Most Popular
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Public backlash against division of Gyeonggi Province under 'corny' name
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids go gold in US with ‘Maniac’
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Voyage to heart of Islam opens at British Museum
LONDON (AFP) ― It is a rite that all followers of Islam are supposed to perform at least once in a lifetime, yet for the rest of the globe the hajj is veiled in mystery.Now the British Museum in London has opened the first ever major exhibition on the pilgrimage, to give non-Muslims a glimpse of the heart of this world religion.“This exhibition is for everybody, Muslims and non-Muslims, everyone who wants to know more about this extraordinary phenomenon, which is one of the great religious manif
Jan. 30, 2012
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U.K. radio’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ turns 70
LONDON (AP) ― Margaret Thatcher chose Beethoven, Michael Caine picked Frank Sinatra and boxer George Foreman selected The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love.’’They are among almost 3,000 guests who have appeared on the radio program “Desert Island Discs,’’ a British broadcasting institution that turned 70 on Sunday.The show’s simple format hasn’t changed since 1942: Ask an illustrious or famous figure to choose the eight pieces of music they would take with them to a deserted isle, and talk about wh
Jan. 30, 2012
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Girls’ Generation No. 2 on U.S. world music chart
K-pop group Girls’ Generation’s special album “The Boys” ranked second place in U.S. Billboard World Albums chart for the week of Feb. 4. After topping the charts in South Korea, the album was released in the U.S. and Europe on Jan. 17. The title song “The Boys” was composed by Teddy Riley, who is well-known for producing albums for Michael Jackson. The special album also came in 22nd in Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart, which ranks up-and-coming artists who broke into the market. The result
Jan. 30, 2012
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Hitler painting fetches 32,000 euros in Slovak auction
A 1913 painting by Nazi Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler sold for 32,000 euros ($42,300) in a Slovak internet auction on Sunday, the Darte auction house said. A man looks on a computer screen at an image of a painting by Adolf Hitler, done before he became Nazi Germany's dictator, titled "Maritime No
Jan. 30, 2012
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For Malkovich, the struggle of the sexes changes little
PARIS (AFP) ― More than two decades after John Malkovich starred in “Dangerous Liaisons” as the film’s arch seducer, the American actor is revisiting the classic French work, this time directing a stage version in Paris.For Malkovich, the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos published in 1782 highlights the centuries-old struggle between men and women.“I’m not saying war between men and women, but the struggle between them. I don’t think that’s changed since the time of Choderlos de Laclos,” Malk
Jan. 29, 2012
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Louvre’s Da Vinci restoration ignites art world row
PARIS (AFP) ― Delicate work to restore a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece, to be unveiled in March, has turned into a headache for the Louvre, after experts accused the Paris museum of putting the precious oil work at risk.Da Vinci began painting “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne” in 1503 and when he died in France in 1519 the unfinished work, depicting Christ beside his mother and grandmother with a sacrificial lamb, was acquired by King Francis I.Restoration carried out in the past century le
Jan. 29, 2012
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Searching for identity in Springfield
Artist Moon Ji-ha blurs identity borders through color, symbol-saturated paintingsHer paintings look unmistakably “Korean” at first glance, like what female shamans might have used in rituals during the Joseon Dynasty. Animals, mountains, letters and all sorts of characters are confusingly strewn on the canvas in rainbow colors. But Moon Ji-ha told the press Thursday that she was surprised to hear many Koreans comment that her works have a strong Asian vibe. “I never thought so. I guess they cou
Jan. 29, 2012
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Vinyl records make the world go around again
NEW YORK (AFP) ― In today’s brave new world of MP3 players, compact discs are dying, cassettes are Stone Age, and old-fashioned vinyl records ... they’re back!It might seem that nothing short of a wind-up gramophone could be more out of place today than the nostalgia-laden, crackly-sounding 33 and 45 RPM disc.Yet in his Brooklyn, New York, factory, 40-year-old Thomas Bernich churns them out by the tens of thousands, feeding a vinyl revival that has record decks ― and cash tills ― spinning. “It’s
Jan. 29, 2012
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CJ E&M brings curtain down on successful Chinese version of ‘Mamma Mia’
HONG KONG (Yonhap) ― South Korea’s CJ E&M Corp. said Wednesday its Chinese joint venture has brought the curtain down on the Chinese version of the global hit musical “Mamma Mia!” after successfully running for the last six months in China.United Asia Live Entertainment Co., a joint venture established among CJ E&M, China Arts and Entertainment Group, and Shanghai Media Group, staged the Chinese version of “Mamma Mia!” in the six Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing a
Jan. 27, 2012
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BEAST to give 1st European concert
K-pop boy band BEAST will have its first concert in Europe next month, its agency said on Friday. The concert, titled “2012 Beast 1st World Tour -- Beautiful Show,” will take place in Columbia Halle, one of most prestigious concert halls in Berlin, Agency Cube entertainment said. The concert hall has hosted major concerts performed by international stars such as Boys∥Men and Sting, it added.Beast members said they were looking forward to introducing K-pop music to an audience more used to differ
Jan. 27, 2012
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Royal Ballet principal unexpectedly quits
LONDON (AFP) ― One of the youngest dancers ever to be a principal of the Royal Ballet, Ukrainian Sergei Polunin, has quit just days before a new production opens and only two years after he was promoted.“This has obviously come as a huge shock,” said Monica Mason, the director of the Royal Ballet, in a statement issued late Tuesday.“Sergei is a wonderful dancer and I have enjoyed watching him tremendously, both on stage and in the studio, over the past few years. I wish him every success in the
Jan. 26, 2012
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Leibovitz opens new art show at Smithsonian
WASHINGTON (AP) ― Photographer Annie Leibovitz says she has come back from some dark days and revived her creativity with a new project now on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that marks a departure from her popular celebrity portraits.Two years ago, Leibovitz was facing millions in debt and a mismanaged fortune that nearly cost her the legal rights to her own work, which includes some of pop culture’s most memorable images. The ordeal was a good lesson in managing her business, Leibo
Jan. 26, 2012
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Abu Dhabi relaunches museum projects
ABU DHABI (AFP) ― The oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi announced on Tuesday that it had given the green light for the completion of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums after construction delays.The executive council of Abu Dhabi, which functions like a government for the emirate, said it had “approved the budgets and deadlines for the inauguration of projects on the island of Saadiyat, particularly the Louvre, Guggenheim, and Sheikh Zayed” museums.The statement gave no specific timeline for completio
Jan. 25, 2012
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U.S. national gallery reopens wing of French Impressionists
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The 14 rooms of the National Gallery of Art in Washington dedicated to French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are due to reopen Saturday after a two-year renovation.The paintings from artists like Corot, Picasso, Monet, Cezanne and Renoir are displayed in a new thematic arrangement designed to make them have a “conversation” with each other, Mary Morton, director of the museum’s department of French paintings, told AFP. Previously, the paintings were arranged chronologica
Jan. 25, 2012
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La Scala projects tough 2012 finances
MILAN (AP) ― La Scala’s general manager said Tuesday that he hopes Premier Mario Monti’s government will avoid cutting spending for culture, noting that music and theater can help unite people.Stephane Lissner told foreign reporters that La Scala will have a difficult time balancing the famed opera house’s budget in 2012 due to expected drops in public and private contributions, even as the Milan opera house increases attendance and the number of performances.“We are facing a very difficult move
Jan. 25, 2012
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SeMA to focus on contemporaries
An ‘artistic liberal,’ new head of Seoul Museum of Art gears up to bring about changesThe new director of Seoul Museum of Art, Kim Hong-hee, labels herself an “artistic liberal.” “I am interested in the avant-garde, the underground, and have run alternative art spaces. I believe that alternative things change culture, and that a museum director who used to be an individual curator can bring innovation,” Kim told The Korea Herald at her new office situated in Seosomun-dong, Seoul. Kim started he
Jan. 25, 2012
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Springsteen to perform at jazz festival
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ― The last time Bruce Springsteen performed in New Orleans it was less than a year after Hurricane Katrina hit, and “The Boss’’ moved thousands to tears at Jazz Fest by belting out such lyrics as “How can a poor man stand such times as these?’’Springsteen is returning to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival this April. But this time, things will be different in a city that is healing from the devastating 2005 hurricane, according to Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis. “The las
Jan. 25, 2012
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Girls’ Generation to appear on U.S. TV talk shows
South Korean K-pop group Girls’ Generation will appear on two popular U.S. TV talk shows, the group’s entertainment agency SM Entertainment said on Wednesday. Girls' Generation's spectacular performance at the Seoul Music Awards, 19 Jan, 2012. (Yonhap)The group will appear on the David Letterma
Jan. 25, 2012
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Web music revenue growth stuck in single figures
LONDON (AP) ― Legitimate music downloads still aren’t growing quickly enough.A report published Monday by the recording industry’s main lobby group showed that digital revenue has grown 8 percent over the past year to about $5.2 billion ― a solid figure for some industries, but not one where overall receipts have fallen by nearly two-thirds amid a shift toward online ― and in many cases illegal ― music downloads.“The 8 percent figure should be much higher,’’ said Frances Moore, the chief executi
Jan. 24, 2012
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‘YG family’ enthralls Japan
YG Entertainment concerts celebrating the 15th anniversary of the agency’s founding were successfully held in Japan, attracting over 200,000 people.“YG Family Concert” held Saturday and Sunday at Saitama Super Arena, located north of Tokyo, featured most of the agency’s popular K-pop stars including Big Bang, 2NE1, Gummy, Jinusean, Se7en, Psy and Tablo. The artists heated up the show with joint performances as well as their hit songs. Gummy performed with Komuro Tetsuya, one of Japan’s top music
Jan. 24, 2012