LOS ANGELES ― For years Cristian Gheorghiu craved the thrill of the chase. Spray-paint can in hand, he lived on the edge, always a step ahead of the law. His canvas was L.A.’s lampposts, brick walls and concrete riverbeds where he scrawled ragged images and his own nickname, “Smear” ― probably thousands of times. The graffiti made him a subculture sensation. But just as the East Hollywood graffiti

Cho Don-young, honorary consul of the African state, expects to take on visa workThe Republic of Congo is a central African country little known to the Koreans. Even those who are vaguely aware of a country called Congo are likely to confuse the state with its similarly named neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Ending this confusion may be the first task for Cho Don-young, who is the fi

Former North Korean agent Kim Hyun-hee, who blew up a Korean Air flight in 1987, donated 1 million yen ($12,350) to the victims of the devastating quake and tsunami which hit the eastern parts of Japan, the Sankei Shinbum reported on Wednesday.She had her husband deliver the money along with a letter praying for the dead to the Seoul office of the Japanese newspaper on Tuesday. Kim Hyun-hee“I don’

Lee Jong-min publishes nation’s first divorce magazine, looking to open up the subjectWhen Lee Jong-min was going through his divorce a few years ago, he had to face everything alone. He had no access to any sort of information, and the worst part was that no one willingly stepped forward to help out. Even his closest friends left him.The now 50-year-old Lee has since recovered, and is now remarri

Late actress Choi Jin-sil and her younger brother Choi Jin-young’s graves may have to be moved because the cemetery where they were buried was illegally built. Kapsan Park Cemetery in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, where the Chois are buried, has illegally destroyed a 7,550 square meter area of a nearby forest to create 188 graves since 2008, Yangpyeong-gun said Tuesday. The cemetery was authorize

Canadian-Korean James Lee filming mini documentary on foreign communityMost Seoulites have had exposure to a foreigner in one way or another, but many are oblivious to the efforts of expatriate communities to make this a better place to live.Seoul is a global city, home to roughly 262,900 registered foreigners from some 160 countries, but to many even the term “foreigner” has negative connotations

Top movie translator Lee discusses his craft and languageShould a translation be considered a creation? “Of course,” answers Korea’s No. 1 movie translator, both in quality and quantity. “Translating a movie is a process of creation. Hence it is more than delivering word-for-word language but it is a work that requires the translator to blow in a fresh new meaning into it,” Lee Mi-do told The Kore

Former Donga Ilbo chairman Kim Hak-joon was named adviser for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee on Monday. The 68-year-old graduated from high school in Incheon, and served as president of University of Incheon before becoming chairman of the daily.He also was former senior press secretary and spokesman for the president from 1991-93. Kim Hak-joonIn 2007, he acted as vice chairman

President of Syrian Arab Red Crescent Abdul Rahman Attar was awarded the Grand Order Taegug by the Korean Red Cross President Yoo Chong-ha on Monday.Attar, who came to Korea on Sunday for a four-day visit, has led the Syrian Arab Red Crescent since 1998 and contributed to a number of humanitarian activities in Syria and abroad.  Korean Red Cross President Yoo Chong-ha (left) awards the Grand Order

Shin Jeong-ah speaks during a press conference at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, central Seoul, on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)The woman at the center of one of South Korea’s biggest scandals has returned with an autobiography. Shin Jeong-ah, who shook the nation in 2007 with fabrication of her academic record, embezzlement and an affair with a high-level government official, appeared in public for the fir

Author Kong Ji-young, 48, will donate the entire royalty from her four novels released in Japan. Kong notified her agency of her plan to help victims affected by the tsunami and earthquakes Wednesday.  Kong Ji-youngKong wrote on Twitter on Thursday: “I will donate the entire amount of royalty for my released books in Japan,” and added “I hope my small sincerity is a help.”Kong’s books in Japan inc

MODESTO, California ― Wayne Hague always wondered whatever happened to the pilot whose crippled plane he refueled and escorted to safety over North Vietnam in 1967.Ron Catton always wondered about that pilot who kept him from having to bail out of his F-4C Phantom fighter and right into a suite at the Hanoi Hilton. More than 43 years have passed since they were linked by their meeting in the skies

Neil French, a big name in advertising, has been appointed as chief judge of the Busan International Advertising Festival, or AD STARS.The British ad celebrity is former Creative Director at WPP Group and the recipient of more than 500 awards in numerous advertising festivals. French is credited with bringing the creative revolution to Asia when he was associated with The Ball Partnership in Singa

SANTA CRUZ, California ― When Soquel, California, resident Nick Mucha was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2004, he took a handful of surf trips, visiting friends who owned a surf camp in the small fishing village of Gigante, Nicaragua. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Mucha would effect change in that community in a significant way. Mucha, an avid surfer, saw a community on the southwestern P