A behind-the-scenes look at veteran entertainer Song Hae's life Veteran entertainer Song Hae sticks out his tongue upon request from the photographer after an interview with The Korea Times held last week in Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulVeteran emcee talks about music, people, programBy Kim Ji-sooSong Hae may be known for his long-standing career as the host of the “National Song Contest,” but there is much more to the 87-year-old’s life than what we see on stage.Song fled the North during the 1950-1953 Korean War and settled in Seoul in the South. This move rendered him rootless and without family or relatives, and meant that he never planned for more than three years at a time.“I am what you call a ‘38 ttaraji,’” he said. The number refers to the military demarcation line dividing the two Koreas and the word “ttaraji” means wretched life.“So I learned to live it that way,” he said, sitting at an office for the association of elderly entertainments on off-Jong-no street in downtown Seoul.In a way, Song was a sojourner in the South and his role as emcee of the &ldquoDec 24, 2014By Kim Ji-soo
Museum director says Koreans should re-learn their traditions The compounds of the Korea Furniture Museum in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul/ Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chulBy Kim Ji-soo“Thank you so much for showing me the refined beauty of Korean culture ... This is what Chinese President Xi Jinping told me personally” after dining at the Korea Furniture Museum in July, the director Chyung Mi-sook said Monday.“Hanok is pretty and comfortable come rain or shine. That is its value,” Chyung said, adding that it’s a value that’s been forgotten or misunderstood.Chyung Mi-sook, director of the Korea Furniture Museum, looks out from the court-style hanok in the Korea Furniture Museum, where PresidentPark Geun-hye and Chinese Xi Jinping lunched this summer.The wet snow transformed the hanok on the museum’s compound into a postcard image as this reporter interviewed Chyung for The Korea Times. She said she wanted people to visit in order to “open their minds aesthetically after experiencing our culture.”Watching the snow fall on the wooden edifice and seeing the low-lying stone walls gracefully givDec 17, 2014By Kim Ji-soo
Trio selected as top cultural promoters Actress Tang WeiAmore Pacific, Tang Wei, Shim Suk-hee to be recognizedBy Kim Ji-soo Speed skater Shim Suk-heeAmorePacific CEO Suh Kyung-baeLeading Korean cosmetics company AmorePacific, Chinese actress Tang Wei and Korean speed skater Shim Suk-hee will be recognized for their contributions toward promoting Korean culture at an awards ceremony next month. The Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) will award the three in its 11th annual Korea Image Awards on Jan. 12 at the COEX InterContinental Hotel in Samseong-dong, Seoul.Since 2005, CICI, led by President Choi Jung-wha, has recognized those who have contributed to enhancing the image of Korea around the world.AmorePacific, led by CEO Suh Kyung-bae, has been selected for CICI’s Korea Image Stepping Stone Award. The cosmetics brand, best known for its popular lines of Sulwhasoo, Iope, Hera and Etude, was founded in 1954. The country’s largest cosmetics firm in terms of sales, CICI noted AmorePacific’s commitment to be the “first” and “best” in its fDec 16, 2014
Artisan Jung Yun-suk, born in heart of 'onggi' The hands of Jung Yun-suk, artisan of “onggi’ or traditional Korean earthenware. Here Jung is making finishing designs on the onggi he completed forming. / Courtesy of Jung Yun-sukGANGJIN, South Jeolla Province — The coastal road along Gangjin leading to Jung Yun-suk’s workshop was deserted; the only sound coming from the strong wind, the sound of dogs barking and the cows. But it wasn’t always this way for the one-time hub of “onggi” or traditional Korean earthenware.Jung remembers how the town used to be.“When I was in elementary school, there were onggi here and there. Everybody in the town was involved in earthenware-making,” the 73-year-old said.“My father and grandfather, my in-laws, everyone,” Jung said as he worked with his two sons inside a surprisingly warm workshop.The entire neighborhood used to produce traditional Korean earthenware — the somewhat crude-looking crock used to store fermented food, paste and sauces. Koreans are believed to have been eating fermented food since the days of the Goguryeo Dec 14, 2014By Kim Ji-soo
World-renowned chefs gather in Seoul Chef Pierre Gagnaire poses in this file photo. Gagnaire was recently in Seoul to speak at a leadership forum. The chef who is considered the essence of modern French cuisine has 15 restaurants around the world. / Courtesy of Vivian HanChef Joan Roca poses in this file photo. Roca, who is responsible for moving the center of the culinary world from France to Spain, runs El Celler de Can Roca with his brothers. / Korea Times fileBy Vivian HanIf you know Pierre Gagnaire, Rene Ledzepi and Joan Roca, you’re probably a gourmet. These three world-renowned chefs were on the same stage in Seoul on Nov. 19. They were invited to speak at TV Chosun’s Global Leaders Forum about their road to their gourmet food careers. It is extremely rare to have all three masters together to talk about food — it is like having Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst together to talk about art.As an owner of a modern Korean restaurant, I was invited as a panelist. I couldn’t sleep for days because I was too excited to meet them. However, I have to confess that meeting three great minds Dec 10, 2014
'Misaeng' cartoonist shares advice for success From left are actors Im Si-wan and Lee Sung-min and actress Kang So-ra of hit drama “Misaeng,” which depicts hardships of office life. / Courtesy of tvNBy Baek Byung-yeulYoon Tae-ho, cartoonist of “Misaeng”Nothing is as hot in Korea these days as “Misaeng” an online comics-based drama.Since it began airing on Oct. 17, the tvN drama, about interns at a trading company, has created a huge buzz. Its ratings hit a record-high 7.4 percent last week, the second highest for a cable network program in Korea.During a recent forum, cartoonist Yoon Tae-ho, author of the original “Misaeng” comics, had some advice for young cartoonists: “Creating your own content is the best way to succeed as a cartoonist.“I’ve always said to young cartoonists that they need to focus on making their own content, but they should be cautious about that,” Yoon said in conversation with “Misaeng” drama producer Lee Je-moon, at the Creative Korea fair at COEX in southern Seoul.“If their illustrations and stories arDec 7, 2014By Baek Byung-yeul
Shin Kyung-sook revisits autobiographical book in English, 20 years later Writer Shin Kyung-sook poses in this file photo. Her 1995 novel will be published as “The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness” in the United States next fall, her third English book since the first one “Please Look After Mom” received rave reviews in 2011. / Courtesy of Shin Kyung-sookBy Kim Ji-sooAs a writer, Shin Kyung-sook has gained the admiration of readers both in Korea and across the world. It was the second time this reporter got to interview the Seoul-based writer who over three decades has solidified herself as a leading literary figure. She seemed more at ease this time, and prone to chuckling.When asked whether she was courageous to have written a novel modeled after her younger self and then revisit it in English 20 years later, she replied: “Courageous? I think writers are shy if anything.”In “The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness,” the speaker lives along with her older brother and a cousin in one of the unnumbered rooms in a beehive-like edifice in the Guro Industrial Complex in Seoul. There she works with other girls in late teens aDec 5, 2014By Kim Ji-soo
Lee Hye-soon holds onto hanbok tradition Hanbok designer Lee Hye-soon pose works with the materials in this file photo taken at her shop Damyeon in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. / Courtesy of Lee Hye-soonBy Kim Ji-sooSitting in her chair at her hanbok shop in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, Lee Hye-soon cuts a rotund triangle from her handmade hanbok consisting of white “jeogori” or traditional Korean upper jacket and a deep blue skirt. The absence of creases on her dress conveys an image of calm.“The Korean hanbok is the result of women who are not loquacious,” Lee said.Lee, 54, is a hanbok designer who wants modern Koreans to reacquaint themselves with the elegant and beautiful yet pragmatic hanbok that their ancestors used.Lee Hye-soon’s hand at work on the inner tie; and the stacks of silk material she has at her shop in Seoul. / Courtesy of Lee Hye-soon“Hanbok are designed based on a flat dimension, which the human body is not. Unlike Western clothing, which cuts out material according to the lines of the human body to accentuate, hanbok leaves it, and thus, wearing hanbok is the art of adjNov 30, 2014By Kim Ji-soo
Artisan reveals secret to playing Korean zither Courtesy of Lee Young-heeBy Kim Ji-sooFriday nights in Korea are referred to as “bulgeum” or “burning Fridays,” as people gather usually in bars to wash away the week’s stress.But one Friday night, on Nov 21., some people chose to relieve their stress in a different way. They gathered at a traditional cultural center in Samseong-dong to watch Lee Young-hee, 77, calm the night with her soulful solo stage performance of the “gayageum sanjo” or scattered melodies on a “gayageum” or 12-string Korean zither.On the stage alone, Lee was a picture of poise, strength and elegance as she performed the “jinyangjo” or the slow rhythm and the “jungmori” or the fast one. As she plucked, flicked and dragged the strings with her right hand, sometimes pushing the strings either lightly or heavily with her left hand, her gayageum’s melodies seemed to whisk the listeners away. Her sense of rhythm was strong, making the listener’s head rock with it. Her “students” or those who will carry on her legacy jNov 26, 2014By Kim Ji-soo
'House of Cards' producer shares secrets of its success Actor Kevin Spacey in a poster for American political thriller drama, “House of Cards” / Korea Times fileBy Baek Byung-yeul Joe Hipps, vice president of American film and drama studio Media Rights Capital, gives aspeech at a conference held at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Nov. 20./ Courtesy of Advanced Center for Korean Studies“House of Cards” producer Joe Hipps underlined the use of universal themes as key to global popularity of TV dramas during a recent visit to Seoul. “What we learned from the success of ‘House of Cards’ was that there was a universal theme throughout the drama mainly dealing with American politics,” said Hipps, a vice president of American film and drama studio Media Rights Capital which produced the drama. He was participating at a conference with local content creators at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Nov. 20.Organized by five state-run research agencies including the Advanced Center for Korean Studies, the conference was intended to discuss how traditional Korean Nov 24, 2014
