Some 110 young practitioners of taekwondo took an oath in front of the newly inaugurated president Lee Joong-keun of the World Taekwondo Peace Corps on Wednesday in Seoul, vowing to promote peace and prosperity worldwide through the national sport. World Taekwondo Peace Corps president Lee Joong-keun gives his inaugural speech as he launches the organization’s 16th contingent of volunteers. (Booyoung Group)The World Taekwondo Peace Corps’ 16th contingent of sports ambassadors will be dispatched

In the 1980s and ‘90s, young children and students needed to hide their comic books from teachers and parents in order to secretly enjoy them.When they were caught furtively reading comics like “Dragon Ball” or “Slam Dunk” from Japan, or Korean series featuring famous characters such as baseball player Dok Gotak and Kkachi, instead of studying for college exams, they were immediately punished, while the seized comic books were ripped to shreds and thrown out. Comic books were considered dangerou

The government Tuesdays launched a tech content venture center called the “Creative Economic Leader,” or CEL Venture Center, in downtown Seoul.Located in the former building of the Korea Tourism Organization, the CEL Venture Center will accommodate some 90 start-ups specializing in creating stories and content using the latest and emerging technologies such as virtual reality, drones and location-based information services. The CEL Academy, an educational institute for training the next-generati

A T-50 trainer jet fighter crashed during an air show in Indonesia on Sunday, killing two pilots aboard, local media reported. The light attack aircraft, made by Korea Aerospace Industries, crashed on the second day of an air show celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Air Force Flight School in Yogyakarta, a tourist city on the main island of Java.  Indonesian Air Force spokesman Dwi Badarmanto said the pilot and co-pilot aboard the KAI T-50i Golden Eagle aircraft died instantly, while no one

Korea’s two biggest auction houses -- Seoul Auction and K Auction -- led strong sales at their winter auctions last week, thanks to record sales and strong bidding for “dansaekhwa” monochrome paintings. Kim Whanki’s 1940s painting “Island Sketches” sold for 1.6 billion won ($1.3 million) at K Auction in Seoul last week. (K Auction)The two auction houses achieved hammer prices of 10 billion won ($10 million) with 80 percent of auctioned items sold. With works by Kim Whanki and Lee U-fan leading s

Media technology -- whether hardware or software -- has further boosted the value of content, not made it worthless or led to the disappearance of conventional broadcasting networks.  Mickey Kim, head of Asia-Pacific for Google’s Chromecast & TV (Media & Future Institute)However, the media industry must be able to quickly “catch and read” the latest technology and consumption trends in order to stay ahead of the game, according to Mickey Kim, head of Asia-Pacific for Google’s Chromecast & TV. Th

Following its recent forays into Japan, the world’s second-largest comics market, Korean webtoon platform operator Lezhin Entertainment is about to take on a new venture in the U.S.Lezhin Entertainment’s U.S. team members – (from left) Grace Chong, Jeon Jae-heung, James Kim and Bae Soon-yong -- pose for a photo at the webtoon platform’s headquarters in southern Seoul. Lezhin plans to launch its U.S. service early next year. (Lezhin)A team of four young entrepreneurs -- “a start-up within a start

Verove appointed Hyatt Regency Jeju GMHyatt Regency Jeju announced the appointment of Patrick Verove as its new general manager. Verove will be in charge of the hotel’s operations and management, bringing with him a wealth of experience in the hotel industry.Before joining Hyatt Regency Jeju, he spent more than five years as the manager of Grand Hyatt Incheon. Verove started his career in 1989 at Grand Hyatt Melbourne, beginning his 27-year relationship with Hyatt. “I am committed to continuing

Record tourists to GermanyThe German National Tourist Board said that it had a record number of days inbound tourists stayed in Germany as of the end of the third quarter.Statistics show a total of 62 million overnight stays at accommodation facilities of at least 10 beds from January-September, up about 5.3 percent from a year ago. In 2014, Koreans stayed in Germany for an average of 500,000 days, and the number is expected to grow to 600,000 days in 2020, the German tourism board noted.Germany

Why We Should Be Angryby Jang Ha-sung(Heybooks)　Jang Ha-sung, who is widely known in the fields of corporate governance and shareholder activism, tackles one of the most urgent problems rising in Korea – inequality.The Korean economy, which rose from rags to riches at a remarkable pace, now faces the fallout from the quick rise where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer as the country’s fully adopts capitalism.The root of the problem is the widening income gap between empl

South Korea and Japan plan to submit a joint application to register about 200-300 documents recording the “Joseon Tongsinsa” from 1607-1811 on the UNESCO Memory of the World list by March next year, the Busan Cultural Foundation said Monday. The updated documentary heritage list will be finalized by July or August 2017. A reenactment of Joseon Tongsinsa at a festival in Busan (Korea Tourism Organization)Joseon Tongsinsa refers to the series of diplomatic goodwill missions that the Joseon era (1

A figure, half-woman, half-bird, sits helplessly as if she has failed at several attempts to fly. She lacks feathers, except for the colorful few on her back.Artist Sohn Jung-hee stands behind the “Debutantes: 7 Sins” series displayed at Hakgojae Gallery in Seoul, Dec. 4.　(Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)For artist Sohn Jung-hee, the ceramic sculpture “Siren” embodies the conflict between the public and the private selves of modern people.  “It can describe an office worker, or someone like me, w

The Spirit of Korean Development by Sang-young Rhyu(Yonsei University Press)　There has been much debate surrounding the analysis of the economic success and political transformation of South Korea. However, the interest of this book does not lie in the tangible factors behind its development. What is puzzling to non-Koreans is the intangible factors that enabled tangible factors to work together and thereby enable development. In other words, this book offers an explanation for Korea’s miraculou

Kim Min-jae is a veteran sports photographer who has covered many international sporting events, including the Asian Games and Olympic Games, for more than 30 years.  Photographer Kim Min-jae (Courtesy of Kim Min-jae)The experience has led him to settle in Kuwait at the invitation of Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, president of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Association of National Olympic Committees. Kim, who started his career with the South Korean Ministry of Sports in the 1980s, now wor

Pucca, an animated character created by Korea’s Vooz in 2000, has shown that Korea’s characters can reach the global audience through international partnerships and merchandising deals.The wacky Chinese character earns over 300 billion won ($257.7 million) per year on average globally, thanks in part to the Disney Channel, which has been broadcasting “Pucca” short animated TV series in more than 100 countries.LIMA Korea chief Kwak Kyeong-won (LIMA)Kwak Kyeong-won, the Korean representative of th

An 11-year-old Hwang Sun-mi was a petite, bony girl prone to coughs, far from the kind of kid to get attention from teachers or fellow classmates at school. At her dilapidated, one-bedroom home near a U.S. army base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, she was not very important either. The second of five children in a poor family, she had to do chores around the house and look after three younger siblings as her parents toiled day and night to barely feed them. Hwang Sun-mi (Seoul International Bo

‘Year-end Getaway’ at Conrad Seoul Don’t miss Conrad Seoul’s specially priced “Year-end Getaway” promotion. This offer features a wonderful night at Conrad Seoul, with the best views and most spacious rooms in the city. Celebrate your New Year with a getaway vacation with family, friends and loved ones. Conrad Seoul has the most spacious rooms among all five-star hotels in Seoul and is the only hotel that features two queen beds in a twin room. This package is available through March 31 next yea

Ride on Korail’s Oriental ExpressKorail Tourism Development is launching a package featuring the luxurious “Eastern & Oriental Express,” a train that runs on the 1,943 kilometer-long international railway.The rail ride will pass through Bangkok, Penang and Singapore, boasting a spectacular view of Southeast Asia.Trains will be departing on Dec. 25, Jan. 3 and 26 and Feb 7, 16, and 25. Visitors will depart from the Incheon International Airport via airplane and arrive at the Bangkok International

YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province – In the middle of nowhere surrounded by hills and fields in Cheoin-gu, the largest district in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, stands a large complex of outdoor sets with replicated royal palaces, houses and castles. The set of Hwagidogam, or the Gunpowder Weapon Center where Joseon King Gwang-hae (played by Cha Seung-won) inspected weapons before delivery in “Hwa Jung,” stands in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. (Park Hyong-ki/The Korea Herald)This was where the Korean Wave, or

President Park Geun-hye and her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau agreed Wednesday to closely cooperate on how to cope with challenges posed by climate change.The consensus was reached in their meeting on the sidelines of an annual summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in the Philippines. It came just two weeks before Park, Trudeau and leaders around the world are to meet in Paris to try to produce a new legally binding deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are to blame for global