Yanggu Gomchwi Festival The 2021 Yanggu Gomchwi Festival will be held online from Wednesday to Saturday, in concern over the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the festival will feature online lectures, a cooking show and live commerce events, promoting gomchwi, a mountain herb that is characterized by its unique bitter, soft and savory flavor. The festival organizers will also operate a drive-thru order pickup service for visitors who would like to purchase spring gomchwi.  Yell

Hit by a series of COVID-19 infections, the musical scene is bracing for perhaps another virus crisis, following earlier shutdowns in March and August last year. Four cast members of the musical “Dracula,” set to run from mid-May, have confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus, sounding an alarm for musical productions.  Musical actors Shin Sung-rok who plays Dracula, Kang Tae-eul and Jeon Dong-seok playing the role of Van Helsing in the musical have tested posit

After Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk died Tuesday night at the age of 89, Roman Catholics gathered at the Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul on Wednesday to pay their respects to South Korea’s second cardinal. There was a long line of people waiting. The late cardinal was in a glass coffin before the altar in the cathedral, where attendance at a requiem Mass held in Wednesday’s early morning hours was limited to 80 people out of concern about COVID-19. The crowd was much sma

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the globe, last year was still a major milestone for soprano Im Sun-hae who celebrated her two decadelong career. Since making her debut with conductor Philippe Herreweghe in Antwerp, Belgium in 1999, Im, 45, has been leading a singing career around the globe for more than 20 years. “Who knew this would happen? I had not known that I would debut in Europe, sing for more than 20 years,” Im said during a recent interview with The Korea

While veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung made history by winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for her portrayal of a Korean grandmother in “Minari,” her “wonderful Minari family” made its presence felt on the red carpet by sporting iconic looks. Youn showed up at the 93rd Academy Awards in a boxy midnight blue brocade gown designed by Egyptian semi-couture designer Marmar Halim, based in Dubai and London. She completed the look with a velvet belt, a diamond bracelet f

Director Bong Joon-ho made an appearance at the 93rd Academy Awards, as a presenter for the best director award. Bong, whose film “Parasite” last year won four Oscars, spoke in Korean with his interpreter, Sharon Choi, from Dolby Cinema at Megabox Coex in southern Seoul. “If you have to explain to a random kid on the street what directing is in 20 seconds, what would you say?” Bong said, saying the five nominees were asked the same question. “Their replies were

The film “Minari” is awaiting its big night at the Oscars. Directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung, the film has been nominated for best picture, best directing, best original screenplay, best actor, best supporting actress and best score at the 93rd Academy Awards. It has garnered the second most nominations following “Mank,” directed by David Fincher, which has been shortlisted in 10 categories, including best picture.   Actor Youn Yuh-jung has been nomina

Yellow Forest in Kimcheon Kimcheon City in North Gyeongsang Province has set up a forest decorated with yellow furniture pieces and objects, named the “Yellow Forest.” The project was inspired by the Purple Island in Sinan. Two islands in the Sinan area in South Jeolla Province are blanketed in a hue of purple, with all the roofs and streets painted purple. Kimcheon City hopes to attract tourists with its new Yellow Forest. It will feature hands-on activities such as woodcraft cl

The Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music will sing “Ode to Joy” to celebrate a belated 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, after the program was postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The spring festival last year was pushed back to the fall where they presented a non-Beethoven repertoire, as well as to observe the required social distancing measures. “This year, we will do what we could not do last year,” Kang Dong-suk, violinist and artistic

In the pandemic era, the mandatory two-week quarantine remains a great obstacle for the performing arts scene. Acclaimed conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim was slated to hold a recital at the Seoul Arts Center on May 19 to mark the release of his Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven piano sonata album. It was to have been his first piano recital in South Korea. But production agency Inarts Production announced Friday that the recital was canceled as Barenboim was not granted exemption from the

Singaporean Ambassador to Korea Eric Teo recently received the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit (First Class) Gwanghwa Medal from the Korean government in appreciation of his service promoting Korea-Singapore ties. It has been nearly two years since he arrived in Seoul, and a lot has changed in that time, owing to the virus pandemic affecting the world since early 2020. Though the gateways between Korea and Singapore remain mostly closed for now due to the travel restrictions brought on by

Millennials and Gen Z are trend leaders in tourism amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. The KTO, which analyzed data from local mobile carrier KT from January 2019 to December 2020, said that different generations travel in a different manner. In 2020, the total movement rate for tourism decreased by 7.1 percent compared to the previous year, while movement in one’s own residential area increased by 3.4 percent. Generation Z, or the Zoomers, visit

Haman Watermelon Festival The county of Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, will host the 2021 Haman Watermelon Festival online from April 23 to May 2. More than 14 percent of watermelons produced in Korea come from Haman. Though the festival is being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be kits to help people make watermelon-inspired dishes and diverse activities related to the summer fruit. During the festival period, watermelons from the area will be sold at live commerce ev

Fashion often comes at a cost to our Earth. Massive amounts of clothing and textiles are wasted each year, as brands launch new looks and collections each season and are unable to more efficiently control inventory. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s report in 2018, nearly 20 percent of global wastewater is produced by the fashion industry. The industry also accounts for 10 percent of global carbon emissions. To grow a kilogram of cotton, for example, 7,5

The LG Arts Center is to hold the Avignon Festival Cinema event from April 28 to May 2, screening some works from the famed performing arts festival based in the southern city of France. The festival, featuring innovative and experimental performing arts shows, garners some 500,000 attendees every summer. It is a prestigious performing arts event, considered alongside the Edinburgh Festival. The center will screen four signature pieces presented at the Avignon Festival, along with a work r

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director, Osmo Vanska, will deliver his first performance of the 2021 season Thursday and Friday at the Lotte Concert Hall in eastern Seoul. At this week’s performances, the orchestra will present Bartok’s “Dance Suite,” Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39, and Eotvos’ “Speaking Drums” for percussion solo and orchestra, featuring percussionist Bak Hye-ji, under the baton of Vanska. After p

The Korean Culture and Information Service is to look into a dispute among its staff at the Korean Cultural Center Shanghai, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The Culture Ministry said on Thursday that two employees at the center had reported the head of the Shanghai center to the Korean Culture and Information Service for using abusive language and demanding a resignation, among other claims. Some 10 days after the reports were filed, the head requested the Korean Cul

Jindo Miracle Sea Road Festival This year, the 42nd Jindo Miracle Sea Road Festival will be held online, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Every spring, the sea around Jindo opens up, exposing a 2.8-kilometer-long stretch of sand that connects two islands in the area. The gravitational phenomenon draws numerous visitors to the small island in South Jeolla Province. 　 The annual festival was canceled last year due to the virus pandemic. This year, it will be held online with the sea road op

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported that 179 members of state arts troupes had violated regulations by giving private lessons or taking part in unauthorized activities, according to People Power Party Rep. Kim Ye-ji, who is a member of the National Assembly’s Culture Committee. The regulations concerning public officials, which apply to members of state arts troupes, state that individual activities must be approved in advance and any payment received must be reported.

Violinist Kim Bomsori will go onstage in Korea in June to celebrate the upcoming release of her solo debut album under the classical music label Deutsche Grammophon. The recital on June 26 at the Lotte Concert Hall in eastern Seoul will be Kim’s first solo recital in the country in two years. In November, Kim became the third Korean artist to sign with Deutsche Grammophon, following pianist Cho Seung-jin and soprano Park Hye-sang. Her solo DG debut album “Violin on Stage” w