The Korea Herald

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Cultural Festival to open in October

Jun 2, 2016

An annual cultural festival at Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO-designated cultural heritage site, is set to return to the city of Suwon, just south of Seoul, this fall to be culminated by a full-scale reenactment of a filial monarch's pilgrimage to his father's tomb, the Suwon municipal government said Thursday.The 53rd Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Cultural Festival, which will open on Oct. 7 for a three-day run, is held in celebration of the 220th anniversary of the fortress' construction. King Jeongjo,
Syrian regime troops looting Palmyra: German expert

Jun 2, 2016

BERLIN (AFP) -- A leading German cultural heritage expert on Wednesday charged that Syrian regime troops are looting the ancient city of Palmyra like the Islamic State jihadists who controlled it until March.Archaeologist Hermann Parzinger, head of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, was speaking on the eve of a two-day Berlin conference on ways to protect heritage sites in war-ravaged Syria.Speaking to media, Parzinger said that Syrian troops, when they are off-duty, “are conducting ille
Korean culture under spotlight during K-Culture Week in France

Jun 2, 2016

A variety of events that highlight Korean traditional and contemporary culture, ranging from traditional dance to K-pop, are taking place this month in France.　“K-Culture Week,” from June 1-7, was designated by the Korean and French governments. Its highlights include dance performances, exhibitions, food events and a literature event. Dancers perform at the biennial French dance competition Danse Elargie. (2015-16 Korea-France Year)　It seeks to boost the ongoing two-year-long series of cultura
Proust‘s personal archives sell at auction for $1.3m

Jun 2, 2016

PARIS (AFP) - Intimate letters, personal photographs and rare manuscripts that once belonged to French writer Marcel Proust have sold at auction for 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million).The sale at Sotheby‘s in Paris on Tuesday far exceeded expert estimates for the collection of 520,000 to 740,000 euros. The trove of about 120 documents was sold by the writer’s 41-year-old great-grand-niece Patricia Mante-Proust and included a hand-corrected proof of one of Proust’s well-known works.The collection a
Britain‘s oldest hand-dated document found in Roman trove

Jun 2, 2016

LONDON (AFP) -- The earliest dated handwritten document from Britain has been unearthed in the heart of London, archeologists announced Wednesday, among a trove of Roman writing tablets revealing the city’s commerce-driven beginnings.The wooden tablet, a notice of debt owed dated Jan. 8, 57 -- less than 14 years after the Roman invasion of 43 -- was found deep beneath what is now the City of London financial hub.The 405 tablets also contained the earliest surviving written reference to London.Th
KCON France to kick off amid diplomatic anticipation

Jun 2, 2016

The world's largest K-pop festival will kick off in Paris, its first European destination, on Thursday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye attending.The line-up for KCON France includes the likes of Bangtan Boys, Block B, SHINee, F.T. Island, f(x) and I.O.I, CJ E&M, a South Korean entertainment company, said. I.O.I is a girl group created from cult reality series "Produce 101," which narrowed 101 candidates down to 11 finalists who now comprise the act.Park, who is in France to celebrate t
Anthropologist follows trail of century-old hobo graffiti

Jun 1, 2016

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Anthropologist Susan Phillips had spent a career examining the graffiti that covers urban walls, bridges and freeway overpasses. But when she came across an unrecognizable collection made not of spray paint but substances like grease pencil and apparently left there for a century, she was stunned. Phillips had uncovered a peculiar, almost extinct form of American hieroglyphics known as hobo graffiti, the treasure trove discovered under a nondescript, 103-year-old bridge spann
Christie's fined over elephant ivory sale

Jun 1, 2016

LONDON (AFP) - Christie's auction house has been fined 3,250 pounds ($4,770) for selling a piece of elephant ivory without the correct documentation, London police said Tuesday.The silver-mounted tusk, put up for auction last year, did not have the right documentation under wildlife protection laws, a police statement said.A representative for the auction house pleaded guilty in London to selling the ivory, in contravention of an article in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Spe
Seoul to provide 180 mln won on renovation of 'hanok'

Jun 1, 2016

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it will provide up to 180 million won ($151,200) worth of subsidies for the renovation of traditional houses, in line with its bid to preserve traditional buildings remaining in the city.The announcement came as Seoul designated 550,000 square meters of area in five districts, including Bukchon and Seochon, two of the oldest neighborhoods in the capital, as special zones for the conservation of hanok, or traditional-style housing.The houses in the
A palace walk with Hamlet, Jeongjo

May 31, 2016

‘Hamlet’ is being recited at Changdeokgung Palace garden to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death
[Foreigners Who Loved Korea] George Lewis Shaw, an active supporter of Korean independence movement

May 30, 2016

George Lewis Shaw was born as the eldest son of an Irishman, Samuel Lewis Shaw, and a Japanese woman, Ellen O’Sea Shaw in 1880 on Pagoda Island of Fuzhou, Fujian province, China. He married Saito Fumi, a Japanese woman, and the second of his two sons, Samuel George Shaw, also married a Japanese woman. Despite his father, son, and George L. Shaw himself taking Japanese wives, George L. Shaw, was far from being pro-Japanese. Instead he actively supported the Korean independence movement while runn
Korea opens culture booth at Rotary convention

May 30, 2016

The Culture Ministry and Korea Tourism Organization are jointly running a Korean culture and tourism booth at the 2016 Rotary International Convention, which is taking place at the Korea International Exhibition & Convention Center in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province from May 28-June 1.　　At the booth, visitors are be able to receive information on tourism in Korea and engage in hands-on activities featuring Korean culture, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. 　Visitors can taste Korean cuisi
Kim Whan-ki's painting fetches 4.56 bln won in H.K. auction

May 30, 2016

South Korean painter Kim Whan-ki garnered the third-highest price for a Korean painting in a recent auction in Hong Kong, an auction firm said Monday, proving once again that the late artist's unique artworks are in high demand among art collectors."Untitled 3-V-71 #203" painted in 1971 by the country's abstract art pioneer was auctioned off for 4.56 billion won (HK$30 million) in the art event by Seoul Auction, South Korea's biggest art auction company. It was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in H
Book on colonial labor victims released

May 29, 2016

A book on a legal battle between the Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and 300 South Koreans who were forced into labor decades ago has hit the shelves, a civic group supporting the victims said Sunday. The book explains detailed court records of a decade-long battle starting in 1999 when eight S. Korean victims first filed a lawsuit with a Japanese court against Mitsubishi Heavy, demanding compensation for their forced labor during the country's 1910-45 colonial rule. The legal
S. Korea paves way for exporting chicken soup to China

May 29, 2016

South Korea's agricultural ministry on Sunday said it has reached an agreement with China to start exporting traditional chicken soup to the world's most populous country as early as June. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it has completed talks on exporting "samgyetang." Samgyetang is a traditional chicken soup made with a whole young chicken stuffed with ginseng, sticky rice and garlic. It is widely recognized in the country as an energy-boosting meal during the summ