Korea International Art Fair hopes to revive depressed market

Korea’s biggest art fair opens on Thursday amid the high expectations of local galleries that hope to attract potential collectors and give exposure to their artists in a depressed art market.The Korea International Art Fair kicks off a five-day art market in which 180 local and international galleries will showcase works of their artists at Coex in Samseong-dong, Seoul. This year’s art fair drew 130 Korean galleries and 53 overseas galleries from China, Japan, the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, th

PerformanceSept. 30, 2013

Paju book fest to feature Yi I, maps

Paju Book City, home to some 300 local publishing houses in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, is throwing its annual book-themed festival, focusing on Asian literature and authors this year. Dubbed “Paju Booksori,” the festival celebrates its third edition this year. The event, which opened Saturday, includes lectures, performances and exhibitions, featuring authors and publishers from home and abroad.One of the festival’s exhibitions features the life and works of Yi I (1536-1584), one of the most promi

BooksSept. 30, 2013

Ancient Greek Olympic site threatened by crisis

NEMEA, Greece (AP) ― While world leaders and top athletes lit the Olympic flame with pageantry drawn from antiquity, another important ancient site of athletic prowess sat overlooked and endangered.Some 200 kilometers east of Ancient Olympia where the flame lighting for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi went off without a hitch Sunday, the Nemea stadium and its humbler games are in danger of closing to the public because of crisis-hit Greece’s harsh budget cuts, according to a renowned American arc

CultureSept. 30, 2013

SHINee to release new EP

SHINee is coming back with their fifth EP, “Everybody,” set for release on Oct. 14. On Monday, S.M. Entertainment released two teasers for the album’s upcoming release, showing images of member Taemin. The youngest member of SHINee, who is known for his baby face, is pictured sporting a whole new concept, showing a more charismatic, edgier side to the boy band member who is decked out in a bold red suit in one photo and a wide-brimmed hat in the other. In spring, the K-pop group released their t

Sept. 30, 2013

G-Dragon to release limited-edition LP

K-pop giant G-Dragon will release 8,888 limited-edition LPs of his second studio album “Coup D’etat,” which has been ranking high on music charts ever since its release on Sept. 5. “We will produce only 8,888 limited-edition LPs because G-Dragon considers the number eight his ‘lucky number,’” a representative for the artist stated. The artist will also take time to number all of the LPs from one to 8,888 in his own handwriting. The LP will feature special images from his latest exhibition “G-Dra

Sept. 30, 2013

B.A.P. nabs top spot on German K-pop chart

K-pop boy band B.A.P. has nabbed the top spot on Germany’s K-pop chart. According to an announcement made by their agency, TS Entertainment, on Monday, the group took the No. 1 spot on Germany’s K-pop chart for the month of August with the track “Hurricane” on Aug. 26 and has stayed there since.Germany’s K-pop Chart, which has been running since December 2009, takes votes from K-pop listeners in Germany and compiles a monthly top 20. B.A.P.’s “Hurricane” was released on July 17 as one of the thr

Sept. 30, 2013

Hallyu bash arrives in Gangnam

Seoul’s Gangnam is hosting its annual month-long hallyu bash starting Thursday, presenting a K-pop concert, fashion shows and an international marathon for both expats and locals starting Thursday.Marking its seventh edition this year, the Gangnam Festival celebrates hallyu culture as well as a marathon that welcomes expats, foreign tourists and local residents to run together. Gangnam gained worldwide attention last year as Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion

PerformanceSept. 30, 2013

Thatcher’s ashes laid to rest in London

LONDON (AFP) ― The ashes of late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were laid to rest alongside the remains of her late husband Denis in London on Saturday, at a military nursing home she had long supported.An oak casket containing the ashes of the “Iron Lady,” who died in April after suffering a stroke at the age of 87, was placed in the leafy grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea nursing home beside those of Denis, who died in 2003.In power between 1979 and 1990, the former Conservative

PeopleSept. 29, 2013

Filipino crowned Miss World

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) ― Miss Philippines was crowned Miss World 2013 in a glittering finale Saturday on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, amid tight security following weeks of hard-line Muslim protests.Hundreds of Islamic radicals held a prayer session in a mosque near the capital to express their anger, while Megan Young wept as she won the coveted title on Hindu-majority Bali at the end of a three-week contest.The 23-year-old, wearing a pearl white gown, promised to be “the best Miss

PeopleSept. 29, 2013

6,000 soldiers participate in blood donation drive

Private First Class Jang Ho-joon of the 19th Regiment, 6th Division, 5th Corps rolled up his sleeves on Tuesday to donate blood. He was the 6,000th and last participant to donate to the corps’ blood drive, which lasted about three months, “I am doubly happy because I did not just join the meaningful event but also marked the completion of the blood donation event,” he said.He was awarded a souvenir from the corps commander and a leave of absence. The Fifth Corps said Sunday that it carried out a

PeopleSept. 29, 2013

Berlin Wall fragments to be displayed in Uijeongbu

Several fragments of the Berlin Wall, which divided Germany from Aug. 13, 1961 to Nov. 9, 1989, will be displayed at a unification-themed park to be created in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province.The government of Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, said Sunday that it would place five fragments of the dismantled wall in a temporary park near Uijeongbu Station and open it to the public in mid-November. The display of the symbol of German reunification is intended to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signi

PeopleSept. 29, 2013

Blurred lines on stage

One of the biggest performing arts festivals in Asia arrives in Seoul on Wednesday, featuring a total of 19 works from seven countries, including a play about late celebrated intellectual Susan Sontag (1933-2004). This year’s lineup for the annual Seoul Performing Arts Festival, celebrating its 13th edition, is filled with a number of cutting-edge, highly experimental works that blur the line between fantasy and reality. “SPAF 2013 aspires to encourage and inspire a new mode of creativity by inv

PerformanceSept. 29, 2013

Korea, China and Japan vow greater cultural exchange amid souring relations

The culture ministers of Korea, China and Japan pledged to facilitate cultural exchanges as a way to improve souring relations in Northeast Asia at the fifth trilateral culture summit held in Gwangju on Saturday. In a joint statement issued after the summit, Korean Culture Minister Yoo Jin-ryong, Chinese Culture Minister Cai Wu and Japanese Culture Minister Hakubun Shimomura agreed to cooperate on protecting cultural assets, foster cultural content and promote culture exchanges. The three minist

CultureSept. 29, 2013