Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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SEALs take starring role in new film
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The secretive Navy SEALs are coming out of the shadows for a new Hollywood film, with elite commandos cast in starring roles in a radical departure for America’s special forces.In “Act of Valor,” the select troops who call themselves “the quiet professionals” take a turn as leading men on the big screen, reciting lines from a script as they race to prevent terrorists from carrying out an attack on the United States.Filming began in 2007, before the Navy’s Sea, Air and Land Tea
Feb. 20, 2012
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Oscar voters less diverse than cinema audiences
LOS ANGELES ― When the names of winners are revealed on Oscar night, months of suspense give way to tears, smiles and speeches. Yet when the curtain falls, one question remains: Who cast the votes?About 37 million people tuned in to the Academy Awards last year, and a great deal rides on the show’s outcome. Winning a golden statuette can vault an actor to stardom, add millions to a movie’s box office and boost a studio’s prestige. Yet the roster of all 5,765 voting members of the Academy of Moti
Feb. 20, 2012
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British Council hopes to boost U.K. education’s profile
University of Edinburgh to commemorate late President Yun Bo-seon in autumnThis is the third of the series introducing cultural centers of different countries in Seoul ― Ed.For anyone interested in studying abroad ― especially in the U.K. ― the British Council office in central Seoul is the place to be next month. The British cultural institution will be holding a special event where representatives from six or seven of the U.K.’s world-class universities will share information on what each scho
Feb. 19, 2012
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Great orchestras to mesmerize Seoul
Month of February packed with performances by renowned orchestrasStar conductors leading world-class orchestras are flocking to Seoul, offering a chance to appreciate their powerful symphonic sounds.The list of prestigious orchestras coming to Korea this year includes the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. And they all are to perform in this month.February’s flock of foreign orchestras has happened as part of several Asia tours that
Feb. 19, 2012
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Digital film switch daunts historic movie houses
BUFFALO, New York (AP) ― The license plate on movie projectionist Arnie Herdendorf’s Buick is 35MM MAN, a nod to his work in the booth at the 1925 Palace Theatre, with its velvet-draped stage and chandeliered mezzanine.When he drove recently to a multiplex to watch as its film projectors were swapped out for new digital ones, the sight of old 35 mm workhorses “stacked up like wounded soldiers’’ had him wondering how long his title ― or job ― would be around.The questions are even bigger for hist
Feb. 19, 2012
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Cirque du Soleil plans Oscar piece
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Aerialists, acrobats and contortionists from Cirque du Soleil are among the guests at this year’s Academy Awards.The three-minute performance at the Oscars on Feb. 26 will be among the international troupe’s biggest yet, said Cirque du Soleil special events director Yasmine Khalil, featuring more than 50 artists. Most Cirque shows employ 75 to 80 artists over two hours, she said.Cirque du Soleil has a Hollywood-themed show now at the Kodak Theatre, where the Oscars will be pre
Feb. 19, 2012
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Berlin fest crowns Italian prison docu-drama
Runner-up prize awarded to film about killings of Roma in HungaryBERLIN (AFP) ― The 62nd Berlin film festival wraps up Sunday after awarding its Golden Bear top prize to Italy’s veteran directors Paolo and Vittorio Taviani for their gripping prison docu-drama “Caesar Must Die.”The picture shows real-life murderers and mafiosi from a high-security jail in Rome staging Shakespeare’s tragedy “Julius Caesar,” with their own personal dramas giving resonance to the play’s themes of betrayal and vengea
Feb. 19, 2012
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Costner tells of Houston race factor over ‘Bodyguard’
U.S. actor Kevin Costner on Saturday said his “Bodyguard” co-star Whitney Houston was almost overlooked for the role because of her color and lack of acting experience.Costner told the singer’s funeral service that while he thought Houston was perfect for the part of pop star Rachel Marron, the movi
Feb. 19, 2012
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Art underground
Artist residency program in Sindang Jungang Market offers unusual art sceneFor anyone who has been to Jungang market near Sindang Station in Seoul, it would be hard to imagine that more than 30 artists have their working studios underground. And that some practically live there.The area is known for its merciless traffic and its overcrowded and colorful market. Stepping through the main gate of the market, you are overwhelmed by the aroma of pickled fish and mung bean pancakes, while endless foo
Feb. 17, 2012
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Calendar
Exhibitions“BEING: Debbie Han 1985-2011”: Sungkok Art Museum is holding a large-scale exhibition looking back on Korean-American artist Debbie Han’s art world. It showcases about 60 of Han’s paintings, sculptures and installations through which she pondered identity issues and artistic values. The exhibition runs through March 18 at Sungkok Art Museum in Jongro-gu, central Seoul. Tickets range from 3,000 won to 4,000 won. For more information, call (02) 737-7650 or visit www.sungkokmuseum.com. “
Feb. 17, 2012
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Box Office
Helpless (Hwa-cha) (Korea)Opening March 8Thriller. Directed by Byeon Young-joo. Just one month ahead of their wedding, engaged couple Moon-ho (Lee Seon-gyun) and Sun-young (Kim Min-hee) head off to the countryside to visit Moon-ho’s parents. When Moon-ho returns to their car after getting coffee at a highway service area, Sun-young is nowhere to be found. Her phone is off. After not hearing from her for more than a week, a distraught Moon-ho asks his detective cousin Jong-geun for help. After Jo
Feb. 17, 2012
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Eye Like
Ynot delivers passion, energyYnot“Ynot Live Album” Mirrorball musicFunky Korean rock band Ynot released a new live double album on Tuesday containing 23 songs. The album, recorded at an October concert without any sound correction or modification, acts in stark contrast to the industry trend of heavy production and computer programming. In an effort to deliver its energy and passion, this warts-and-all recording leaves in the the audience’s screaming unfiltered ― and the occasional mistake. The
Feb. 17, 2012
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Ralph Fiennes does the Bard modern, military
Ralph Fiennes’ “Coriolanus” is not your typical toga-and-sandals Shakespeare. It’s camouflage-and-combat boots Shakespeare, it’s gritty, it’s graffitied. Although the actor and first-time director is faithful to the Bard’s text, setting his tale of usurpation and political upheaval in the city-state of Rome, it looks more like Bosnia, or Beirut.Slabs of grim modernist architecture, the rubble and debris of poverty and conflict, TV monitors reporting news of rioting and war ― Fiennes’ “Coriolanus
Feb. 17, 2012
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Second film preservation center due by 2014
South Korea plans to establish a second site for preserving and restoring homegrown films by 2014, since the existing location in Seoul is already overflowing with materials, the national film archive said Friday.The Korean Film Archive said during a news conference in Seoul that it will construct the second preservation center on land in the publishing town in Paju, some 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul, with a total budget of 33 billion won ($29 million).Construction will begin next year and i
Feb. 17, 2012
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K-pop artists record highest-ever sales in Japan
K-pop artists recorded their highest sales ever in Japan last year, according to Japan’s Oricon music chart on Friday. According to Oricon’s report, Korean musicians marked 24.47 billion yen ($309.5 million) worth of sales last year in Japan’s soft music market comprised of singles, albums, music DVDs and music Blu-ray disks. It is an increase of 22.3 percent from the previous year. K-pop artists have been seeing an increase in sales since 2008 although Japan’s overall sales have fallen for five
Feb. 17, 2012
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Culture close to nature
‘Swiss Weeks in Seoul’ presents various cultural events throughout AprilThough it is hard to call it a house, the 10-meter-tall disorderly structure made of hundreds of fir planks had an entrance, bedrooms and even a small dining room-like place with a table. “It connects to my childhood nostalgia, it is kind of like a tree house,” Gregory Chapuisat told The Korea Herald on Tuesday. Chapuisat and his brother ― who could not make it to Seoul this time ― is known as the Swedish Chapuisat Brothers
Feb. 16, 2012
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Hallyu star Lee Joon-gi discharged from military
Korean wave star Lee Joon-gi, who gained huge popularity in Korea and other Asian countries for his starring role in the hit movie “The King and the Clown” (2005), returned to his fans Thursday morning after completing his two-year military service.“I was able to spend the past two gem-like years in my life. I think I enjoyed my life in the military,” Lee told about 1,000 fans who waited for him in front of the Ministry of Defense in Yongsan, central Seoul. He was there to report his discharge f
Feb. 16, 2012
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Franco in fridge sculpture stirs up Spain art fair
MADRID (AFP) ― A sculpture of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco set inside a fridge was a star attraction at a major contemporary art fair which opened Wednesday in Madrid.The work by Spanish artist Eugenio Merino depicts the general wearing a green uniform and dark sunglasses with his knees bent inside the fridge, which is decorated with a white and red design similar to the Coca-Cola logo.Merino said his piece “Always Franco” is meant to be a comment on how the former dictator, who rule
Feb. 16, 2012
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Houston funeral to be broadcast live
NEW YORK (AFP) - The funeral on Saturday for pop superstar Whitney Houston will be broadcast live from the New Jersey Baptist church where she grew up singing in a gospel choir, the funeral home owner said Wednesday.“Her publicist has chosen one person who will be allowed into the sanctuary and who will be streaming (video) to you all,” Carolyn Whigham, whose Newark funeral home is handling preparations for Houston‘s service, told AFP.Whigham said that jumbo screens would be set up outside the N
Feb. 16, 2012
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Angelina Jolie says directing inspired her
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) ― Angelina Jolie said Wednesday working as a director has rekindled her love for the film industry, even if it was something of a personal artistic rebellion.Jolie told the Associated Press in Sarajevo that she was starting to feel “disheartened’’ and uninspired by her acting roles.She knew she wanted to use film as a medium to deal with weighty matters, such as human rights abuses.“We must remember to use this medium in a responsible way when we can,’’ she said
Feb. 16, 2012