The annual festival commemorating Buddha’s Birthday, a national holiday in Korea, will be held in Jongno and at the temple Jogyesa in central Seoul on May 3-5.The Lotus Lantern Festival, or Yeon Deung Hoe in Korean, unofficially kicked off with the lighting of lanterns on April 17 at Gwanghwamun Plaza, which saw lighting of a special lantern modeled after the national treasure Mireuksaji Stone Pagoda. (Yeon Deung Hoe Preservation Committee) (Yeon Deung Hoe Preservation Committee)Designated Korea

Seoul’s Bamdokkaebi weekend night markets to run till October at five locations

From Marvel Studios to Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm, it appears that nearly the entire entertainment world has fallen in rank under Mickey Mouse’s whiskers. But The Walt Disney Co.’s roots have always been in the beloved animations that Uncle Walt introduced to the world nearly a century ago, and a Seoul exhibition will commemorate that history. Visitors view “The Art of Disney: The Magic of Animation” exhibition at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)Until Aug. 18. Don

Culture Minister Park Yang-woo on Monday said the government is considering steps to prevent blockbuster films from monopolizing screens.Park, who took helm of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism earlier this month, emphasized the importance of producing and screening diverse movies.“From a long-term perspective, it is essential to have variety in films. In order for Korean films to grow in the international market, many different types of quality films should be produced,” Park said dur

Looking to be underwhelmed in world of clickbait and viral marketing

If you haven’t heard of ASMR, believe us, it is huge. On YouTube, videos of people whispering in their microphone, or creating certain sounds that are supposed to trigger an “autonomous sensory meridian response” -- a tingling sensation that typically starts from your scalp and moves down your spine -- are aplenty. And they are being watched tens of millions of times globally.  (Illustration by Nam Kyung-don)In South Korea, never too far behind a global trend, ASMR has really caught on recently.

During the 2019 Royal Culture Festival, visitors will be able to get a glimpse of the lifestyles of Joseon royals at Seoul’s five historic palaces. The Cultural Heritage Administration announced Wednesday it will be hosting the annual festival under the theme of “Today, We Meet the Palace” from April 27 to May 7 at Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung. This is the first time that Gyeonghuigung has been included in the event. Various programs and activities

A United Nations panel has approved a temporary waiver for a series of economic sanctions against North Korea, in a move that will allow Seoul to bring equipment to the North for a joint inter-Korean excavation of the ancient palace site of Manwoldae in the communist state.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday confirmed that the UN Security Council committee for sanctions against the North had granted a waiver of the sanctions.The detailed list of equipment that would be allowed to be broug

South Korea’s oldest throne hall has been opened to the public for the first time, displaying the beauty of the 17th century hall. (Photo credit: Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)The main hall of Changgyeong-gung Palace, Myeongjeongjeon, is where the king attended to state affairs, holding meetings with officials and receptions of foreign envoys.  (Photo credit: Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Originally built in the mid-15th century by King Sejong of Joseon Dynasty, it was destroyed during the Jap

A South Korean scholar said Wednesday he has discovered the original copies of a resolution adopted at the 1919 International Socialist Conference in the Swiss town of Lucerne that show the Korean provisional government's diplomatic efforts to call for Korean independence from Japan.Although the resolution itself has been known to Korean scholars due to reports in Korean newspapers, including the provisional government's newspaper, The Independence Newspaper, the location of the original copies

Young hipsters’ curiosity drives Instagram-centric ‘new-tro’ fever

Seoul’s up-and-coming hangout spot offers slice of Korea’s own Jazz Age

The government’s promotional website www.korea.net has been revamped with an improved design user interface and expanded content, officials said Thursday.The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korean Culture and Information Service had analyzed how the platform was used and made changes for the new version. For example, the sizes of the text and photos have been made larger, and the menu was reorganized to help users find information more easily. A poll function was added for user feedb

The fever for learning Korean is steadily spreading among Thai students, as the number of secondary schools teaching Korean as a second foreign language in Thailand is expected to swell to 130 this year, officials said Tuesday.The Korean Education Center in Thailand said as many as 130 middle and high schools in the Southeast Asian country are expected to adopt Korean as a second foreign language in the new semester set to begin in May. Thai students posing with their Korean language textbooks.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and world-famous K-pop band BTS were nominated for TIME magazine's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, a list showed Friday.Moon and BTS were two South Korean candidates competing for the annual list, with which the TIME editors recognize the most innovative and best-performing artists, leaders, scientists, activists and entrepreneurs, according to the TIME list of candidates released earlier this week. (Yonhap)With 4-percent support, B