The Korea Herald

Heritage administration to examine ways to protect cultural properties

Feb 6, 2012

Commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Namdaemun gate arson, the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea this week is holding two events examining better ways to protect cultural properties from natural and man-made disasters.On Thursday, the administration is holding a special session titled “International Symposium 2012 on Disaster Risk Management for Cultural Heritage: Cultural Heritage and Climate Change,” where local and foreign pundits will gather at the National Palace Museum of Ko
New president of ELLAK speaks on English literature and education

Feb 5, 2012

More English literature and language programs in local universities should offer English-immersion courses, and collaboration among scholars with different interests would strengthen the local English-language studies, said the newly appointed president of English Language & Literature Association of Korea. “Our academia is divided into English literature, English language, English education, and English-Korean interpretation and translation,” professor Kim Young-min told The Korea Herald on Thu
U.S. Archives unveils Magna Carta after repairs

Feb 5, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The National Archives unveiled its 715-year-old copy of Magna Carta on Thursday after a conservation effort removed old patches and repaired weak spots in the English declaration of human rights that inspired the United States’ founding documents.A $13.5 million gift from philanthropist David Rubenstein funded conservation and a new case for the only original Magna Carta in the United States. Rubenstein bought the historic document at auction in 2007 for $21.3 million and sent
Jolie, Streep join Arab Spring at Berlin film fest

Feb 5, 2012

BERLIN (AFP) - The Arab Spring uprisings and political turmoil in the West will dominate the 62nd Berlin film festival starting Thursday, as Hollywood royalty sprinkles stardust in the frigid German capital.Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman, Robert Pattinson, Antonio Banderas and Christian B
Korea’s nation image lags behind achievements: survey

Feb 2, 2012

Korea ranked 15th in substance and 19th in image last year in a survey designed to measure the country’s current national brand value, the Presidential Council on Nation Branding said on Thursday.The survey, co-conducted by the Presidential Council on Nation Branding and Samsung Economic Research Institute, showed that the country’s national brand in image still lags behind substance. But the gap between the two has narrowed from eight notches in 2009, six in 2010 to four in 2011, the council sa
Royal books returned from France available online

Jan 31, 2012

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea‘s national museum said Tuesday it has launched an online service where users can view some of the royal books retrieved from France early last year.“We built a digital database of the Oegyujanggak books and made them available on our website to better preserve the original copies and improve users’ accessibility,” the National Museum of Korea said in a statement.The museum said it plans to expand the online service to include the full collection of the returned book
Traditional culture promoted for new wave of hallyu

Jan 30, 2012

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will push Korean traditional culture as the new driving force for “hallyu,”or Korean Wave.The Culture Ministry announced on Monday plans to further promote Korean traditional culture and also inaugurated the K-Culture Promotion Taskforce which will coordin
Researchers find cancer in ancient Egyptian mummy

Jan 30, 2012

CAIRO (AP) _ A professor from American University in Cairo says discovery of prostate cancer in a 2,200-year-old mummy indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment.The genetics-environment question is key to understanding cancer.AUC professor Salima Ikram, a member of the team that
First Korean language school opens for Indonesian tribe

Jan 29, 2012

The very first Korean language school was to open Monday in Bau-Bau, Indonesia, for a local minority tribe there who in 2009 officially chose to use the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, to help preserve its fading spoken language. The Cia-Cia, a tribe of some 80,000 indigenous people living in Bau-Bau, a city on Buton Island, have been running a Korean language course in their elementary schools throughout the past few years ― ever since the tribe adopted Hangeul as their official writing system. The I
One-stop shopping evolves

Jan 27, 2012

Drinks, exhibition venues and overseas promotions for designers become part of shopping experienceFashion merchandise buyer Nam So-hyun has been making occasional visits to multi-brand shops sprawled along Garosugil in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, for quite some time. “Being a buyer, it helps me keep a good eye for fashion. Multi-brand shops bring in new, interesting brands and are the quickest in Seoul to reflect the latest trends of the international fashion scene. The items tend to be a bit ov
Highlights-Calendar

Jan 27, 2012

Theater“Without You” : Based on musical star Anthony Rapp’s best-selling memoir of the same title, the musical “Without You” brings to life Rapp’s turbulent personal journey in the late 1990s. Rapp, best known for the role of Mark in Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Rent,” plays himself in the upcoming musical in Seoul. The show chronicles Rapp’s making of “Rent,” especially after Larson’s sudden death from a heart attack just a day before the premiere. The show a
Jeju picked through ‘fair competition’

Jan 26, 2012

7 Wonders chief refutes doubts among KoreansKorea’s Jeju Island was chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature through fair competition and there should not be any more doubts about the process, the chief of the Swiss-based organization told a Thursday press conference in Seoul.Bernard Weber, chairman of the New7Wonders Foundation, convened a press gathering a day after arriving in Korea, vowing to resolve suspicions over the transparency of the voting that was conducted via the Internet a
Korea to promote 3rd hallyu: Minister Choe

Jan 24, 2012

Top policymaker stresses globalization of Korean wave, eyes 11m visitors this yearWith the world’s attention continually shifting from one aspect of Korean culture to another, Korea should produce high-quality and consistent cultural products in the coming years by linking the old and new and the unique and universal, Culture Minister Choe Kwang-shik said. “The first hallyu was led by Korean dramas and the second by K-pop. The third wave should consist of the Korean culture overall ― the content
Fireworks, feasts to celebrate Year of Dragon

Jan 24, 2012

BEIJING (AP) _ Millions of ethnic Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese across Asia are ringing in the new Year of the Dragon with fireworks, feasting and family reunions.From Beijing to Bangkok and Seoul to Singapore, people hoping for good luck in the new year that began Monday are visiting temple
One thing at a time - multi-tasking is a myth

Jan 24, 2012

Every modern office worker knows the drill: the email queue is full, the telephone is ringing and the boss is bearing down on your desk from across the open-plan office. Multi-tasking is the order of the day.Distractions prompt the thought to cut yourself off to work in peace for a while. There is l