South American delicacies at InterContinental Seoul CoexInterContinental Seoul Coex is offering the “Viva! Wonder Hour” promotion until July 12 in celebration of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The hotel’s lobby lounge will be decorated with soccer-themed items and traditional South American artwork. Various South American dishes including churassco from Brazil, asado (BBQ) from Argentina, cazuela de ave (chicken soup) and curanto from Chile, and ceviche as well as quinoa salad from Peru will be availa

Korea Pavilion gets top award at Venice Architecture Biennale

Taeyang, a member of K-pop band Big Bang, landed on the Billboard 200 chart on Friday with his new album “Rise.” (YG Entertainment)“Rise” placed No. 112 on the chart, surpassing all the Korean male singers who have made it to the chart before him. Earlier, “Overdose” by the subunit of idol group EXO, EXO-K, was No. 129, the previous highest ranking for a Korean singer.Taeyang also placed first on both the Billboard World Albums Chart, which ranks albums in terms of sales in non-English speaking

The Health Ministry plans to raise cigarette prices, which have been fixed at about 2,500 won ($2.45) a pack depending on the brand for the past decade, in order to boost public health. South Korea has the cheapest prices for cigarettes among OCED countries, along with China. Meanwhile, it has one of the highest smoking rates. The smoking rate for Korean adult males is 49 percent.The World Health Organization advises nations which have signed its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that thei

Korea’s performing arts scene suffered a major blow when the ferry Sewol sank in April with over 300 people trapped inside. Concerts, musicals and various other stage performances were canceled, postponed or scaled down, as the nation mourned. Even those who avoided such a fate struggled with low ticket sales. About two months after the disaster, the country is slowly returning to pre-Sewol normalcy, but many artists are still grappling with financial hardship and a bitter taste of the reality o

Josh Sims’ “100 Ideas That Changed Street Style” is the latest in a “100 Ideas” series of books from Laurence King Publishing (other titles include “100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design” and “100 Ideas That Changed Photography”), and the lavishly illustrated softcover book strikes an entertaining balance between encyclopedia and field guide as it sprints through some 70 years of street style.Many of the movements, trends, fads, statements and style tribes highlighted, cross-sectioned and decons

She hasn’t decided yet.Or if she has, she’s not telling.But if Hillary Rodham Clinton does run for president in 2016, her new book “Hard Choices,” a chronicle of her four years as secretary of State, leaves no room for doubt about how she might conduct foreign policy (pragmatically), how she will defend herself against charges that she mishandled the attack on the American compound in Benghazi, Libya (robustly) and about how much she regrets giving President George W. Bush carte blanche to wage

“The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair” By Marion Winik (Newsday)I just finished “The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair,” by 28-year-old Swiss writer Joel Dicker, and all I can say is, God save Europe.According to the jacket copy, this book sold a million copies in France, won three literary prizes there and was a finalist for the Prix Goncourt, while knocking Dan Brown from No. 1 spots in Italy and Spain. I am not a Brown fan, but this book makes him look like Marcel Proust.Let’s assume t

“The Abduction”By Tish Wells(McClatchy Washington Bureau)In Jonathan Holt’s first book, he introduced readers to Capt. Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri (police). She and 2nd Lieutenant Holly Boland make two interesting sleuths, along with the reclusive Daniele Barbo, creator of Carnivia, an elaborate online world that reflects Venice itself.His newest novel, “The Abduction” deals with the kidnapping of an American girl, interrogation techniques used by the United States in the War on Terror, d

Korean author Kim Ae-ran’s short story “I Go to the Convenience Store” received this year’s French literary award “Prix de Linapercu.” (Literature Translation Institute of Korea)Korean novelist Kim Ae-ran has received a French literary award, the Prix de Linapercu, for her short story “I Go to the Convenience Store,” the Literature Translation Institute of Korea said Monday. The Prix de Linapercu, meaning “Prize for the Unnoticed,” is presented for work that received less attention than it deser

PHILADELPHIA ― Patricia Ray Guckes’ husband never wanted her to work. So she painted.Up at 5 every morning, before her husband and two daughters, Guckes sat on a stool facing her easel in the kitchen of her Lower Moreland, Pennsylvania, home.She imagined pretty pictures and painted them, many smaller than a playing card. Then the chaos of the morning took over.For decades, Patty Ray Guckes’ routine yielded portraits, ocean scenes, and paintings of delicately rendered birds, but only recently did

ANN ARBOR, Michigan ― “A person born to be a flowerpot will not go beyond the porch.” ― Mexican proverbStephanie Schneiderman quit her job seven years ago and went adventuring in Mexico.Now life is rich. Not money rich. Enjoyment rich.Born in Havana, Cuba, and raised partly in Mexico City, Schneiderman is known as Tia (Aunt) Stephanie. And Mexico is the secret gem she loves to share with others. Stephanie Schneidermann of Tia Stephanie Tours in Ann Arbor, Michigan, wears some of the textiles she

Fabrics incorporated with innovative technologies keep wearers cool and dry

Heritage administration chief envisions radical change in management, protection of relics