has come as Ko anticipated

South Korea’s landscape architect Jung Young-sun is a pioneer -- she spent half a century exploring landscape practice since the 1970s, when the country's focus was still on rapid economic and industrial recovery from the Korean War. The debut retrospective exhibition by Korea's first female landscape architect at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea titled “Jung Youngsun: For All That Breathes On Earth” shows 60 projects through 500 archival mate

Go Joon-hee once again expressed feelings of unfairness and denied involvement in the Burning Sun scandal that resurfaced after the BBC released a related documentary on May 19. The actor, known for her roles in 2015 film "Intimate Enemies" and 2019 thriller TV series "Possessed," on Tuesday appeared as a guest on the YouTube show “Don’t Forget Your Breakfast,” where she said, “I don’t even know where Burning Sun is at and I have never been the

Jin of K-pop phenomenon BTS was discharged from his one year and six months of military service, Hybe said, Wednesday. Other BTS members took time off to go meet and congratulate Jin at the Recruit Training Battalion of the Army 5th Infantry Division in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province. All BTS members except Suga were there to welcome Jin's return to civilian life in Yeoncheon, with RM, J-Hope, V, Jungkook and Jimin greeting him warmly. RM, serving in the military band, performed the group&rsq

The sequel to the bestselling therapy memoir "I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki" hit the shelves in the UK last week, on June 6, with a US release slated for August. Titled "I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki," the new volume continues the raw and honest conversations between essayist Baek Se-hee and her psychiatrist. International Booker Prize- shortlisted Anton Hur translated the text. Building on the first book, which captured readers with its candid

Making Korean traditions more relatable and accessible to children is what the National Folk Museum of Korea plans to do this year, the new director of the state-run museum said Wednesday. Jang Sang-hoon, the NFMK director, said in the second half of the year, special exhibitions will take place on “kkokdu,” the traditional Korean wooden figurines used on biers, and on coffee, a drink that marks 140 years of use in Korea this year. “We intend to have those exhibitions explore s

A free-standing colorful column on display outside the Perrotin Gallery in Seoul may appear to be a stack of shells, but it is a pile of vinyl records that serves as Berlin-based artist Gregor Hildebrandt's new work. The columns of painted vinyl records, which Hildebrandt has long used as a signature material, are stacked on top of each other as an homage to the great classic of modern sculpture, “Endless Column” by Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957). The colors he painted the reco

Music in PyeongChang, an annual music festival held in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, will take place under the theme of "Ludwig!" from July 24 to Aug. 3, the festival's artistic director, Yang Sung-won, announced Tuesday. Expressing his goal to create a program that can have the last impact on young visitors as the fourth artistic director of the 21-year-old festival, Yang said that this year the music festival aims to offer a "spiritual link" to Beethoven, by showc

The signature Buddhist temple from the Baekje Kingdom (18 BC to 660 AD) used split stones for column bases, the Buyeo National Cultural Heritage Research Institute said Tuesday, citing its latest find. This contradicts previous findings on Baekje Kingdom temple construction, which had thought that only soil bases were used for columns. The state-run think tank said its monthslong excavations at Geumdang, the central hall at the Mireuksa temple complex in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, revealed th

South Korean inbound tourism service platform Creatrip has launched the “Seongsu Pass” online voucher for foreign travelers eager to explore the trendy area of Seongsu-dong in eastern Seoul. Seongsu-dong is one of the three beloved travel destinations in the capital among travelers, behind only shopping district Myeong-dong and nightlife district Hongdae, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. The Seongsu Pass, launched earlier this month, offers foreign tourists the opportunit

Three members of the popular K-pop group EXO -- Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin -- claimed Monday their agency SM Entertainment is making an "unfair" demand over revenue from their individual activities, reigniting their conflict with the K-pop powerhouse after a year. They alleged that the agency is unjustly demanding a 10 percent royalty from revenue of their individual activities without fulfilling its end of a behind-the-scenes deal made to resolve the conflict in June last year. During

VENICE, Italy -- Qatar Museums and the municipality of Venice have agreed to strengthen collaboration in cultural and socioeconomic fields during the Venice Biennale 2024, where Qatar Museums unveiled its first major exhibition in the floating city. The protocol of cooperation between the two entities was announced Friday, coinciding with the 60th Venice Biennale that opened April 20 and runs through Nov. 24 under the theme of "Foreigners Everywhere." Qatar Museums, the country'

It had been a bunker for 21 years beginning in 1962, then served as museum storage. It took another 22 years for the National Palace Museum of Korea to claim the 19-room storage space in the heart of Seoul in 2005. The underground facility beneath Gyeongbokgung, the main palace from the Joseon era (1392-1910), has in place highly sophisticated conservation technologies as well as strict protocols for entry, an NPMK official said during a media tour Wednesday, as reporters put on masks and covere

Binary Korea, a subsidiary of K-pop powerhouse Hybe, will officially launch the country’s first creator fandom platform, “Theus,” on June 22, the company said Monday. Theus aims to be the "one and only playground where creators and fandom gather," providing an environment for creators to communicate with fans actively. Dedicated "spaces" are available for each creator, allowing them to upload their content, interact with fans and conduct various events to