A collection of works by renowned poet Jeong Ho-seung, often referred to as “Koreans’ favorite poet,” has been translated into English for the first time.Brother Anthony, professor emeritus at Sogang University and a naturalized Korean originally from Britain, and Susan Hwang, who studies Korean literature at the University of Michigan, cotranslated the collection titled “A Letter Not Sent.” The book is published by Seoul Selection."A Letter Not Sent," the collected poems of Jeong Ho-seung, tran

What started out as a subculture street movement in African-American communities in New York in the 1970s has now become a mainstream music genre enjoyed by young women here.In Korea today, hip-hop is taking over mainstream pop charts and, surprisingly, women in their 20s and 30s are the biggest consumers of the genre once considered subversive.　　Those present at recent hip-hop shows may have noticed the masses of 20- to 30-something women with snapbacks backwards on their heads outnumbering the

Operation Chromite(Korea)Opened July 27War, Drama. Directed by Lee Jae-hanThe story of the famed Incheon landing operation during the Korean War is told through the stellar cast of Liam Neeson, who plays Gen. Douglas MacArthur of the U.S. Army, and Lee Jung-jae, an undercover South Korean Navy lieutenant. Jason Bourne(U.S.)Opened July 27Action, Thriller. Directed by Paul GreengrassThis direct sequel to 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum” and the fifth installment of the “Bourne” film series features M

It turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks. That’s if the dog is super-soldier former CIA agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), and the trainer is director Paul Greengrass, who helmed Bournes “Supremacy” and “Ultimatum.” After the misfire that was “The Bourne Legacy,” a misguided attempt to pass off the franchise to Jeremy Renner, Damon and Greengrass ably right the ship, delivering a Bourne film that looks and feels like the kind we’ve always loved.“Jason Bourne” delivers everything we expect

The popular U.S. legal drama “The Good Wife” starts out with its heroine Alicia Florrick, played by Juliana Margulies, standing rigidly next to her disgraced politician husband at a press conference, her expression unfathomable. The show which aired from 2009 to May this year traced Florrick’s growth as she heads out into the workplace to support her family when her husband is sent to prison, after 15 years as a stay-at-home wife. Margulies’ nuanced portrayal of the heroine’s steely composure co

When three childhood friends, including a pair of siblings, started the band Biffy Clyro over 10 years ago in Kilmarnock, Scotland, they strived to make music that was “as weird as possible.”“That’s what we thought was good,” said Simon Neil, the group’s lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, in an interview. The band, which is also made up of twin brothers drummer James Johnston and bassist Ben Johnston, met with The Korea Herald before performing at its first show in Korea at the Jisan Valle

Pineapple tarts. The thought of those flaky butter cookies topped with pineapple jam made Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan’s stomach churn. She craved the taste of them. And she had a hunger for home.It was early 2009, a few weeks before New York Fashion Week. Tan, a fashion writer for The Wall Street Journal at the time, had plenty on her plate, except for her grandmother’s cookies.She didn’t know how to make any of her favorite food from her homeland. So she took a break, traveling to the kitchens of her gr

The Rev. Tim LaHaye, coauthor of the “Left Behind” series, a multimillion-selling literary juggernaut that brought end-times prophecy into mainstream bookstores, died Monday. He was 90.LaHaye died in a San Diego, California, hospital, days after having suffered a stroke, according to his publicist Johnnie Moore. Coauthored with Jerry B. Jenkins, the 16-volume “Left Behind” series of novels published by Tyndale House Publishers sold more than 80 million copies worldwide, Moore said, and populariz

Though Tegan and Sara Quin of pop duo Tegan and Sara, identical twins and both openly gay, are prominent advocates for the LGBT movement, they’re also aware that “people in other countries don’t always understand.”“We try to be very sensitive to social and religious norms in other countries,” Tegan said at an interview before their first Korean performance at the Jisan Valley Rock Music & Arts Festival on July 22. The sisters have been vocal proponents of LGBT issues for the length of their musi

ICHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- The screen blazed red. Crowds scattered throughout the grounds at Jisan Valley Rock Music & Arts Festival swarmed the main stage. As 10 p.m. approached on Friday night, the Red Hot Chili Peppers clambered onto the Korean stage for the first time in 14 years.Jisan Forest Resort rang with cheers as the iconic rock band kicked off the show energetically with “Can’t Stop,” during which drummer Chad Smith delivered a spirited drum solo, and followed up with the 2006 hit “

ICHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- With a precocious melancholic voice and a shy demeanor that, in her words, “doesn’t give too much away,” British singer-songwriter Birdy might be best described as the antithesis to chirpy K-pop girl groups.“For me, it’s always been a bit darker,” the 20-year-old replied when asked if she would ever take on a “cutesier” style, before her performance Saturday at the Jisan Valley Music & Arts Festival. “Where I grew up, it was very beautiful but reflective and moody,”

The upcoming Korean War film “Operation Chromite” takes on the loaded subject matter with a studded cast of Korean A-listers and Hollywood actor Liam Neeson, best known to Korean audiences for his 2008 thriller “Taken.” It clearly aims to be a commercial blockbuster, armed with glitzy visuals, loud battle scenes, budding wartime romance and easily imaginable characters. It is, however, all style and very little substance. And like most recent Korean films that draw on conflict with the North --

"The Big Book of Science Fiction" Edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer; Vintage (1,216 pages, $25)Surprisingly, the literary spirit that haunts Ann and Jeff Vandermeer's massive new anthology, "The Big Book of Science Fiction," isn't Arthur C. Clarke or Isaac Asimov or even H.G. Wells.It's Jorge Luis Borges, the creator of miniature fables of humans grappling with their double-edged longing for and terror of infinity and omniscience. He's represented by a signature story, name-checked in another on

BewhY wants to continue spouting his own brand of “nice” rap. The 23-year-old, whose real name is Lee Byung-yoon, nabbed the spotlight as the leading contestant during the fifth season of hiphop audition program “Show Me the Money,” which began airing on Mnet in May. He eventually nabbed the top prize in last week’s final episode.The rookie rapper has been open about his Christian faith on the show. He wants to carry on writing lyrics that both convey his own beliefs and resonate with the wider

If you imagine Nick Offerman is a real-life version of Ron Swanson, the mustachioed, macho character on “Parks and Recreation,” think again. Sure, he likes the outdoors, and yes, he has a wood shop in Los Angeles. But those things are connected to growing up in Illinois, not so far, really, from the American heartland portrayed by Mark Twain. And Offerman knows Twain; he’s a big reader.It makes sense, then, that Offerman has just recorded “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” for Audible, the audiobook

The next big breakthrough for K-pop -- and global pop music in general -- will be born from a collaboration between the newfangled genre and traditional British pop, believes Shin Jae-hong, a composer-turned-enterpreneur.While most major K-pop agencies, such as S.M., YG and most recently FNC Entertainment, are looking toward China for expansion, Shin decided to turn his attention to the U.K., the “homeland of global pop music” that yielded icons like the Beatles, Oasis and the Spice Girls, he to

Police on Friday charged actor-singer Park Yoo-chun with solicitation of prostitution and fraud, while clearing him of sexual assault allegations.Police said it is “difficult to prove there was use of force” in the four sexual assault complaints brought against Park last month. However, Park will be charged with solicitation of prostitution and fraud concerning one of the four women who filed charges against him. The woman will also be charged with prostitution.Meanwhile, the second of the four

Trick(Korea)Opened July 13Drama, Thriller. Directed by Lee Chang-yeolSeok-jin (Lee Jung-jin), a workaholic television producer obsessed with ratings, propels a terminally ill man and his wife to national fame through his sensational show. When the man refuses to be filmed further, Seok-jin pushes through in an attempt to capture his death on camera. Now You See Me(U.S.)Opened July 13Crime, Action. Directed by Jon M. ChuA team of illusionists known as the Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Har

There’s not much to “Cafe Society,” but for a while now Woody Allen has been getting by with not much happening at the keyboard. Thanks to the warm, glowing light lavished on the film by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, shooting digitally, the writer-director’s 47th feature looks like a million bucks in that drippingly nostalgic late-period Allen way.The dialogue? The dialogue ranges in value from a quarter-million to a buck eighty-three. Then again, the cast is pretty wonderful, particularly J

Director Yeon Sang-ho’s apocalyptic thriller “Train to Busan” is something of a cross between Bong Joon-ho’s dystopian film “Snowpiercer” and the zombie flick “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt.In the movie, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s Out-of-Competition category in May, viewers are presented with a racing train on which an outbreak of a virus causes those infected to instantly turn into flesh-devouring zombies. Passengers fight for their lives, compartment by compartment, as the