Actor Hyun Bin has been chosen by the Financial Services Commission to receive a prize for his thrifty lifestyle. On Tuesday FSC announced that it will be giving several awards to hallyu starts in a ceremony on Oct. 29 to commemorate the 50th annual Savings Day. Savings Day began in 1973 to promote frugality and savings to bolster Korea’s financial industry. The 31-year-old heartthrob Hyun Bin starred in many widely popular television series including “Secret Garden,” which aired in 2011 and can

Singapore Airlines invited 20 disabled and underprivileged children for a special outing at Incheon International Airport to view and experience the airport’s facilities last week, the company said.The children enjoyed activities at each of seven “booths” that the airline company set up within the airport. They were sent on missions to explore the airport railways, airfields and other facilities, as well as to participate in airport services like getting their passports issued, checking in and e

The Sunfull Movement, which campaigns to foster a culture of positive online comments, held a concert at the Raum Art Center in Seoul on Monday to memorialize Sichuan quake victims.The host of the event also delivered a book of condolences gathered on the movement’s website to the People’s Daily, which is the Chinese partner of the drive to send encouraging messages to the quake victims.The concert included Seoul Pops Orchestra conducted by Ha Sung-ho, Sunfull publicity envoy and singer Ali, ten

A group of civilian diplomats devoted to publicizing Korea in cyber space has launched a campaign to delete Japanese or any other names for the Korean islets of Dokdo from Apple iPhone’s map service. “Apple service refers to Dokdo as Takeshima too, which is the name it is called by Japan. We will carry out projects to erase Takeshima or any other names for the Korean islets from online services, not only by Apple but also by Google, Facebook and Microsoft,” said Park Gi-tae, founder of Voluntary

Classical music composer Park Myung-hoon was named the Grand Prize winner of the Isang Yun International Composition Prize 2013 for his latest piece, “puzzle house,” the Isang Yun Peace Foundation said Monday. Park, 33, is the first Korean to receive the biennial prize, which was established in 2007 to commemorate the internationally acclaimed Germany-based Korean composer Yun Isang who died in 1995. Park will receive $20,000 in prize money.The jury including Lee Geon-yong, Paul Mefano, Bright S

Paju Book City, home to some 300 local publishing houses in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, is throwing its annual book-themed festival, focusing on Asian literature and authors this year. Dubbed “Paju Booksori,” the festival celebrates its third edition this year. The event, which opened Saturday, includes lectures, performances and exhibitions, featuring authors and publishers from home and abroad.One of the festival’s exhibitions features the life and works of Yi I (1536-1584), one of the most promi

NEMEA, Greece (AP) ― While world leaders and top athletes lit the Olympic flame with pageantry drawn from antiquity, another important ancient site of athletic prowess sat overlooked and endangered.Some 200 kilometers east of Ancient Olympia where the flame lighting for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi went off without a hitch Sunday, the Nemea stadium and its humbler games are in danger of closing to the public because of crisis-hit Greece’s harsh budget cuts, according to a renowned American arc

LONDON (AFP) ― The ashes of late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were laid to rest alongside the remains of her late husband Denis in London on Saturday, at a military nursing home she had long supported.An oak casket containing the ashes of the “Iron Lady,” who died in April after suffering a stroke at the age of 87, was placed in the leafy grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea nursing home beside those of Denis, who died in 2003.In power between 1979 and 1990, the former Conservative

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) ― Miss Philippines was crowned Miss World 2013 in a glittering finale Saturday on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, amid tight security following weeks of hard-line Muslim protests.Hundreds of Islamic radicals held a prayer session in a mosque near the capital to express their anger, while Megan Young wept as she won the coveted title on Hindu-majority Bali at the end of a three-week contest.The 23-year-old, wearing a pearl white gown, promised to be “the best Miss

Private First Class Jang Ho-joon of the 19th Regiment, 6th Division, 5th Corps rolled up his sleeves on Tuesday to donate blood. He was the 6,000th and last participant to donate to the corps’ blood drive, which lasted about three months, “I am doubly happy because I did not just join the meaningful event but also marked the completion of the blood donation event,” he said.He was awarded a souvenir from the corps commander and a leave of absence. The Fifth Corps said Sunday that it carried out a

Several fragments of the Berlin Wall, which divided Germany from Aug. 13, 1961 to Nov. 9, 1989, will be displayed at a unification-themed park to be created in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province.The government of Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, said Sunday that it would place five fragments of the dismantled wall in a temporary park near Uijeongbu Station and open it to the public in mid-November. The display of the symbol of German reunification is intended to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signi