Lifestyle

Film industry wishes for veteran actress Kang Soo-yeon's recovery

Actress Kang Soo-yeon was taken to a hospital after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest and intracerebral hemorrhage. Korea Times fileVeteran actress in hospital after cardiac arrestBy Lee Gyu-leeThe film industry and fans are pouring out messages of support for award-winning actress Kang Soo-yeon, wishing her recovery, as she remains unconscious after suffering a cardiac arrest at her home on Thursday.Kim Dong-ho, the former executive committee member of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), who is a friend of the actress, reportedly rushed to the hospital where Kang was transferred.“Her doctor informed the family that her condition might not get better even if she undergoes surgery, so they haven't decided whether to proceed with it,” he told local media.Adding that he met Kang about a week ago, Kim said, “She seemed to be fine … She would go to the hospital for checkups but she wasn't sick. I heard that she was planning to visit the United States soon.” The actress finished filming director Yeon Sang-ho's new Netflix film “Jung-E” e

DAILY FORTUNE - MAY 06, 2022

Museums ready to greet family visitors in May

Parents and children immerse themselves in an activity-centered exhibition, "The Child in All of Us," at the National Museum of Korea's Children's Museum, Seoul, Wednesday. NewsisBy Park Han-solIn Korea, an alternative term for May is “family month,” as the month holds holidays honoring members of a traditional family unit, including Children's Day on May 5, Parent's Day on May 8 and Married Couple's Day on May 21.This year, in celebration of May and the centennial of Children's Day, major national museums in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province are hosting special exhibitions and programs to greet family visitors.Special educational programs for children are scheduled for the Seoul and Gwacheon branches of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA).Under the theme of “art museum with children,” MMCA will offer various online and in-person activities related to some of its currently ongoing exhibitions in both venues ― “My Your Memory,” “Hito Steyerl ― A Sea of Data” and “You & Me” ― from Thursday to Saturda

INTERVIEW Lee So-eun tells of her workplace struggles, identity crisis

Singer-turned-lawyer Lee So-eun / Courtesy of Suo BooksSinger-turned-lawyer discusses her new book, "Who I Am Now is Enough"By Kwak Yeon-sooFor singer-turned-lawyer Lee So-eun, writing a book is a chance to stop and reflect upon a period in all its complexity, to make sense of her choices and record those moments in her own words. After she left the music industry to attend Northwestern University's law school in the U.S. in 2009, she wrote about her experiences, growth and thoughts about her career change in her first book, “Ttanttara Girl Goes to Law School” (2012). Lee debuted in 1998 at the age of 16 with her album, “Girl.” She juggled studying and performing onstage during her high school and college years. After graduating from college here, Lee said she craved a change and appreciated the broader skill set that a law school could provide.The case of her father being wrongfully fired from a university for participating in the democracy movement during the 1980s authoritarian regime also acted as a catalyst for change.“I believed a legal education w

Korean Air extends suspension of Russian routes over safety concerns

Passenger jets of Korean Air are parked at Incheon International Airport, in this file photo. YonhapKorean national flag carrier Korean Air Lines said Wednesday it will extend the suspension of its Russian routes until any new positive development happens in the Russia-Ukraine war. In March, Korean Air said it will halt the operation of passenger jets to Moscow and Vladivostok, and cargo planes that are bound for Europe via Moscow until the end of April due to safety concerns over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "The company will be closely monitoring the situation before it decides to resume flights on routes to Russia," a company spokeswoman said over the phone. The carrier said flights on some routes from Incheon to Europe and the United States currently take a detour to avoid the Russian and Ukraine airspace.Affected routes include the routes to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, Boston and Toronto. Flights to the cities take up to three hours longer.Asiana, the country's second-biggest airline after Korean Air, didn't operate passenger jet

DAILY FORTUNE - MAY 05, 2022

Korea should get back to basics to handle political, social problems: former diplomat

Kim Won-soo, the chair of the international advisory board of the Future Consensus Institute, or Yeosijae Foundation, talks during the Korea CQ Forum at the Liszt Institute in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Corea Image Communication InstituteBy Dong Sun-hwa“Going back to the basics” is the only way to cope with the current political and social problems in Korea, according to Kim Won-soo, the chair of the international advisory board of the Future Consensus Institute, or Yeosijae Foundation. “At the moment, Korea is in a perfect storm and the only thing the country can do is to get back to the basics,” the former under-secretary-general of the United Nations said during his lecture at the Liszt Institute, a Hungarian cultural center in Seoul, Tuesday. His talk was part of the Corea Image Communication Institution's (CICI) Korea CQ Forum that aims to bring together opinion leaders worldwide.“From the ongoing U.S.-China rivalry to gender division, Korea is facing a range of political and social problems, but there is no silver bullet to solve all of them at on

Korea to allow visa waiver for international travelers to Jeju, Yangyang

Visitors arrive at Jeju International Airport on Jeju, July 10, 2021. Korea will allow visa-free entry through Jeju and Yangyang international airports starting June 1. YonhapKorea will allow visa-free entry through Jeju and Yangyang international airports starting June 1, resuming a visa-waiver program that has been suspended for more than two years due to the pandemic, Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol said Wednesday.Since 2002, the country has implemented a visa-free system under which all foreign visitors, except for those from 24 countries designated by the justice minister, can stay on the southern resort island of Jeju for up to 30 days without a visa.However, the measure was halted on Feb. 4, 2020, following the outbreak of the pandemic. International flights were also suspended at Jeju International Airport in April 2020.Group tours with five or more travelers from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Mongolia arriving through Yangyang International Airport on the east coast can also stay in the country for up to 30 days without a visa, officials said."We hope to increase

Performing arts scene sees sharp rise in revenue after lifting of distancing rules

Musical “Death Note: The Musical” / Courtesy of OD CompanyThe Korean performing arts scene has experienced a sharp rise in revenue thanks to the lifting of nearly all social distancing rules, like gathering limits, about two weeks ago, industry data showed Wednesday.The combined revenue of 2,051 theatrical plays, musicals, classical concerts and other performances reached 17.3 billion won ($13.7 million) from April 18 to Sunday, according to the data by the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System.The numbers more than trebled from 3.9 billion won tallied over the same period in 2020 upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.They also marked a 54.4 percent on-year surge from 11.2 billion won tallied last year.The sharp increase came as most of Korea's COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, including middle-seat vacancy rules, gathering limits and business hour curfews, were scrapped in Korea from April 18 as part of the country's efforts to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.Under the relaxed guidelines, auditoriums and concert halls no longer need to leave an

Mexican chefs discover common love for spices in Korea

From left, Chef Maritza Cortes and Chef Tamara Chavez who are both from Mexico, present dishes they made for their guests in Korea at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Two Mexican chefs find parallels in the two countries' culinary cultures By Lee Hae-rin Mexican chefs, Marizta Cortes and Tamara Chavez, found out that their country and Korea have a lot in common when it comes to their culinary cultures.The more they explored Korean food in local markets and restaurants, the more they realized that people in the two countries are surprisingly alike in their taste preferences as well as choices of food and ingredients, despite the geographic distance. “Like in Korea, we eat every part of an animal,” said Chavez, explaining the traditional Mexican dish called “Pancita,” a boiled soup made of cow intestine that Mexicans seek to relieve hangovers, according to the two chefs. They were delighted to learn about a similar dish in Korea ca