Chinese professor Tu Weiming says willingness to work without immediate reward, government-corporate cooperation fueled recoveryChinese neo-Confucianism scholar Tu Weiming said Korea was able to overcome the recent global financial crisis due in part to Confucian influence on Korean society, where people generally work hard without expecting immediate reward.Tu, director of the Institute for Advan

A foundation set up by Um Hong-gil, who has climbed 16 peaks of 8,000 meters or higher in the Himalayas, has built its second school for children in Nepal.The Um Hong Gil Human Foundation said Friday that it had completed the construction of the school in Trishuli, 95 km northwest of capital Kathmandu.The residents in the poverty-stricken region are isolated from civilization and scrape a living b

A Japanese lawyer has been honored with a human rights award by South Korean National Assembly lawmakers in recognition of his legal struggle for ethnic Koreans on Sakhalin Island.Kenichi Takagi, 67, received the fifth National Assembly human rights prize from the Human Rights Forum of South Korean lawmakers at a round table meeting on Sakhalin issues with Japanese lawmakers in Tokyo, Japan, on Fr

Hwang Young-ok, a 72-year-old woman, has donated real estate worth 6 billion won ($5.32 million) to Seoul Women’s University, the university said Thursday.The university launched a scholarship committee in her name. Hwang Young-okHwang has been unmarried all her life while running a kindergarten for about four decades. The devout Christian has given students scholarships through churches. In her 2

TREARDDUR BAY (AFP) ― Kate Middleton got a taste of life as a working royal Thursday when she and Prince William dedicated a lifeboat in their first official appearance since their engagement.Hundreds of people cheered as the smiling 29-year-old princess-to-be poured a bottle of champagne over the vessel in a dedication service at the lifeboat station Trearddur Bay on Anglesey, northwest Wales.The

Janggu master Kim says modernization does not mean WesternizationAlthough, Kim Duk-soo, a master percussionist, is mostly known as a virtuoso of the “janggu,” an hourglass-shaped Korean drum, he said expertise in a single instrument is not enough to be considered a master in the field of Korean traditional music. Unlike the western way of categorizing expertise by instrument ― such as violin maste

Pop singer Kim Jang-hoon and self-styled Korea promotion expert Seo Kyoung-duk posted a full-page Korean tourism advertisement in the New York Times on Tuesday. The advert appeared on Page 5 in Section A, and was bannered “Visit Korea” over the Korean map where seven islands ― Ganghwado, Heuksando, Ieodo, Jejudo, Geojedo, Ulleungdo and Dokdo ― were marked in bold letters.The ad noted that South Ko

Chung Chang-sup, one of Korea’s most famous Monochrome painters, died of natural causes Thursday at the age of 84. Born in 1927, Chung was one of the senior figures of Korean art. After his successful debut in 1952 by winning the special prize at the National Art Competition, he led some of Korea’s important art movements such as Art Informel. He was one of the first graduates of the College of Fi

BOSTON (AP) ― As a little girl, Caroline Kennedy hung out at her father’s desk while he worked in the country’s most famous office.Now the library she works with to preserve her father’s memory has introduced a way anyone can sit ― virtually ― at John F. Kennedy’s desk and learn more about his life and administration.On Monday, the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston unvei

Actress Lee Young-ae has given birth to twins, her agent said on Monday.Lee, 40, gave birth to a boy and a girl at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday at a Seoul Hospital, said Storms Company. “The mother and the babies are healthy,” it said. She surprised her fans in 2009 when she was secretly married in the United States to a Korean businessman.  Lee Young-aeThe superstar of the Korean Wave debuted in a TV com

Lee Dae-myung, triple gold medalist in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games shooting event, received the sports grand prize, the most prestigious award by the Korean Olympic Committee, on Tuesday.The award ceremony took place in Olympic Parktel in the Olympic Park, Seoul. Lee Dae-myungThe committee said Monday that it had chosen Lee as the winner of its 57th annual grand prize in recognition of his achi

Pop singer Kim Jang-hoon will hold a “Dokdo festival” aboard a cruise ship in the East Sea on Feb. 28, along with self-styled Korea promoter Seo Kyoung-duk.The two celebrities will invite about 300 people to the ship, which will be anchored between the two Dokdo islets to stage a concert. Kim Jang-hoon“I planned the concert on the sea a day before the March 1 independence movement day, to make the

Shin walks 1,950km to support, honor the Korean War veterans in EthiopiaShin Kwang-chul’s thoughts differ a bit from others in supporting Africa, particularly regarding the Ethiopian veterans who fought in the Korean War. For them, it is not all about the money, but regaining the respect they deserve, he says. “Providing living expenses for them is indeed helpful, yet the most urgent issue is to h