The 10th rose festival at Ulsan Grand Park will open next Friday. According to the Ulsan city government, it is the largest festival of its kind, with more than 263 kinds of roses that will be arranged for the occasion in a space larger than 44,000 square meters.  (Yonhap)The city said it has prepared a parade and a musical as part of efforts to establish its festival as a prime rose festival of the country. The opening ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. with a “Rose Queen Fantasy Parade” and a

Convenience store chain CU has launched rice specifically designed to go with cup noodle products, Tuesday.  Priced at 700 won (60 cents), this 125-gram rice is called “ra-mal-bap,” short for “ramenae-marameokgi joeun-bap” which literally translates to “rice that is good to put in ramen.”Ra-mal-bap (CU)It is common among Koreans to add rice to instant ramen for more filling portions. Unlike the past instant-cooked rice products, ra-mal-bap is a basic white rice shaped into a ball that is conveni

Serial drama to bring together expat, international talent for global audienceA new audio drama is set to start this month, bringing a host of expat actors together with international performers in a nine-part podcast about criminals trying to take over the Internet.“Big Data,” which features guest spots from the likes of Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Paul F. Tompkins (Mr. Show), and Amy Stoch (Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure), is the brainchild of Busan writer Ryan Estrada.The p

Cosmojin Tour, specializing in catering to foreign tourists, announced Wednesday that majority of its clients picked jjimjilbang as their most exotic experience in Korea. Jjimjilbang is a type of an indoor leisure complex that combines sauna, karaoke and restaurant.  Even the U.S. ambassador to Korea, Mark Lippert, tried jjimjilbang while meeting with university students.According to Cosmojin Tour, it surveyed 926 tourists who visited Korea in March and April for their most memorable experience.

Goyang City will be hosting the Rotary’s 107th annual international convention, which is expected to attract more than 50,000 Rotary club members from more than 160 countries including Korea, making it the most multicultural nonprofit gathering in Korea.　The convention is scheduled to be held at the Kintex convention center in Gyeonggi Province from May 28 to June 1 and it is estimated to host roughly 25,000 foreign nationals. The Rotary is a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tack

BERLIN (AFP) - Mohamed Al-Subeeh was a senior restorer at Syria’s best-known mosaic museum, but as war swept deeper into his province, destroying artefacts and threatening his and his family’s lives, he was forced to flee.　The 64-year-old from Idlib province never dreamt that he would ever work in a museum again, certainly not in Germany, to which he had fled in a 23-day journey that involved a rubber boat ride across the Mediterranean, endless bus and train rides and hours of trekking on foot.

“Letters from Korean History” is an English-language series of books written for primary to high school students who are interested in learning about Korean history, according to its publisher Cum Libro. 　The books, published last week, are “for young readers overseas who are curious about Korea and its people, and for young Korean readers keen to learn more about their own history while improving their language skills as global citizens,” said author Park Eun-bong, who has a master’s degree in

“Reasons to Stay Alive” 　By Matt Haig　Penguin (272 pages, $15)　Matt Haig suffered months of depression and anxiety so crippling that he stood on the edge of a cliff, trying to summon the wherewithal to throw himself off.　“The weird thing about depression,” Haig writes in “Reasons to Stay Alive,” is “the fear of death remains the same. The only difference is that the pain of life has rapidly increased.”　Somehow, Haig inched his way back from that cliff. Over time, with love and support from his w

“The Girl from Home” 　By Adam Mitzner　Gallery (336 pages, $26)　The recent economic downturn -- and financial scandals -- have also ushered in a new wave of economic thrillers in which hedge funds and stock trading provide a background for more dastardly deeds.　Adam Mitzner wisely uses this background as a start to explore the maturation of a selfish, vain man who eventually understands what matters more than money or a flashy car in “The Girl from Home.”　Hedge fund manager Jonathan Caine is one

“Walking the Nile” 　By Levison Wood　Atlantic Monthly Press (338 pages, $26)　In becoming the first person to walk the Nile River’s length of more than 6,500 kilometers, explorer and ex-British soldier Levison Wood does more than cross footsteps with noted Victorian predecessors such as David Livingstone and Richard Burton.　He also traces a nine-month journey through the contradictions of African life -- cacophonous cities and expanses of barely trod landscapes offset by the greed and corruption o