Before earning the name Wannabe Linda, the body stylist, and being tapped by Adidas Women as its ambassador last year, Linda Shin was a typical office worker whose life was swamped with work and daily stress. And just like any other women in her mid-20s, Linda started working out in a small gym with the goal of losing weight and most importantly, looking pretty and slim like K-pop idol stars. Nine years later, more than 271,000 Instagram users are now following the fitness icon’s Instagram page

Tradition and modernity meet to create new trends

Yeolmu is young summer radish greens. It’s a variety of white radishes with tender, long greens, and a thin, small root. It’s not the top leafy part of mature white radishes or chonggak mu (young radish), which is much tougher. 　Very commonly, young napa cabbage, called putbaechu or eolgari, is also added to yeolmu kimchi, giving it a different texture and flavor. I like the ratio of radish greens to young cabbage to be 2:1. You can use only the radish greens without any young cabbages. 　 Yeolmu

Wedding package at Millennium Seoul HiltonThe Millennium Seoul Hilton will offer a personalized wedding package designed to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for couples from Oct. 13 through Dec. 22. The package is for a minimum 100 guests and to be held after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Sundays. Various discounts are available for food, wine and decorations, among others. For more information, call the hotel’s Wedding Gallery at (02) 317-3431 or visit www.thehwedding.co.kr. Fruit desserts at Sh

Cultural Night Walk in JeonjuCultural Night Walk in Jeonju, a program selected by the Cultural Heritage Administration in a competition, offers visitors the chance to walk through hundreds of traditional Korean homes at the Jeonju Hanok Village under the moonlight.Highlights include a moonlight photography competition, traditional music, Jeonju traditional opera, a shadow orchestra and night views of Jeonju.The event is being held until Sept. 13. For more information, visit www.jeonju-night.kr f

What was supposed to have been a ceremonious occasion marking the return of long-lost Joseon-era royal seals has turned into a dogfight between the state-run Cultural Heritage Administration and civic groups over the legitimacy of one of the artifacts.Last week, the CHA held a press conference heralding an exhibition of royal artifacts from the Korea’s Joseon era (1392 to 1910). The Golden Royal Seal for the Bestowal of Honorific Title upon Queen Munjeong and Royal Seal of King Hyeonjong are amo

New Filipino association aims to foster a better understanding of Korea’s growing diversity It’s just past noon and the stretch of road occupied by the Sunday Filipino Market in Hyewha-dong is already bustling. Amid clatter of conversations taking place in Korean, English and Tagalog, stall owners selling fresh, homemade and imported goods, try to draw in passersby with friendly smiles.“Hyewha-dong is very popular for Filipinos,” Jambo, 39, said while helping out at a friend’s stall. He arrived

Over a dozen Vietnamese and Korean artists and art groups have gathered for an exhibition looking at the rapid changes the two countries have experienced in recent decades. Hosted by the Korea Foundation to mark the 25th anniversary of ties, “Salt of the Jungle” examines the results of their sometimes destructive urbanization, industrialization and migration.The title of the exhibition is borrowed from the novel by the Vietnamese writer Nguyen Huy Thiep, in which it refers to a flower as white a

Filmmakers after a challenge will be in luck next month, when a 48-hour film event awaits them, hosted by the team behind the Korea Independent Expat Film Festival.KIX48 is designed similarly to the 48-hour Film Project, an international competition that Seoul filmmakers have entered in the past, but is a separate event. Like the other event, crews are given elements they have to include -- in this case, a line of dialogue, a prop and a type of location -- and a deadline for submission. (KIXFF)“

BEIJING  - Scholars are petitioning Cambridge University Press to restore more than 300 politically sensitive articles removed from its website in China after a request from authorities, underscoring concerns about freedom of speech and the Chinese government‘s increasing leverage over academic organizations. Cambridge University Press said Friday that it had complied with a request to block certain articles from "The China Quarterly" within China. They touch on politically sensitive subjects in

The Korean edition of the Playboy magazine hit the shelves of local bookstores Monday covering a wide range of topics from celebrities to social and political issues, and lifestyles. There are no nude photos, its local publisher Kaya Media Corp. said.Kaya Media Corp. signed a contract in January with Playboy Enterprises, the owner of the US magazine, to publish the Korean version of the 63-year-old monthly magazine. Nam Tae-hyun features in Korean edition of Playboy (Playboy Korea) Playboy was l

A decade ago, history textbooks in Korea started to refrain from saying that Korea is a mono-ethnic country, as state-wide controversy about the cited phrase can prompt racism against ethnic minorities in the country.While the widespread belief that Korean people are of single ethnicity has been challenged and debunked -- for the most part -- over years, insensitivity toward actions or words that may be offensive to other ethnicities continue to ail Korean society. Earlier in the year, comedian

Veteran expert known for intricate makeup technique talks about expansion of Korean beauty and healthy approach to self-adornment

As the clock ticks past midnight in the crowd-packed clubs of Gangnam-gu DJ Juncoco, who draws enormous cheers from avid clubbers, is getting ready to step into the DJ booth.  As one of the most in-demand DJs today, he is treated like a rock star at weekend club parties. The pulsating and sassy electro dance music he spins under the colorful LED lights doesn’t let clubbers slow down. His tunes, which show a touch of moody French style EDM and old-school pop melodies, compel the clubbers to jump

Birthday package at Sheraton Seoul D Cube CityThe Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel will celebrate its sixth anniversary by offering a package of accommodations and promotions at its Lobby Lounge Bar and Aequalis Spa from Sept. 1-30. The Happy Birthday Sheraton Package offers a stay in an executive, honeymoon, hospitality or presidential suite for an additional cost, access to the Sheraton Club Lounge with breakfast and a bottle of Andeluna 1300 Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 wine. Guests receive Club L