The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that it will focus on strengthening digital content aimed at promoting the country more effectively and keeping up with current and future trends. Amid swelling concerns about offline meetings and in-person activities due to the pandemic, the Culture Ministry plans to bring extensive changes to the existing materials to overcome their limitations and introduce lively promotion projects by leveraging contactless strategies. The Korea National T

The Daegu Culture & Arts Center in Dalseo, Daegu, is hosting an exhibition titled “Pandemic & Daegu.” The event kicked off Wednesday and will run until Aug. 30. The exhibition presents a range of mask-inspired artworks created by members of the Daegu Contemporary Artists Association and many foreign artists, including eight from France. (Photos: Yonhap) By Lee Sae-byul (nstelle@heraldcorp.com)

In commemoration of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics’ second anniversary, JeongSeon Forum 2020 will kick off its three-day run Thursday at High1 Grand Hotel Convention Tower in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province. JeongSeon Forum 2020, hosted by the Gangwon Provincial Government and Gangwon Convention & Visitors Bureau, will serve as a venue where the international community and its global citizens discuss the Earth and human beings’ coexistence, under the theme of “Sustainable Ea

Digital businesses dealing in used goods are enjoying sharp growth in South Korea, as coronavirus fears have influenced consumer preference in favor of online secondhand stores over other e-commerce platforms. Market research conducted by Nielsen Korean Click showed that a quarter of domestic smartphone users -- approximately 10 million people -- use secondhand market services. Competitive services including Carrot Market, Bunjang and Joonggo Nara are expanding rapidly as they tar

The popular pairing of fried chicken and beer -- known locally as chimaek -- can be eaten almost anywhere in Korea, but east coast beaches have become an exception. Under government guidelines issued for disease control, Gangwon Province imposed an administrative order on eight of its provincial beaches last month to restrict gatherings and ban eating outdoors at nighttime. Announcements warning that visitors are barred from eating there from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., and that those who violate the r

A South Korean nongovernmental organization has sent letter of request calling for an immediate ban on sales of items designed with the Rising Sun Flag to global e-commerce platform operators including Amazon, Google, and Wish. Following the e-commerce conglomerates’ new policy announced through BBC last month to prohibit sales of racist products, the platforms ceased selling commodities that were deemed problematic, like Hakenkreuz -- the German Nazi’s flag -- and typical white su

The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, a nongovernmental diplomatic body active online, said Thursday that it would roll out a campaign to raise international awareness about the Japanese Imperial Army Unit 731. Stationed in China’s Harbin during the World War II, Unit 731 conducted inhumane experiments on thousands of living people for its biological warfare development, including vivisection on prisoners of war. Under the title “Have you heard of the Unit 731, the Asian versio

A sand sculpture titled ‘COVID-19 Out’ is on display at Haeundae beach in Busan on Wednesday to encourage visitors to wear masks.  Starting Saturday, those who go against the mandatory guidelines of wearing masks at any of the five most popular beaches in Busan will be fined up to 3 million won ($2,500). (Photos: Yonhap) By Lee Sae-byul (nstelle@heraldcorp.com)

  South Korean consumers are demonstrating their unusually strong appetite for something other than coffee at Starbucks: promotional gifts. Starbucks Korea is stirring up the coffee franchise market here with its promotional e-frequency reward event, which allows those who have purchased a total of 17 drinks including seasonal beverages to pick one item out of five options. The reward items include two types of “summer ready bag” and three types of “summer chair&rdquo

The sudden death of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has been not only shocking, but also controversial in many aspects. One particularly thorny issue has turned out to involve the planned funeral schedule. Expressing condolences over Park’s passing, the Seoul city administration announced Friday that it would hold a five-day mayoral funeral open to the public in accordance with the official guidelines specified in state protocols. The plan immediately touched off a wave of angry comments on

A recent survey of 209 kindergarten teachers in May revealed the dire reality of the current educational scene in Korea, said the Daejeon branch of the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union on Thursday. Asked about their personal experiences related to power abuse by kindergarten principals, a majority of the teachers said they undergo distress at their workplaces on a daily basis. Pointing out that power abuse has long been present in Korean society, they said the frequency a

The Jeju District Court sentenced a 39-year-old mother to a year in prison, suspended for two years, for child abuse. The accused was charged with violating the Child Welfare Act last October when she forcibly shoved a notebook in her 11-year-old daughter’s mouth. She is also reported to have acted aggressively when a consultant from a child protection institution made a home visit to talk with her daughter, and tried to interrupt the counseling process, according to one of the testimo

A reed warbler is seen sitting on top of a lotus leaf in Seongho Lake, located in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, shortly after rain on Thursday. (Photos: Yonhap) By Lee Sae-byul (nstelle@heraldcorp.com)

Yongsan-gu Office in Seoul said Monday that it had installed 13 screens in six public restrooms for women in the district to prevent sex crimes such as secret filming. The screens are designed to block the space between the floor and the door of the stall. The ward office said the screens would help relieve women’s anxiety over secret filming and other sex crimes. Regular inspections are being carried out at facilities that women use, such as public restrooms and locker rooms, with w

The Academy of Korean Studies, a state-run research and educational institute located in Gyeonggi Province, is awaiting submissions for the Understanding Korea 2020 Contest Call for Essays. The deadline for essays is set for July 31. “Promoting correct understanding of Korea is necessary nowadays, as Korea is increasingly gathering more global attention for its outstanding response to COVID-19. For that reason, we will listen to and utilize the stories of those who have more objecti

Farmers in Wansan -- a district of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province -- are working hard to harvest their fully ripe peaches, the region’s specialty.  Wansan is believed to have started growing peaches in the 1910s, when the Korean Peninsula was under imperial Japanese colonial rule. Peaches grown in greenhouses with no rain or pesticides are twice as expensive as those grown outdoors, reflecting their better quality. “Peaches are in season one week earlier than last year, si

South Korean citizens showed stronger awareness about steps to prevent COVID-19, compared with the situation five years earlier when MERS was spreading, a survey by the Boramae Medical Center showed Friday. The joint survey conducted by professor Lee Jin-yong, Dr. Jang Won-mo and Dr. Jang Deok-hyun analyzed how the general public followed the guidelines in both cases. The number of people who followed social distancing guidelines -- refraining from outdoor activities or avoiding public trans

Korea Professional Football League said it has signed a contract with two European platforms specializing in soccer content -- 433 and COPA90 -- to promote its sporting events abroad. Based in the Netherlands, 433 posts minute-long video clips featuring soccer matches on its Instagram account, which is followed by more than 40 million users of the photo-sharing platform around the world. COPA90, founded in the UK, has 4 million subscribers and shares soccer clips that feature athletes and gam

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will work with local governments to crack down on unlicensed businesses in the pet industry and others that violate industry regulations. The special inspection will run for three weeks starting Monday and affect a wide range of businesses in the pet industry, including those that sell and import pets. Inspectors will check on business operators to make sure they hold valid licenses and have completed all required training sessions

Crops cultivated from Han River parks, including canola, rye and barley, are to be donated to Seoul Grand Park Zoo and several social welfare foundations, according to the Han River Project Center. The decision was made through the Han River Project Center’s lengthy effort seeking effective means to address environmental concerns that arose annually regarding the unnecessarily wasteful disposal of the produce. Instead of discarding the crops entirely -- once they are done with serving t