Journalist

Yoon Ju-hye
  • Monk Seonjae Demonstrates Pine Nut Noodles, Calling Food ‘Medicine’
    Monk Seonjae Demonstrates Pine Nut Noodles, Calling Food ‘Medicine’ Biting into a round dumpling, a crisp cucumber aroma spread across the palate, bringing a fresh lift after a winter of heavy air and fine dust. A hands-on event where participants made and tasted Monk Seonjae’s pine nut noodles — praised by chef Ahn Sung-jae on Netflix’s variety show “Culinary Class Wars” — was held Feb. 26 at the Korean Temple Food Culture Experience Center in Seoul’s Jongno district. Hosted by the Korean Buddhist Cultural Heritage Foundation, the event featured Seonjae, known for popularizing temple cuisine, demonstrating how to make “Seungso” pine nut noodles. She toasted pine nuts in a pan, finely chopped them and blended them with water to make the broth. She kneaded flour dough with blanched zucchini and spinach, then pulled thin noodles. She also ground cucumber, mixed it with starch and shaped small, round dumplings. Thinly sliced cucumber and Korean melon, lightly salted, were added as garnish. “Seungso” (僧笑) refers to a dish tasty enough to make a monk smile. The noodles highlighted the ingredients’ natural color and fragrance, with pine nuts complemented by the clean scent of cucumber and Korean melon for a mild, refreshing finish. Journalists attending the session split into four teams of four to five people and followed Seonjae’s recipe, pulling noodles and shaping dumplings by hand. Seonjae repeatedly emphasized that “food is medicine,” saying the hardest part of cooking is deciding who will eat it. “You have to make food that fits that person — food that becomes medicine,” she said. “The scriptures say all food is medicine. People usually call seasonings ‘flavoring,’ but in Buddhism it’s the idea of adding taste and medicine. It’s not food that only tastes good; it should suit the person’s palate and be good for the body.” She said thinking, taste and the body are connected. “Your taste changes when your thinking changes,” she said. “When your taste changes, your body changes. To avoid wasting food, you have to think of it as precious.” Seonjae said visitors who want to eat her cooking must come one to two hours before mealtime. “You have to make the food together,” she said. “You need to know what went into it to understand its value.” She also urged ingredients that align with Buddhism’s view of life. “You can only become healthy by eating ingredients that respect nature’s life — not ones that pollute the soil, water and air,” she said, adding that many people are unfamiliar with ingredients such as bang-a and perilla. “Bang-a makes soybean paste stew sweet and delicious. We need to teach children these things.” Seonjae stressed learning “what is ours” first. “If our children don’t know how to ferment sauces or make kimchi, our culture will disappear,” she said. “Then even our DNA will have to change. We must protect our culture.” The Jogye Order said it plans to intensify efforts to promote temple cuisine. Ilhwa, head of the Korean Buddhist Cultural Heritage Foundation, said at the event that it was meaningful that temple food has recently drawn attention through media as an important cultural phenomenon. The foundation will keep working with countries including France and the United Kingdom to globalize temple cuisine, Ilhwa said. 2026-02-26 16:33:00
  • Kang Sue-jin to step down as Korea National Ballet director after 12-year tenure
    Kang Sue-jin to step down as Korea National Ballet director after 12-year tenure Kang Sue-jin, the Korea National Ballet’s seventh director and artistic director, will step down April 4, ending a 12-year term that began with her appointment in 2014. The company said Feb. 26 that after leaving the post, Kang is expected to be hired as a professor at Seoul Cyber University. In a statement released that day, Kang said the past 12 years were “another passionate and happy time” in her life. “I feel nothing but gratitude to the dancers and audiences who trusted and supported me through every moment with the Korea National Ballet,” she said. “Now I am wrapping up my role and turning my steps toward places our society needs.” She added that she hopes her experience can serve as “a small light” for young people pursuing their dreams in underserved regions, and said she will focus on mentoring future generations and giving back for the support she has received as an artist. During her tenure, Kang worked to strengthen the company’s artistic identity, systematize its creation-based foundation and expand its international standing, the company said. It maintained classical ballet traditions while also developing contemporary works and introducing overseas repertoire to build a balanced program. In 2025, the company staged choreographer John Neumeier’s full-length drama ballet “The Camellia Lady” for the first time in Asia, the company said, calling it a milestone for the domestic ballet scene. The production, which requires substantial resources, was cited as evidence the company can handle international-level repertoire. The company also said Kang focused on strengthening its organizational base, gradually increasing the number of company dancers. It expanded the long-stable quota of regular positions by 28.75% — including planned additions in 2026 — to improve job stability. Soon after her 2014 appointment, Kang also renamed the supporters’ group “KNB Society” and reorganized its operating system to institutionalize private sponsorship, the company said. Supporter membership grew from 40 in 2014 to about 100 in 2025, nearly a 2.5-fold increase. Sponsorship revenue rose from about 50 million won in 2014 to about 430 million won in 2025, nearly a tenfold increase, it said. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-26 14:06:20
  • Draft Manuscripts of Park Ji-won’s ‘Yeolha Ilgi’ Named Korean National Treasure
    Draft Manuscripts of Park Ji-won’s ‘Yeolha Ilgi’ Named Korean National Treasure The Korea Heritage Service said on the 26th it designated a set of draft manuscripts of “Yeolha Ilgi,” a travel account written by Park Ji-won after returning from Qing China in the late Joseon period, as a state-designated cultural heritage treasure. The “Draft Manuscripts of Park Ji-won’s Yeolha Ilgi,” held by Dankook University’s Seok Juseon Memorial Museum, preserves material from the earliest stage of the work’s production. Park (1737-1805) compiled the account after visiting Beijing and other areas, including Rehe. The agency said the manuscripts include an early original text — a book made from the author’s handwritten manuscript — produced after Park’s return from Qing. It said the many copied versions of “Yeolha Ilgi” preserved in Korea and abroad are considered to have been organized on the basis of this original, including the table of contents, order and text. The museum holds 10 types in 20 volumes of draft materials, but the agency said not all are believed to be Park’s own handwritten originals. The collection shows revisions and additions made by his descendants and literary associates. From the 10 types in 20 volumes, the agency designated four types in eight volumes as treasures as Park’s handwritten originals: two volumes of Yeonhaeng Eumcheong (Geon and Gon), which include Western learning-related terms and new content not found in the standard edition; one volume that includes Yeonhaeng Eumcheongrok 4 and Yeonhaeng Eumcheonggi 3, which the agency said reflects the earliest form of the original; four volumes titled Yeolha Ilgi Won, Hyeong, I and Jeong, an original text with a preface and paragraphs; and one volume of Yeolha Piseorok, which contains many passages not included in the standard edition. The agency said the draft set allows researchers to examine both the work’s original form and the process of revision and adaptation by Park and later hands. It said the manuscripts merit treasure status given the work’s influence as a leading Silhak text of the late Joseon period. The Korea Heritage Service also said it designated three other items as treasures: “Amitabha Buddha Preaching,” a Buddhist painting at Hyeondeungsa Temple in Gapyeong; a seated stone Vairocana Buddha at the former Jingusa Temple site in Imsil; and a seated stone triad of Sakyamuni Buddha with associated reliquary items at Sinheungsa Temple in Yangsan.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-26 13:54:18
  • South Korea issues copyright fair-use guide for generative AI training, including web crawling
    South Korea issues copyright fair-use guide for generative AI training, including web crawling Generative artificial intelligence developers and copyright holders in South Korea now have a new government guide on when copyrighted works may be used fairly to train AI models.  The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Copyright Commission said Thursday they will publish a guide titled “Copyright Law Fair Use Guide for Generative AI Training on Works” (the “fair use guide”). It will be available from 11 a.m. on the commission’s website.  The guide explains four factors considered when judging fair use in the context of generative AI training, including the purpose and character of the use and the type and use of the work. It also says AI training is not automatically excluded from fair use even when done for commercial purposes or through web crawling — the automated collection, sorting and storage of website content — and that decisions require an overall assessment of the factors.  To help readers understand the concept, the guide presents hypothetical examples of situations where fair use could be recognized and where it would be difficult to recognize. The ministry and the commission stressed the examples are not authoritative interpretations, and that courts will determine fair use based on specific facts. Even similar situations could lead to different rulings.  The ministry and the commission said they began preparing the guide after forming a special subcommittee under an AI-copyright system improvement consultative body in September last year. They conducted a survey of AI developers and rights holders from Oct. 13 to Nov. 2, held interagency consultations for about three months starting in November, and released a draft at a public briefing on Dec. 4. They said they reviewed and reflected feedback and expert discussions gathered during the comment process.  The government said it will strengthen policy support so rights holders and the AI industry can better anticipate and respond to copyright issues that may arise as generative AI spreads and training data use expands.  At a meeting held Thursday morning at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, and National AI Strategy Committee Vice Chair Lim Moon-young agreed to work together on institutional improvements and support programs aimed at coexistence between the AI and cultural industries.  The culture ministry said it plans to build a foundation for providing and distributing rights information so users can verify accurate copyright rights-management information and, when needed, sign licensing agreements. The goal is to reduce transaction costs involved in identifying rights holders for training data.  The science ministry said it will link a copyright rights-information system with private data marketplaces through an integrated AI training data supply system. It also plans to promote transactions in works used as training data, including applying research and development tax credits to the cost of purchasing AI training data.  The culture ministry also said it will strengthen the basis for expanding the use of public works as AI training data. It added new categories “Type 0” and “AI Type” to the Public Nuri free-use license marking standards and said it will work with relevant ministries to broaden application of the new categories to public works managed by each ministry and agency.  Choi said the guide will be updated to reflect new court decisions and technological developments. “We will continue to do our best so that protecting creators’ rights and the lawful use of works by AI models can remain in balance,” he said.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-26 11:03:22
  • Arts Council Korea, 10 Partners Form Network to Expand Children’s and Youth Theater
    Arts Council Korea, 10 Partners Form Network to Expand Children’s and Youth Theater Arts Council Korea, known as ARKO, signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding with 10 organizations on the 24th at the ARKO KkumBat Theater to promote children’s and youth arts and expand awareness of its value. Participating organizations include the Gwangjin Cultural Foundation, the National Children and Youth Theater Company, the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (Korea), the Geumcheon Cultural Foundation, the Nowon Cultural Foundation, the Bucheon Cultural Foundation, the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, the Yongin Cultural Foundation and the Jongno Cultural Foundation. Under the agreement, the organizations will cooperate on developing works and co-producing projects for children and teens; jointly planning and operating programs at performance venues for young audiences; and exchanging human, material and other resources to broaden access to cultural and arts experiences for children and youth. ARKO said the partnership is expected to connect areas that had been run separately — creation support, venue operations and festival management — into a more integrated system. In particular, works selected for the 2026 Arts Support Program for Children and Youth will be presented in coordination with children’s theaters, ARKO said. ARKO also plans to pursue practical, field-focused cooperation through creation and production projects led by the National Children and Youth Theater Company and the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (Korea), along with joint efforts tied to programming at children’s performance venues. ARKO Chairperson Jeong Byeong-guk said the agreement is “a starting point” for more closely linking creation, distribution and audience access through cooperation among children’s and youth arts organizations. He added that ARKO will continue working toward a sustainable cooperation model so children and teens can experience art in everyday life, reflecting voices from the field. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-25 17:12:16
  • Samsung TV Veteran Lee Seung-hyeon Announces Bid for Seoul Mayor
    Samsung TV Veteran Lee Seung-hyeon Announces Bid for Seoul Mayor “ I will make Seoul’s heart beat strongly.” Lee Seung-hyeon, chairman of Infac Korea and a businessman often described as a “Samsung man,” made the pledge on the 25th as he formally announced his bid for Seoul mayor. He spoke at a book concert in Seoul’s Jongno district marking the publication of his book, “Make Seoul’s Heart Beat Again,” held at the Korea Buddhist History and Culture Memorial Hall. Lee said Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee told people in Seoul 34 years ago not to be intimidated, including in front of Japanese people, and that the message shaped him. Calling himself a CEO who can do business with anyone, Lee said he would “report” his ideas as the CEO of “Seoul Inc.” Born in 1958 on Eoryongdo, a small island in Wando County, South Jeolla Province, Lee worked as a Samsung Electronics representative in Japan and later served as the first PM group head for Samsung Electronics LCD TVs. He is credited with helping lift Samsung TVs to No. 1 in global market share. He now leads Infac Korea and also serves as senior vice chairman of the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation, a non-standing vice chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, and head of the lay association at Jogyesa Temple. Lee repeatedly argued that Seoul needs change. “Just as a heart must move to beat, Seoul must change,” he said, stressing innovation. He said what he learned from Samsung founders Lee Byung-chul and Lee Kun-hee was change and innovation, adding that a leader’s foresight and vision can determine the fate of a country and a company. He said that in the late 1990s, Samsung TVs were stacked in a corner of U.S. retail stores and sold to international students with limited means, but that he helped make Samsung TVs the world’s top brand. He also described himself as a key figure who laid the foundation for “electronics powerhouse” South Korea. Lee said Seoul has “lost its engine,” arguing that young people in their 20s and 30s are leaving for jobs in Gyeonggi Province and overseas. “Seoul has no middle,” he said, citing a lack of vision and good jobs, and warning that the city could “grow old and die” if nothing changes. He presented a plan to build a “world No. 1 Seoul,” listing seven major pledges: hosting the 2036 Summer Olympics in Seoul; creating “20-minute living zones,” including an underground bus terminal in Itaewon; joint public-private use of Seongnam Airport; attracting global corporate headquarters; establishing public boarding schools in northern Seoul; sharply easing regulations on ultra-high-rise mixed-use buildings; and building an AI trade center. Lee said an AI trade center would help small business owners use AI to do business worldwide without language barriers, and that self-employed people should be able to export anywhere around the clock. Attendees at the book concert included Ven. Wonmyeong, chief monk of Jogyesa Temple; Lee Ki-nam, a former justice minister; Yang Hyang-ja, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party; Choi Jae-hyung, a former Board of Audit and Inspection chairman; and Kim Yong, a chair professor at Paichai University. In congratulatory remarks, Yang said Lee was at the center when Samsung TVs “conquered” the global market, calling it history not only for Samsung but for the world. She described him as someone who steps forward even when the path is difficult and supports others even when it is painful. 2026-02-25 17:04:25
  • K-Food Gains Global Attention Alongside K-Content Boom, Report Finds
    K-Food Gains Global Attention Alongside K-Content Boom, Report Finds The Korean Wave has moved beyond a pop-culture fad, emerging as a strategic asset that boosts South Korea’s national brand and industrial competitiveness. According to the “2025 Global Hallyu Trend Analysis Report Based on Foreign Media and Social Data,” released on the 25th by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture Information Service Agency, K-food gained worldwide traction last year, riding the popularity of K-content such as the Netflix animated film “K-pop Demon Hunters,” known in Korean as “K-pop Demon Hunters (KDH).” The report reflects 5,608 stories from about 460 major overseas outlets, along with about 1.49 million Hallyu-related items collected from platforms including YouTube and X. The data covered October 2024 through September 2025. By sector, the global rise of “K-food” stood out. Along with core terms tied to popular and traditional dishes — including kimchi, soju, ramen and bibimbap — “chef” and “Squid Game” newly emerged as closely linked keywords. The report attributed that shift to Korean food being naturally featured on OTT platforms, including the cooking variety show “Culinary Class Wars” and the drama “Squid Game,” prompting renewed global attention. The report said “K-pop Demon Hunters,” which became a global hit, blended traditional cultural motifs such as grim reapers and dokkaebi with Korean elements including gimbap and ramen, helping the content’s ripple effects spread across industries, including traditional culture and K-food. It cited positive impacts extending into tourism and consumption, including an increase in foreign visitors to the National Museum of Korea and a surge in reservations for K-culture experience products. The drama “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” set on Jeju Island, also boosted demand for Jeju tourism after its Netflix release, the report said. It added that voluntary social media sharing — including the “My Own Gwansik Challenge” — was recognized as a case of local content going global. “Squid Game,” meanwhile, continued to generate industrial spillovers through global brand collaborations, wins at major U.S. awards shows and expanded OTT investment. After author Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the share of “K-literature” coverage rose by more than 30 percentage points from the previous quarter, the report said. “The Vegetarian” and “Human Acts” drew particular attention. Foreign media highlighted the symbolism of her being the first Asian woman to win the prize and said Korean literature had opened a new horizon in world literary history. In 2025, foreign media coverage related to Hallyu was highest in Asia (44%), followed by Europe (20.8%) and North America (16.9%), the report said. In most regions — including Asia, Europe, North America and Central and South America — K-pop accounted for the largest share. In Africa, “K-literature” ranked highest, while in Oceania, “K-film” led. By country, the United States, India, Argentina and Vietnam produced the most coverage. Japan showed a relatively higher share of “K-literature,” Vietnam of “K-drama,” and Brazil of “K-film.” The culture ministry said the report is significant because it integrates foreign news articles and social media data to provide a comprehensive big-data analysis — including coverage volume by continent, country and content type, shifts in keywords, sentiment analysis and network maps — and “quantitatively demonstrates the structure of Hallyu’s spread.” The report is available on the Culture Big Data Platform. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-25 09:45:24
  • Kim Tae-heon Elected Head of Korea Publishers Association, Pledges Book Fair Transparency
    Kim Tae-heon Elected Head of Korea Publishers Association, Pledges Book Fair Transparency Kim Tae-heon, CEO of Hanbit Media Co., was elected the 52nd president of the Korean Publishers Association. The association held its 82nd regular general meeting at 2 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Korea Press Center International Conference Hall and elected Kim to a three-year term. Kim won the most votes among 351 member companies that cast ballots, out of 519 eligible voting members. His pledges include strengthening publisher-led policy capacity, rebuilding cooperation with the public sector, boosting the public nature and transparency of the Seoul International Book Fair while improving its business performance, and establishing the fixed book price system and a fair publishing distribution order. “I will restore policy consultations with the government so the association can again play a central role in talks,” Kim said. He also pledged to build a joint response system against illegal copying. “We will strengthen the public nature and transparency of the Seoul International Book Fair and create a consultative structure involving multiple groups and publishers,” he added. Kim serves as CEO of Hanbit Media. He has also served as president of the Korea Publishers Association of Korea, a director of the Korea Publishing Industry Promotion Agency, vice president of the Korean Publishers Association, and head of the SBI program at the Korea Publishers Association of Korea. The nine members of the selection committee were Na Young-chan (Gijeon Research Co.), Kwon Hyuk-jae (Hakyeon Munhwasa), Joo Yeon-seon (EunHaengNamu Publishing), Kim Han-cheong (Dareun), Kang Il-woo (Pentacle), Lee Mi-rae (Cmas), Cho Hyung-joon (Saemulgyul), Ryu Won-sik (Kyomunsa) and Hong Young-tae (Business Books). * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-24 17:37:06
  • New Musical Jeokto Recasts Romance of the Three Kingdoms Through a Warhorse’s Eyes
    New Musical 'Jeokto' Recasts Romance of the Three Kingdoms Through a Warhorse’s Eyes “It’s not a familiar hero tale. It’s the story of the warhorses that carried those heroes,” lyricist and playwright Han Areum said Monday at a news conference at Daehakro Arts Theater in Seoul. “It starts with Jeokto’s birth, follows its life as a warhorse on the battlefield, and shows it growing through brutal reality and coming to understand life.” The original musical ‘Jeokto_History of the Reins and Saddle’ (3.7.~3.29. SH Art Hall) reinterprets the classic ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ from the viewpoint of a warhorse rather than a hero. Through the stories of horses that went unrecorded and were used up, it looks back on human life as something not unlike war. The production is one of the March premieres in the 18th Performing Arts Creative Stage Lab’s “New Works of the Year,” which opened in January and has reached its midpoint. Han said the reins and saddle in the work symbolize “power, the era and personal choice.” Citing “Lu Bu’s charge, Cao Cao’s power and Guan Yu’s loyalty,” she said the musical argues that “it’s not the strongest who survive, but those who endure to the end.” Asked why audiences should see it, Han said she hopes it prompts people to think about what they are running toward. “We, too, got here riding on someone else’s back,” she said. “I wanted to stage this piece so we could reflect on that humility.” The fourth lineup announced for the Creative Stage Lab includes ‘Jeokto_History of the Reins and Saddle’ as well as the plays ‘Tulip’ and ‘In the House Where I Lived,’ the original musicals ‘Joker’ and ‘ROGER,’ the dance work ‘I Have Been Bitten by a Dog,’ and the music program ‘An Old Man Who Lends Romance.’ The works will open sequentially between March 1 and 13 at major venues around Seoul’s Daehakro theater district, including Arko Arts Theater and Daehakro Arts Theater. ‘Tulip’ (3.1.~3.8. Daehakro Arts Theater Grand Theater) is set in a Tokyo household in the late 1920s and traces the marks war leaves on life and relationships through a character who has lost even family and name and lives under someone else’s identity. Director Jeon In-cheol said the play centers on a man who comes to an upper-class Tokyo mansion in the 1920s to find his missing son. He said it portrays how imperial violence destroys individual lives through a father who, instead of seeking revenge, must sacrifice himself for his child. ‘In the House Where I Lived’ (3.7.~3.15. Daehakro Arts Theater Small Theater) is set in the late 1970s and the present and tells the stories of women who did not fit into their era or society. Writer Ma Jeong-hwa said the story follows four women who do not belong in their respective societies — women who struggle to escape their circumstances, run away, cannot run away, or believe they now must run. Performance details for the 18th Creative Stage Lab are available on its official website and social media channels. Tickets can be booked through the Arko and Daehakro Arts Theater websites and NOL Ticket. 2026-02-24 17:30:57
  • Silla Gold Crown Exhibition Draws 285,401 Visitors at Gyeongju National Museum
    Silla Gold Crown Exhibition Draws 285,401 Visitors at Gyeongju National Museum Gyeongju National Museum said Monday that its special exhibition “Silla Gold Crowns: Power and Prestige,” which ended Feb. 22, drew a total of 285,401 visitors. The exhibition opened to the public on Nov. 2, 2025, and ran for 110 days through Feb. 22, 2026. The museum estimated average daily attendance at about 2,594. Attendance was capped at 150 people per time slot, or 2,550 a day, but every slot sold out, with more than 270,000 visitors coming during the run. The show also sparked an “open run” trend, with visitors lining up before the museum opened, popularizing the term “gold crown open run.” Boosted by the exhibition, the museum’s cumulative visitor total this year reached 401,683 as of Feb. 22, about 2.4 times the 169,464 recorded over the same period last year. The surge was also evident during the five-day Lunar New Year holiday period (2. 14.~2. 18.). Even with the museum closed on Lunar New Year’s Day, attendance totaled 72,005. “The golden culture of Silla is a defining feature of Silla culture,” the museum said, adding that it plans to hold related exhibitions every 10 years by compiling research findings from Korea and abroad, aiming to make them signature shows for the museum and for Gyeongju. In the next exhibition, the museum said it will broaden the scope of “gold crowns” in spatial and conceptual terms, presenting not only six Silla gold crowns but also a range of crowns from Korea and overseas. It also plans to expand beyond band-style crowns (帶冠) to include hat-style crowns (帽冠). Director Yoon Sang-deok said the museum will continue working to promote the excellence of Silla culture by actively staging special exhibitions in Korea and abroad. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-24 16:45:39