Farmers in Wansan -- a district of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province -- are working hard to harvest their fully ripe peaches, the region’s specialty.  Wansan is believed to have started growing peaches in the 1910s, when the Korean Peninsula was under imperial Japanese colonial rule. Peaches grown in greenhouses with no rain or pesticides are twice as expensive as those grown outdoors, reflecting their better quality. “Peaches are in season one week earlier than last year, si

Jian “Uzi” Zi-hao, the iconic star player of the League of Legends Pro League in China, announced his retirement June 3 due to chronic injury. He won accolades from players around the world and shed light on some of the common health problems that have plagued the industry. “As of today, LPL 0006 @UziRNG will officially retire. Uzi was not only the heart and soul of RNG, but also an icon in the esports world as a whole. From a teenager onwards he never gave up and worked as h

South Korea has added more than 30 new state-funded Korean language institutes abroad, the government announced Wednesday, in an effort to promote the Korean language as a catalyst in the global spread of Korean culture at large. The culture ministry announced the opening of 34 more King Sejong Institutes in 30 countries across the world, including in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa. The countries included Laos, Vietnam, Denmark, Russia, France, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Uganda. Of the

League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) announced new members to its analyst desk and “shoutcaster” lineup Tuesday. Heo “PawN” Won-seok will be joining the analyst desk while Kim “Wadid” Bae-in will join the shoutcasters, providing commentary. PawN retired from professional LoL last year after suffering obsessive-compulsive disorder, which made him unable to play if the setup of his keyboard and mouse weren’t exactly in the position that he wanted. He

French economist and futurologist Jacques Attali said “to act altruistically” is the only way to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in an interview conducted as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ “Insight Series” on the post-coronavirus era. “By protecting others, you can protect yourself. However, many people thought the opposite,” Attali said in an interview with Choi Jung-wha, professor of the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translati

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Tuesday announced the discovery of two articles of stoneware from the Paleolithic Age and other relics in Daeseong-dong of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. This was CHA’s first survey inside the Demilitarized Zone since drawing up a plan in March to seek UNESCO listing of the DMZ. “It is hard to say that the findings will have a direct influence on UNESCO listing,” CHA official Cho Eun-kyung told The Korea Herald. “The UNESCO makes eval

The Korean Culture and Information Service and the Culture Ministry announced Tuesday that the 2020 “Nonjangpan” competition for students interested in the liberal arts was starting. South Korean students and foreign students living in Korea are invited to submit applications by June 28. The competition aims to cultivate in-depth and broad understanding of Korean culture by encouraging participants to create content using traditional music. “Ongojisin,” a Korean prov

When Yi Mino came to Riot Games three years ago as the executive producer for esports broadcasts, he was without a broadcast team and the LoL Park Arena in Jongno, central Seoul, had yet to finish construction. With the opening of LoL Park Arena, Riot Games wanted to start self-production of League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), like other regions in the globe. Yi, who worked at terrestrial broadcaster MBC producing sports programs for 12 years and drama series for three years, was the man

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the launch of a new department to support the Korean Wave’s further expansion on Tuesday. “We are still working on the details related to the new department, including its English name,” a Culture Ministry official from the Planning and Coordination Office, Shim Min-seok, told The Korea Herald on Monday. The new department, which is under the ministry’s Content Policy Bureau, will have nine members. “We were

Industry insiders, experts concerned about impact of direct government involvement in Hallyu promotion

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will work with local governments to crack down on unlicensed businesses in the pet industry and others that violate industry regulations. The special inspection will run for three weeks starting Monday and affect a wide range of businesses in the pet industry, including those that sell and import pets. Inspectors will check on business operators to make sure they hold valid licenses and have completed all required training sessions

An artificial island in the shape of a heart is seen floating on Lake Uiam in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on Wednesday. The floating island will be filled with aquatic plants, which the city expects to purify the lake water as well as catch people’s eye when it’s done. (Photos: Yonhap) By Kim Tae-eun (kimt17@heraldcorp.com)

Twelve weeks. That’s how long Kim Tae-hwan, 30, trained before getting his body profile picture taken. Kim had added body profile photos to his bucket list for 2020 after he found out about it while working out with a personal trainer. Kim hoped to have it checked off while he was still 30. The 12 weeks were not easy, as Kim, a construction site manager, tried to balance work and exercise while working out 14 hours a week. Spending an hour lifting weights, 40 minutes doing cardio exercis

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Wednesday that it has discovered the head of a stone seated Buddha statue, which is estimated to date from the late Unified Silla period, in conjunction with the Silla Cultural Heritage Research Institute. The head of the statue was found buried on Namsan in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. “We began our research after the Gyeongju government asked us to find out the original location of the headless statue,” head of Silla Cu

The Hamyang Daebong Mountain Valley Resort test-ran its monorails Wednesday ahead of reopening planned for late June.   The Daebong Monorail, 3.93 kilometers long, is South Korea’s first and longest sightseeing monorail that runs across a mountain. (Photos: Yonhap) By Kim Tae-eun (kimt17@heraldcorp.com)