Another holiday season has passed, and with it the marathon cooking and baking sessions. The hours spent using every kitchen appliance and inch of counter space had a potential benefit more lasting than a good meal: When we really use our kitchens, we discover what does and doesn’t work in this very important room.Remodeling a kitchen can be expensive and challenging, but you can make substantial cosmetic changes with just the help of a painter and electrician, says interior designer Betsy Burnh

A new gallery has opened in Daejeon, run by a local group of expat artists.The Daejeon Artists’ Collective has been running exhibitions since 2011, but made the plunge late last year to open a small gallery near the city’s Junggu Office Metro Station. The DAC held a group exhibition there in December, and has begun this year’s series of solo exhibitions with a collection of mandala paintings by Rika Scholtz.DAC member Rosalie Knaack explained that the paintings were based on the mandala painting

A scene from a rehearsal of “12 Angry Jurors.” (Jenna Apollonia)The cold weather has done nothing to cool off tempers in the south, as Busan English Theater Association will stage a production of “12 Angry Jurors” his weekend.The play was originally a TV production but was most famously produced as the film “12 Angry Men” in 1957. BETA production director Michael Uchrin said he wanted to stage it after seeing the movie. “It wasn’t so much focused on the court proceedings as it was on the people

More than 700 pieces of Korean art in possession of the Smithsonian Museum are now available to view online as the Washington-based museum released some 40,000 digitized images of ancient Asian art on its website (open.asia.si.edu). The Korean collection includes celadon of the Goryeo period (918-1392), Buddhist paintings, folding screen paintings, porcelain and a lacquered wood box inlaid with mother-of-pearls that date back to the Joseon period (1392-1910).  A Buddhist painting dating to the G

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami is to offer advice to troubled readers in an agony uncle column on his website, his publisher said Tuesday.The website, named “Murakami-san no tokoro” or “Mr. Murakami’s place,” will solicit problems from fans of the surrealist, whose novels are published in dozens of languages around the world.The publicity-shy writer will pen answers to queries, offering his opinions and advice on how to tackle all manner of difficulties, said Shinchosha Publishi

“Nanta,” a nonverbal performance produced by Song Seung-hwan, has been seen by over 10 million people around the world, the show’s production company said. The show, which premiered in 1997, is Korea’s first performance to hit the mark. The milestone was set on Dec. 29 and the ticket sale tally stood at 10,085,010 as of Dec. 31, PMC Production said. Based on events in the kitchen of a Korean restaurant, “Nanta” is mainly carried by percussive rhythms created by cooks drumming and banging knives,

Pope Francis is expected to name as many as 12 new cardinals in the coming days, and a Korean cleric may make the list, Vatican observers say. The Wall Street Journal and some other foreign media outlets reported last week that in the appointments, Francis, the first pontiff born outside Europe in more than 1,000 years, may seek to reshape the Roman Catholic hierarchy to better reflect regions where the church is flourishing. The Philippines, as it boasts one of the largest Roman Catholic commun

Pop Music“The Swell Season Live in Seoul”: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, widely known for their lead roles in the hit indie musical film “Once,” will be reviving their 2007 on-screen chemistry with a special live performance in Seoul. The duo’s single “Falling Slowly” landed the film an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008. Hansard and Irglova will be performing on Jan. 10 and 11 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts with ticket prices ranging from 66,000 won to 110,000 won. F