Brian had been living in Korea for just over three months when he encountered the unexpected. The ESL instructor, who asked that his last name be withheld, spent a night out with friends in the southern city of Busan and missed the last train home. He decided to go to the nearest “jimjilbang,” Korean sauna, to rest until morning. He found a convenient place with an English sign right next to Busan Station.“I asked in Korean if the place was a jimjilbang and made the sleeping motion with my hands

When I read a Korea Herald report on North Korean defectors’ reactions to Kim Jong-il’s death, it made me wonder how I would react to it if I were born and living in North Korea.One defector says, “When Kim Il-sung died, we were bawling our eyes out and cried till our throats bled. But when I look at the videos of people crying now, there isn’t as much genuineness behind their tears.” Another defector says that there is a huge difference between the death of the two: “It’s like heaven and earth.

NEW DELHI (AP) ― Indian lawmakers fiercely debated sweeping anti-corruption legislation Tuesday while a protest leader began a three-day hunger strike demanding Parliament adopt his tougher proposals.The legislative showdown is the culmination of months of angry political debate and public protests that brought tens of thousands of middle-class Indians fed up with rampant corruption into the streets and put a government battered by scandals deeper on the defensive.Hoping to defuse activist Anna

As protests roil Moscow, Surkov’s changing role signals continuing reformsMOSCOW (AP) ― Facing a swelling wave of public anger over fraud-tainted elections, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday rejected demands for a rerun of the vote, while the Kremlin reassigned the architect of his tightly controlled political system to a job with no apparent domestic political duties.The order by President Dmitry Medvedev to make Vladislav Surkov a deputy prime minister in charge of economic modernizatio

The New York Times last week mentioned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei-directed show “Unnamed” at Korea’s Gwangju Design Biennale as one of the outstanding contemporary shows held this year.In its article titled “From Apple to Occupy, the Design Honors List for 2011,” which was published on Dec. 25, Ai’s show at Gwangju was mentioned as exceptional along with the Museum of Modern Art in New York’s communication design show called “Talk to Me.”The “Unnamed” show featured design products by

‘Endless Voyage’ features top dancers from three major ballet troupesLife is a journey. We are all in the same boat, no matter who we are. Dancers from the nation’s top three troupes ― Korea National Ballet, Universal Ballet and The National Dance Company of Korea ― will be on a boat, literally, to depict a condensed version of life at the show “Endless Voyage.”The show takes place Jan. 4-5 at Seoul Arts Center’s Opera Theater in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul.A press call on Tuesday showed a glimp

Pressures of digital, modern society triggering return to the ‘innocent’ ’70s and ’80sNo one can dismiss the apparent infiltration of a massive stroke of retro-heavy nostalgia for the music and mood of the ’70s and ’80s. From the small screen to the silver screen, from the stage to the radio, what South Koreans refer to as the “7080” culture can be found most everywhere.Ever since the trend started seriously attracting buzz following the unprecedented popularity of C’est Si Bon concerts when the

The country’s best known footballer Park Ji-sung is in the news for the right reason. He is scoring in the English Premier League and has again proven his worth for Manchester United, the world’s top football club. And fans are now calling on the versatile player to make a return to the much troubled national team. The 30-year-old midfielder retired from international football following Korea’s third-place finish at the Asian Cup in January. But a veteran football figure has recently suggested t