Over Lunar New Year, Seollal, there are some traditional foods that herald in the festivities. One of them is Tteokguk, or rice cake soup. It is the first meal one should eat in the new year, as it represents hope and is symbolic of another year lived, or as it is properly known here, the Korean age of reckoning. After finishing the bowl of soup, a person’s age goes up by a year. Manduguk, or dumpling soup, is a North Korean variation of the traditional soup eaten during Seollal, and often both

Food Feb. 5, 2016

Kim Chung-woon, formerly a psychology professor and who now calls himself a “creator,” is perfectly at home in his basement office in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul. It is an entirely appropriate title, he claims, as he now writes and paints. Kim’s office is a veritable man cave, that any man -- or woman, for that matter -- would dream of having: Walls lined with massive bookshelves holding volumes and volumes of books; a long desk from Japan that is crafted out of a very old tree trunk; a little nook wit

People Feb. 5, 2016

The Lunar New Year holiday is a chance for Koreans, expats and tourists to enjoy a variety of traditional Korean activities. The five-day holiday will be full of cultural programs and hands-on experiences, offered at public museums and royal palaces. Here is a guide to various holiday programs in major cities. Palaces and folk games  Visitors participate in the kite-making session at the National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul. (The National Folk Museum of Korea)Major royal palaces in Seoul, incl

Culture Feb. 5, 2016

A mass migration is underway this weekend as tens of thousands of Koreans travel home for the Lunar New Year, Seollal. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport estimates that a total of 36 million will be on the move, about 70 percent of the total population. Early in the morning on Monday, Lunar New Year’s Day, families will dress in traditional hanbok for the ancestral rite, charye, during which they will pay respect to their late ancestors. Dozens of dishes will be laid out on the c

Culture Feb. 5, 2016

It has been more than a month since Christmas lights were stripped-down from buildings, reducing the city blocks once again to their default cold, bleak and gray. In Seoul, however, media art installations and exhibitions have replaced the sparkling Christmas decorations, illuminating the city’s bleak midwinter and offering people the opportunity to enjoy some contemporary art. At the grand front entrance of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, a huge screen has been set up

Performance Jan. 27, 2016

The Korean art world has been engulfed in a scandal involving rumors and suspicions surrounding allegedly forged works of Lee U-fan, a leading Korean artist on the international art scene. A forged certificate for his famous “From Point” series painting -- sold for $415,600 at a local art auction in December -- has shaken the Korean art community, spreading mistrust and suspicion in a world where reputation matters a great deal. As the National Forensic Service hasn’t confirmed the authenticity

Performance Jan. 27, 2016

The government is seeking to add the historic Seoul City Wall and Confucian academies of Korea to the UNESCO cultural heritage list this year. In addition, it also hopes to include haenyeo, female divers on the resort island of Jejudo, and Korean traditional wrestling to the intangible heritage list. The state-run Cultural Heritage Administration outlined its plan to submit the applications for inclusion on the UNESCO lists this year at a press conference Tuesday to introduce its plans for the y

Culture Jan. 26, 2016

Spring seems to have arrived early at 313 Art Project gallery in Seoul, despite the subzero temperatures outside. A warm yellow vibe fills the cold gallery space, created with bright LED lights emitted through thin layers of vinyl sheets in different shades of yellow. The installation by artist Park Ki-won invites visitors to experience the warmth of spring that makes seeds sprout and flowers bloom. The air, carrying a winter chill, makes one feel like being out on a cold spring day. “Temperatur

Performance Jan. 12, 2016

The DMZ Art Project, an annual exhibition project that takes place near the Demilitarized Zone in Korea, invites Korean and international artists to work in residence in a border town from April to October this year. The residency program will take place in Yangji-ri in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, a two- to three-hour drive from Seoul. Artists live for three to seven months at a remodeled house in the rural village to explore the meaning of the DMZ and related issues in the regional and broader

Performance Jan. 11, 2016

The certificate for the authenticity of Lee U-fan’s 1978 painting, sold at the December auction of Korea’s second-biggest auction house K Auction, was confirmed to be forged, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said. “We confirmed the certificate to be a fake after we had it appraised by experts,” police said Friday.The fake certificate for Lee’s painting “From Point No. 780217” has the same registration number as one that appears on the certificate for artist Kim Ki-chang’s landscape painting

Performance Jan. 10, 2016

Buddhist paintings from the Goryeo Dynasty and scriptures with outstanding historical and artistic values have been named National Treasures, the Cultural Heritage Administration said Thursday. The state-run cultural heritage agency designated three rare Buddhist paintings and two Buddhist scriptures made during the heyday of Buddhism during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) as National Treasures. Buddhist painting from the Goryeo (918-1392) period (Cultural Heritage Administration)It also elevated

Culture Jan. 7, 2016

Photographers are perhaps the most observant participants of major historical moments. They are at some of the most tumultuous events, capturing in a split second what will become an important new chapter in history. Two dedicated witnesses of Korean history have recently published photo books offering glimpses into Korea’s turbulent moments in history. The Seoul Museum of History published a book, featuring 174 pictures taken by Willard Straight (1880-1918), who lived in Korea for a total of fi

Culture Jan. 4, 2016