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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.

Looted royal seal potentially homebound after 60 years

The royal seal of Queen Munjeong of Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) may finally be returned almost 60 years after it was stolen by the U.S. army during the Korean War. Buddhist monk Hye Moon, the president of a cultural organization called “Restoring Cultural Properties in Their Rightful Place” (Munhwajae Jejari Chatgi) and Korean and American Buddhist communities requested LACMA the return of the royal seal to Korea. In response, the museum has asked that they present evidence confirming the seal was indeed stolen. Ardelia Hall Records, which mention the U.S. army's theft of 47 royal seals, including Queen Munjeong's, during the Korean War, is stored in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration in Maryland, Monk Hye Moon and Kim Jeong-kwang, the cultural director of Korean Buddhism in the Americas said in a letter addressed to LACMA“Please return the royal seal of Queen Munjeong, an emblem of our national identity, to Korea as soon as possible,” they wrote. "The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has not been contacted by the Korea

Jul 10, 2013

Old dog, new tricks

Baseball icon Park Chan-ho inspires exhibition at Seoul MuseumBy Baek Byung-yeul Park Chan-ho stands next to Kwon O-sang’s sculpture of him displayed at the Seoul Museum. / YonhapIn his younger day as a pitcher, Park Chan-ho, whose bullet of a fastball was held back by his spotty control, often had trouble painting the strike zone. He seems to have managed a smoother start in painting the canvas.Park, who chalked up 124 wins in his 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), has retired from the sport last season after a stint with Korean club Hanwha Eagles. But the 40-year-old has kept himself busy doing television and charity work, making business investments and managing youth activities, which was predictable because he had always been a personality who transcended sports.Art is among the new activities he picked up. Park’s “abstract” paintings displayed at the newest exhibition at Seoul Museum weren’t exactly Jackson Pollocks. But they were decent enough that calling him the “Jackson Pollock of Retired Jocks” wouldn’t be too ab

Jul 9, 2013By Baek Byung-yeul
Old dog, new tricks

Nerds and geeks come out to play

Takashi Murakami poses with his work, “Miss ko2,” at the Plateau, Samsung Museum of Art, in downtown Seoul. / Courtesy of PlateauMurakami’s pop art exhibition a tribute to Japan’s quirky ‘otaku’ cultureBy Kwon Mee-yoo “MPGMP, 1960→2011”/ Courtesy of Takashi Murakami and Kaikai KikiTakashi Murakami’s “Takashi in Superflat Wonderland” exhibition is an exercise in geeky glory.Visitors are greeted by a life-size figure of a blonde, strikingly voluptuous woman dressed as a Victorian maid in a world where Victorian maids are required to be stuck in their childhood skirts.There is a sculpture of flowers, colorful but flat as plates. There are three different paintings devoted to cartoon skulls.Thirty-nine of the Japanese pop artist’s works are on display at Plateau, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul in a tribute to the Japanese subculture of “otaku.”Otaku was once a derogatory term used to describe a person who, in the obscurity of their bedrooms, becomes so consumed by a certain subject they ris

Jul 8, 2013

Beauty for all seasons

Shin Yun-bok’s iconic 18th-century painting, “Portrait of a Beauty” / Korea Times fileShin Yun-bok's classic painting to be exhibited year roundBy Baek Byung-yeulA famous painting from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) is expected to be shown year-round at a Seoul museum after the facility undergoes major construction.“Portrait of a Beauty” by Shin Yun-bok will be moved to a permanent exhibition hall at Gansong Art Museum after being shown twice a year since 1971.Nestled into the base of Mt. Bukak in Seongbuk, central Seoul, Gansong Art Museum is the first modern private museum of Korea. It was founded in 1938 by Jeon Hyeong-pil, a well-known collector.The museum was the most modern art facility after it opened. However, conditions deteriorated, forcing the museum to limit the number of days it opens.Last month, Jeon’s descendants announced their plan to establish a foundation that will build a new museum next to the current one.“As soon as we finish the registering process for establishing a foundation, sometime between August and September, we

Jul 7, 2013
Beauty for all seasons

Musical stars continue to venture out

By Kwon Mee-yooHong Kwang-ho performs at a concert at Olympic Hall in southeastern Seoul on Friday. Korea TimesLast week was an eventful one for lovers of musical theater. Ramin Karimloo, an emerging West End star, performed at three different concerts in Seoul and Gwangju from Wednesday to Friday; while Hong Kwang-ho, a popular Korean musical actor, crooned at a different stage in the capital on Friday and Saturday.As a journalist assigned to cover both artists, the concerts combined often felt like a dragged-out experience, because some of the songs they sang at their concerts were the same. Still, they managed to differentiate just enough.Both Karimloo and Hong starred in the same Andrew Lloyd Webber hit, “The Phantom of the Opera.”Unlike Karimloo, Hong has yet to appear in “Les Miserables,” but that didn’t stop him from singing one of the songs from the mega-hit musical anyway.At times, Karimloo and Hong seemed to be separated only by the venue: the Iranian-born actor was performing at the Samsung Hall at Ewha Womans University and Hong at the O

Jul 7, 2013By KTimes
Musical stars continue to venture out

Around Town -1

Classical Concerts Korean Symphony Orchestra with Albrecht MayerSeoul Arts Center*July 18 The Korean Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Choi Hee-chuhn, will hold its 187th regular concert at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul on July 18. It will feature Albrecht Mayer, a principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic, who will be performing Bach’s “Concerto for oboe,” Handel’s “Verdi Parti Concerto for Oboe D’amore” and Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 3 in A Minor.” Tickets cost 10,000 to 50,000 won. For more information, call (02) 523-6258 or visit www.sac.or.kr. ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’Sejong Center for the Performing Arts*July 5 Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti’s 1832 opera “L’Elisir d’Amore,” known in the English-speaking world as “The Elixir of Love,” will be performed at the Sejong Center in Seoul on July 5. Tenor Jeong Neung-hwa will play the role of Nemorino, while soprano Kim Seong-eun has been cast as Adina. Tickets cost 20,

Jul 4, 2013

Around Town-2

Clubs The OctagonNonhyeon Near the New Hilltop Hotel in Nonhyeon, this club is notable for its stylish interior and elite clientele. The venue offers a club stage, lounge bar and dining area to satisfy any night out after work or on the weekend. Near exit 4 of Hakdong Station on subway line 7. For more information, call (02) 516-8847. Club VolumeItaewon Offering a venue for specially-themed weekly events and world-class DJs, Club Volume is located in the Crown Hotel near Noksapyeong Station. Club Volume was listed by Time magazine among the “10 things to do in 24 hours in Seoul.” For more information, call 1544-2635. Once in a Blue MoonApgujeong Once in a Blue Moon is one of the best known and well established jazz clubs in the city. It features live jazz sets from two different bands every night, usually starting at 7:30 p.m. It is located between the Hakdong intersection and the Galleria department stores in the posh district of Apgujeong. For more information, call (02) 549-5490 or visit www.onceinabluemoon.co.kr. Club AnswerCheongdam

Jul 4, 2013

Kim named head of national art archives

Kim Yun-cheolKim Yun-cheol, president of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) and professor at Korea National University of Arts’ School of Drama, was announced Wednesday as the new head of the Korea National Archives of the Arts.Kim, 64, will serve a three-year term at the helm of the state-run institute that keeps more than 590,000 items of government-produced articles, records and other data related to art.Kim studied English education at Seoul National University and obtained an M.A. degree in Theater and Cinematic Arts at Choong Ang University and a Ph.D. in Theater and Cinematic Arts from Bringham Young University in the United States. He served as the head of the Korean Association of Theater Critics from 1999 to 2002 and became the first Asian to head the IATC in 2008.

Jul 3, 2013
Kim named head of national art archives

'Taekwon V' on Dokdo - not great idea

Artist’s concept of “Robot Taekwon V” sculpture on DokdoBy Kim Tong-hyungActivists here are planning to erect a massive sculpture of ``Robot Taekwon V,’’ a 1970s cartoon robot, on Dokdo, a group of islets at the center of a long-running diplomatic dispute between Korea and Japan.The 13-meter-high installment is intended as a statement toward Japan, which continues to argue that it has historical claim over Korea’s easternmost territory. It can be said that the nationalist activists picked an awkward cultural icon for the job. The creators of Taekwon V have openly admitted that their character, first seen in a 1976 movie, borrowed heavily from Japanese robot animation of those times, particularly ``Mazinger Z.’’ The Taekwon V sculpture will be revealed in a Liberation Day ceremony on Aug. 15, a holiday that marks Korea’s independence from Japan at the end of World War II. It will be moved the next day to a museum on the adjacent Ulleung Island, where it will be permanently displayed.Kim Taek-gi, the artist who designed the sculptur

Jul 3, 2013
'Taekwon V' on Dokdo - not great idea

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"Learning of Artists,’’ by Jung Eun-young, Shim Chae-sun and Emmanuel Moonchil Park / Courtesy of Nam June Paik Art CenterInteractive exhibit breathes new life into Nam June Paik Art Center By Kwon Mee-yoo  Nam June Paik, the late avant-garde artist, video-art pioneer and experimental musician, is enjoying a posthumous resurgence in the contemporary art scene, which is all about blurring traditional boundaries.This is bringing attention to the “Fluxus Movement,” which peaked in the 1960s with support from Paik and other similar-minded artists, who stressed the value of interactivity and saw the audience as part of the artwork itself.“What is more educational is most aesthetic, and what is most aesthetic is most educational,” Paik once said in explaining the Fluxus Movement. The “Learning Machine” exhibit at the Nam June Paik Art Center (NJP Art Center) in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is an ambitious attempt at putting his words into practice.Art group designAllook’s “Monument_Neighborhood;”Here, visitors a

Jul 1, 2013
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