Inaugural exhibition focuses on artistic efforts to create renaissance of Korean artAn art exhibition has unveiled the famous bull painting by Korean modern artist Lee Jung-seob to the public this week after it made brief public appearance at an auction two years ago. The painting, purchased by a pharmaceutical company CEO and art collector Ahn Byung-gwang, is the highlight of the inaugural exhibition of Seoul Museum, which was founded by Ahn. About 70 other paintings by modern Korean artists, w

One of the most popular girl groups in Asia, Girls’ Generation, will perform at the “2013 K-Pop Fantasy Concert” in the Philippines’ capital of Manila. “Girl’s Generations’ attendance at the concert scheduled for Jan. 19, 2013, has been finalized and confirmed,” DM school, a co-organizer of the concert, said on Monday. Several famous K-pop singers, including ones from S.M. Entertainment, are expected to perform at the concert jointly organized by KMH and dance academy DM School. (lhj137@heraldco

Girl group KARA’s management agency, DSPmedia, posted a letter of apology on its website Tuesday for illegally parking in a spot reserved for the disabled at a highway rest stop. “After discussing the incident with the management staff, it has been confirmed that KARA and its staff visited Gongju Jeongan rest area and parked their two vans at the disabled spot for approximately 15 minutes on Aug. 25,” stated DSPmedia. The five-member girl group was on its way to perform at the 14th Korea-China M

Big Bang leader G-Dragon will make a comeback on Sept. 1 with a new single “That XX.” YG Entertainment’s official blog posted a teaser photo of G-Dragon’s new single on Aug. 29, formally announcing his return.The 24-year-old singer released the music video of another new song “One of a Kind” which received more than 3 million views and 3,000 comments on the day of its release on Aug. 25. G-Dragon’s teaser photo is also getting much attention from his fans for its “19 and over” sign, indicating t

Kang Full’s Web-based comic book series made into filmCountless films in the past have featured a serial killer, but Kim Hwi’s latest thriller based on Kang Full’s 2008 webcomic takes a refreshingly different approach.For the sake of suspense and excitement, many noir-thrillers do not reveal the identity of the killer until the very end. But in “Neighbors,” it is clear who the criminal is right from the beginning. He in fact kills his own neighbors ― including a middle-school girl ― living in hi

LOS ANGELES (UPI) ― Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Tobey Maguire are working to produce an animal-trafficking film like the U.S. crime drama “Traffic,” a trade daily reported.The unnamed Warner Bros. Pictures film would look at animal trafficking from a number of perspectives, similar to 2000’s “Traffic,” directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan, The Hollywood Reporter said.“Traffic,” adapted from the British TV series “Traffik,” explores the illegal-drug trade from the pers

Over 120 works by established Korean and foreign artists on the blockArtday, a subsidiary of the Herald Corporation, presents a special selection of modern and contemporary art this week, aimed at both novice and seasoned collectors. It features about 120 paintings by Korea’s modern and contemporary artists ― from established figures such as Kim Hwan-ki, Sa Suk-won, Lee Sook-ja and Kang Ik-joong to young artists Kim Dong-yoo, Lee Gil-woo and Bae Yoon-hwan. Japanese contemporary artists Yayoi Kus

Veteran actress Son Sook stars in monodrama ‘What I keep till the Very End’Among the many short stories late author Park Wan-suh wrote, her 1994 piece “What I Keep till the Very End” is considered as one of her most personal works.The story was written largely based on the author’s painful loss of her son in a car accident in 1988, just three months after his father’s death. He was 26 years old at the time and was attending a prestigious medical school in Seoul.The novella is now being staged as

Girl group T-ara has recently been surrounded by a bullying scandal, as speculations ran rampant that one member, Ryu Hwa-young, 19, was bullied by her groupmates.On Tuesday, she confirmed on Twitter that there was, in fact, a dispute between the members and herself over differences of opinion, but also expressed that she wants to move on. Hwa-young wrote she did not feel good reading that fellow member Eun-jung’s was abruptly cut from the drama “Five Fingers.” Hwa-young also said her heart brok

The stock values of two major entertainment agency owners in Korea have exceeded 200 billion won ($176 million) on the back of growing popularity of K-pop around the world. According to chaebul.com, a website following South Korea’s conglomerates, stakes held by S.M. Entertainment’s Lee Soo-man came in at 242 billion won; YG Entertainment’s Yang Hyun-seok’s shares stood at 223.1 billion won at closing on Aug. 24.According to the website, foreign shares in S.M. Entertainment rose from 8.18 percen

The first show of the upcoming outdoor opera “La Boheme,” initially scheduled to be performed at the Amphitheater at Yonsei University tonight, has been moved to Thursday due to Typhoon Bolaven, which is expected to reach Seoul today, its local production company ADL said Monday. The second show of the run, which is slated to be held at the same venue on Sept. 1, will be held as scheduled. The powerful typhoon could be the strongest storm to hit Korea in a decade, according to Korea Meteorologic

Revamped award offers assistance to selected artistsThe National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea is holding its artists-of-the year exhibition as part of its efforts to discover and promote contemporary artists. The recipients of the 2012 Korea Artist Prize are Gim Hong-sok; Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho as a team; Yee Soo-kyung; and Lim Min-ouk. The artists will showcase their new artwork at the exhibition from Aug. 31 to Nov. 11 at the Gwacheon branch of the museum. The museum will select

Market share of homegrown movies rises to nearly 80 percent over the weekendKorea’s homegrown films are doing better than ever at the box office, with its market share rising to nearly 80 percent in the past weekend.The top four movies at the box office from Aug. 26 to 27 were local films, according to the Korean Film Council. The films are director Kim Hwi’s thriller “Neighbors”; Kim Joo-ho’s period comedy “The Grand Heist”; Choi Dong-Hun’s star-studded blockbuster “The Thieves”; and Kim Dong-w