The director’s cut of the hit webtoon-turned drama film “Inside Men” is set to be released at the end of the year with 50 additional minutes of footage, bringing the running time to three hours. The added footage to the story -- which follows a deeply corrupt triangular conspiracy involving politics, corporate interests and the media -- focuses mainly on providing personal histories and context for the complex relationships between the main characters. Baek Yoon-sik (left) and Lee Byung-hun star

Broadcaster SBS’ long-awaited year-end music festival “Gayo Daejeon” was a huge disappointment for fans after sound, camera work and captioning mishaps put a damper on the all-star performances.The most noticeable mistakes were in sound coordination. The sound volume of the artists’ tracks and microphones continued to fluctuate, with recorded tracks frequently drowning out the artists’ voices. At times, the microphones did not function at all, cutting out the vocals for EXO’s performance of “Cal

This has not been a kind year for romance movies at the Korean box office. There is not a single romance film -- Korean or foreign -- that has made it to the top 20 box-office hits. In fact, “The Beauty Inside,” the star-studded high-profile romance film of the year, came in at No. 30. Kim Dai-seung’s new period feature “The Magician” hopes to change this trend at the very end of the year with spectacular visuals, a story that follows the typical tormented love narrative, with two fail-proof tee

It’s unusual to see a pop artist in Korea who speaks about her music with as much confidence and assurance as Suran. Actually, there is a lot about Suran that is surprising. There’s her unusual voice, which was shaped in the underground jazz scene and now has the dreamlike future-pop feel of Lim Kim, Jung In or Jinsil of Mad Soul Child. There’s the fact that as soon as she appeared in the mainstream music scene, she worked as a songwriter, producer and featured artist with hip-hop steady sellers

This Christmas, big screens in Korea will bring two animated films that will put a child-like spark back in the hearts of grown-ups -- “The Peanuts Movie” based on the classic comic strip by Charles M. Schulz and “The Little Prince,” an English-language French film based on the 1943 masterpiece by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. While remaining true to the classic works that inspired them, both films catapult the stories’ visuals into the 21st century.  Still from "The Peanuts Movie" (20th Century Fox

MOSCOW -- In the presence of foreign experts, Russian officials on Friday opened the damaged black box of a warplane shot down by Turkey, promising a transparent probe into the incident.Russian officials opened the orange-painted flight recorder as experts from China and Britain watched the procedure, an AFP correspondent saw.Wearing lab coats, technicians used screwdrivers, drills, and even a vacuum cleaner as they opened the device under the watchful eyes of military personnel and dozens of jo

RIYADH -- Two ballistic missiles have been fired from Yemen at Saudi Arabia, one of which was intercepted by the kingdom's air defences, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemeni rebels said Friday.The other missile struck an area of desert east of the Saudi city of Najran, the coalition said in a statement carried by the kingdom's SPA state news agency, without reporting any casualties. (AFP)

NEW YORK -- The Cordon Bleu culinary school will close its 16 campuses in the United States after failed attempts to find the right buyer, the company that operates the locations said.Created in 1895, France's Le Cordon Bleu presents itself as the world's largest network of culinary and hospitality schools.Career Education Corporation -- a company independent from Le Cordon Bleu International -- said in a statement that it was slowly discontinuing the operations of Le Cordon Bleu North America a

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has signed off on the miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint, giving the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor one of the Catholic Church's highest honors just two decades after her death. The Vatican said Friday that Francis approved a decree attributing a miracle to Mother Teresa's intercession during an audience with the head of the Vatican's saint-making office on Thursday, his 79th birthday. No date was set for the canonization, but Italian media have

The seventh episode of Star Wars -- “The Force Awakens” -- will certainly appeal to audiences who have never seen, but only heard or watched bits and pieces of, the previous space movie series on TV or on video-sharing sites such as YouTube. For those who grew up watching the sci-fi epic on the big screen or reading books of the Star Wars expanded universe, “The Force Awakens” will bring back childhood memories. But it could fall short of the pent-up hype following Disney's takeover of Lucasfilm

Singer-songwriter Lucid Fall, known for his beautiful melodies and simple yet stirring lyrics, says that he long ago made a promise with himself that he would release one studio-length album at least once every two years.“For me, an album is not only a chance to release new music, but a personal history,” he said in a press conference at the office of his label Antenna Music on Tuesday. “What have I done over the last two years? What experiences have I had? Which artists have influenced my music

VIENNA -- Austrian police have arrested two people with suspected links to the November Paris attacks, prosecutors said Wednesday, with an Austrian newspaper reporting the two are French citizens posing as refugees. "Two people coming from the Middle East were arrested at the weekend,"Robert Holzleitner, a spokesman for prosecutors in Salzburg, told AFP."Indications of a possible link to the Paris attacks are currently being investigated."He added that the two were arrested in a centre for refug

The right-hand man to the mastermind behind South Korea's largest pyramid scheme said Wednesday that his former boss has died.Kang Tae-yong told reporters that his boss, Cho Hee-pal, died in 2011 and he witnessed it.Cho was rumored to have died from cardiac arrest there four years ago, though his death had not been verified so far.Kang made the comment as he arrived in the district prosecutors' office in the southeastern city of Daegu for questioning from the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing.The

This is the second installment in a three-part series featuring athletes who help people transform their lives. – Ed.　In November 2010, Lim Gye-sook received the call of a lifetime from KT Sports, the sports unit of KT, Korea’s largest telecom, asking her to come back to the sport of women’s field hockey.KT Sports wasn’t asking Lim to grab her hockey stick again and play on the field, but to lead a team of 11 young female players to victory.Lim was apprehensive, as her glory days in the sport we

During the holidays, the hustle and bustle of Seoul make the city far from a winter wonderland. People shuffle down Gangnam sidewalks in single file, get swept into the swarms of people in Myeong-dong, or squeeze into cable cars on the way up to Namsan Tower. In restaurants, couples are likely to bump elbows with those dining at the next table. For those looking for a way to stay in Seoul yet get away from the maddening crowds for a romantic night out, The Korea Herald offers some ideas. Cine de

Eight male celebrities of varying age, background, and experience with animals are rolling up their sleeves to take care of other people’s pets in the new JTBC entertainment show “Mari & I.”“It’s a story about communication between animals and people,” producer Kim No-eun told press at the Stanford Hotel Seoul on Tuesday. “Since they can’t speak to each other, they have to express themselves with their bodies and hearts. I think our viewers will get to see a very different side to our cast membe

Six-member girl group Laboum has returned to the stage with a retro pop song called “Aalow Aalow.” Their new two-track single comes eight months after “Sugar Sugar,” a long hiatus considering that they had promoted three tracks -- “Pit a Pat,” “What About You” and “Sugar Sugar” -- between their debut in November 2014 and March.“During the break, we really felt how precious each performance was,” member Yulhee told The Korea Herald on Monday at the offices of NH EMG, the group’s label.The long br

 Home to heavyweight hip-hop names like Verbal Jint and San E, hip-hop and rhythm and blues label Brand New Music has set itself apart from big K-pop production agencies with its free-spirited style.So perhaps it should come as no surprise the agency’s annual year-end concert “Brand New Year” held Saturday at the KBS Sports World in Seoul was more of a club party than a concert. Security was minimal and the standing crowd was nearly within arm’s reach of the stage. Audience members roamed around

Heading to the movies this weekend? The Korea Herald provides a guide to what's playing on the big screen.Legend (U.K.)Opened Dec. 10　Action. Directed by Brian Helgeland　Tom Hardy plays Ronald and Reggie Kray, identical twin gangsters who ruled the East End of London during the 1960s. “Legend” shows how the two brothers built their criminal empire, touching upon their internal struggles as well as their run from the detective Nipper Read (Christopher Eccleston).　Timing (Korea)Opened Dec. 10　Anim

The Korean Pavilion at this year’s 56th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale attracted over 360,000 visitors May 6 and Nov. 22, more than double the figure from the previous art edition in 2013.Its site-specific seven-channel video installation without any dialogue that portrayed a possible life in the future drew interest from viewers and critics.At a symposium Wednesday at Artist’s House in Jongno-gu, Seoul, held to evaluate the results of this year’s exhibition, everyone seemed