my timesThe Korea Times

Kwon Mee-yoo

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.

Go to Email

Read more

Shows & Dramas

Fan voting for Seoul Drama Awards opens

The Seoul Drama Awards (SDA) 2011 opened online voting Monday for the best "hallyu," or Korean wave, drama, actor, actress and theme song. The sixth international drama awards gives hallyu fans opportunities to choose their favorite drama and actor through a vote. Thirteen dramas vie for the Best Korean Drama Series, including "Athena: The Goddess of War," "Bread, Love and Dreams," "Dream High," "Marry Me, Mary," "Secret Garden" and "Sungkyunkwan Scandal." For Best Korean Actor, Hyun Bin, Jang Keun-suk, Kang Ji-hwan, Park Yoo-chun and Song Seung-heon are nominated, while Ha Ji-won, Kim Tae-hee, Lee Yo-won, Moon Geun-young and Park Min-young are candidates for Best Korean Actress. Fans can vote through Aug. 16 on the Korea.com Web site at http://en.korea.com. Winners will be chosen based on 70 percent of hallyu fans' votes and 30 percent from overseas content buyers. The awards ceremony will be held Aug. 31 at KBS Hall in Seoul and will be broadcast live through SBS. A total of 204 dramas from 37 countries were submitted to SDA 2011, making this year's awards the la

Aug 8, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Arts & Theater

K-pop group JYJ to hold photo exhibition

Photos taken by members of the K-pop group JYJ will be on display from Aug. 12 to 21 at Insa Gallery in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Titled "Mine," the exhibition will feature photos of the three members ― Je-jung, Yu-chun and Jun-su ― taken during their world tour and during regular daily life. The photos were taken by all three to offer a glimpse of how they spend their time and of their lifestyles. Still in dispute with their former agency, the group is having difficulties getting scheduled to appear in television shows. "JYJ successfully finished their world tour, visiting 10 cities, but there was no chance to share the results with the public. So we planned a photo exhibition for fans, both domestic and overseas," C-JeS Entertainment said. The agency said it will later publish a book of the photos. Currently, Je-jung is starring in the drama "Protect the Boss" and Jun-su performed "You Are So Beautiful," the theme song for the drama. Yu-chun is taking a rest after completing the drama "Miss Ripley." Entrance costs 5,500 won. Tickets must be purchased in advance at www.c-j

Aug 8, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Arts & Theater

US playwright captures local musical fans

DiPietro's 'Falling for Eve,' 'The Toxic Avenger' staged here By Kwon Mee-yoo Playwright Joe DiPietro is one of the most beloved Broadway writers in Korea. His musicals like the 1996 love story “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” and 2005’s “All Shook Up,” a jukebox musical featuring Elvis Presley music, have been a huge success here. DiPietro’s two new musicals are currently playing in town — “Falling for Eve” premiered in July and “The Toxic Avenger” returned following last year’s success. In “Falling for Eve,” Adam refuses to eat the forbidden fruit and it causes an unexpected parting of the lovers. Even God is taken aback by Adam’s choice and thinks of what to do with Adam and Eve. The musical came from DiPietro’s longtime wish to stage a Bible story. “The composing team of Bret Simmons and David Howard brought me this idea. I immediately liked their songs and the story, so I said yes,” the playwright said in an email interview with The Korea Times. The musical depicts the first love of human beings in the Garden of Eden. Among the characters of t

Aug 5, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Arts & Theater

Bowls, trash bins and tires turned into ’French Art Today’

By Kwon Mee-yoo More than 100 porcelain bowls float in a round, blue pool in the lobby of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (NMOCA) in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. The bowls move slowly, clanking in the water’s flow. There are white benches installed next to the pool to provide spectators time to sit down and listen to the sounds of daily life. When viewed from the second floor, the 7.5-meter diameter pool looks like an abstract painting. French artist Celeste Boursier-Mougenot himself visited Korea to install his work “Untitled.” He set up the pool and turned a heater on to warm the water. Composer-turned-artist Boursier-Mougenot stands at the crossroad of experimental music and formative art and creates unique sounds with everyday objects. Other works on display, from froth gushing out from trash bins to a chandelier made with tires and bike wheels are also removed from the fixed canvas. Some might wonder whether this is art or not, but it is, just like Marcel Duchamp created “Fountain” by signing a urinal. The NMOCA’s “French Art Today — Marcel Duchamp Pr

Aug 3, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Shows & Dramas

Hot-blooded secretary meets clumsy boss in new SBS drama

By Kwon Mee-yoo The youth unemployment crisis is again covered on the small screen, this time with a romantic twist featuring unique characters in the new SBS drama "Protect the Boss," starting today. The drama is a familiar romantic comedy as a rich “chaebol” heir falls in love with an ordinary woman. Cha Ji-heon, son of DN Group president and protagonist of the new soap opera, is unlike other cold-hearted, haughty characters such as Kim Ju-won of "Secret Garden" and Hyeon Gi-jun of "True Romance." Cha is often scolded by his father for poor work performances and is portrayed as a good-for-nothing for the company. Director Son Jung-hyun said he started wondering what would happen if a third-generation conglomerate owner and an ordinary "880,000-won generation" person worked together without knowing each others’ background. The 880,000-won Generation is a term that refers to low-paid non-regular workers in their 20s who earn about 880,000 won a month. Actor Ji Sung ("Royal Family," 2011) plays the role of Cha. "He might seem perfect ― heir of a conglomerate fam

Aug 2, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Others

Miss Korea winner holds ’hanji’ exhibition

By Kwon Mee-yoo A beauty pageant winner is holding a traditional Korean paper-craft exhibition to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Miss Korea beauty contest from Sunday. An Da-hye, the second runner-up of the 2010 Miss Korea, will show about 60 pieces made with “hanji,” or traditional Korean mulberry paper, at the lobby of the Life Sports Club, Hannam-dong, Seoul. Park Jin-yeol, president of the Hankook Ilbo, 54 candidates of 2011 Miss Korea pageant and winners of the 2009 and 2010 beauty contests attended the opening of the exhibition Sunday. For the exhibition, An created some 60 works to fete the 55th anniversary of Korea’s largest beauty pageant and to support this year’s candidates. The works on display include a rice container and a photo frame. A pair of shoes made from hanji symbolizes the first step as a beauty pageant participant, while the photo frame portrays memories of the 2010 Miss Korea contest. When she was announced as one of the winners of the 2010 Miss Korea beauty pageant, she said she wants to open an atelier for Korean traditional paper

Jul 31, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Arts & Theater

Artists, designers team up at ’Fashion into Art’

By Kwon Mee-yoo Upon entering the gallery, visitors will see “Just,” a unique runway created by Gwon O-sang. Gwon’s white runway composed of small steps, a balance beam and monkey bars becomes complete when three models walk on it, wearing riding suits by designer Han Sang-hyuk of MVIO. Vogue Korea invited 15 top designers and 15 artists, pairing them up in duos to create fashion-inspired artwork at the “Fashion into Art” exhibition held at Plateau, the former Rodin Gallery, in downtown Seoul, from Tuesday. “Fashion into Art” started in 2009 as Vogue Korea’s photo spread and the collaboration was extended to an exhibition this year. The harmony of creators from different fields has added to the artwork. Some of the works have visible links between the designer and the artist, while others have hidden clues. Artist Kim Ji-min’s sculpture “One Way” has costumes by young designers Steve J & Yoni P. The languid mannequins with convex lens for faces lining up on a balance beam symbolize the desire of modern man. Steve and Yoni dressed them up with different length skir

Jul 27, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
K-pop

Girls’ Generation ― it’s the girls’ time!

By Kwon Mee-yoo K-pop group Girls’ Generation rocked some 20,000, from children to their parents, from Koreans to overseas fans, at their “2011 Girls’ Generation Tour”at Gymnastics Stadium, Olympic Park in Seoul, Sunday. The nine girls gave a powerful performance, offering 32 songs in three hours. The seats were filled with “samchon,” or “uncle fans” and followers from across the globe. As there were more males than at any other concerts, the sounds of the crowd’s shouts were relatively low but their spirits were higher than ever. The crowd waved pink glo-sticks and chanted “so-nyeo-si-dae,” Girls’ Generation in Korean, as the nine members emerged from a lamp-shaped structure. They sat in a perfect line, gazing into the audience. They opened the concert with “Genie” — wearing white lacy jackets, shorts and knee high boots, instantly taking the stage by storm with their powerful choreography. They continued with “You-aholic,” “Mr. Taxi” and “I’m in Love with the Hero” from their Japanese album. The girls even sang “Mr. Taxi” in Korean, for which the lyrics were wri

Jul 26, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Arts & Theater

Actor-musicians set sail in ’Moby Dick’

By Kwon Mee-yoo A piano, wooden boxes, piles of skulls and a ship’s wheel decorate the stage of Space 111 of Doosan Art Center to become Pequod, a whaling ship seeking Moby Dick, with a mast and the moon as the backdrop. The actors not only sing and dance but they do so to their own musical accompaniment in “Moby Dick,” which began its voyage at the theater on Tuesday. Based on Herman Melville’s 1851 novel, the musical tells the story of Ahab, captain of the Pequod who is desperate to kill the notorious white whale Moby Dick, through the narration of young sailor Ishmael. Ishmael’s friendship with Queequeg, a brusque but sensitive sailor skilled with the harpoon, is another focus of the musical. “Moby Dick” is the first musical staged in Korea where the actors play their own instruments while acting, singing and dancing. John Doyle’s productions of “Sweeney Todd” (2005) and “Company” (2006) are considered successful experiments of such shows. Cho Yong-shin, a musical critic making his directing debut, classified “Moby Dick” as an independent musical, similar to an ind

Jul 22, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Korean Heritage

Weekender Summer dessert — Korean style

Healthy Korean desserts attract youngsters By Kwon Mee-yoo “Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first,” said the writer Ernestine Ulmer. This wise piece of advice can certainly be taken in Korea with a variety of desserts gaining popularity here, both a as snack or as suggested, to start a meal but more commonly to finish it. Most often eaten desserts — cake, tart, chocolate, pudding, macaron and more — are from the West. But healthy Korean desserts are being rediscovered in modern ways as well. Jeong Gil-ja, important intangible cultural asset No. 38 and head of the Institute of Royal Korean Dessert, said ancestral Koreans made rice cakes and confectionaries that would not go bad in summer. “For instance, mung beans or peeled red bean, popular filling for rice cakes, doesn’t last long in the summer heat. So we make rice cakes without fillings or use roasted fillings,” Jeong told The Korea Times. “Jeungpyeon” is a popular kind of rice cake in summer. The “tteok” is made from rice flour and “makgeolli,” or rice wine and steamed after fermenting.

Jul 21, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
previous page
160161162163164
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.