World-class cultural figures like Peter Florence, founder and director of the Hay Festival, will be visiting Seoul next month to participate in the Culture Communication Forum 2011. Following the success of the C20 event last year in which the Corea Image Communication Institute invited cultural leaders from the G20 countries to experience Korean culture as a prelude to the G20 Seoul Summit, CIC...

South Korean artist Yang Soon-yeol has long pondered the question of what basic values human beings should pursue. Her solo exhibition, “Leaning against a gatepost in the world of imagination,” currently underway at Inter-Burgo Gallery in Manchon-dong, Daegu, is a roundup of her thoughts so far. The Daegu-raised artist is showcasing 40 oil paintings, installations and sculptures. Her works cover...

Incheon Dream Park’s outdoor pool, indoor club to stay open 24 hours The upcoming weekend in Incheon will be filled with the energy of youth and rock spirit, as leading bands from overseas and Korea power up the stage of the 6th Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival from Friday to Sunday. While the rock festival comes into its sixth year, weather during the annual summer festival has been sometimes s...

While idol-centered K-pop has been heavily covered by the media, the Korean indie scene has received relatively little attention. This is the fifth installment of a series of interviews shedding light on the scene. ― Ed. The Black Skirts, a one-man indie band run by vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter Holiday Cho, has been widely known in Korea as a New Yorker-turned Hongdae musician...

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― As a young teenager, before the fame, kids, paparazzi and front-row seats at fashion shows, Demi Moore regularly passed an Ann Taylor store at a local mall, taking note of the clothes. In the years since, she’s been a red-carpet rebel, jeans-wearing mom, bikini globetrotter and Versace model. Now her style evolution has come full circle, and Moore is the star of the Ann Taylor...

BALTIMORE ― Go ahead and bang a drum, hang from the curtains and spin that hula hoop. Gym instructors say it’s good for you, even if you don’t realize it. The unconventional workouts are part of a movement to keep the masses focused on their fitness by disguising exercise as playtime, like spinach in brownies. And while more conventional spin, yoga and Latin dance-inspired Zumba aerobics classes...

Economy forces ‘boomerang kids’ to return home as adults WALNUT CREEK, California ― A word to parents: You may want to hold off on converting those empty bedrooms into offices and exercise spaces. High unemployment and changing social norms are guiding young ― and not-so-young ― adults to move back home, new census data shows. “It’s almost becoming a normal step,” said Joshua Coleman, a San Fr...

Hanwha Group has signed a two-year sponsorship deal with German football club Hamburg SV, the company announced on Wednesday. The sponsorship deal includes making the Hanwha Solar Energy brand visible at the Bundesliga club’s home stadium and on its tickets and homepage, in addition to promotional events. Hanwha Group, one of Korea’s biggest conglomerates, has been focusing on its solar power b...

Kim Jahng-ho, former deputy governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, apparently attempted to kill himself Wednesday. Kim is currently facing investigation in connection with a recent savings banks scandal. He jumped from a bridge over the Han River at 12:30 p.m. but was rescued, police said. Prosecutors recently indicted him on charges of bribery without detention. He is suspected of rece...

A team of Belgian scientists claimed they found out the reason why emotionally stressed people stretch out for sweet junk food. Comfort from absorbing fatty foods is not just derived from the pleasant experience of eating but also through gut-brain signaling, said scientists from University of Leuven. The study is published in August version of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. They condu...