The Cultural Heritage Administration’s Deoksugung Palace Management Office and South Korea’s top mobile carrier, SK Telecom, on Monday launched a virtual reality tour of Deoksugung’s Western-style Seokjojeon building. Viewers will be able to enjoy the VR tour through SK Telecom’s Jump VR app with a series of 360-degree VR videos that take visitors on a guided tour of Deoksugung. VR headsets are not required. “Due to COVID-19, Deoksugung has remained closed for

When K-pop girl band (G) I-dle member Shuhwa, who hails from Taiwan, appeared on JTBC’s “Knowing Bros” in January, she expressed hopes of appearing on a South Korean talk show someday. However, hosts Shindong and Jang Sung-kyu teasingly suggested that her Korean wasn’t good enough. After the show, many viewers said the comments were inappropriate and made them feel uncomfortable, leading Shuwha to defend the show’s hosts in an Instagram post. As more nonnative K

King Sejong Institute Foundation is offering 15 online courses on Korean culture for foreigners as untact (contactless) learning is gaining ground amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The institute will offer online courses on five themes for the first session starting Monday -- culinary, handicrafts, paintings, dwellings and traditional wedding -- in Korean, English, Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese via its website -- www.iksi.or.kr The second session of the online classes will kick off in October w

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Friday announced it has released six photos and six videos of animals living at palaces and royal tombs in Korea. The CHA added there are also photos of the sites of palaces and royal tombs for people who would like to visit the sites but cannot do so due to the virus situation. The palaces and royal tombs have been shut down since May 29 due to the spread of the COVID-19. The organization highlighted that the video content includes raccoons playing

Over 330,000 people have signed a petition asking to the government to cancel the health authority’s decision to ban small gatherings and meetings in churches on the government‘s online public petition platform as of Friday. The public petition was first posted on the website on Wednesday immediately after the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said Protestant churches will be barred from hosting small Bible classes, choir practices and lunch services from Frid

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday it will inject 156.9 billion won ($131.28 million) to support artists who are suffering financially from the spread of COVID-19. The amount accounts for around 45 percent of the total 346.9 billion won third extra budget of the ministry. “Since the overall culture industry has been hit by the COVID-19, we have worked hard for this third extra budget,” Oh Yeong-woo, first vice minister of Culture Ministry, said during a pr

The Korea Herald is set to accelerate its digital drive with the opening of a brand new studio. The newspaper plans to maximize the use of a multipurpose studio to meet demand for multimedia content, including video and podcast productions. After a month of construction, Herald Corp. held an opening ceremony for its new studio at the company’s building, Herald Square, in Seoul’s central Yongsan district on Wednesday.  “With the completion of a studio that will lead the

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on Friday that the National Assembly passed a third extra budget of 346.9 billion won ($289.4 million) to support the cultural industry that has been suffering financially due to the spread of COVID-19. The ministry added that the amount increased by 7 billion won from 339.9 billion won, the initial budget plan it had submitted on June 3. The National Assembly has approved the Culture Ministry’s project plans for increasing jobs and

Daejanggeum Park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is one of the largest open sets in South Korea, where period dramas, movies and commercials are filmed.  It is a semipermanent set that has been modeled after the architectural styles and traditional Korean houses of the Three Kingdoms period, Goryeo kingdom and Joseon era.  Starting with the production of the drama “Shindon” in 2005, numerous dramas and movies, including “Daejanggeum,” “Jumong” and

The Catholic archdiocese in the southwestern city of Gwangju has decided to put off public masses due to a recent resurgence in novel coronavirus infections in the region. "As part of concerted efforts to prevent further infections and join the government-led precautionary measures, the diocese will suspend Masses and gatherings in parishes and institutions within Gwangju until second-level social distancing ends," the Catholic Archdiocese of Gwangju said in a message posted online o

The Korean Academic Society for Public Relations on Wednesday held a symposium to discuss promoting Korean culture in the post COVID-19 era. The event was sponsored by the Korean Culture and Information Service. “Next year is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of KOCIS. It is meaningful to have discussions like this at this time,” said Choi Yoon-hee, second vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. During the talk, Eulji University’s public rela

Staff of the Royal Palaces and Tomb Center’s Gyeongbokgung Palace Management Office clean the interior of Gyeongbokgung’s main hall, Geunjeongjeon, on Monday. The Joseon-period palace is closed to visitors due to the spread of COVID-19. By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)

Regulatory loophole leads to freewheeling sexual content

Experts on Korea and Japan relations, novelist Han Su-san and political science professor Yuji Hosaka on Monday discussed the issue of Japan breaching its promise to honor forced laborers at historic industrial sites, including Hashima Island. Hosaka is currently a political science professor at Sejong University and Han is a well-known author whose works include “Crow” and “Hashima Island,” novels based on the true stories of forced laborers during the 1910-45 Japanes

National Museum of Korea on Thursday opened a special exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War titled “The Museum & The War.” “Through this exhibition, visitors can find out the role of the National Museum of Korea and how some of the cultural heritage were damaged during the wartime,” said Choi Seon-ju, head of curatorial affairs office at the National Museum of Korea, during a press conference Friday held ahead of its opening. The exhibition is la