Pickled garlic (maneul jangajji) is a staple side dish in Korea. The garlic cloves are first soaked in a vinegar brine for a few days and then pickled in a soy brine. Through this two-step process, the garlic loses much of its pungent bite and becomes slightly sweet and tangy. It’s important to use fresh garlic for pickling. Pickled garlic lasts a long time, and the longer it matures the better it tastes.　The garlic infused soy brine can be used as a dipping or seasoning sauce. Pickled garlic (m

 Ulsan Grand Park Rose FestivalUlsan Grand Park Rose Festival has launched its 11th annual rose garden festivities. Held every year since 2005, this year’s festival exhibits roughly 3 million roses in a 44,737-square-meter rose garden. Visitors will have the opportunity to marvel at a wide range of premium rose species, which have been planted throughout the park’s expansion garden areas including the Cupid Garden, Venus Garden, Rose Hills and various themed gardens.　Aside from the diverse rose

Mountain Cry 　(China)　Opened May 25　Directed by Larry Yang　A new family moves into a remote village with a tight-knit, traditional community. After the sudden death of the family’s father and husband, the widow, a mysterious mute (Lang Yueting), begins to tell her story wordlessly.　Sing Street　(Ireland)　Opened May 19　Directed by John Carney　　A teenager (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) living in 1980s Dublin escapes bullying at school and his strained family, his parents’ collapsing marriage and struggling f

Sometimes words just can’t express how you feel when you “speak” to someone on a mobile messenger app. Instantly, you go through different emoticons offered by the messenger service and choose what fits your state of mind, sending them without saying a word.  　Emoticons have become a crucial part of modern communication. They facilitate the new form of mobile communication in which senders and recipients communicate anytime and anywhere, but often face difficulties guessing what the person on th

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) - Divisions over reigniting global growth were set to surface at the G7 in Japan Friday, with US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew expected to stand firm over any action threatening a currency war.Two days of talks will see host Japan keen to win an endorsement for its position that fiscal stimulus is the way to kickstart the world economy, after a rally in the yen hit exporters and worsened a slowdown at home.But Tokyo's recent threat of a market intervention to reverse the rally

MONTREUX, Switzerland (AFP) – Belgian Mourad Laachraoui, the younger brother of one of the Brussels airport bombers, has won gold in the European Taekwondo Championships and will compete in this summer's Olympics. Mourad Laachraoui, brother of Najim Laachraoui, beat Spaniard Jesus Tortosa 6-3 in the -54kg final in Montreux, Switzerland on Thursday night.A silver medalist at the Summer Universiades in 2015, the 21-year-old has qualified for the Rio Games in August.Najim Laachraoui, 24, was one of

CAIRO (AP) – Egyptian air and naval forces have found some of the passengers' ``personal belongings'' and debris of EgyptAir flight 804, which crashed while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo, the army said Friday.The debris was found around 290 kilometers north of the port city of Alexandria, Egyptian army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. Egyptian jets and naval vessels continued to search for further debris from the downed Ai

The mascot for 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics is likely to be unveiled in June after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting, an official from the event's organizing committee said Friday. The official, who asked not to be named, said that the mascot for South Korea's first ever Winter Games will be determined at the IOC's Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, which runs from June 1-3. Lee Hee-beom, newly elected president of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2

North Korea urged South Korea Friday to accept its offer to hold military talks in its latest charm offensive toward Seoul after spiking tensions with its missile and nuclear weapons program.North Korea's National Defense Commission (NDC) called on South Korea to immediately accept the dialogue proposal made by the North's leader Kim Jong-un at the country's recently-concluded party congress."South Korea should respond to our proposal for the talks without delay in a bid to end the two Koreas' a

When lost on the streets of Seoul, there is one foolproof way to find your way home: just keep walking in one direction on a main road until you hit a subway station.　Sprawled underneath the mega city with over 300 stations on a dozen different lines in the metropolitan area, the subway system acts as a way to navigate the city with ease. There are no major destinations in Seoul that cannot be reached via subway, making it the prime mode of transportation for many Seoulites and tourists.(123rf)　

　Imperial Palace Seoul Hotel relaunches ‘Familia’　Imperial Palace Seoul Hotel’s buffet restaurant Familia has reopened after three months of extensive renewal process.　The buffet is equipped with upgraded facilities, and has been relocated to the first floor for easier access.　The seven live stations -- grill, sushi, dim sum, pasta, pizza, deep fried and oriental noodles -- provide diverse menus including the signature dishes such as Buddha’s Temptation (a seafood soup), penne pasta, and cold ra

This variation of gimbap is made with canned tuna (chamchi in Korean). You can make the tuna filling the way you make tuna salad with mayonnaise and other ingredients. I added a bit of dijon mustard, lemon juice, and diced celery. A bit of diced onion will be nice as well. 　You can add any typical gimbap ingredients such as egg, eomuk (fish cake), pickled radish, carrot or spinach. In this recipe, I used romaine lettuce, perilla leaves (kkaennip), cucumbers, crab sticks, and pickled radish. The

As most places around the world that experience four distinct seasons, springtime is symbolic as a time of rebirth or awakening after the dormant winter months. There is no better representation of this than in the first plant shoots that emerge from the cold soils and trees as young and tender sprouts ready to bring in a new season.　In Korea springtime, is a time to enjoy the season’s culinary bounty, young spring greens known as bom namul, appreciated for their unique taste and freshness when

MIAMI BEACH, Florida -- This just may be America’s sexiest city -- a symphony of sand, surf and sherbet-colored sunrises set to a sassy salsa beat. It is palm trees and pulsating nightlife; torpid days and tropical nights; shimmering pools and shimmying revelers. 　Can you imagine a less glamorous city spawning “Miami Vice’s” Sonny Crockett and his linen suits or “C.S.I. Miami’s” Horatio Caine and his signature sunglasses?　The epicenter of all this glamor is South Beach -- a slice of sand along O

 Everland Rose Festival　The nation’s largest outdoor amusement park, Everland, is hosting its annual Rose Festival until June 12. The theme park, located in Yongin just outside of Seoul, is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is currently flooded with roughly 1 million roses scattered throughout the park’s luscious garden areas. 　This year’s Rose Festival is highlighted by the newly established, “Shakespeare Garden,” which features specialized storyboards of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” “Romeo and J

A 66-year-old Korean man has been arrested for allegedly making copies of Korean art master Lee U-fan’s paintings, the Seoul Metropolitan Police said Friday. 　The man surnamed Hyun is suspected of creating fake works of Lee’s abstract paintings. The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for him on Friday, the police said. 　According to the police, Hyun was arrested in Japan on April 13. Hyun fled to Japan after the Korean police carried out an investigation into art forgery rumor

Lee Gates, the main man in the complex thriller “Money Monster,” plays a popular stock specialist on live television, telling viewers what to buy, sell or hold. He looks and acts like the classic stereotype of a Wall Street whiz on TV -- $5,000 suit, winning smile, sharp patter.　Lee, played by the handsome and genial George Clooney, is big on TV because even when his proposals are risky, they sound brilliant. If he warns that your retirement savings will tank unless you stockpile Nigerian hedge

Martina McBride shines on new album, ‘Reckless’Martina McBride“Reckless” (Nash Icon/BMLG)On Martina McBride’s first album for the Nash Icon label -- created to market veteran country singers -- she hedges her bets by coproducing with longtime hit-maker Dann Huff (Keith Urban) and relative newcomer Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift).Perhaps accordingly then, the album presents something old and something new. The four-time CMA female vocalist of the year tosses out a few pop-country trifles: “We’ll Pi

The Wailing(Korea)Opened May 11Mystery, thriller. Directed by Na Hong-jinA series of horrifying murders takes place in a quiet village upon the arrival of a strange fisherman (Jun Kunimura ). Policeman Jong-gu (Kwak Do-won) teams up with a shaman (Hwang Jung-min) to get to the bottom of the mystery. Phantom Detective (Korea)Opened May 4Drama, action. Directed by Jo Sung-heeGenius detective Hong Gil-dong (Lee Je-hoon) seeks to find and kill his worst enemy, Kim Byung-deok (Park Geun-hyung). On th

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- After kicking off to a lively start with a fireworks-filled opening ceremony and an outdoor screening of this year’s opening film “Born to be Blue” Thursday night, a number of interactive sessions are underway at the Jeonju International Film Festival. 　In addition to screening some 200 movies at cinemas dotted along the city’s Cinema Street, Korea’s largest indie film festival is hosting programs such as Talk Class -- a small group meeting of filmmakers and audi