Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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Hankook Tire takes over control of Hanon Systems
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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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S. Korea, Japan, China agree to create new financing facility against regional crises
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Top prosecutor orders speedy investigation into first lady's alleged acceptance of luxury handbag
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Madonna, on a roll, launches biggest-ever world tour
NEW YORK (AFP) ― Madonna’s big year got even bigger Tuesday with the announcement of her most ambitious world tour ever, hot on the heels of her record-setting Super Bowl halftime show.The Material Girl will hopscotch around the globe in support of her 12th studio album “MDNA” which comes out March 26, even as her second feature film, the romantic drama “W.E.,” struggles to impress critics and draw audiences.In a statement, concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment said the as-yet unnamed tour
Feb. 8, 2012
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Grammys to feature first dance music segment
Grammys to feature first dance music segmentThe dance/electronic music phenomenon will be recognized at the Grammys for the first time with an ambitious club segment.Sunday‘s performance is set to feature the Foo Fighters, David Guetta, deadmau5 (dead mouse), Chris Brown and Lil Wayne.And while the Grammys will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the dance segment will take place outside the venue in a tent with about 1,000 fans inside.Show producer Ken Ehrlich says the goal is to try
Feb. 8, 2012
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‘Howling’: Portrait of the minority
Actress Lee Na-young returns as awkward detective in director Yoo Ha’s upcoming thrillerUpcoming thriller “Howling” is, ultimately, actress Lee Na-young’s movie.Though she is paired up with Chungmuro heavyweight Song Kang-ho, and his name outshines hers, the film was always supposed to be about the female detective character. That’s what director Yoo Ha had in mind during the pre-production of the upcoming thriller, which pivots around a serial murder case involving a giant wolf-dog and underage
Feb. 8, 2012
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Italian crooner probed over pro-mafia songs
ROME (AFP) - An Italian crooner has been placed under investigation for singing the praises of the Camorra mafia, prosecutors said on Tuesday following a raid against rival clans in a city near Naples.Nello Liberti has a song entitled “Clan Chief” about the mafia execution of a “traitor,” which includes the lyrics: “The clan chief has no freedom. He hides the truth for honour. He‘s a serious man, it’s not true that he‘s evil.”“He respects us. We have to respect him,” Liberti sings.Prosecutors sa
Feb. 8, 2012
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McCartney headlines queen‘s jubilee concert
LONDON (AFP) - Beatles legend Paul McCartney will headline a large concert in front of Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee, organiser Gary Barlow said Tuesday.Barlow, the frontman of pop band Take That who has been tasked with putting together the June 4 tribute to mark the monarch‘s 60 years on the throne, said the London gig would “transcend multiple decades of music.”Elton John, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Chinese virtuoso pianist Lang Lang will join McCartne
Feb. 8, 2012
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Audiences are noticing Galecki, and now the Emmys, Globes are too
LOS ANGELES ― Johnny Galecki seeks to be average.The star of “The Big Bang Theory” is seated outside a small Hollywood restaurant, talking about his longing to play ordinary, run-of-the mill figures rather than the larger-than-life characters that actors and audiences sometimes embrace.“Guys like Dustin Hoffman and Jack Lemmon have always been my leading men,” said the 36-year-old, leather jacket-clad actor, who minutes before was crushing the butt of a luxury cigarette with his scuffed combat b
Feb. 8, 2012
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Ai Weiwei to build London 2012 pavilion
LONDON (AFP) ― Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is reuniting with the Swiss architects with whom he created Beijing’s spectacular Bird’s Nest Stadium, to build a pavilion for this year’s London Olympics.Ai, along with the Swiss firm Herzog and de Meuron, will join forces again to design a pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Kensington Gardens park, the gallery said on Tuesday. “It is a great honour to be working with Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei,” said gallery director Jul
Feb. 8, 2012
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Berlin’s Pergamon Altar up for renovations
BERLIN (AFP) ― The Great Altar of Pergamon, a sculpted frieze dating from the 2nd century B.C. and one of Berlin’s top tourist attractions, will be closed for repair work from 2014, the museum said Tuesday.The Pergamon Museum ― which opened to house the Ancient Greek masterpiece in 1930 on Berlin’s renowned Museum Island ― will undergo a complete renovation in several phases, between October of this year and 2019.“Preliminary restoration work in the Pergamon Hall will likely begin in May 2014,”
Feb. 8, 2012
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Man admits N.Y. part of art-theft spree
NEW YORK (AP) ― A wine steward who plucked artwork off hotel and gallery walls in a bicoastal spree admitted Tuesday to stealing a $350,000 drawing in New York, resolving charges here after serving jail time in California.An art-loving thief who stole to decorate his own apartment, according to prosecutors, Mark Lugo pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the New York case.He admitted he took the pricey sketch by the Cubist painter Fernand Leger from a lobby gallery at Manhattan’s Carlyle Hotel on J
Feb. 8, 2012
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Swedish museum to open Korean wing in Stockholm
Sweden’s Museum of East Asia will open a special exhibition wing for Korean antiquities this weekend, a South Korean government agency in charge of supporting exchanges with foreign countries said Wednesday.The Korean room, built with financial support from the Korea Foundation affiliated with the Foreign Ministry, is scheduled to open on Saturday, the agency said.About 160 of some 350 Korean artifacts owned by the museum, chiefly ceramics, will be displayed in the 100 square meters of space on
Feb. 8, 2012
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‘Amazing Spider-Man’ teaser released for fans
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― “The Amazing Spider-Man’’ dropped in on hundreds of fans Monday.Sony Pictures teased the latest incarnation of the web-slinging superhero, which doesn’t arrive in U.S. theaters until July 3, at preview events held Monday at movie theaters in 13 cities spanning the globe, including Mexico City, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Moscow, with the cast and filmmakers appearing in Los Angeles, New York, Rio de Janeiro and London.The event began with the debut of the 3-D full-length “Amazing
Feb. 7, 2012
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Spanish artist Antoni Tapies dies aged 88
MADRID (AFP) ― Avant-garde Spanish painter and sculptor Antoni Tapies has died in Barcelona at age 88, local media reported Monday.Tapies was hailed as one of the biggest names in European contemporary art for his striking abstract canvases and compositions in which he sometimes used waste material.He won many awards and was associated early on in his career with other major names in 20th-century art, including fellow Catalan Joan Miro.He had a prominent art foundation named after him in the cit
Feb. 7, 2012
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Auction houses outfox Chinese antiquity fakers
HONG KONG (AFP) ― Nicolas Chow places a magnifying glass against a Ming Dynasty vase to inspect the potter’s 600-year old workmanship.Chow, the international head of Chinese ceramics and works of art at auction giant Sotheby’s, points out layers of uneven bubbles invisible to the naked eye along the early 15th century blue and white porcelain.The distinctive markings are just one tell-tale sign that experts rely on to determine if a piece is a multi-million dollar original or worthless fake.“Tha
Feb. 7, 2012
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U.S. judge: Baroque artwork to return to man’s heirs
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) ― A federal judge has ordered the return of a 16th Century Baroque painting depicting Christ carrying the cross to the heirs of a Jewish man who died shortly before the German occupation of France in World War II.U.S. Judge Robert Hinkle filed the order Monday to return the work ― “Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rogue’’ ― to the descendants of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe. U.S. authorities seized the Italian painting last November from a Florida museum that was
Feb. 7, 2012
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KOFIC to support 33 Korean-foreign joint productions in 2012
Film council will back small-scale production houses and distributors;office slated to move to Busan in 2013The Korean Film Council will be supporting 33 Korean-foreign joint production films this year, as well as small-sale production houses and distributors, its officials announced in a press meeting in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Tuesday.The council kicked off the 2 billion won project for the 33 joint productions on Tuesday by announcing its official call for submissions. Fifteen applications will b
Feb. 7, 2012
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Scholar dreams of taking pansori to the world
Korean literature professor leads English translation of all pansori lyricsPansori, a traditional form of narrative music performed by a solo singer, was added to UNESCO’s world heritage list nearly 10 years ago. But promoting pansori overseas has not been easy ― partly because there was no way for the foreign audience to understand the words during the performance.To facilitate better appreciation of pansori performances, Choe Tong-hyon, Korean Language and Literature professor at Kunsan Nation
Feb. 7, 2012
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Chris Brown to perform at the Grammy Awards
NEW YORK (AP) ― Chris Brown will perform at this year’s Grammy Awards, the event where his career almost ended three years ago.Brown admitted to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna at a pre-Grammy party in 2009 and is serving five years of probation for the felony attack. A source told The Associated Press on Monday that Brown will hit the stage at Sunday’s show. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because Brown’s performance has not been officially announced.After the attack, Brown’s repu
Feb. 7, 2012
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Clooney, Pitt, pals meet for Oscars lunch
BEVERLY HILLS, California (AP) ― George Clooney says the best thing about Academy Awards nominations is not necessarily the prizes. It’s hanging with old and new friends.At the annual Oscar nominee luncheon Monday, Clooney said he’s made new pals on the awards circuit this season and has been happy to catch up with longtime friends such as Viola Davis and Brad Pitt, his co-star in the “Ocean’s Eleven’’ movies.“A lot of people at home think we all hang out together. I think they think we’re alway
Feb. 7, 2012
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Hallyu star Kim Jae-joong meets Turkey fans
JYJ member Kim Jae-joong made his first appearance in Turkey for a fan meeting Monday. About 600 fans attended the meeting at Ankara University. “As much as to see my fans, I’m here at the invitation by the Korean Culture Service, so I will do my utmost to promote our culture,” the popular singer told his excited fans.His fans sang along to his songs in Korean before surprising him with a belated birthday party. The tickets sold out within 30 minutes on the Korean Culture Service website, reflec
Feb. 7, 2012
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N. Korean accordion players are a YouTube hit
SEOUL (AFP) ― A group of North Korean accordion players is proving to be an unlikely hit on YouTube, attracting nearly 320,000 viewings in five days with their spirited version of a 1980s pop song.Five students of Pyongyang’s Kum Song School of Music are seen performing the mid-80s hit “Take on Me” by Norwegian group a-ha, a rare performance of popular Western music in the reclusive communist state.The performance last December was filmed by visiting Norwegian artist Morten Traavik, who posted t
Feb. 6, 2012