An expat-made documentary on campaigners for North Korean human rights has arranged distribution for release in more than 100 countries this fall.“While They Watched” won awards at over 12 international festivals and was listed as one of the “12 Documentaries You Cannot Miss” at the Human Rights Dignity Festival hosted by Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar. “I feel honored that audiences can watch our film and people of such influence are aware of it,” said director Jake Smith.“Hopefully it will help c

A flea market opened in downtown Seoul on Sunday with foreign residents as vendors, as part of the city government's efforts to provide them opportunities to integrate with citizens here.About a hundred foreigners from some 40 teams selected by the Seoul Global Center gathered at Gwanghwamun Plaza early in the morning and sold various goods, ranging from used items to traditional handcrafts.For graduate student Alex Gubo from Slovakia, the flea market was a platform to introduce his country's cu

Hockey players in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, have been frustrated by what they see as unfair fees for using the city’s ice rink, although a recent decision by the Korea Ice Hockey Association might change that.Jeonju resident Paul MacDonald said his team was being charged 300,000 won ($270) per hour for use of the Hwasan Ice Rink, while instructors using it for work and junior teams were paying just 60,000 won. The rink said that it was provincial policy to charge 240,000 won for group use a

English education association KOTESOL has opened registration for its 24th international conference this year, focusing on “Shaping the Future with 21st Century Skills.”The two-day Korea TESOL International Conference at Seoul’s Sookmyung Women’s University from Oct. 15-16 will explore the challenges that both teachers and English language learners face in the 21st century, particularly from advances in technology and the growth of global media. KOTESOL -- Korea Teachers of English to Speakers o

Applications opened Monday for those wanting to take the Test of Proficiency in Korean on Oct. 16.Test-takers can choose to sit for the lower-level TOPIK I in the morning or the higher level TOPIK II in the afternoon at one of nine test centers across the country.The TOPIK I test runs from 9:20-11:40 a.m., awards grades 1 and 2 and consists of listening and reading sections. The TOPIK II, covering grades 3-6, has listening and writing sections followed by a separate reading exam, with the whole

Seoul Players will hold auditions on Aug. 27-28 for its sixth 10-Minute Play Festival and Competition.The festival runs across two weekends each fall and features 15 scripts from Korea and overseas that will vie in competition, with monetary prizes going to the top three groups. This year’s festival will take place in mid-November.Actors of all ages, races, nationalities, genders, physical types and experience levels are invited to take part. The auditions will involve cold reading, so no prepar

Seoul Book and Culture Club will be hosting a panel session with three up-and-coming illustrators on Saturday. The group will be joined by Salgoo, Aeppol and Tokki -- three popular Naver Grafolio illustrators who attended the French International Book Fair in Paris earlier this year, when Korea was the featured guest country. The three illustrators have thousands of fans here in Korea and around the world, and will talk about their work in a panel session that will be in Korean and English, work

The Brasil Cultural Center in Korea will be holding a photography exhibition in Seoul to mark the upcoming Rio Olympics.About 60 photographic works will be on show, chosen through a contest run by the center and the University of Taubate in Brazil.In the contest, students at the university were asked to show the beautiful aspects of Brazil they wanted to show people overseas. Those who came first, second and third in the contest were invited to come to Korea for the duration of the exhibition to

Camarata Chorale, a multinational choir of amateur singers, is looking for new members in time for its “Pops” concert in September.The concert will involve songs from a wide range of modern backgrounds, including the swing era, the 70’s and 80’s, as well as some musical theater and jazz. The music will be accompanied in the concert by piano and a brass band.The choir has members from scores of nationalities and puts on four main concerts each year, including most recently a performance of Mozart