Former Culture Minister Choe Kwang-shik recently released a new book, “Hallyu Road,” focusing on the Korean Wave. In the book, the former director of the National Museum, Cultural Heritage Administration and the Culture Ministry traces how Korea, the “recipient” of pop culture transmitted from Japan, the U.S. and other countries, became an “exporter” of culture through K-pop singers, popular TV dramas, films and even literature such as Shin Kyung-sook’s “Please Look After Mom.”  The author calls

Kuroda Fukumi, a Japanese actress who has promoted the Korean Wave, or hallyu, and also authored a guidebook for tourists in Korea, has been designated a tourism ambassador of Gyeonggi Province.Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo named her a goodwill envoy and gave her a plaque of appointment in the provincial office on Monday. Officials expect Kuroda to be of great help in attracting Japanese tourists, making promotional materials and developing tourism products. Her term is two years until April 2015.

PARIS (AP) ― In a chaotic auction repeatedly interrupted by protests, dozens of Native American tribal masks were sold Friday after a French court ignored the objections of the Hopi tribe and the U.S. government.The total tally was 931,000 euros ($1.2 million), with the most expensive, the “Mother Crow,’’ selling for 160,000 euros ($209,000) ― more than three times the pre-sale estimate. Of the 70 masks up for sale, one was bought by an association to give back to the Hopis, the Drouot auction h

A college student from Uzbekistan who spoke on the topic of “a key word that can imprint an image of Korea to the world” won a speech contest held at the Seoul Museum in Buam-dong on Saturday.The speech contest, held under the title “Communicating for a Brighter Future of Korea,” was organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute.In very fluent Korean, the top-prize winner Zohid Mamadjanov, who came to Korea only a year ago, suggested that developing the tourism industry would promote a po

Goo Bon-hyeong, a best-selling author of self-help books, died of lung cancer on Saturday. He was 59. Goo published the first self-help book “Farewell to Something Familiar” in 1998, which led the rise of self-help literature in Korea and the establishment of his own self-help research company, the Goo Bon-hyeong Change Management Lab, in 2000.He wrote four other books and numerous columns for newspapers, and held workshops.His motivational lectures attracted hundreds of participants, especially

Ethiopian veterans of the Korean War have reenacted Ethiopian troops’ departure for the Korean Peninsula to fight for South Korea in the 1950-1953 conflict. The Ethiopian Korean War Veterans Association held the enactment in Addis Ababa with about 150 veterans attending, Yonhap News reported from the eastern African state’s capital.The association, which has held annual memorial services in early May, reenacted the departure for the first time to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the war.

Boom in retro and eco-conscious style has hanok in high demand

Married with Western elements, wider demographic favors hanok

Konkuk University area offers unique fun minus Gangnam price, Hongdae crowds

Classical Music“Ars Nova”: The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra is holding its “Ars Nova” concert series on April 16 and 19, dedicated to contemporary classical music. Under the theme of “Vienna,” a chamber unit of the SPO will perform music by Alban Berg, Hans Abrahamsen’s rearrangement of Arnold Schonberg, Georg Friedrich Haas, Bae Dong-jin and Olga Neuwirth at 7:30 p.m. on April 16 at Sejong Chamber Hall. On April 19 at 8 p.m. at LG Arts Center, the music of Charles Ives, Bernd Zimmermann, Albert

The Asia travel market will continue to grow despite lingering political tensions, including territorial disputes and more recently, the North Korean issue, according to Peter Yang, marketing director of the online hotel booking site Hotels.com.“We are just at the tip of the iceberg. China recently beat Germany in terms of per person travel expenditure. We will see more and more (Asian) people traveling abroad. (From the tip of the iceberg) it’s going to slide down to the middle part. That’s whe

Site of Garden Expo, Suncheon offers spectacular views and eco-friendly travel