Top stars Zo In-sung and Kim Min-hee made public their relationship Wednesday. The couple released statements through their respective agencies after a paparazzo released photos of the two out on a date. Zo’s IOK Company and Kim’s Soop Management said that “they met at a private gathering earlier this year, and since then the two have been building their relationship.” They also asked the fans to support their new relationship. The two have known each other for over 10 years since their debuts

Booyoung Group, Seoul National University and George Washington University held a ceremony to celebrate the $1-million donation from company chairman Lee Joong-keun on the campus of George Washington University in Washington D.C., on Wednesday. After the ceremony, Booyoung Group and George Washington University also signed an agreement to construct a dormitory to be installed with the Korean traditional heating system, ondol. The fund will be used to support ondol technology research by both uni

Leading Korean comic artist Huh Young-man put a price tag on his work, which he said was rejected by both established newspapers and online portals. With nowhere to go to publish his work in a commercially viable way, he opted to sell his comic series directly to readers via a newly launched mobile platform amid a flurry of conflicting reactions about his move on social networks. Huh, 66, is widely deemed the godfather of comics here as he has produced more than 100 comic book series including h

The subculture of K-pop fandoms giving expensive gifts to their favorite stars, so-called “jogong,” is becoming more common, raising concerns among the general public about how much is too much. “Jogong” is a Korean word for a gift that colonies pay as a tribute to their ruling states. In Korean fan culture, however, the word is widely used for a present fans give to their favorite stars. Some hardcore fans jokingly consider themselves the “weaker ones” who are to pay jogong to an “upper person”

Expats have rallied to save a teacher who was severely ill and in need of blood donations and funds.Gwangju-based teacher Sarah Graydon needed B-negative blood to help treat her ulcerative colitis ― a problem with the large intestine ― which had been complicated by blood clotting. Rhesus-negative blood is rare in Korea ― only about 0.5 percent of Koreans share her blood type ― so donations can be hard to come by. Sean McGrath, who is helping to coordinate efforts to help Graydon, said that after

A group of Seoul expats has gotten together to get its hands dirty with a project to create a community garden to grow vegetables in the heart of the city.The Maht Baht Community Garden might sound as if it was named after a beloved expat or a Thai idyll, but the name is based on Korean ― from the words for taste and field. Kang founded SPACE, a center in Gyeongnidan for yoga classes, reiki sessions and other group activities, and got together with the people she met there to start the garden pr

Gwangju International Center is about to be made homeless, and members of the local community are busy raising funds to find it a new home.The center’s current location, the Jeonil Building near Culture Complex Station, is being demolished by Gwangju City to make way for a park.GIC coordinator Karina Prananto said the center would prefer to remain in the downtown area to ensure that it was easy to reach, but they also hoped to have a big enough space to expand their community programs.The center

Expat victims of sexual assault speak up, seek help

Ceramic artist Choi Jae-hun is holding his 10th solo exhibition from Wednesday to April 30 at Kyung-In Museum of Fine Art in Seoul. The exhibition showcases moon jars created by an exclusive method the artist developed over years, which involves collecting and scraping clay, molding it into a moon jar and then plopping the jar in terra alba, a white soil powder. The final product is white slip ceramic ware, or buncheong, in natural silhouettes with random cracks that are the features of Choi’s p

Five opera companies to highlight Verdi’s 200th anniversary and original Korean operas

If you want to be global, you have to have global faces, according to Andrew Salmon, a longtime Seoul correspondent and freelance reporter and now one of two non-Korean hosts on Arirang TV ― Korea’s English-language international broadcaster.Salmon came to Korea from London in 1998 to study hapkido, but later found himself not wanting to leave country. He began finding ways to stay, including working for the British Council and teaching English at Ewha Womans University before eventually enterin