Ritual for gods of earth, harvest to be revived King Taejo (r. 1392-1398), the first of the Joseon kings, upon founding the new dynasty ordered built two sacred buildings on either side of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main hall where kings carried out political affairs. There was the Jongmyo Shrine to the east and…
DetailsYoung artists from around the world gather in Seoul The passion of young, promising artists from around the world will be on display at a festival in Seoul. At the World Cultures 2014 celebration, scheduled to take place from December 10 to 14, people can appreciate art programs recommended by six cultural centers…
DetailsRyukyu Kingdom special exhibition opens In November 1500, the ancient kingdom of Yuguguk (유구국, 琉球國), a chain of islands located far to the south and east of the Korean Peninsula, dispatched an envoy to the Joseon court. The envoy delivered a message to the Korean monarch. It reads: “King Sangjin of the Jungsanwang…
DetailsPompeii comes to life after 2,000 years The volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79, covered Pompeii and the residents who could not escape with an almost 4-meter thick pile of ash. In the first century, the Roman Empire city was a port city near Naples with 20,000 people. However, after…
Details‘Dokdo is the proper name’ Representative Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said on December 6 that “Dokdo” is the proper name to refer to Korea’s easternmost islands. Royce is known to have said that, “We have to understand history and what abuses occurred, because it is…
DetailsFirst British memorial to Korean War veterans unveiled in London Some 60 years after the Korean War (1950-1953) ended, a memorial has now been unveiled in London to remember the sacrifices of the British soldiers. The unveiling ceremony was held outside the Ministry of Defence in the Victoria Embankment Gardens near the Thames…
DetailsGugak jazz mesmerizes Berlin audiences Joyful or sometimes plaintive, the singular tones of jazz fill the concert hall. The audience shouts, “Bravo,” as exotic sounds are made by the sad melody of the daegeum, a large bamboo flute, of the haegeum, a fiddle-like stringed instrument, and of the drums and saxophone. This…
DetailsKorean Literature in English ‘The Guest,’ by Hwang Sok-Yong ‘The Guest,’ by Hwang Sok-Yong The Korean War is a historic event that had a great impact on the Korean Peninsula and the people living on it. Of the many different faces of war, big or small, that haphazardly happened across the war-stricken peninsula,…
DetailsDMZ park to become symbol of peace Participants in the DMZ World Eco-Peace Park Forum discuss future plans for the no man’s land on December 3. An academic conference was held at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) on December 3 to discuss the creation of an “eco-peace” park in the 250-kilometer…
DetailsAncient Baekje fortress wall believed to be 5 stories high In eastern Seoul, on the southern banks of the Hangang River, lie the ancient remains of an earthen-walled fortress, the Pungnaptoseong. Archaeologists believe it to be the ancient capital city of the Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C.-A.D. 660) from Korea’s Three Kingdoms Period (57…
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