Korean pop-wave aims for lasting prosperity through ‘glocalization,’ diversification

After nearly five years, the newly restored Sungnyemun, the historic gate in downtown Seoul, is expected to officially open to the public in April, the government said Monday. The Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday said that it would open the Sungnyemun site, which is now receiving the final touches before the unveiling to the press Thursday. The National Treasure No. 1 was damaged in an arson attack on Feb. 10, 2008, by an elderly man who was later revealed to be suffering from a mental

SAO PAULO (AFP) ― With samba music and allegorical pageantry, the Brazilian Carnival pays glowing tribute this year to South Korea’s ancient culture and technological prowess, and to 50 years of Korean immigration.Friday, South Korean popstar Psy was a star guest at Carnival celebrations in the northeastern city of Salvador, wowing the crowd with his “Gangnam Style” hit that made Internet history last December by clocking more than one billion views on YouTube.Saturday, he was warmly applauded a

A 3-year-old British girl has been allowed to join Mensa, a society for people with high IQs, becoming the club‘s youngest member, officials said.Alice Amos has an IQ of 162 -- higher than those of Albert Einstein and Steven Hawking, both of whom had IQs of 160, The Sun reported.“It is clear that she has the capacity to do almost whatever she wants in life,” said child expert Joan Freeman.Alice achieved the high score in English, which is actually her second language, after Russian, which her pa

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LONDON (AP) ― The art world loves hype. Works are touted as the biggest, the rarest, the most expensive. Even in an age of superlatives, the British Museum has something special ― the oldest known figurative art in the world.The artworks on display in the new exhibition “Ice Age Art’’ are so old that many are carved from the tusks of woolly mammoths.But it’s not just their age that may surprise visitors. It’s their artistry.These are artworks, not just prehistoric artifacts. Some of the sophisti

A Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found U.S. adults with some form of mental illness have a smoking rate 70 percent higher than adults with no mental illness.The report also found 36 percent of adults with a mental illness were cigarette smokers, compared with 21 percent of adults who do not have a mental illness.Earlier research showed nearly 1-in-5 U.S. adults -- a

A bibimbap video advertisement was screened on Thailand’s most high profile billboard, after a joint effort by a Korean comedy show and publicist.Korea’s weekly comedy show “Infinite Challenge” and Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, teamed up for a world tour to put out billboard ads of bibimbap, a Korean traditional dish made of steamed rice mixed with meat, fresh vegetables and red pepper paste. Seo has placed bibimbap ads in Times Square in New York and the New York Ti

A Seowon was not simply a building of academia or a shrine. It was a living organization with abundant tales, said Lee Bae-yong, head of the preparation committee for the institute’s addition to the UNESCO World Heritage list. “At Sosu Seowon, the first seowon established here, all pine trees behind the walls lean toward the classrooms. It is almost as if the trees wanted to share the knowledge of the wise men,” she said in an interview with The Korea Herald held at the Cooperation and Participa

UNESCO World Heritage candidate has time-transcending serenity, peace