Some musical productions are finding it difficult to reopen as performance venues comply strictly with government guidelines requiring a seat between audience members to be left vacant so that they can be seated in a zigzag configuration. This seating arrangement was emphasized after the government on April 19 announced guidelines for relaxed social distancing. Although such a seating configuration is only recommended, performing arts centers, including Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul,

A Korean film and series released via streaming service Netflix -- “Time to Hunt” and season two of “Kingdom,” respectively -- have been nominated for the Baeksang Arts Awards, set to take place in June. This is the first time that Netflix releases have been nominated for the annual Baeksang Arts Awards. This year’s nominees were chosen among TV programs, films and plays presented between April 1, 2019 and April 30 this year. On Friday, the second season of &ld

Culture Minister Park Yang-woo on Thursday announced a plan to support the Korean gaming industry with the aim of leading the future global market. “We will lead innovative growth of the game industry by actively revising the regulatory system,” Park said during a press briefing held in Seoul on Thursday. “Large global conglomerates such as Google and Facebook are expanding in the global gaming market with new technologies. However, there is criticism that our regulations

The National Intangible Heritage Center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, reopened its permanent exhibition hall on Wednesday. According to the center, it has renovated the “Traditional Craftsmanship” exhibition hall ahead of the reopening. The renovation that began in September re-creates traditional craftsman‘s workshops and displays craft materials and tools. The center originally planned to reopen the center in April, but the reopening was delayed due to the spread of C

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday announced that it will select 20 middle and high schools that will adopt hanbok-inspired school uniforms in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. “We hope that a new value of hanbok can be discovered through hanbok-inspired uniforms that look good and feel comfortable,” a Culture Ministry official said in a statement. This project began in February last year when the Culture Ministry and the Ministry of Education signed

The National Museum of Korea’s permanent exhibition hall will reopen Wednesday, more than two months after the entire museum was shut down in late February due to the spread of COVID-19. The museum will accept 300 individual visitors per hour in observance of the government’s social distancing guidelines. To minimize personal contact, exhibition commentary service will not be provided until further notice. Visitors will have to make an online reservation in advance to enter the fa

Postings on online communities by alleged victims who claim they were bullied by TV celebrities in their school years are rattling the show business industry. Freelance TV producer Kim Yoo-jin, who appeared on the MBC reality show “Don’t Be Jealous” with her husband-to-be, star chef Lee Won-il, was reportedly hospitalized Monday after posting a message that said she had been falsely accused and that hinted at a suicide. On Monday afternoon, Kim’s sister posted on soc

As the number of new COVID-19 infection cases continued to fall, the government began applying a relaxed social distancing advisory starting April 20. Despite the eased guideline, many Koreans are still following “rules” that emerged following the virus spread. “While taking our lecture using ‘Zoom,’ we have to wear earphones,” Kim Ki-wook, a graduate school student told The Korea Herald. He explained that if the online livestreaming lecture participants d

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Wednesday announced that it will designate the Ven. Hyunjin’s earliest sculpture from the 17th century as treasure. The piece is called “Jangseong Baekyangsa Mokjoamitayeoraejwasang,” or “Wooden Seated Amitabha Buddha” from the temple Baekyangsa in Jangseong, South Jeolla Province. The sculpture is a 208-centimeter-tall statue that the Ven. Hyunjin created with the Ven. Hueil and the Ven. Moonseub in 1607. The Ven. Hyunjin

Byeongsan Seowon, a UNESCO-listed Confucian academy from the Joseon era (1392-1910), was spared from a wildfire in a mountainous area of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, which raged on for some 40 hours before being put out Sunday. Although the seowon is safe, some of the trees near it were burned. The Cultural Heritage Administration said it would assess the damage and work with the Andong City government to restore the forest. The fire, which broke out Friday afternoon and was put out Sun

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that South Korea has become a signatory to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performance. Since the treaty deals with performers’ intellectual property rights, the ministry expects it to benefit celebrities leading the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, such as K-pop boy band BTS, show presenter Yoo Jae-suk and actress Jun Ji-hyun. The Beijing Treaty was adopted June 24, 2012, and will

The sums that cinemas contribute every month to a fund to support local film will be reduced by 90 percent as part of a plan to assist theaters hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday. The number of moviegoers plunged to 1.83 million in March, the lowest for the month since the Korean Film Council began compiling box office data in 2004. Currently, movie theaters are required to contribute 3 percent of their ticket sales to the Korean Film

The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism announced Monday that it has resumed some of its Templestay programs. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, an affiliate of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, currently operates Templestay programs at 139 temples around the country. All its programs were suspended Feb. 24 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In line with the government’s social distancing guidelines, only Templestay programs for individual participants have reopened. Group programs rema

The first work of Korean literature to be translated into English was “The Cloud Dream of the Nine” in 1922, translated by Canadian missionary James S. Gale. That was almost a century ago, but until recently Korean literature still did not get much exposure in the global market. “The markets in the US and UK are growing a lot for Korean books,” founder of the BJZ Agency Barbara J. Zitwer told The Korea Herald by email.  Based in New York City, the agency speciali

The Korean Culture and Information Service on Friday posted “A Letter From Wonderland,” a video on South Korea’s response to COVID-19. “Foreign media are praising Korea’s success in battling the virus. To connect this image to the general image of Korea, we created this video, sharing our success stories and delivering a message to work together to move forward,” KOCIS official Park Byeong-gyu said in a statement. The clip can be watched on KOCIS’

The Seoul run of the musical “The Phantom of the Opera,” which was suspended after its cast members were confirmed with COVID-19, will resume on April 23. On March 31, a Canadian ensemble cast member was confirmed with the virus infection. Two days later, her colleague, an American actor, also tested positive. The production initially decided to halt the musical shows until April 14 but delayed it further after the second infection. Before confirmed as having the coronavirus , t

Last month, Baek Hee-na, a children‘s book author and renowned picture book artist, won the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest children’s literature prize, becoming the first Korean to do so. Many Korean children’s books, however, still have not received the global attention they deserve. “We do not concentrate much on assisting the children’s book genre yet,” a Literature Translation Institute of Korea official told The Korea H

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism provided an update Tuesday on the progress of efforts to assist the tourism industry as it struggles to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since February, the ministry has announced 21 different plans to assist the tourism industry. The government said it tried to reflect the industry’s needs when drawing up the support programs. The ministry said it had received 78 suggestions from the industry and that 59 were reflected in its programs. &ldqu

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Monday that it was taking part in UNESCO’s media campaign “#ShareOurHeritage.” The UNESCO campaign aims to promote world heritage to people who are unable to visit the sites due to the coronavirus pandemic. The international organization provides videos and information about world heritage sites around the world on its YouTube channel and on the website https://en.unesco.org/covid19/cultureresponse. “At this moment, 89

  As the highly contagious COVID-19 continues its firm grip on the country, Christian churches found creative ways to celebrate Easter, considered a time of renewal and rebirth by the faithful. While some Protestant megachurches held their Easter services online, others convened offline to mark the special day on the Christian calendar. Saemoonan Presbyterian Church in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the oldest Presbyterian church in the country, was one of those churches that held Easter services both