The South Korean government Sunday said it will spend 3 billion won ($2.6 million) to support publishers related to Song-In Books, as part of measures to minimize the fallout from the bankruptcy of the country’s No. 2 book distributor.Song-In Books filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 3, sparking concerns over the possible impact on the some 2,000 smaller publishers that it had ongoing business deals with. The direct financial loss, such as nonpayment, is estimated to be around 30 billion won. As part o

The year 2016 saw a record number of people visit the four major palaces in the capital city of Seoul, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) said Sunday. The CHA said the number of domestic and foreign visitors last year to the four palaces -- Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong and Deoksu -- and Jongmyo Shrine amounted to 16.1 million, up by 17.8 percent from a year ago. Foreign visitors reached 3.83 million, passing the 3 million mark for the first time and up by a whopping 60.3 percent com

PARIS (AFP) -- “I love being famous,” the black US comedian Chris Rock once quipped. “It’s almost like being white.”But a growing number of artists would rather have success without the encumbrance of fame.From the street artist Banksy to the Italian literary phenomenon Elena Ferrante, a new brand of creator is actively rejecting the limelight and doing everything they can to avoid it.Even first-time novelists, whose publishers are often desperate for them to go out and promote their work, are t