South Korean actors Jeon Do-yeon and Park Hae-soo will wrap up their international tour of "The Cherry Orchard" with a New York run this month. Produced by LG Arts Center Seoul and helmed by acclaimed Australian director Simon Stone, the production will make its North American premiere at the Park Avenue Armory from Sept. 16 to 26, LG Arts Center Seoul said Tuesday. The production premiered in Seoul in June 2024 and has since toured Busan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Adelaide, Australia. The New Yo

Book-related events and merchandise are booming in Korea. Book fairs are drawing huge crowds, publishers' limited-edition goods are selling out, and the latest viral craze is, of all things, a pastry. Yet at the same time, the country's adult reading rate is falling sharply. The contradiction has prompted a growing debate: Is Korea's newfound enthusiasm for book culture getting more people to read, or simply turning literature into another lifestyle accessory? Among younger Koreans, visiting boo

The Korea Herald has launched the third Herald K-Art Competition, appointing leading figures from Korea's traditional art community to its organizing committee. The appointment ceremony for the competition's organizing committee was held Tuesday at Herald Square in Seoul. Herald Media Group CEO Choi Jin-young and Art and Bridge CEO Yang Jeong-seok attended the event, along with prominent figures in the traditional art world who were appointed to the committee. The nationwide competition was crea

Thirty years ago, Anders Karlsson walked into a large London bookstore looking for books about Korea. He was directed to the Southeast Asia section. Today, Korean books occupy prominent displays in bookstores across London and around the world. Korean writers win major international literary prizes. Publishers compete for translation rights. And readers line up to meet their favorite authors. For Karlsson, a Swedish translator of Korean literature and an associate professor of Korean studies at

"Are you 'Neige, Neige, Neige'?" Last month, at a souvenir shop during the Avignon Festival in southern France, staff members recognized the pansori performer Lee Ja-ram. "Neige" means snow in French, and they were referring to the local title of "Snow, Snow, Snow," Lee's pansori reimagining of Leo Tolstoy's short story "Master and Man." A friend had watched the technical rehearsal the day before and told them they "had to see it." "It was a place filled with people who love the arts. Everywhere

Eight current and former artistic directors from some of the world's leading ballet companies, including American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet and the Mariinsky Ballet, gathered in Seoul on Thursday for the opening of the 2026 Seoul Global Ballet Forum. Participants discussed the achievements of Korean dancers on international stages and what Korean ballet needs to take another step forward globally. The forum was organized by Kim Sun-hee, an emeritus professor at the Korea National University

His father wanted him to give up ballet. The boy refused. "Can't you see that I'm happy when I dance?" It was a familiar argument, one that would play out in countless families with children dreaming of careers their parents considered too uncertain. Tears filled the boy’s eyes. His father worried that it would be difficult for a man to build a successful career in dance in Korea. The boy was doing well in school, the father reminded him. Why not keep ballet as a hobby and pursue a more stable c

Actor Jang Dong-yoon will tie the knot with fellow actor Kim Seung-yoon. BH Entertainment said Monday that the couple will marry in October. The two have been dating for a long time and will hold a small Christian wedding attended only by family, according to the agency. Jang announced the marriage in a handwritten letter posted to social media on Tuesday. "We have spent a lot of time together, getting to know each other's different sides," the 34-year-old actor wrote. "As we have come to unders

Jo Jung-rae had spent more than five decades writing about war, history and the upheavals of Korean society. He had never written a love story. "I'm getting older, and the time I have left to write stories is growing shorter as I approach the final chapter of my life," Jo, 83, said at a press conference Monday in central Seoul. "The thought suddenly came to me: Why not write a love story now?" Jo made his literary debut in 1970 and devoted much of his career to exploring Korea's turbulent histor

What happened to the rabbit after he was lured by a turtle to the Underwater Dragon Palace, only to outwit his captors and barely make it back alive? The playful premise gave rise to "Rabbit’s Eight Sufferings" in 2022, one of the National Changgeuk Company of Korea's biggest hits. Four years after its premiere, the pansori-based musical drama, or changgeuk, returns with a newly designed LED stage and a fresh cast of lead performers. The story picks up where "Sugungga," one of Korea's best-known

South Korean author Lee Mi-ye's bestselling fantasy novel "The Dallergut Dream Department Store" will be adapted into a feature by Disney Live Action. British author and screenwriter Patrick Ness is on board to adapt the screenplay. Ness is best known for his books for young adults, including the "Chaos Walking" trilogy and "A Monster Calls," both of which he has adapted for the screen. Wildfire, the novel's English-language publisher in the UK, shared the news of the project Thursday on Instagr

In Korea, an ordinary life is often treated as one that falls short, says Han Gru, a professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut and the creator of the life-advice YouTube channel newyorkcrab, which has about 90,000 subscribers. In his new memoir, "I've Decided to Live Like an Enlightened Wild Animal" (literal translation), Han reflects on the value of an unremarkable life, suggesting that there is nothing wrong with not being exceptional — and that the pressure to become so can make people

The Seoul Metropolitan Ballet celebrated its second anniversary with a double bill, "Death and the Maiden," which ran Friday to Sunday at the National Theater of Korea's Haeoreum Theater in Jung-gu. The program took Franz Schubert's celebrated string quartet, "Death and the Maiden," as its central motif, setting signature works by two international choreographers side by side: Christian Spuck's "The Seventh Blue" and Alexander Ekman's "Cacti." Though both works began with Schubert's music, the t

A calligraphic work by Korean independence activist Ahn Jung-geun, written after Japanese authorities rejected his plea for a trial under international law, has been returned to Korea from Japan, the Korea Heritage Service said Thursday. The eight-character hanja inscription, "Manguk Gongbeop Buryeo Daepo," or "International Law Is No Match for Cannons," was unveiled at Deoksugung in Seoul ahead of National Liberation Day on Saturday. The work was recovered through a joint effort by the Korea He

Perhaps the essence of life lies in refusing to settle, says actor Cha In-pyo. He would know. The 59-year-old rose to fame on television in his 20s and 30s, made his debut as a novelist in his 40s and now, on the cusp of 60, takes on his first theater role. "As we get older, trying something new makes us feel more anxious and self-conscious. But I've found that the joy you get from doing something new can be tremendous," said Cha during a group interview with reporters in Seoul Tuesday. Cha is c