Hallyeohaesang National Marine Park, located in South Gyeongsang Province, is known as one of the most beautiful places in Korea for its captivating scenery.  Along the trail, the ocean water shines like an emerald and various small islands scattered all around are visible to the naked eye.　 Hikers, relieved to finally reach the top of Mount Geumsan, admire the beauty of the South Sea from afar. Vibrant colors fill the scene as the sun sets, making the landscape look even more like a pai

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture and Youth will hold the online Korea-UAE Festival from March 31 to April 2. In November 2019, South Korea’s Culture Ministry and the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth held a special meeting during the UNESCO Forum of Ministers of Culture to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. During this meeting, the two countries’ Culture Ministries a

The highly anticipated “Minari” isn’t the only film to watch out for as the announcement of Oscar nominations draws near. Korean director Erick Oh’s “Opera” could also be in the running for best short animation. As Oh awaits the announcement of Oscar nominations on Monday, he shared the creation story behind the film and his journey as an animation director. His unconventional film “Opera,” which won him the Minister’s Award at the 2020 Ko

Chairman of Bluebell Korea Daniel Mayran gives a presentation titled “Future of luxury: Post-covid retail trends” during a forum held by the Corea Image Communication Institute on Tuesday at the residence of the Kuwaiti Ambassador Bader Mohammad al-Awadi. Some 20 foreign envoys and opinion leaders, including French Ambassador Philippe Lefort, Egyptian Ambassador Hazem Fahmy, Moroccan Ambassador Chafik Rachadi, Smart Study co-founder Ryan Lee, L‘Oreal Korea President Christian M

The Korea Association of Games Industry announced on Monday that Busan will continue to host the G-Star gaming exhibition until 2028. G-star is the country’s largest gaming exhibition held annually in November featuring games and developers from around the globe. After kicking off in Seoul in 2005, it relocated to Busan in 2009 and has been held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center ever since. Previously, K-Games decided the G-Star venue for the upcoming two years and allowed a

The Korea Foundation on Thursday said the University of Sheffield in the UK had started an online class using “Learn! Korean with BTS” as its textbook on Feb. 10. This is the first Korean e-lecture series using BTS textbooks launched in the UK. In August last year, the Korea Foundation, K-pop powerhouse Big Hit Entertainment’s education business unit Big Hit Edu and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies joined forces to develop and provide Korean-language learning programs. Th

Olympic Park K-Art hall in Songpa-gu, Seoul, will be turned into a venue for online K-pop concerts, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday. The new studio is scheduled to launch in October. “Contactless online concerts are not an alternative for face-to-face performances. It is a new kind of cultural content. How to create global and differentiated content by combining offline performance and advanced technology is crucial for the development of the future content in

The Korea Creative Content Agency and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday announced a budget of 14.66 billion won ($13 million) to support the local video content industry. The budget, which was increased by around 3 billion won in total compared to last year. The conventional broadcast sector will receive 4.5 billion won in funding. A new subcategory for documentary series has been made this year under this sector. In the short-form sector, 2.15 billion won has been allot

Ticket resellers crowd out genuine ticket buyers, driving up black market prices for admissions

Culture Minister Hwang Hee on Thursday said it is important to inject money into developing cultural infrastructure here during a press conference. He raised putting money into renovating 266 local cultural and arts centers, which are currently only being used for small local events or holding training sessions for reserve forces, into a place that artists can actually perform as one of the example projects the ministry is reviewing. “Currently it is difficult to present any performanc

The Korea Creative Content Agency announced a budget of 22.4 billion won ($20 million) to promote the local games industry and produce global game content. The budget, which is a significant increase from last year's 14.7 billion won last year, will be used to fund four different sectors -- general games, functional games, new technology-based games and new market-creating games. The total number of projects to receive funding also increased to 66, from 46 last year.   Of the 22.4 billion

Broadcaster Sijosae on livestreaming platform Afreeca apologized in the early hours of Wednesday for videos he uploaded during his trip in Brazil earlier this month. Videos of Sijosae’s trip stoked controversy as Sijosae presented a Brazilian favela in a derogatory light and commented on the appearance of women walking in front of him. He also was criticized for walking around without properly wearing a mask. Brazil is among the countries that has been worst hit by COVID-19. The videos b

With KBS’ “Gag Concert,” the last regular sketch comedy show on a terrestrial broadcaster, coming to an end last year after a 21-year run, and COVID-19 greatly limiting opportunities for onstage performances, last year saw numerous comedians rushing to start their own YouTube channels. “To be honest, it’s sad that many comedy programs have disappeared. ‘Gag Concert’ and ‘People Looking for a Laugh’ among others disappearing is the reason wh

Baby boomers increasingly turn to plastic surgery to shave off years as more seniors stay active

Korean startup SmartStudy co-founder and CFO Lee Seung-gyu on Thursday shared the secrets behind its character Baby Shark’s global success during an event held by Corea Image Communication Institute at the residence of the New Zealand ambassador. SmartStudy is known for its popular animated characters Pinkfong and Baby Shark. Its YouTube channel has more than 8.92 million subscribers. On Nov 2 last year, the Korean startup’s English version of the “Baby Shark Dance” vi