South Korea will showcase its traditional crafts at one of the world’s largest international furniture fairs set to open in Milan, Italy, next week, the culture ministry said Monday.The government-led exhibit, “Constancy and Change in Korean Traditional Craft 2013,” will be part of the Milan International Furniture Fair on April 9-14, the ministry said, adding that it will be the first time Korean crafts will be on display at the trade fair.The annual fair, also known as “Milan Design Week,” is

Even after the emergence of hundreds of new genres of music over the centuries, classical chamber music is still one of a kind. A small group of musicians with different musical instruments sit close to each other and perform in the intimate atmosphere of a relatively small venue. The audience can even hear the players’ breathing, the very detailed resonance of the strings and the sound of the piano pedals moving up and down. “I believe that chamber music was written as if a composer were confes

Celebrated Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto is writing a serial romance novel inspired by popular Korean actor and singer Lee Seung-gi, Lee’s local agency announced on Monday.The author, who has a large fan base in Korea for her previous works such as “Kitchen” and “Amrita,” has started writing the serial novel in six installments, featuring Lee as its protagonist. The novel will be published in Anan, a Japanese beauty and fashion magazine. The first installment will be published in its April 10

Famed novelist Lee Oi-soo has been sued by a woman in her 50s for not paying child support for their illegitimate son born in 1987.The woman, whose last name is Oh, allegedly filed a lawsuit against the popular author in February, demanding payment of some 200 million won in unpaid child support. She also demanded the 67-year-old author legally register their child as his son. The child, who is currently a college student, has been using his mother’s family name.  Lee married his wife, Jeon Youn

Kyungnam University appointed former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon chair professor Monday, the school in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, said.Song will teach diplomacy, trade, reunification and security to undergraduates and graduates majoring in political science.Song was recruited as a career diplomat of the foreign ministry in 1975, served as deputy director general of the North American affairs bureau of the ministry, ambassador to Poland, chief South Korean delegate to the six-way tal

NEW YORK (AP) ― Stephen Sondheim has won one of the top honors in the arts world, the Edward MacDowell Medal for lifetime achievement. The MacDowell Colony, the U.S.-based artist residency program, announced Sunday that Sondheim has received an award that has been given to Robert Frost and Georgia O’Keeffe among others. The 83-year-old Sondheim is known for such classic musicals as “A Little Night Music” and “Into the Woods.” He will accept the medal at an August ceremony.

The police agency has named its first-ever female chief superintendent general, its second-highest rank, since its establishment in 1945. According to the Korean National Police Agency Monday, Senior Superintendent General Lee Kum-hyoung, who is director-general for personnel management of the agency, has been nominated president of the Korean National Police University. The school president is ranked as chief superintendent general, one rank below the head of the police agency, which is commiss

A warm, smooth cappuccino or latte is ideal for coping with mid-spring frosty winds. It warms you up, boosts energy and, more than anything, provides comfort in a hectic life. To share such a good feeling with the less wealthy, a number of cafe owners across Europe have joined the “suspended coffee” initiative.Suspended coffee is an extra coffee that one pays for in advance for someone in need. People participating in the initiative go to a coffeehouse, order their coffee and prepay for another

Korean author Ha Il-ji’s 2009 novel “The Republic of Uzupis” has been selected as one of the 12 best translated books of 2012 by Lithuania’s government-affiliated literary organization. A tale about a middle-aged man who wanders in search of an imaginary country, the novel was translated into Lithuanian by Korean translator Seo Jeon-seok with the support of Literature Translation Institute of Korea and published in Lithuania in 2012. “Filled with humor and mystique, the novel tells the story of

NEW YORK (AP) ― Phil Ramone, the masterful Grammy Award-winning engineer, arranger and producer whose platinum touch included recordings with Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon, died Saturday of complications stemming from heart surgery, his family said. He was 79.Ramone, who lived in Wilton, Connecticut, had elective surgery on Feb. 27 to prevent an aortic aneurysm, son Matt Ramone said. He later developed pneumonia and died Saturday morning at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the son said.