Luxury handbag manufacturer Simone Corp. donated $5 million to begin constructing a larger, culturally authentic Korean language village in the US.The company will be supporting constructions for the expansion of the current Korean Language Village at Concordia Language Villages, the world-language and culture education program announced Tuesday.This gift represents the single largest donation in support of Korean language education in North America, Concordia Language Villages said in a stateme

One of the latest fads in Korea’s ever-evolving culture of “meokbang” (also spelled “mukbang” ) or eating videos, is “real sound,” where YouTubers capture their chewing noises. Lee Tae-goon and Lee Min-joo are brothers who run the YouTube channel Ddeonggaeddeong, devoted to the siblings and their friends eating and carefully chewing in front of a high-quality microphone. The soundbites of food being savored in the mouth are clearly delivered to the viewers’ earphones. According to chef Park Jun-

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom near the Yeouido area in Seoul, as of Wednesday. The cherry blossom festival of Yeouido, a popular event in early spring, begins Saturday and runs until April 12. There is a flower-filled road located around Yunjung-ro, near the National Assembly Station on Subway Line No. 9. People usually stroll along the road prior to the festival, amid the flourishing trees. Written by Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)  Photos by Park Hyun-koo (phko@heraldcorp.com)

The South Korean government plans to provide public rental housing to youths and newlyweds at 70 to 85 percent of the market price.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will preannounce a revised bill for legislation on rental housing, it said Wednesday. The revised bill seeks to offer discounts on first-time rent fees of public housing, setting rents at 95 percent of the market price for regular tenants and less than 85 percent for tenants who are youths and newlyweds. (Seoul Metro

A large percentage of Korean office workers replied they don’t trust their companies’ human resource teams in responding to sexual violence in the workplace, a poll result showed Monday.Some 6,017 office workers nationwide participated in the survey, conducted from March 21-25. Of the respondents, 76.6 percent replied that they “don’t trust” human resource teams to respond appropriately to workplace sexual violence. The survey was conducted by Blind, an app where office workers debate their comp

April Fool’s Day has arrived, and K-pop band BTS’ fans are having a field day making hilarious alterations to photos of their beloved group. In celebration of the annual day dedicated to hoaxes and jokes, global BTS fans made the boy band members digitally sprout extravagant beards and mustaches on Sunday.  (Online community)The retouched images show BTS members V, Jungkook, Jimin, J-Hope, RM, Jin and Suga proudly sporting lush, multicolored facial hair that puts Santa Claus to shame.  (Online c

South Koreans took up the largest percentage of foreign tourists visiting Japan in January and February this year.The number of Koreans visiting Japan early this year surpassed that of Chinese tourists, who topped the list last year, the Japan National Tourism Organization announced Sunday. The surge came after the Chinese government staged economic retaliation against Korea following diplomatic tensions around the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, driving Koreans to Japan instead, rep

One of 33-year-old newlywed Nam Ji-hyun’s newfound hobbies of late is to cook roasted meals for herself and her husband after work, using her rented oven.　　Nam, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment with her husband of one year, rented the Balmuda Toaster oven for one month at 21,900 won ($20.45). The oven retails for over 300,000 won ($277.16). Not an everyday home cook, she found it wasteful to splurge on a full oven, but wanted to try a few simple recipes for two. Renting seemed like the best-

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Wednesday it will begin monitoring news reports on the #MeToo movement to prevent further damage to victims who speak up.The ministry discussed how #MeToo stories are reported at a conference with media experts from the Korean Women’s Association for Communication Studies at Seoul’s Central Government Complex on Wednesday. “Inappropriate reporting leads to secondary damage for victims, obstructing the promotion of gender equality,” said Gender Equa

South Korea’s internet censorship body on Friday asked video streaming firms to take punitive measures against dozens of creators for producing lewd content.The Korea Communications Standards Commission requested that video platform operators temporarily suspend the accounts of 51 online streamers for generating lewd content, and terminate the accounts of six streamers, whose content was deemed excessively explicit.  (123rf)The state-run agency also demanded that the video service operators stop

The upcoming romantic comedy film “What A Man Wants” features the tempestuous affairs of four middle-aged characters.“Why is it that we are constantly lonely, even if we fall in love, even if we get married?” reads the film’s tagline.Shin Ha-kyun stars as Bong-soo, who once dreamt of being a top chef but is now the meek husband of Mi-young, played by Song Ji-hyo.Bong-soo is led into the world of social media dating through his friend Seok-geun, played by Lee Sung-min. Shin Ha-kyun (left) and Son

The boundaries between products typically purchased by women and men are crumbling, according to one online retailer’s statistics reported Tuesday. The phenomenon is a reflection of changing attitudes toward gender-assigned roles, experts said. A growing number of men are buying items such as vacuum cleaners, traditionally seen as household goods purchased by women, according to 11st, a local report said. From January to March, some 45 percent of those who purchased robot vacuum cleaners o

The upcoming series “Let’s Look at the Sunset Holding Hands” is a melodrama featuring mid-life adults, a genre which has become relatively rare among the deluge of police thrillers in Korea recently, according to director Jung Ji-in. Han Hye-jin stars as Nam Hyun-ju, a woman who discovers she is afflicted with a fatal hereditary brain tumor. In the last days of her life, she wavers between her architect husband, Kim Do-young, played by Yoon Sang-hyun, and her doctor, played by Kim Tae-hoon.Han H

More Korean men tend to view income and job status as essential factors for a thriving dating life compared to Japanese men, a recent report said.The report, released in late 2017, delves into the correlation between youths' economic self-reliance and family formation in Korea and Japan. The project, led by researcher Cho Sung-ho of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, cites two studies that analyzed Koreans aged 15-30 and Japanese aged 18-70. Clear differences were spotted between

FNC Entertainment plans to sue internet users who modified photos of singer Seolhyun’s face and put them onto nude images, the agency said Monday. “We plan to gather all data on the altered photos that are currently circulating, find out the route through which they circulated, and submit the complaint today,” FNC said in a statement. The agency said it found on the internet last Friday photos featuring the face of singer Seolhyun, a member of girl group AOA, pasted onto nude images of other peo

Korea has become known to global tourists as a country that never sleeps, with stores opening late into the night. But an increasing number of franchises are putting a stop to their round-the-clock services, reports said Sunday. Experts attribute the trend to increased labor costs following a hike in the minimum wage, which went into effect on Jan. 1. Fast-food chain McDonald’s has reportedly stopped 24-hours services at 10 of its stores in Korea since last December. McDonald’s Wirye Newtown bra

International visitors transformed into a palette of vibrant hues at the Holi Hai Festival of Colors, taking place on Wahyeon Beach in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, Sunday. The eighth annual festival, dubbed the “happiest event” in Korea, celebrates the coming of spring, the joy of friendship and values such as equality, while encouraging harmony between ethnicities and nationalities. The festival is held to mark the Indian end-of-winter festival of Holi, which people celebrate by spattering

Apartment lease prices in Seoul dipped by the largest margin in five years and eight months this week, according to statistics released Thursday. Apartment lease prices in Seoul have been on a steady decline for the past four weeks, and prices fell 0.08 percent this week compared to the previous week, according to a weekly report released by the Korea Appraisal Board. The figure is the largest since a 0.09 percent dip in the third week of July in 2012. The drop in lease prices stems from the sur

More and more vegan and vegetarian visitors have headed for Korea in recent years, but the concept being relatively new here, some foreign visitors have struggled to find eateries that assure their food is meat-free. Plant is a 100 percent plant-based vegan restaurant in Itaewon, one of a handful of vegan restaurants to pop up around Seoul in recent years. The restaurant offers a wide range of vegan dishes, from the peanut soba bowl and chickpea avocado sandwich to burgers, stews and sandwiches.

With increasing cases of sexual violence surfacing in various sectors of Korean society, including schools, some parents are seeking out private tutors to give sex education classes to their kids. There has been a hike in parents calling private institutions to inquire about one-on-one or group sex education lessons, reports said Monday.According to lecturer Lee Su-ji of Lala School, an organization that offers specialized sex education for different age groups, the calls have increased by about