Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung offer a glimpse into traditional side of KoreaAs the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Summit kicked off on Monday, Seoul’s ancient palaces opened special programs for the foreign guests to get a glimpse of Korea’s royal culture throughout the week.The participating palaces are Gyeongbokgung, the main and the largest palace in Seoul; Changdeokgung, a UNESCO world heritage site; and Deoksugung, the only royal palace that houses western style buildings. “Gyeonghoeru Yeonh

Director Yi Seung-jun’s award-winning documentary “Planet of Snail” has been invited to yet another major documentary festival overseas, following its invitation to the 11th Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month, according to the movie’s production house. An everyday portrayal of a hearing and visually impaired man and his wife, the film will be featured in the competition section of Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary film festival held annually in Toronto, Canada. A total of 189 f

Titanic 3D (U.S.) Opening April 5Drama. Directed by James Cameron. James Cameron’s 1997 legendary disaster film “Titanic” is returning to the silver screen in 3-D. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, the movie is a fictionalized cinematic account of the Titanic, a passenger ship that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean during its maiden voyage in 1912. The Titanic disaster, which took place after the ship hit an iceberg en route to New York City from Southampton, killed more than 1,500 peo

Jason Segel may be the writer-star of hit movies like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “The Muppets.” But he still sounds as sweet as awkward teen Nick Andopolis, the character on the TV series “Freaks and Geeks” who so memorably sang the Styx ballad “Lady” to his high-school crush.“I think it’s really neat that I’m an actor, all that stuff,” says Segel by phone, talking about his approach to his success. “I think the real goal is just to be nice.”From anyone else, this could seem as saccharine a

Stay CloseBy Harlan Coben (Dutton) A hallmark of Harlan Coben’s best-sellers has been his precise look at ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations, forced to deal with violence and the seamy side of life. These “family thrillers” are hauntingly realistic, showing how characters who could be our neighbors ― or ourselves ― discover an inner resolve.Coben’s 22nd novel spins a new approach to his family thrillers. In the excellent “Stay Close,” Coben shows us three people who know too w

The Quarterly Asia: Park Tae-joon: A Memorial Issue(ASIA Publishers) ASIA, a bilingual quarterly which mainly features works of Asian literature, has dedicated its latest issue to the late POSCO founder Park Tae-joon. Park, who died of complications of lung disease last year, is considered one of the pioneers behind Korea’s post-war economic growth. The former general who participated in the Korean War (1950-1953) founded POSCO in 1968, which was then called Pohang Iron and Steel Company, and tu

Another hot, drippy August envelopes the Batiste family and their tumbledown property in coastal Mississippi, but there’s an excited air surrounding what’s about to happen in the shed.Their crystal-white pit bull, China, tenderly cared for by 16-year-old Skeetah, is ready to give birth to her first litter. In the novel “Salvage the Bones,” author Jesmyn Ward explores that day and the next 11 in the lives of this Southern black family of five. All are struggling to find and fill their roles in th

Former comedian and TV show host Kang Ho-dong will start a special project in South Sudan to help vulnerable children in the African country.According to ChildFund Korea, which is in charge of Kang’s Sudan project, the former comedian has been supporting a Korean child through the organization since 2005. Kang is said to have decided to start the project in Africa, as he recently became interested in supporting children overseas as well.The new project consists of building a special village in S

Women’s film fest to feature120 films from 30 countriesThe Seoul-based women’s film festival is back, with its line-up ever so conscious of the world’s turbulent modern history.From the breast cancer campaign to contemporary racism to women’s sexuality, this year’s IWFFIS (International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul) is filled with diverse themes and socially conscious issues that have been affecting the lives of women worldwide.“There was the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the mass demons

Actress Ha Ji-won is returning to the big screen as a ping pong player in the upcoming sports flick “Korea,” according to the movie’s producer CJ entertainment. Based on the true story of Korea’s first-ever unified Korean national table tennis team in 1991, the movie features Ha as Hyun Jung-hwa, the South Korean player on the two-member team. Hyun’s team won the gold medal against all odds at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.Ha, in fact, received private lessons last year from Hyun, wh

 Exhibition features more than 2,300 Silla artifacts, from bones of dogs to metal toolsIn the days of Korea’s Silla Kingdom (B.C. 57―A.D. 935), people had an unusual way of wishing for good fortune and chasing away evil spirits. During their prayers for prosperity and fortune, they’d bury a number of personal items, such as roof tiles, well buckets and plates, underground or in the wells of various locations.The National Museum of Korea’s new exhibition, titled “Opening of Time Capsules: Wondrou

Universal welfare, as well as more regulations on the free market and chaebol reform are crucial in contemporary Korean economy, according to Chang Ha-joon, one of the leading heterodox economists in Korea. He spoke at a news conference held Monday to promote his upcoming book.The new book, “What to Choose: Cutting the Gordian Knot -- An Analysis of the Korean Economy,” co-authored by Chang, Lee Jong-tae and Jeong Seung-il, is an extension of the trio’s 2005 book “Cutting the Gordian Knot -- An

Universal Ballet Troupe takes Tchaikovsky classic to S. AfricaJOHANNESBURG ― More than 1,000 audience members were mesmerized by the Korean Odette when the curtain came down on the final act of the Tchaikovsky classic, “Swan Lake,” in Johannesburg, Friday.The Universal Ballet Company’s first show on its South African tour was greeted with tumultuous applause and a standing ovation at Joburg Theatre, with members of the sold-out audience repeatedly cheering bravo as the dancers took their bows.Th

Director and young performing artist delve into the world of Korea’s indigenous spirituality Aside from the comical talk-show character “The Knee-Drop Guru,” and a few TV drama shows such as MBC’s 2004 flick “Lotus Flower Fairy,” it’s hard to come across much about Korean shamanism in popular culture.In the contemporary art scene, however, two artists have recently come up with unconventional works that shed light on the historical and artistic value of shamanism. One is media artist Park Chan-k

Gabi (Korea)Opening March 15Period drama. Directed by Jang Yoon-hyun. Tanya (Kim So-yeon), a young Korean woman who grew up in Russia and knows how to brew coffee, comes to Joseon with her boyfriend Illichi (Joo Jin-mo), who is also Korean. Shortly after her arrival, she becomes Joseon’s first barista and ends up serving Gojong, the King of Joseon. Gojong has no idea that Tanya and Illichi together carry a secret mission from the Japanese to assassinate the monarch. Love Fiction (Korea)Opened Fe