The cast of the upcoming musical “Peste” pose at a press conference held at the Di Nozze Convention center in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)　A musical based on the tragic tale of French author Albert Camus’ “The Plague” combined with the sounds of legendary K-pop icon Seo Tai-ji, new local musical “Peste” is gearing up to hit the stage later this month. 　To this day, Seo is widely considered an unparalleled iconic musician for his controversial and politically defiant lyrics that pushed the envelop

When Lee Jin-ah came on singing audition program “K-pop Star” two years ago, the panel, consisting of famed music producers Yang Hyun-seok, Park Jin-young and Yoo Hee-yeol, unanimously praised the squeaky-voiced, piano-playing contestant as a “genius” so far not seen in the K-pop world.　While many viewers agreed, others were baffled: What was so special about the then-23-year-old girl whose self-written tunes resembled children’s songs and whose vocals sounded infantile?　Producer Yoo, who heads

Seoul prosecutors said Thursday Volkswagen, faced with an emissions cheating scandal, appears to have sold thousands of vehicles with unauthorized exhaust pipes.Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said Audi Volkswagen Korea arbitrarily changed key parts that affect emissions on about 50,000 cars, including Audi A7s, without getting authorized by the Ministry of Environment.Under the local law, failure to be authorized for changes could lead to a fine of up to 10 billion won (US$8.62 milli

Just a few weeks ago, three local Kumho Art Hall piano prodigies took the top three spots at this year’s Prague Spring International Music Competition in the Czech Republic. Kumho violinist Jang Yoo-jin has now added to the phenomenon of Korean musicians dominating the podiums at international music competitions with her first place win in Japan this weekend.　Jang, 25, took home first place in the violin section at this year’s sixth Sendai International Music Competition in Japan on Saturday, be

On the night of April 15, a 55-year-old resident of the Ihwa Mural Village surnamed Park and two other accomplices took buckets of gray paint and painted away one of the village’s most famous, flower mosaic-tiled outdoor staircase murals. A week later on April 24, a 45-year-old resident surnamed Kwon and another person followed suit and went on to gray over another of the village’s most photographed 3-D koi fish painted staircase murals.However, this act of vandalism was not committed as a means