The Korea Times

D-Cube City inspired by Korean mountains, rivers

By Kwon Mee-yoo A 42-story round strucutre with lantern-like front buildings, a department store, theater and an apartment complex make up D-Cube City in Sindorim, Seoul. Integrating retail, entertainment and cultural functions with offices, hotels and residential areas, D-Cube City has become a new landmark of southwestern Seoul since its opening in September. The facility was designed by the Jerde Partnership, a design studio based in Los Angeles, with offices in Amsterdam, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Dubai. "Most of our projects are for retail purposes," Rick Poulos, executive vice president at the Jerde Partnership, said. "Jerde's projects activate the characteristics of the city based on the understanding of who the people using the facility are." Jerde also incorporates local traits into their creations. "We like the spirit of Koreans. Korea has beautiful landscapes and it seems that their spirit and emotion is tied to the environment," Poulos said. The architect studio has a knack for designing commercial facilities including Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, L

Oct 10, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

’Looking for’ rediscovers family values

By Kwon Mee-yoo A new musical “Looking for Family” brings the story of two old ladies and three animals living in a rural area to the stage, accompanied by hearty yet fun numbers. The homegrown play portrays how they grow into a real family, sharing their sorrows and secrets. It is set in Palhyeon Village, situated on the outskirts of the southern city of Daegu. An old lady, Park Bok-ja (played by Kim Hyun-jung) lives with a dog named Mong (Nam Jung-woo), a cat named Nyang (Kim Tae-gyeong) and a hen named Kko (Lee Sang-eun). She makes a living by collecting scrap paper and selling wild herbs. Her peaceful days with the three animals are broken when another old woman, Ji Hwa-ja (Ju Eun), enters into her home with an envelope bearing the house’s address. Curious and talkative, Ji insists the property belongs to her son since he sent a letter from the address and refuses to leave. Dumbfounded at this invasion, Park tries various ways to throw Ji out, but ends up helping her look for the son. They head downtown and visit a post office and police station and stop by a photo s

Oct 5, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

National Art Museum Seou nicknamed UUL

By Kwon Mee-yoo The new branch of a national contemporary museum, which will open in 2013 in Sogyeok-dong, Seoul, will be called the UUL National Art Museum, Seoul. The “UUL” part of the new name comes from the Korean word meaning fence. The “UUL” also incorporates an abbreviation for the word “uri,” which means “us” or “our” in Korean. “UUL states that the National Art Museum, Seoul is ‘our’ museum, enclosed in the fence of art and culture. It also refers to the name of the city, Seoul,” said Kang Seung-wan, head of the new museum’s planning and construction department. The museum will be built on the site of the former headquarters of the Defense Security Command located between Gyeongbok Palace and Samcheong-dong. The logo for the museum identity symbolizes the name UUL. Composed of lines and dots, the logo embodies a tree, connecting traditional and contemporary aspects, Kang added. UUL’s site is well-known for its historical value. It was used for several royal institutes during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) including Saganwon (censors office), Gyujangga

Oct 4, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Shows & Dramas

SBS, MTV create joint venture

By Kwon Mee-yoo MTV Korea will be reborn as SBS-MTV as SBS Media Holdings and Viacom International Media Networks formed a joint venture here, Thursday. From December, MTV Korea will be relaunched as SBS-MTV and Nickelodeon will maintain its channel name. SBS-MTV will feature international MTV programming as well as local music and youth-oriented productions. The joint venture is to be owned 51 percent by SBS Media Holdings and 49 percent by Viacom International Media Networks. SBS will manage sales, while Viacom will take care of programming. “Viacom’s long history in international media markets has taught us that a local partner can be key to our success,” said Robert Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks. He said SBS Media Holdings is an ideal Korean partner for them as SBS is the only private terrestrial broadcaster here, with commercial, entrepreneur-sensitive and understanding relationships with international brands like CNBC and ESPN. “Together, we are well positioned to take our businesses to the next level and further our foothold in As

Sep 30, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

K-pop

Chick Corea’s tour wraps up in Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo The 16-time Grammy winning fusion jazz ensemble Return to Forever IV will visit Korea as a finale of its world tour. Founded by legendary keyboardist Chick Corea in 1972, the group will hold two concerts in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province and Seoul on Oct. 12 and 14 respectively. In the group’s first phase, Corea performed Latin-oriented music with bass guitarist Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim and Joe Farrell. Then they moved to electric jazz rock music with Corea, Clarke, drummer Lenny White, Bill Connors, Al DiMeola, Steve Gadd and Mingo Lewis. Their biggest hit “Romantic Warrior” was released during this period. Corea’s wife Gayle Moran Corea joined as a vocalist on the next album “Musicmagic” and the band staged a world tour in 1977, before disbanding. They reunited in 2008, releasing a remixed and digitally remastered anthology box set and toured the United States. Return to Forever IV is their fourth reunion. Earlier this year, the group kicked off a world tour titled “Return to Forever IV” and Seoul is the last stop. For this tour,

Sep 30, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Trust is key to Seol’s success in musical

This is the fourth in a series of interviews with the heads of Korea's top theatrical companies. — ED. By Kwon Mee-yoo “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats” enchanted many and led people to step into the world of musicals either as audience members, actors, directors or producers. They dreamt of watching, performing in or producing the shows. That dream has come true for Seol Do-yun, the producer of Seol & Company, who has brought the masterpiece musicals to Korea, against worries that a Korean producer is not capable of staging them. Produced by Seol, “Cats” is currently staged at the Charlotte Theater in southern Seoul, celebrating its 30th anniversary and “Evita” is waiting for its second production in Korea at the LG Arts Center in December. Seol majored in music at university, but he took another path and jumped into the world of theater. He trained in singing and acting in Hyundai Theater, the first commercial troupe in Korea, and later studied dance under Yuk Wan-sun, then professor at Ewha Womans University. “I was literally the first male to attend

Sep 28, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Jarasum Fest beckons jazz lovers

By Kwon Mee-yoo “Around the world of jazz in three days.” That’s what’s on offer at the eighth Jarasum International Jazz Festival starting this weekend on Jara Island and the Gapyeong area in Gyeonggi Province. Started in 2004, the autumn jazz festival has grown to become the largest jazz fest in Asia, drawing some 755,000 visitors over the last seven years, including 168,000 last year. With the opening of Gyeongchun railway line passing through Gapyeong and the long weekend with Monday being National Foundation Day, the organizers expect an even bigger crowd this year. The three-day jazz festival will feature 81 jazz groups ― 36 of them feature top-notch players from 21 countries including the United Kingdom, France and Brazil along with 45 groups of amateur musicians. This year's line-up includes jazz from various parts of the globe. Latin jazz band Cubano Be, Cubano Pop will heat up the mood, while Norwegian pianist Ketil Bjornstad presents the essence of lyrical pianism reflecting Northern Europe. American jazz pianist Geri Allen will play a repertoire c

Sep 27, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Magic of ’Cats’ returns to Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo It has been 30 years since “Cats” was first staged and the second Korean production raised its curtain earlier this month at the Charlotte Theater in southern Seoul. Based on T. S. Eliot’s poems, the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber portrays the feline world in an affectionate way. Stunning performances by Korean actors whisk the audience to the cats’ world, where they can meet a variety of characters from the narrator Munkustrap and ladies’ cat Rum Tum Tugger to former-actor Gus and cat-burglar duo Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. This year’s production cast three divas, singer Insooni, actresses Park Hae-mi and Hong Ji-min, as Grizabella the former Glamour Cat. Insooni said she is grateful that she has the chance to sing the famed song “Memory.” “I thought Grizabella just sings ‘Memory,’ but the character has more complexity than that. I have to communicate with other ‘cats’ through eye contact and it was not easy,” Insooni said at a press conference. “‘Cats’ is not just a musical about cats. It is a philosophical work and I think forgiveness, reconciliation

Sep 25, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

A slice of Seoul on exhibit in London

By Kwon Mee-yoo "My Shopping Bag: Allegories of Seoul 2011" will provide a glimpse of Seoul to Londoners through a shopping columnist's purchases this summer. JW Stella, also known as Gu Jung-won, an independent curator based in Seoul and London, organized the exhibition and it was invited by the La Scatola Gallery as a part of the London Design Festival 2011. "Contemporary is the art of today and the importance of cultural and regional context is growing bigger and bigger. ‘My Shopping Bag’ aims to bridge two contemporary cultures in Seoul and London," Gu said in an interview with The Korea Times. Bae Jung-hyun, former editor-in-chief of Nylon magazine in Korea and the first shopping columnist for the nation, joined the project by exhibiting her list of purchases. As a former staffer of an international fashion magazine, she has a broader understanding of the contemporary esthetics of diverse cultures from metropolitan cities such as London, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo. Bae purchased and collected the objects and asked people about Seoul in August and Gu and

Sep 23, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

K-pop

Weekender Saving Salon Badabie

By Kwon Mee-yoo Underground musicians and their fans have joined together to save Salon Badabie, a place that has spawned many indie bands. The “Badabie Never Die” project was planned by musicians to help the live venue undergoing financial difficulties and its owner who is suffering from illness. Salon Badabie was opened in December 2004 in Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul by a poet pen-named Ujungdokbohaeng. He established Badabie to provide a venue for underground musicians who were pushed out by the commercialism of the Hongdae area, which was the home of the indie music in Korea. The place might look shabby with narrow staircases and a worn-out wooden stage. However, many indie musicians have made their debut there, and some of them have become popular. The strength of Badabie is that musicians can just ask to play there. The motto is “Anyone who wants to be onstage can be onstage” and Thursday is saved for no-name musicians. There is no screening and anyone who wants to perform at Badabie can do so without being auditioned. This is the reason the venue became

Sep 22, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo

Kwon Mee-yoo

Read more

D-Cube City inspired by Korean mountains, rivers

’Looking for’ rediscovers family values

National Art Museum Seou nicknamed UUL

SBS, MTV create joint venture

Chick Corea’s tour wraps up in Seoul

Trust is key to Seol’s success in musical

Jarasum Fest beckons jazz lovers

Magic of ’Cats’ returns to Seoul

A slice of Seoul on exhibit in London

Weekender Saving Salon Badabie

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