Imbalance in Korea’s wedding gift culture, desire to find happiness fuel desire for solo ceremonies

“Haegeum is like ink that has permeated into my life,” Kim Sae-jin said. Kim majors in haegeum at the Korea National University of Arts, a special educational institution to foster artists. Haegeum is a traditional Korean string instrument that is played by pulling the bow across its two strings. It is also nicknamed the “ggaeng-ggaeng-i” for its high-pitched sounds. The haegeum's body consists of a soundbox made of bamboo and oak, a bamboo bar and two tuning pegs. T

Smaller bookshops increasingly cater to self-published writers rather than readers; some face criticism as mere photogenic backdrops

From concerts on forest trail to photo zones on silvergrass field, Seoul's neighborhoods come alive with autumn celebrations

“Nongak is close as a friend to me. I experienced happiness, anger, sorrow and joy, developing love with it,” said Jeong Hyun-ji, who plays the sogo -- a small, traditional Korean hand-held drum -- in the Gochang Nongak Cheongchun Gutpae. Gochang Nongak Cheongchun Gutpae is an official youth troupe that performs Gochang Nongak, the traditional music created and developed by farmers in the coastal county of Gochang, North Jeolla Province. “I always swim into the meaning of nonga

S. Korean language experts on joint board carry on even in the absence of response from the North

“The geomungo has been called ‘baekakjijang,’ which means the ultimate instrument,” Park Chae-won said, introducing her instrument. Park is a Korean music major specializing in the geomungo at Seoul National University. The geomungo is an ancient Korean instrument with a hollow wooden body and six silk strings. It is played with a pencil-sized bamboo stick called a suldae. Since being invented by Wang San-ak, a prime minister during Korea’s Goguryeo kingdom (37 B.C.

From 'fire noodle challenge' to tanghulu, food trends attract those who want to engage in broader social and culinary experiences

This April, tragedy narrowly averted a GS Construction Consortium’s apartment construction site in Geomdan New Town, Incheon. The upper layers of an underground parking garage, designated as a children's playground, gave way, triggering a chain collapse. While no casualties were reported as the accident happened late at night, the subsidence revealed a grim scenario had it occurred post-completion. A month later, GS Engineering & Construction, the builder, admitted to omitting ste

For young people, hiking is for fun, friends and even romance

“Gochang nongak first came into my life at a college traditional music band. Since then, I've gone to Gochang every summer and winter to learn the music,” said Kim Mi-jung, a kkwaenggwari player of Gochang nongak, a type of traditional farmers’ music developed in Gochang-gun, North Jeolla Province. The kkwaenggwari is a metal percussion instrument or gong with a radius the length of the span of one's outstretched hand, and a wooden mallet. With its high-pitched tone,

State program revives tradition of oral storytelling with retirees, becomes source of mutual enrichment for storytellers, children

“When I started learning 'gochang nongak,' it was completely different from anything I had learned before," said Jeong Ha-rin, an amateur gochang nongak performer from Busan. “Now, gochang nongak brings me so much joy. It became an escape from life's heaviness and seriousness,” Jeong added. Gochang nongak is a type of traditional music developed by farmers in Gochang, North Jeolla Province. “My father was a member of the Korean traditional art's c

Antipathy to 'new money,' fatigue over kitschy pop culture and economic recession play as factors for the rise of old money aesthetic

Reading recs, “summer Blue House” and vacation jinx