Fitness brand Sentinel is hosting an evening yoga program aimed at awakening the senses, it announced Friday.　Titled “Awaken Six Senses,” the program features activities like “Chocolate Meditation” and “Mirror Game” that stimulate the senses and the subconscious. 　“The program features both peaceful meditation and dynamic yoga positions that will allow participants to sweat and work together, communicating and receiving energy from each other. It is a community party,” said Lachlan Winner, Senti

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Friday it will feature Song Joong-ki, the actor from the hit TV drama “Descendants of the Sun,” in a new video series to promote tourism in South Korea. 　The Korean tourism TV ad will be filmed in the former mining cities of Taebaek and Jeongseon in Gangwon Province, the main venue of the show. Photo caption: Actor Song Joong-ki poses at the 2016 Style Icon Asia awards in Seoul on March 15. (Yonhap)　The TV and print ad will begin in early July in

A group of Korean hiphop artists have been charged with smoking marijuana. 　Police have booked 10 suspects -- including a well-known rapper-producer, semi-finalist of a hip-hop audition TV program, hip-hop composer, stage planner and an entertainer trainee -- for smoking the banned substance repeatedly between March and December last year, the Seocho Police Station revealed Friday.　The accused said they had obtained the drug either online or from an unknown foreigner they had met at a club in It

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Recording star Beyonce launched a women’s fitness clothing line on Thursday featuring bodysuits, leggings and headbands.　It is named partly after her 4-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy. Called Ivy Park, the 200-piece active wear collection is a joint venture with British businessman Sir Philip Green, who owns the Topshop fashion chain.　The collection will feature leggings, T-shirts, crop-tops and jackets all designed for fitness and leisure wear. It will go on sale at selected To

BEIJING (AP) – A private film company in eastern China has agreed to invest at least $500 million in the studio of former Walt Disney boss Dick Cook to make movies to be distributed worldwide, the companies announced. 　The deal is the latest tie-up between Hollywood and Chinese companies as China is offering overseas producers more investment opportunities. Both look to increase their presence in each other’s film industries. 　Los Angeles-based Dick Cook Studios and Film Carnival, a film produce

Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones　“Little Windows” 　(Cooking Vinyl)　Teddy Thompson’s musical influences come from this side of the Atlantic, so his first duets album sounds nothing like the British folk rock produced more than 30 years ago by his parents, Richard and Linda.　“Little Windows” does share one thing with Richard and Linda’s music: It’s terrific.　Teddy meshes beautifully with singing partner Kelly Jones, whose background is in California power pop. Their two-part harmony is the lead instru

Willie Nile　“World War Willie” 　(River House Records) 　Willie Nile is loud and proud. While other rockers merely strut around leathered and weathered, Nile takes one giant leap for mankind, glorifying the aging process with the party-hearty song “Grandpa Rocks.” Its featured character depicted in a Clash T-shirt and dirty combat boots. 　Soul mates, seekers -- even seductive sociopaths -- populate the storytelling in Nile’s robust new album, “World War Willie,” coproduced with Grammy winner Stewa

Cheap Trick　"Bang Zoom Crazy... Hello" 　(Big Machine)　Some classic rock bands limp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the basis of past reputation. On the other hand, Cheap Trick -- the hard-charging, melodic rockers from Rockford, Illinois -- is racing full speed ahead into the Rock Hall, fueled by its best album in decades.　“Bang Zoom Crazy... Hello” kicks off with a blast of feedback and a classic guitar-bass-and-drum roar on “Heart on the Line,” which would make a great concert opener if

If only love were all! Then loving what you live for -- for Ed Wood, it was the cinema -- would make you an interpretive artist of the highest order.　In “Marguerite,” the title character is working on a cruel passion-to-talent ratio. She’s a terrible, screechy, off-pitch would-be opera singer, but she loves Mozart and Bellini and Handel so much that her delusions prevent her from hearing how little she can bring to her pursuits. It’s a movie about a sweet-natured mediocrity and her social circle

Misconduct  (U.S.)　Opened March 30　　Drama/Thriller. Directed by Shintaro Shimosawa　　Ben (Josh Duhamel), an ambitious lawyer, becomes mired in a case of corruption and blackmail, caught between Denning (Anthony Hopkins), an unscrupulous pharmaceutical executive and his firm’s partner Abrams (Al Pacino).  　The Great Actor　(Korea)　Opened March 30　　Comedy. Directed by Seok Min-woo　　Obscure actor Jang Sung-pil (Oh Dal-soo), who has been playing a dog with no lines for nearly 20 years in a play, dream

While a list of female celebrities allegedly involved in prostitution has been circulating among the public for the past week, some of those named -- including a number of K-pop girl group singers -- are vehemently protesting the rumors in an unprecedented string of public statements.　(123rf)Last Saturday, Yubin of girl group Wonder Girls issued a statement via her agency, JYP Entertainment, calling the rumors “completely false” and vowing to take legal action against people circulating the list

A longtime fan of Korean dramas, Yu Yijie, a 25-year-old Chinese graduate student at Kookmin University, instantly fell for Korean entertainment watching “Full House,” starring Rain and Song Hye-kyo, which aired in 2004.　Since then, she has watched every popular Korean drama and gradually developed an interest in drama production.　“I thought I would come to Korea (to study) when I was watching ‘My Girl’ in 2005, which was a huge hit in China, starring Lee Jun-ki and Lee Da-hae,” said Yu, in a ph

A vindictive mother-in-law slaps the male lead with a thick wedge of kimchi. Neon green laser beams shoot out of a businessman’s eyes. A woman fakes her own death, gets plastic surgery and remarries her ex-husband to take revenge.　These are scenarios that have actually aired on prime-time Korean television series, and moreover been met with favorable ratings. Locally, these types of shows are referred to as “makjang” -- vernacular for situations that seem too outrageous to be true. The genre is

Actor Lee Byung-hun won the award for best actor for his performance in “Inside Men” at the 10th Asian Film Awards on Wednesday. 　Lee, who starred as mobster Ahn Sang-goo in the box office hit political thriller, received the prize at the ceremony on March 17 at the Venetian Theater in Macau.　“Inside Men,” which opened to much acclaim in local theaters last November and sold over 9 million tickets, is slated for release in Hong Kong on April 21, according to reports. Actor Lee Byung-hun poses wi

When Korean-American author Helie Lee wrote her first book, “Still Life with Rice,” she had no inkling that it would endanger the lives of her extended family in North Korea.　Having moved to Canada as a 4-year-old and settled in the U.S. a year later, Lee’s life could have been described as that of the typical “1.5 generation” in the U.S. -- one foot here and the other there, the generation that did not feel completely comfortable in either Korea or the U.S. 　“I am (part of the) 1.5 generation,

　Franny　(U.S.)　Opened March 17　　Drama. Directed by Andrew Renzi　A mysterious philanthropist (Richard Gere) begins to show an obsessive interest in a newly married couple (Dakota Fanning and Theo James) and becomes deeply involved in their lives. “Franny,” also titled “The Benefactor,” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last April. 　　Risen　(U.S.)　Opened March 17　　Biblical drama. Directed by Kevin Reynolds　When the body of Jesus of Nazareth (Cliff Curtis) goes missing, Pontius Pilate (Peter Fi

　 요즘 핫하다는 경리단 거리나 해방촌 골목을 해질녘에 가보면, 외국인들이 삼삼오오 손에 맥주를 들고 모여 이야기를 나누는 모습을 볼 수 있다. 마치 태국의 배낭여행자 거리 ‘카오산로드’를 연상시키는 이색적인 풍경이다. 　술집 내부에 테이블이 마련되어 있는데 굳이 바깥에 나와 서서 술을 마시는 이유에 대해, 경리단길을 자주 찾는 직장인 최민지(27)씨는 “자유분방하고 이국적인 분위기를 즐길 수 있어 좋다”며 “하루 종일 사무실 안에 있으니 저녁에는 바깥 바람을 쐬고 싶다”고 전했다. 　해방촌에서 맥주가게 ‘필리스’를 4년째 운영하고 있는 영국인 마이클 피셔는 “(술집 내 흡연이 불법이 된 후) 고객들이 담배를 피우고 싶을 때에는 밖으로 나갈 수 밖에 없다”며 “나갈 때 자연스레 맥주잔을 같이 들고 나가게 된다”고 설명했다. 이는 “주로 외국인들이 즐기는 문화”라고 덧붙였다. 　길거리 음주족이 늘어나면서 이웃 주민의 불편과 불안감도 높아지고 있다. 　용산구청에 따르면, “요즘 경리단

　“아직은 해외 대중들이 공감하기 어려운 장르“ 　“정형화된 K팝에 색깔을 입혀야”　가수 싸이의 “강남 스타일” 뮤직 비디오는 유튜브 조회수 24억뷰라는 신기록을 세웠다. 엑소, 인피니트 등 한국 아이돌 그룹의 콘서트는 해외 각지에서 찾아온 다국적 팬들로 그 열기가 뜨겁다. 이미 K팝의 세계적인 인기는 어제 오늘의 일이 아니다. 　　하지만 미국 유명 음악 매체 빌보드(Billboard)의 K팝 전문 기자 제프 벤자민(Jeff Benjamin)은 아직까지 K팝은 소수 매니아층의 전유물일 뿐 일반 해외 대중 사이에서는 “공감하기 어려운” 장르라고 말한다.　　그는 지난 31일 코리아헤럴드와의 인터뷰에서 K팝이 “아직까지는 언어장벽과, 새로운 음악을 접할 기회는 라디오 (등의 대중 매체)에 소개되는 음악을 듣는 것이 다인 대다수의 대중들에게 여전히 공감하기 어려운 장르의 음악”이라고 말했다. 　　하지만 “K팝이 온라인상에서 입지가 상당히 크고, 특히 젊은 층 사이에서는 K팝을 듣지 않는 사