The new Tongyeong Concert Hall, located in the port city in South Gyeongsang Province, will open to the public Friday, seven years after the idea for a home for the music festival honoring composer Isang Yun was first conceived in 2006.Inaugurated in 2002, the Tongyeong International Music Festival has now grown into an internationally acclaimed contemporary music festival.The five-story, 14,618 square-meter facility costing 52 billion won ($48 million) is the fourth-largest concert facility in

PerformanceNov. 7, 2013

About two years after the release of his successful 2011 feature debut “The King of Pigs,” animation film director Yeon Sang-ho is back with another grim and powerful portrait of human nature. Titled “The Fake,” the animated film manages to be an engrossingly dark tale of truth and deception. It takes place in a rural Korean town on the verge of becoming submerged. Most of its residents ― undereducated and isolated ― have little to their name. Some are terminally ill, while others are desperate

FilmNov. 7, 2013

SHINee, Girls’ Generation, TVXQ, Super Junior, f(x) and EXO will all combine forces next month in S.M. Entertainment’s first weeklong concert series festival. “SMTown Week,” will parade the six leading teams of the SM family starting Dec. 21 in an eight-day back-to-back solo concert performance series being held at KINTEX exhibition center in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. It is expected to attract around 100,000 fans, including those coming in from overseas on special travel packages. SHINee will op

PerformanceNov. 7, 2013

Korean veteran actor Choi Min-sik (“Oldboy,” “Nameless Gangster”) is to star in the latest project by French filmmaker Luc Besson (“The Lady,” “The Fifth Element”), along with American actors Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman. He left for France to shoot the movie on Nov. 1.The movie, titled “Lucy,” is about a drug mule (Johansson) who is endowed with superhuman abilities. Choi’s participation in the film was revealed during the French director’s upcoming lineup announcement at the Venice Fi

FilmNov. 7, 2013

Over the last two decades, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has become known as one of popular culture’s great visionaries. He’s channeled his wild, restless imagination to create dark worlds of fantasy and horror, crafting beautifully rendered stories that function as modern fairy tales. Del Toro is interested in innocence and evil, and his tales are populated with winged, multi-limbed creatures and human monsters.His new book, “Cabinet of Curiosities: My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsession

BooksNov. 7, 2013

When we think of John F. Kennedy, we can’t help but bring to mind images of his assassination, but if there’s anything surprising about the 50th anniversary of his killing, it is the books that look back at his life.That may be because there’s no new ground to be broken on the assassination, although Life magazine’s magnificent “The Day Kennedy Died” (Life Books: 192 pp.) does offer a lavish retrospective that takes us through the tragedy, ending with the president’s funeral. There is perspectiv

BooksNov. 7, 2013

Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ and ‘Mystery!’ On PBSBy Rebecca Eaton (Penguin, NY) Do you remember Alistair Cooke? Besides being a renowned journalist, he also was the first host of PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre” when it started in 1971.Now you can find out all about that history of that long-running program in Executive Producer Rebecca Eaton’s amusing biography “Making Masterpiece.”She took over in 1985 when “Masterpiece Theatre” was 15 years old. It was kn

BooksNov. 7, 2013

The AbominableBy Dan Simmons(Little, Brown and Company)Since Dan Simmons’ new novel of mountaineering, lengthy technical explanations, Nazis and the occasional yeti is titled “The Abominable,” you should know at the outset that it is not a horror story. Indeed, defining the book at all seems to have eluded the publisher, who billed it as a “thrilling tale of high-altitude death and survival set on the snowy summits of Everest” ― but be advised that the characters aren’t even kitted out and in th

BooksNov. 7, 2013

The golden days of Park Eun-seon’s life after she led her team to the second spot in the Korean women’s football league this season have been soured by a gender row.The Seoul City football club held a news conference Thursday to denounce demands for a gender verification test and ask for an apology from six clubs who questioned whether Park is a woman. The news conference came as news reports surfaced that the six teams questioned her gender and asked the league to verify it. The six head coache

PeopleNov. 7, 2013

GS Caltex Foundation, the corporate social responsibility division of the oil refiner, won the grand prix at the Korean Mecenat program for its support for local culture in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, the Korean Business Council for the Arts said Thursday. Haitai Confectionary and Foods was named the Cultural Contributor for its support of “gugak,” or traditional Korean music, while U.Square, a network of Kumho bus terminals, won the Cultural Management Award. Kim Kyeong-gon, chairman of Wooji

PeopleNov. 7, 2013

The annual Seoul Book Festival kicks off its sixth edition on Thursday, offering special book-themed programs including talking sessions with cartoonist Rhie Won-bok and author Kim Jin-myeong.Hosted annually by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the three-day event will be attended by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and authors Seong Seok-je and Han Soo-san, among others.Among the featured authors, cartoonist Rhie Won-bok will talk about his latest book, the last installment of his popular series, “Fa

BooksNov. 6, 2013

Grab your snapbacks and pull on your high-tops for a night of hip-hop at “See More on the Beat,” featuring both first-generation hip-hop artists and rising rookies. The festival kicks off on Dec. 7 at lounge Wav, located beside the Han River. Organizers say the concert will focus on hip-hop performances you can not just listen to, but also see and feel with your whole body. Event organizers have also hinted at possible collaborations between the artists.Aside from the line-up which includes prom

PerformanceNov. 6, 2013

LOS ANGELES ― Italian immigrants were instrumental in founding the California wine industry, yet when winemakers sought to upgrade the image of their wines in the mid-20th century, they followed the then-current fashion and went with French grapes ― Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Though perhaps better suited to California’s climate, Italian varietals didn’t have much cachet at the time and were basically relegated to blends and low-cost jug wines.Steve Matthiasson of Matthiasson Wines in Nap

FoodNov. 6, 2013