The Korea Herald

China blocks access to streaming services of S. Korean pop culture amid THAAD row

Feb 26, 2017

China has blocked access to newly updated clips of South Korean music and dramas on the country's online video sharing platforms, sources said Sunday, in an apparent bid to retaliate against Seoul's move to deploy an advanced US missile defense system.The move followed China's decision to prevent South Korean pop stars from appearing on Chinese entertainment programs since October as South Korea decided in July last year to station the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system on its soil.A web
IS stashed treasures in trenches, smashed walls to shock

Feb 26, 2017

For the roomful of archaeologists, scholars and Iraqi cultural officials Friday, each neighborhood conquered in Mosul brought them one step closer to learning the fate of the ancient sites and artifacts seized by the Islamic State group. At a two-day UNESCO conference, Iraqi officials are asking for money and expertise to reclaim the cultural heritage that is on the verge of complete destruction. At sites wrenched back from Islamic State group, soldiers have found trenches filled with historical
Turkish students to learn Korean as second foreign language

Feb 22, 2017

Primary and secondary schools in Turkey will be able to teach Korean as a second foreign language for their students beginning next year. The Turkish education ministry announced in the official gazette on Wednesday that Korean has recently been added to the list of foreign languages that can be taught in schools, along with Persian and Urdu. Currently, Turkish students must learn one of the three first foreign languages -- English, French or German -- and can choose to learn a second foreig
Japan's male hosts sell dreams to lonely women

Feb 22, 2017

Cigarette smoke hangs thick in the air of a Tokyo nightspot as Aki Nitta sips champagne with a trio of sweet-talking Lotharios peddling fake love at premium rates. In a country which has lost its mojo, many wealthy Japanese women spend eye-watering sums on male hosts in return for an evening of sweet talk, flirting -- and often sex. "I want my heart to flutter," Nitta told AFP at a popular club in the Kabukicho red-light district lined with chrome and mirrors. "Japanese men aren't very at
British Council Korea launches yearlong UK arts festival

Feb 21, 2017

The British Council Korea on Monday kicked off a yearlong culture festival that will bring the latest arts and creative projects from the United Kingdom to different parts of Korea.Under the slogan “Creative Futures,” the “UK/Korea 2017-18” launched with an opening concert from the London Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul.The festivities, which run until March 2018, will showcase a wide-range of British cultural content, including those in dance, theater, film, visual
British Museum training Iraqi experts to save Mosul heritage

Feb 21, 2017

As Iraqi forces fight to take back Mosul from the Islamic State group, archaeologists trained by the British Museum are preparing for another battle -- trying to save what they can of the city’s heritage.One of the world’s leading institutions for the study of ancient Iraq, the London museum has been training Iraqi experts for the past year in high-tech methods to preserve and document their history.“Once the city is liberated, there will be an enormous plan of reconstruction of the Museum of Mo
Artisans break mold in Britain’s pottery capital

Feb 20, 2017

At the 18th-century Spode pottery works in Stoke-on-Trent, startup artisans like 22-year-old Emma Price are moving into abandoned buildings and breathing new life into a once-mighty industry.The 4-hectare site in the heart of the Staffordshire city in central England whose name worldwide is synonymous with pottery has become a creative hub that is drawing in a new generation.Workers hand paint crockery in the Emma Bridgewater factory, which employs around 185 people and manufactures 1.3 million
‘Flight of the angel’ rings in Venice Carnival

Feb 20, 2017

Tens of thousands of revelers in masks and period costume packed St. Mark’s Square on Sunday for the “flight of the angel,” the traditional opening of the Venice Carnival.On the 12th chime of midday from St. Mark’s Campanile, Claudia Marchiori descended gracefully from the famous bell tower, attached to a wire 80 meters above the crowd that had gathered for one of the world’s most famous carnivals. Claudia Marchiori, winner of last year’s Maria of the Carnival contest, descends from the Bell Tow
[Eye Plus] Time keepers on Watch Alley in Jongno

Feb 17, 2017

In Yeji-dong, or better known as “Watch Alley” in Jongno 4-ga in central Seoul, a cluster of watch shops form a sort of island where time remains frozen in a sea of shiny buildings, luxurious restaurants and countless coffee shops. On the narrow street, dozens of watch shops attract a steadily declining stream of customers interested in affordable or rare watches. Behind glass benches where a wide range of wristwatches are displayed, repairmen, often middle-aged or older, work on broken timepiec
Collector’s hidden art to be shown in Switzerland, Germany

Feb 16, 2017

A vast trove of art that a German collector kept hidden from the world for decades will be shown simultaneously at museums in Switzerland and Germany later this year, Switzerland’s Kunstmuseum Bern announced Wednesday.The Swiss museum, which Gurlitt designated as his sole heir, announced it would co-host the “Dossier Gurlitt” shows together with the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn.Art collector Cornelius Gurlitt died in May 2014, months after German authorities announced they stumbled upon more than 1,
International Youth Fellowship to tour Korea

Feb 14, 2017

International Youth Fellowship to tour KoreaThe International Youth Fellowship will be holding a series of events to share the experiences of its over 400 overseas volunteers, the group said Tuesday. 　The 2017 GoodNews Corps Festival will kick off Thusday in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, and will travel to 12 other cities -- 10 in Korea and two in Japan -- before ending in Hiroshima, Japan on Feb. 28.Overseas volunteers perform a traditional dance at the Good News Corps Festival. (GoodNews Corps
Playboy magazine brings back naked women

Feb 14, 2017

Naked women are back in Playboy magazine, ending a year-old ban on the nudity that made the magazine famous. This image released by Playboy shows Playmate Elizabeth Elam on the cover of the March-April 2017 issue of the magazine. (AP-Yonhap)Playboy celebrated the reversal on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag (hash)NakedIsNormal.The about-face came Monday with the release of Playboy‘s March-April issue. The 63-year-old magazine had banished naked women from its print edition because it felt t
Image of Turkish assassin wins World Press Photo award

Feb 14, 2017

Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici won the 2017 World Press Photo competition Monday, with jurors and colleagues lauding his courage and composure in capturing his image of a gun-wielding off-duty Turkish policeman standing over the body of Russia’s ambassador, whom he had just fatally shot. Associated Press photographer and 2017 World Press Photo Contest winner Burhan Ozbilici (right) is interviewed by Lars Boering, managing director of the World Press Photo Foundation in front of h
UNESCO bid for Italy leg of Canterbury-Rome pilgrim’s path

Feb 12, 2017

ROME (AFP) - Italy is to seek world heritage status for its leg of the Francigena Way, a much-tramped pilgrim’s route which once linked Canterbury in southern England to Rome via France and Switzerland.Seven regions are backing the application to secure UNESCO protection for the section of the famous hiking route that starts in the Alps and winds through plains and Tuscan olive groves before reaching the Italian capital.The hope is the UN will recognize the “exceptional importance in terms of bo
[Eye Plus] Blacksmith forging new year into shape

Feb 10, 2017

While the global political sphere enters an era of change and uncertainty, one family has found solace in their decadeslong tradition as blacksmiths. Kang Young-ki, 64, and his son Dan-ho, 37 have been working to protect, preserve and advance their metal workshop Dongmeyong Blacksmith in Cheonho-dong, Seoul. Photos by Park Hyun-koo (The Korea Herald)The workshop’s history traces back to the 1930s, when the senior Kang’s father jumped into the business. The founder, who devoted his entire life to