Most Popular
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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KTO produces 2012 tourism calendar
A 2012 calendar featuring photos of Korea’s landscape, people and culture will be sent to tourism-related agencies and diplomatic missions for overseas distribution to attract more tourists, the Korea Tourism Organization said.Starting in December, the KTO will send 185,000 calendars printed in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. The calendar, titled “The Story of Korea,” carries work by four Korean photographers who traveled around the country to capture the depth of Korean traditional cultu
Nov. 23, 2011
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Debate rages over who should be responsible for cultural diplomacy
As controversy grows over which government ministry should manage the promotion of Korean culture overseas, scholars have come together to seek a solution to the issue. During a policy debate session this week, experts agreed that the job should not fall on just one ministry or government agency, but a network of organizations with different functions. “The role should not fall on one ministry, but the whole government,” professor Lee Joon-hyung of Hanyang University said during the “Internation
Nov. 23, 2011
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Six Korean traditions vie for UNESCO listing
Tightrope walking and martial art Taekkyon are likely to join UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage, Seoul officials said this week, as the U.N. cultural agency begins deliberating on 84 traditions.Delegates of UNESCO are meeting in Bali Nov. 22-29, where they will discuss which local traditions should be protected and nurtured for future generations under the list of practices with world cultural importance.Korea is promoting six of its traditions, which also include the Joseon Dynasty
Nov. 22, 2011
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UNESCO envoys meet to update ‘intangible heritage’ list
PARIS (AFP) ― Mongolian calligraphy, Armenian fertility rites or French horsemanship? Envoys meet this week to decide which of 84 traditions should join UNESCO’s list of protected “intangible heritage.”The UN cultural agency suspended much of its work this month after the United States suspended funding in a row over Palestinian membership, but delegates will still meet in Bali between Nov. 22 and 29.There, they will ponder which local traditions merit inclusion on the organization’s list of pra
Nov. 21, 2011
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Revival of ancient Asian university hits trouble
NEW DELHI (AFP) ― Plans to revive Nalanda university in India, one of the world’s oldest seats of learning, as a totem of Asia’s renaissance are facing trouble as supporters admit to little progress in fund-raising.The Indian parliament passed a bill in August 2010 approving plans to rebuild the university, which was founded in the fifth century, close to its ancient ruins in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.Backers hope the proposed new campus will one day attract thousands of the finest
Nov. 21, 2011
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Violinist Chung starts 3rd stage of life’ with Seoul concert
Having lost three of her most precious people, including her mother and eldest sister, during the past five years, violinist Chung Kyung-wha feels she has now stepped into “the third stage” of life. As the first task in this new stage, the world-class musician will hold a solo recital in Korea playing her “beloved” Bach and Brahms. “This feels like a dream,” the 63-year-old said during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. “I’d been given a chance to look back and reorganize my life,” Chung said,
Nov. 21, 2011
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Blogging profitable despite recent controversy
Regardless of ethical issues, blogging is not just about time-killing or communication these days. For some, blogs are an easy road to money. Earlier this month, seven “power bloggers” were fined by the Fair Trade Commission for promoting sales of certain products without informing consumers they were receiving commission from companies. The term power blogger was first used by Naver, a major portal site here, which chose and listed 786 of the most popular and interesting blogs. Moon Sung-sil, a
Nov. 21, 2011
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Swiss museum clinic tries to cure information junkies
BERN, Switzerland (AFP) ― The Libyan war, the Greek debt crisis and the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal have all been rich fodder this year for news junkies ― but is today’s information overload healthy?A Swiss clinic has set out to help those who feel overwhelmed by such excess with an unusual exhibition that runs until July 15, 2012 at the Museum for Communication in Bern.On arrival the visitor walks into a darkened room with 12,000 books lined up on shelves, in an illustration of the sheer amo
Nov. 20, 2011
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eye-like
A touch of sentimental Christmas Kim Dong-Ryul“kimdongrYULE”(Loen Entertainment) He’s finally back. After four years of silence -- which felt like forever for his faithful fans -- singer-songwriter Kim Dong-ryul has returned with a Christmas album that feels happy, sad, lonely and fulfilling all at the same time. Skillfully matching his English name with “Yule,” Kim has created his album with songs he wrote as far back as 13 years ago. Title track “Replay,” written in 2000, shows off what fans w
Nov. 18, 2011
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Samples of Einstein's brain come to US museum
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ A medical museum in Philadelphia has some pieces of Albert Einstein's brain on display.Lucy Rorke-Adams donated 46 slides of Einstein's gray matter Thursday to the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.The 82-year-old doctor neuropatho
Nov. 18, 2011
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Korea works to sell its ‘brand’ worldwide
Lee heads presidential panel aimed at lifting nation’s international standing and prestigeThere’s more to South Korea than K-pop and Kim Yu-na, and Lee Bae-yong’s mission in life is to stress that point worldwide.The former academic heads a unique body trying to burnish the image of a country which frets that its economic “hard power” far outweighs its “soft power” in the eyes of the global community.She chairs the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, established in January 2009 and dedicate
Nov. 17, 2011
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UNESCO official stresses ‘continuity’ in urban development
Heritage is not the past, but a resource of the future, and so maintaining continuity between the past and the present is important when it comes to urban development, a visiting UNESCO official said Thursday. “Continuity, here, means understanding the past,” Assistance Director-General for Culture of UNESCO Francesco Bandarin told The Korea Herald. “Changes are forced by history … but it is important not to forget that nonphysical values do not change even if the physical appearance changes.” B
Nov. 17, 2011
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Blood type may affect stroke risk, study finds
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Your blood type might affect your risk for stroke. People with AB and women with B were a little more likely to suffer one than people with O blood — the most common type, a study found.The research can't prove such a link. But it fits with other work tying A, B and
Nov. 17, 2011
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Kwak Young-jin named vice minister of culture
President Lee Myung-bak named Kwak Young-jin, his former secretary for cultural affairs, as the new deputy minister of culture, sports and tourism Wednesday. Kwak, 54, formerly served as the director-general of the Arts Bureau and the Planning Bureau at the Culture Ministry.Born in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, Kwak graduated from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. (hayney@heraldm.com)
Nov. 16, 2011
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‘Two different types of music will tell one story’
Simon Rattle anticipates intensity, depth in audiences during Berlin Phil’s Seoul performanceWhile preparing two very different symphonies by two very dissimilar composers, maestro Simon Rattle hoped to tell just one story; a story in which the audience and the orchestra become one and feel the same air. “On stage, you feel the atmosphere immediately. It is not the matter of sound, but the matter of the intensity of the audience,” Rattle, the star conductor of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, said
Nov. 15, 2011
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Los Angeles takes baton as flagship for youth orchestras
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Gustavo Dudamel stands off to the side of an orchestra of T-shirt clad teens as they laboriously rehearse Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5.” He’s listening, not just with his ears, but also with irrepressible fingers that tap and pluck the air as if he’s actually conducting the piece.At the end, he hops on to the conducto’s podium and, beaming at his rapt pupils, demonstrates that the difference between playing music and performing it is passion.“Be wild, like the pop music,” th
Nov. 14, 2011
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Jeju chosen as 'new natural wonder'
JEJU ISLAND -- The southern South Korean resort island of Jeju has been named as one of the new seven natural wonders of the world in a worldwide poll, a Switzerland-based organization announced Saturday. The subtropical volcanic island, located 130 kilometers off the southe
Nov. 12, 2011
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Master craftsmen struggle to make ends meet
Substantial support needed to bolster traditional craft industryAlthough he has been hammering Korean traditional patterns on metal for nearly half a century, artisan Park Moon-yeol’s life only began looking rosy in 1993, when he figured out the secret of the seven-step lock. Hearing about the existence of a peculiar Joseon Dynasty lock, he visited a folk museum in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, to take a look. It was tucked away in the back of the museum and the owner prohibited him from tak
Nov. 9, 2011
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Gender segregation on rise in Israel
JERUSALEM (AP) ― Posters depicting women have become rare in the streets of Israel’s capital. In some areas women have been shunted onto separate sidewalks, and buses and health clinics have been gender-segregated. The military has considered reassigning some female combat soldiers because religious men don’t want to serve with them.This is the new reality in parts of 21st-century Israel, where ultra-Orthodox rabbis are trying to contain the encroachment of secular values on their cloistered soc
Nov. 9, 2011
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Foreigners pick PyeongChang bid as most influential in promoting Korea
Foreign visitors to Korea and foreign residents chose PyeongChang’s successful Olympic bid as the biggest contribution to enhancing the country’s brand this year, a survey showed Tuesday.The e-mail survey of 514 Korean and expat opinion leaders and foreign visitors was conducted by Corea Image Communication Institute from Oct. 10 to Nov. 17.Of the 211 foreigners who participated in the survey, 119 said that PyeongChang, which won the right to host the 2018 Winter Games in July, did the most to p
Nov. 8, 2011