The government on Tuesday bestowed the late novelist Choi In-hun with the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, the highest class of its kind, for his contribution to Korean literature. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jong-hwan visited the funeral parlor of the late writer at the Seoul National University Hospital to offer condolences to the bereaved family and present the medal on behalf of the government.  Do Jong-hwan (left) talks with the bereaved family of novelist Choi In-hun at a f

The annual WaterBomb Festival was held Friday and Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. On the first day of the event, K-pop stars, such as Hyolyn and Jessi, appeared as guests with performances that doubled the fun. The second day was a blast as Black Pink members showed up on Sprite Island, the name of a stage at the event, in outfits that matched the soft drink brand’s colors. Jennie donned a green off-the-shoulder top with short pants, while Jisoo wore a green cropped blouse with white shorts

Slavoj Zizek compares Marx to the living dead, with what he was talking about more relevant than ever

Mark Tetto talks about how moving into Pyeonghaengjae, hanok in Gahoe-dong, has profoundly changed his life

Thousands of people with a sweet tooth descended on the 2018 Seoul Dessert Fair to satisfy their cravings for all-things sweet on Saturday at the Setec Exhibition Hall.The theme for the two-day weekend event was watermelon. Many stalls infused watermelon elements into their desserts, such as green-and-red sweet bread, watermelon fruit punch and watermelon-flavored macarons.(Video shot and edited by Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald)Beyond indulging their taste buds, visitors were also treated to a

King Mu of Baekje, the protagonist of a “Romeo and Juliet”-esque fable, may have been found, as researchers said Wednesday human remains uncovered in April are likely to be his.Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage held a press conference to reveal the results of their examination of remains found inside what is believed to be a royal tomb from Baekje Kingdom, which existed in the southwestern Korean Peninsula from 18 BC to AD 660. The tomb in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, was d

A state-organized contest for Hangeul-themed content will be held in July and August.The fourth Hangeul Idea Award -- hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency and sponsored by Naver -- is about creating new products based on Hangeul.The poster for the fourth Hangeul Idea Award (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)The award categories are: content, referring to product plans introducing Hangeul-themed content, such as publications,

The newly appointed chief of the state-run tourism body presented his vision on its future operation, including expansion of government vacation subsidy programs and inter-Korea border tourism, during a press meeting Monday.Ahn Young-bae, newly appointed president of the Korea Tourism Organization, expressed hopes that the KTO would lead the trend of work-life balance for Koreans. “I learned that so far this year, some KTO employees have not taken a single day off. ... Maintaining a high quality

Students at Uijeongbu High School in Gyeonggi Province dressed up for their yearbook photo shoot Monday, keeping their wacky tradition of creating eye-catching graduation photos. Uijeongbu High is an all-boys school that has made headlines both at home and abroad for its unconventional graduation pictures. The class of 2018 chose to dress up as Hog Rider of the mobile game “Clash of Clans,” a demon clown from the horror movie “It,” Sanrio’s lazy egg character Gudetama, South Korean Skeleton Olym

The 2018 Daegu Chimac Festival will run from Wednesday to July 22 in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province. The festival's name is based on a compound word of chicken and beer in Korean that reflects Koreans’ enthusiasm for pairing fried chicken with beer. Daegu started the festival in 2013 with a crowd of 270,000. The number of attendees steadily grew in the following years, and topped 1 million in 2016 and 2017.Photo from 2017 Daegu Chimac Festival (DaeguChimacFestival)This year’s event is set to t

The 19th Seoul Queer Culture Festival kicked off Friday with the event “PRISM OF ART: Human rights bloom in culture and art.” Sponsored by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Seoul, the event took place on the 11th floor annex of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The occasion served as a preliminary roundtable discussion for the exhibition of the “Amsterdam Rainbow Dress,” featuring Arnout van Krimpen and Diederik Lujit from the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress Foundation,

Do Jong-hwan, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism met Friday with Archbishop Alfred Xuereb to discuss exchange and cooperation between South Korea and the Vatican, the ministry said.According to the ministry officials, the meeting between Do and the Vatican envoy to South Korea was held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. Do Jong-hwan, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, shakes hands with Archbishop Alfred Xuereb in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)“Minister

When you think of Paju, a city in Gyeonggi Province northwest of Seoul, the first thing that comes to mind is its vicinity to the de facto border with North Korea. Driving along Jayuro toward Paju on a good day, you can even get a glimpse of the northern side. Paju, through which the Imjin River flows into the Han River, was loved by ancient sages. As if to live up to its heritage, the city has developed into a cultural site for visitors in recent decades. At the heart of the city’s culture are

Boryeong Mud Festival, a “feast of mud,” is set to open Friday at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province.The festival is an extravaganza of mud, first held in 1988 to promote mud-based organic cosmetics. Similar to Spain’s iconic tomato-throwing Tomatina festival, the mud festival has settled in Korea as one of its most representative summer events. Since 2009, the mud festival has been exported to China, England, Spain and New Zealand.This year’s festival runs to July 22, offeri

‘Instatoon’ emerging as popular online comic genre with a collection of up to 10 pictures