The Korea Times

Cambodian community in Korea celebrates Khmer New Year in Ansan

Cambodians living all over Korea flocked to celebrate their national new year at Hwarang Street in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, on a beautiful Sunday morning. The Cambodian New Year celebration, known as Choul Chnam Khmer, is one of the most important and joyful festivals in Cambodia. It typically takes place over three days in mid-April, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of a new year in the Khmer lunar calendar. The festival attracted over 5,000 people, as the wide street offered enough space for Cambodians' traditional games, cultural dances, music performances and colorful ceremonies. The celebration was more than just a festival, but a time of renewal and reconnection with family, friends and community, as well as with nature. San Nivath, one of the main organizers of the celebration, who is studying for his master's degree in global leadership at a local university, found it satisfying to coordinate the entire festival. He said that the New Year celebration is for all Cambodians regardless of where they live, or whether they are Buddhist, Christian or Muslim. He

Apr 21, 2025By Bereket Alemayehu

Cambodian community in Korea celebrates Khmer New Year in Ansan

Global Community

Creative writers' group Standby celebrates 1st anniversary

Standby, a creative writing collective that meets monthly at Eulji Space in downtown Seoul, celebrated its first anniversary with a public open mic event on March 29. As part of the celebration, the group released a free zine showcasing members' creative writing. The event also featured screenings of prerecorded narrations from members currently based in Canada, Germany and the U.S., highlighting the group's global connection. Standby is more than a name — it’s a metaphor for the contemporary, deeply connected creative energy that pulses through this collective of writers, artists and dreamers. Founded by a group of mostly international residents in Korea, it organizes monthly "You and Your Page" open mic events, creating a space for writers — seasoned or new — to share, listen and belong. One of the key figures in this community is Alex-Andrei Ungurenasu, a Romanian Canadian writer and educator based in Dunnae, a township in Hoengseong, Gangwon Province. A former youth poet laureate of Windsor, Canada, Ungurenasu brings a thoughtful and inclusive approach as one of the group

Apr 21, 2025By Bereket Alemayehu

Creative writers' group Standby celebrates 1st anniversary

Global Community

HBC Art Club features 31 Korean, foreign artists at 'Conception' exhibition

Joseph Song is a Korean animation producer who once worked on major overseas titles, but found himself overwhelmed by the intensity of studio work. “It was so hard for me,” he told The Korea Times. “After all that hard work, having to be by myself again to work on personal stuff was draining.” Despite the demands of his day job, he remained committed to his passion for creating comics. Every Friday night, he would stay up to work on his comic projects, sharing new updates. But the isolation of solo creation wore on him. “I was working on my comics on the side as a personal project," he said. "So, every Friday night, I committed myself to work on my comics, and I posted every Friday night. But it was so hard for me, you know, to have to be myself alone, working on my stuff after all that hard work." Around that time, back in early 2023, he talked with his friend Tahni Osterman, also an artist, and they started holding gatherings at a small space at Sinheung Market in central Seoul's multicultural Haebangchon (HBC) neighborhood on Fridays. Ultimately, this became HBC Art Club. Ove

Apr 17, 2025By Bereket Alemayehu

HBC Art Club features 31 Korean, foreign artists at 'Conception' exhibition

Global Community

Migrant rights groups rally in Seoul against racial discrimination

To mark the 2025 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Korea-based migrant human rights organizations staged a rally in front of Seoul Station on March 16, reaffirming their intention to create a world without hate and discrimination, even as change within Korean society remains slow. The organizers said that despite repeated recommendations from United Nations human rights bodies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Korea has failed to enact even the most basic anti-discrimination law. Since 2009, the South Korean government has ignored 12 international recommendations to establish comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. During a joint declaration statement, organizers called on the Korean government to respect the dignity of migrants and ensure equal treatment in all aspects of labor, health and social security. “We have long fought and stood in solidarity against racial discrimination. The global situation continues to deteriorate, and change within Korean society remains painfully slow. However, we refuse to surrend

Apr 8, 2025By Bereket Alemayehu

Migrant rights groups rally in Seoul against racial discrimination

Global Community

Kurdistan Region of Iraq participates in cultural showcase at SNU

A Korean fan dance troupe performed by Kurdish students mesmerized an audience at a convention center in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday. The performers blended Korean improvised traditional music and customs with Kurdish popular dancing and traditional attire. This unique cultural blending was a showcase of the 1st Korea & Iraqi Kurdistan International Exchange Performance, running from March 25 to April 2. A collaboration between the Iraqi Kurdistan Education Center and students from Seoul National University's (SNU) College of Music, it featured performances including Korean traditional fan dance and Kurdish traditional dance, music featuring the daf, a traditional Kurdish percussion instrument, and a Korean traditional instrument ensemble, Kurdish dance, poetry reading and Korean music. The Kurdish people are an Indo-European ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan, which spans parts of southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq and northern Syria. They are estimated to number between 30 million and 45 million. “I understand the deep significance

Apr 3, 2025By Bereket Alemayehu

Kurdistan Region of Iraq participates in cultural showcase at SNU

Global Community

American painter Aaron Johnson opens third exhibition at Gana Art Hannam in Seoul

Visiting Aaron Johnson’s paintings at Gana Art Hannam gallery feels like exploring outer space and meeting celestial beings radiating vivid colors. It challenges you to ask: Are we alone? Johnson's solo exhibition, "New Light," showcases new paintings by the California-based American artist. In his latest body of work, Johnson explores new territory, focusing on two-figure compositions that intensify the dynamic interplay between abstraction and figuration. The exhibition, his third with the gallery in central Seoul's Hannam-dong, opened Feb. 28 and runs until March 30.

Mar 16, 2025By Bereket Alemayehu

Bereket Alemayehu

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Cambodian community in Korea celebrates Khmer New Year in Ansan

Creative writers' group Standby celebrates 1st anniversary

HBC Art Club features 31 Korean, foreign artists at 'Conception' exhibition

Migrant rights groups rally in Seoul against racial discrimination

Kurdistan Region of Iraq participates in cultural showcase at SNU

American painter Aaron Johnson opens third exhibition at Gana Art Hannam in Seoul

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