K-News

Tuesday, November 1, 2022 “Talchum,” or the traditional Korean mask dance, is all but certain to be added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, according to the international body and Korean authorities on Tuesday. On UNESCO’s official homepage, there is an entry titled “Talchum, Mask Dance Drama in the Republic of Korea” and it is recommended for inscription on the list during a subpanel meeting of its Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is a de facto approval, but the final decision will be made formally during the 17th committee meeting in Moroco next month. Talchum, where actors and actresses perform in a variety of traditional masks, often combines dance with a narrative, as it has the characteristics of both performing arts and drama. South Korea has so far 21 entries listed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage - the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the List of Intangible Cult

Saturday, October 29, 2022 *Update: A total of 151 people, mostly young people in their 20s and two foreigners, are reported to have been killed and dozens of other people injured in a Halloween festival at Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea, in the night from Saturday to Sunday. Below was the original article posted right after the outbreak of the accident: Some 50 people are reportedly suffering from cardiac arrest in the Itaewon area of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday night ahead of the Halloween, as a lot of people have flocked together in the capital city’s exotic village to enjoy the festival. Fire authorities said they received more than 80 emergency calls from the area, mostly in front of the Hamilton Hotel, a landmark at Itaewon, at around 10:15 pm and dispatched rescue workers to provide emergency measures. Exact cause and number of people injured (or even killed) are under investigation. President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed officials to swiftly administer first aid and treat the people,

MV of title song “Shut Down” also hit 200 million views Wednesday, October 26, 2022 BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom” has just become the first K-Pop music video of 2022 to hit the 400-million-view mark. According to YG Entertainment, the agency, the official music video for “Pink Venom,” the pre-release single for Blackpink’s second full-length album, surpassed 400 million views on YouTube around 9:37 pm on Oct. 25 (KST). It’s been 68 days since its release on Aug. 19. In the meantime, the second full-length album’s title song “Shut Down,” released on Sept. 16, recorded 200 million views at around 0:34 am on Oct. 26. It surpassed 200 million views in 41 days. BLACKPINK’s “Born Pink,” released 1 year and 11 months after their first full-length album “THE ALBUM,” topped the US Billboard’s main album chart ‘Billboard 200’ and the UK’s official album chart. It set the new record as the first female artist to dominate both charts at the same time. BLACKPINK started its world tour at the Olympic Par

Yoon tells National Assembly that South Korea will cooperate with U.S. and Japan to deter any provocation from Pyongyang Tuesday, October 25, 2022 South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol said North Korea is regarded to “have already completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test” as Pyongyang has been “expressing will for a pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons.” While raising a sense of urgency on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, Yoon said Seoul would cooperate with Washington and Tokyo even more closely to strengthen deterrence against any provocation from North Korea. “The security reality is very serious,” Yoon told the National Assembly. “We will strengthen the deterrence against North Korea with overwhelming capabilities through the ROK-U.S. combined defense posture and South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation so our people can lead their daily lives with peace of mind.” North Korea has recently continued threatening military provocations by, among others, launc

Late-October to earl-November will be the last chance to enjoy the beauty this year Monday, October 24, 2022 One of the first things that pops into people’s mind for the autumn season is the colorful changes of leaves across the country, called ‘ danpung ’ in the Korean language . While this year’s first foliage began at Mt. Seorak late September, you still have the chance to enjoy the beauty as it reaches the year’s peak within a couple of weeks from now. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the peak foliage this year is expected during the October 19-November 1 period for the central region and during October 26-November 8 for the southern region. Some of the most popular fall foliage attractions in Seoul, recommended by the Korea Tourism Organization, include Deoksugung Palace’s Stone Wall Path, famous for the yellow gingko leaves; Gyeongbokgung Palace, Yangjae Citizen’s Forest, Myeongnyundang Lecture Hall of Sungkyunkwan University, Olympic Park, and Seoul Fo

K-News: What’s happening now in South Korea Kakao instant messenger, Daum news portal service down Saturday, October 15, 2022 Service failure has occurred on KakaoTalk, the leading instant messenger of South Korea, and Daum News, part of the Kakao group, from around 3:30 pm on Saturday (local time). Users of KakaoTalk are experiencing problems sending and receiving messages and visitors of Daum News are having difficulty accessing search results. Complaints are mounting over the inconveniences, as a lot of people wondered and explored in other portal and search engines as well as social network services (SNS) with such keywords as ‘KakaoTalk error’, ‘KakaoTalk server exploded’, and ‘KakaoTalk crashed’.

K-News: What’s happening now in South Korea Weak won and falling foreign reserve; Continued provocation from North; Kim Sejeong’s Asia tour; Busan Int’l Film Festival; and more Thursday, October 6, 2022 Here are some of the trending topics and major news in South Korea. Financial regulator ready for ‘preemptive’ action against market volatility South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has been keeping a close eye on the market situation, staying ready for “preemptive” measures in case of extreme volatility, the commission’s chief said on Thursday. FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyeon also promised continued efforts for a soft landing of the household debt so that it would not strain the overall national economy, facing woes from the global monetary tightening and looming global recession. S. Korea’s foreign reserves fall most since financial crisis amid ‘king dollar’ The country’s foreign reserves shrank at the fastest pace in about 14 years in September since the 2008 global financial

K-News: What’s happening now in South Korea US aircraft returning; ‘failed’ missile launch; Slowing consumer prices; Half of S. Koreans infected so far; and more Wednesday, October 5, 2022 Here are some of the trending topics and major news in South Korea. US aircraft carrier heading back to East Sea after N. Korea’s IRBM launch USS Ronald Reagan will be redeployed to the waters east of South Korea in a display of the “resolute will” of the allies against the North’s provocation, according to military authorities in Seoul. The nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier, which left the waters after a recent joint naval exercise, decided to return to the East Sea in response to North Korea’s Tuesday launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which flew over Japan for the first time in five years. S. Korea’s ‘failed’ missile launch draws criticism... Military expresses regret The Democratic Party (DP) scolded the military on Wednesday over a failed missile launch, carried out th

K-News: Freedom of Expression in South Korea Highschooler’s cartoon of ‘Yoon Suk-yeol train’ ignites controversy over freedom of expression in S. Korea Ministry of Culture vows to examine how the work satirizing the head of state was chosen at the annual comics contest Tuesday, October 4, 2022 President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has been at the center of controversy for his swearwords toward U.S. politicians caught on hot mic during his recent New York visit, finds himself in yet another hot water - this time due to a student’s cartoon. It was early Tuesday morning when the cartoon, titled “Yoon Suk-yeol-cha,” got the attention of the public as the satirical piece was known to have won the top prize in this year’s comics contest hosted by the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency (KOMACON). While it seemed titled after the combination of the head of state’s full name and “yeol-cha,” the common noun for train in Korean, the cartoon apparently depicted a locomotive with Yoon’s face instead the famous Br

K-News: What’s happening now in South Korea N. Korea’s 5th missile test; Yoon-Moon tension; Shares rebound; BTS’s military service; Downsizing of gender ministry; Night taxi-hailing fees; Lee Sun-kyun for Emmys Tuesday, October 4, 2022 We celebrated the Oct. 3 National Foundation Day on Monday, one of the national public holidays in South Korea, which allowed people to enjoy an  “ extended ”  weekend in South Korea. Here are some of the trending topics and news in the country now. NSC lashes out at N. Korea’s IRBM launch South Korea’s National Security Council (NSC) strongly criticized North Korea’s launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) today, which marked the fifth missile test in over a week. Tension deepens between former and incumbent presidents Former President Moon Jae-in’s showed an angry reaction and made a clear objection to the Board of Audit & Inspection (BAI)’s planned questioning of him over North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official