Lifestyle

26th Pentecostal World Conference to land in Seoul this week

Yoido Full Gospel Church Senior Pastor Lee Young-hoon delivers a speech during the 25th Pentecostal World Conference hosted in Calgary, Canada, from Aug. 27 to 30, 2019. Courtesy of the Yoido Full Gospel ChurchBy Park Han-solThousands of representatives and congregants of Pentecostal denominations from some 170 nations around the globe ― known as the Pentecostal World Fellowship (PWF) ― will flock to Seoul this week for the global triennial spiritual conference.The 26th Pentecostal World Conference (PWC), running from Oct. 12 to 14, is organized by the Yoido Full Gospel Church, the largest Protestant church in South Korea.This year is the third time for the PWC, which has been held since 1947, to land in Seoul, after the first and second times in 1973 and 1998 respectively.Themed “Pentecostal Revival in the Next Generation,” it aims to be a religious assembly focusing on the role and future of Pentecostalism ― and Protestant Christianity as a whole ― to pass on the spiritual legacy to the succeeding generation.Throughout the three-day conference, five plenary sessions are

Ex-vice culture minister appointed to lead Korea Tourism Organization

New Korea Tourism Organization head Kim Jang-sil, right, holds an official letter of appointment and poses with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyoon in Seoul, Oct. 6. Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and TourismBy Lee Hae-rinFormer Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jang-sil has been appointed as the new head of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, Thursday.Kim, a graduate of Yeungnam University's department of public administration, also has a master's degree in public administration and policy from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Hawaii.Kim has served in various government posts since passing the civil service examination in 1979. From 2008 to 2009, he was the vice culture minister under the Lee Myung-bak administration. He was the head of the Seoul Arts Center from 2009 to 2012.In 2012, he became a lawmaker of the Saenuri Party, which is the predecessor of the current ruling People Power Party. Kim has served as a special executive officer of c

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 10, 2022

Korean language education expands in Hong Kong

Mu Kuang English School students attend a Korean language class, a regular foreign language subject at the school, Wednesday, Hong Kong. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-wonBy Park Ji-wonHONG KONG - Learning a foreign language is difficult and it takes a lot of time and energy to see certain visible outcomes. But a growing number of people in Hong Kong are learning Korean nowadays. Once a hobby restricted to K-pop fans, learning Korean is now more common, being included in the foreign language category for the university entrance exam as well as among regular school language subjects.At Mu Kuang English School, a local secondary school in Hong Kong, it is pretty common to see Korean letters in classes or in the library. It was the first secondary school in Hong Kong to introduce the Korean language as a regular course from the 1st grade last year, providing Korean classes once a week.Up to 12 first graders gathered for a 40-minute class on Wednesday. They learned the pronunciations for the Korean letters, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ and vowels, while answering questions from Canny Lai, the Korean teacher an

Disappearance of 'average consumer' to dominate 2023's trend

Kim Nan-do, a professor of consumer studies at Seoul National University, speaks during a press conference held to promote his latest book, “Trend Korea 2023,” at a cafe in Seoul's Mapo District, Oct. 5. Courtesy of Miraebook PublishingBest-selling author unveils consumer trend outlook in Korea for 2023By Park Han-solThe cover of “Trend Korea 2023” by Kim Nan-do et al. / Courtesy of Miraebook PublishingThe likelihood of a global recession is feared to grow throughout the rest of 2022, with the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, warning that the agency would issue downgrades to its growth projections for next year.Painting a grim picture of the global economy during her speech on Thursday at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., she noted that “any country can be thrown off course more easily and more often.”Korea, of course, is no exception.Amid this looming predicament, Kim Nan-do, a professor of consumer studies at Seoul National University (SNU), and his team at the SNU Consumer Trend Research Center, have

Live drawing artist Kim Jung-gi dies at 47

Artist Kim Jung-gi performs at a live drawing session at the Lotte Museum of Art in Seoul in this May 3, 2021 photo. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Kim RahnKim Jung-gi, a visual artist widely known for live drawing performances, died in France on Oct. 3. He was 47.Artist Kim Hyun-jin, who has led Superani Studio with Kim Jung-gi, made public the death, Oct. 5. He is presumed to have died of a heart failure.Visual artist Kim Jung-gi / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the sudden passing of Kim Jung Gi. After finishing his last schedule in Europe, Jung Gi went to the airport to fly to New York, where he experienced chest pains and was taken to a nearby hospital for surgery, but sadly passed away,” Kim Hyun-jin wrote on his Instagram.“After having done so much for us, you can now put down your brushes. Thank you Jung Gi.”Kim Jung-gi became famous for live performances in which he would create a large-sized, impromptu drawing without any rough sketch. Previously working as a cartoonist, he r

INTERVIEW KOCCA helps link K-content creators to investors

Jo Hyun-rae, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the agency's office in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukContent agency's role increases as Korean culture rises in prominence in global marketBy Lee Gyu-leeIn the fast-paced, rapidly evolving content industry, Korean content, from music and TV dramas to webcomics and fashion, has been growing its presence in the global market more than ever. And as the country's content business has pushed toward new horizons, the role of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), a state-run organization under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has become more crucial in serving its purpose to promote Korean culture content overseas.“The Korean content industry is a very competitive market … And its local consumers are really known to be picky. So Korean creators and producers have endured the competition and suited the tastes of those picky audiences,” Jo Hyun-rae, president of KOCCA, said during an interview with The Korea Times, held

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 07, 2022

Korean immersive art exhibition to be held in HK

The ARTE MUSEUM exhibition's “Beach Aurora” / Courtesy of d'strictBy Park Ji-wonHONG KONG ― D'strict, one of Korea's leading commercial design companies famous for its site-specific media art installations, will present its first overseas exhibition in Hong Kong on Oct. 7.Dubbed “ARTE M,” a curated exhibition of its flagship “ARTE MUSEUM” exhibition, six of the company's works themed with “eternal nature” will occupy an 850-square-meter space at K11 HACC, a shopping complex and art hall, aiming to show a balance with the immersive visuals as well as sensuous and ambient sounds.The curated exhibition consists of four spaces, displaying art reinterpreting the elements and spaces of nature. It shows the life of flowers, endlessly crashing swells, boundlessly stretching seashore and a jungle in a tropical rain forest.“The realistic representation of the eternity of nature and its graphic depiction through the convergence of visual creativity and digital media technology, including projection mapping and sensor-based interaction, allow

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 06, 2022