Hallyu sees new turn as more K-pop stars dominate TV drama and performing arts sceneThis is the last of a five-part series on hallyu. ― Ed.For Girls’ Generation fans, the year 2012 must come as an exciting one.Not only are they going to see their favorite hallyu singers on YouTube music videos and K-pop shows, but they are also going to find the girls on the small screen, as TV drama actresses. Four members of the group -- Yoona, Jessica, Yoori, and Sooyoung -- have recently announced their upco

Mobile gadgets become new source of experience for pro and amateur filmmakersIt’s cheap, it’s easy, and it’s accessible. Welcome to smartphone-filmmaking, which has become the new trend for both amateur and professional filmmakers in the past year. The trend ― which started about a year ago upon the domestic release of Apple’s iPhone 4 and its local carrier KT’s aggressive-creative promotion of the products ― is becoming even bigger as more capital and talents are getting involved.In the beginni

His voice is deep, sonorous, rumbling with quiet gravitas.Few actors are as readily recognizable by their vocal cords as Max von Sydow, the great Swedish actor who arrived on the international scene in 1957, as a knight who encounters Death ― and plays chess with him ― in Ingmar Bergman’s classic, “The Seventh Seal.”Von Sydow would make 10 more films with Bergman (“Without him, I would certainly not have been here today,” he says). And he would make his mark in big commercial films, playing a sl

‘The Obamas’ surprisingly lacks surpriseThe Obamas By Jodi Kantor(Little, Brown) With all the headlines about Jodi Kantor’s book on Barack and Michelle Obama, the biggest surprise about it is this: There aren’t any surprises.I learned little about the Obamas or the presidency that I didn’t know or imagine, and I’m not even a passionate follower of events in Washington. Well, one thing shocked me. Can you believe the White House residence has a spotty Internet connection and only one extension of

Voices of Foreign Brides: The Roots and Development of Multiculturalism in KoreaBy Kim Choong-soon(AltaMira Press)One of the stars to emerge from last year’s silver screen hit “Punch” was Jasmine Lee. The Filipino-born Korean actress and activist, who rose to prominence as a panelist on KBS TV’s multicultural show “Love in Asia,” also appeared as an immigrant in the box-office hit. Aside from the film and TV roles, Lee was appointed one of Seoul City’s first foreign civil servants last year. The

Staring down a no-good, gun-toting heir to a marijuana empire in rural Kentucky who’s just thrown a dead rat at his car, Raylan Givens stands unfazed.“You know how many wanted felons have given me that look?” he says, calm as a man on a Sunday stroll. “I say a thousand I know I’m low.”Cool.Raylan Givens is one cool character, whether he’s enforcing the law as a deputy U.S. marshal in Elmore Leonard’s new novel “Raylan” or on “Justified,” the taut, moody FX series that has become a critical favor

Pop group 2PM will be teaching the Korean language on air in Japan, according to the group’s local agency.The group will appear on Japan’s public broadcaster NHK from April, hosting a five-minute segment of its popular Korean-language education show. The segment is slated to be titled “2PM’s One-point Korean,” and the members will be mainly teaching useful travel phrases.The group made its Japanese debut last year, and successfully completed the “Republic of 2PM” Japan Arena Tour. The group held

Pop star-turned musical actress Ok Ju-hyun to star in ‘Elisabeth’After welcoming the local adaptations of Czech musical “Hamlet” and London’s West End musical “Zorro“ recently, Korea’s theater scene is seeing the arrival of another European show, this time about the real-life 19th-century legendary Austrian empress Elisabeth (1837-1898).Starring former girl group FIN.K.L. member-turned-musical actress Ok Ju-hyun, actor Song Chang-ui and K-pop group JYJ member and rising musical star Kim Jun-su,

Ven. Jaseung shares his plan for order’s 50th year anniversaryThe Jogye Order, Korea’s largest Buddhist sect, will focus on promoting harmony and peace this year, its 50th anniversary.“It’s easy to say the word ‘harmony,’” said Ven. Jaseung, president of the Jogye Order, at a press conference at the Center for Korean Buddhist History and Culture in Seoul on Tuesday. “But there is a saying that conflicts are unavoidable unless you live all alone by yourself. This is an important year for Korea, a

“Olje Classics,” a book series consisting of four local and Western classics. (Olje)‘Olje Classics’ sold out one day after hitting bookstore shelvesA book series consisting of four local and Western classics, published at a low-price to provide the texts to the less fortunate, sold out just one day after hitting the shelves last week.Provided by non-profit corporation Olje, the four-volume series in Korean titled “Olje Classics” includes Plato’s “The Republic,” Aristotle’s “Politics,” “Analects

National Gugak Center’s new director seeks blend of Korean music with other artsIt’s been almost two months since the National Gugak Center’s new director and scholar Lee Tong-bok took office. The position might have been a challenging one for Lee, a professor at Kyungpook National University in Daegu since 1984. Yet he says it’s as if he has returned home.“I was a performing member of the National Gugak Center from 1979 to 1982,” Lee told The Korea Herald at the institution on Wednesday. “So it