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THE SOCIAL organization of South Korea is in disarray; the Sewol ferry incident, President’s corruption scandal and subsequent impeachment, and *chae-bol’s** role in the corruption scandal has seriously undermined social justice and principle of noblesse oblige. These social chaos mean “Hell *Joseon*” mentality has gained leverage over many young generations. “Hell *Joseon*”. It is a neologism that has spread like wild fire from its first usage in 2009 through internet communities to indicate abhorrence for the motherland. It combines hell and *Joseon*, a Korean Kingdom that existed for approx
Culture
Lee Ha-yun
2017.08.25 22:34
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LAST MONTH, there was the international conference, “Computing in the 21stCentury: Human and Machine Working as a Team” held at Yonsei University. The conference dealt with advanced technologies that will increasingly have a major influence on people’s daily lives in the future. One of the audiences asked what skills the future society would require and how people could prepare. At the core of historical changes were always technological innovations. Advanced technology causes huge changes in social and economic structures around the world. Many experts predict the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Culture
Lee Kyung-chul
2016.12.08 13:14
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Album: XIGNATURE Kim Jun-su, South Korean singer and a talented musical actor released his new album XIGNATURE on May 30, 2016. “I filled this album with my own musical colors and as the title shows it contains my signature music,” said Kim in his interview with the The Yonsei Annals. The album contains music that only Kim can do. XIGNATURE features 13 tracks with various genres in a single album; each genre shows extraordinary expertise. For example, “Rock the World,” one of the two title tracks, is a dynamic hip-hop dance song. It is powerful and energetic with strong background music. Howev
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Jo Eun-ho
2016.12.08 12:44
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“WHEN WE feel sad, let’s do laundry together.” Why would people do the laundry when they feel sad? The answer is shown in the musical Bbal-lae. Bbal-lae was first performed in 2005. Widely loved by audiences, it has been performed over 3,600 times. Now, the musical is heading for its 4,000th performance. Those who feel weary these days or need to recover from their harsh daily reality are invited to the musical. Bbal-laesymbolizes people’s painful memories, therefore doing the laundry means alleviating the pain from those moments. Come and enjoy the calming fragrance of the aromatic softener t
Review
Jo Eun-ho
2016.11.08 15:39
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Album: The Heart Speaks in Whispers British singer and songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae is back with her new album, The Heart Speaks in Whispers, released on May 13. Six years have passed since the release of her latest album, The Sea. This new album has a very special meaning. Corinne Bailey Rae successfully made her debut in 2006, but had briefly stopped her music career in 2008 due to her loving husband’s tragic death. Because of her deep mourning, she felt as if happiness was lost forever. However, she finds happiness in her life again a few years later as sheunites with Steve Brown, a close
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Jo Eun-ho
2016.10.06 01:09
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WE CONSTANTLY think about how we can improve our lives. But how many of these thoughts become reality? Often they remain mere fleeting fancies, and nothing comes of them. However, Thomas Heatherwick, English designer and founder of Heatherwick Studio, tirelessly worked to turn his creative ideas into masterpieces. Since he couldn't do this alone, he founded a special group, Heatherwick Studio, consisting of 180 people all eager to bring ideas to reality. Heatherwick Studio presents a very special exhibition in D Museum, Seoul; now, everyone is invited to a space full of world-changing ideas.
Review
Jo Eun-ho
2016.09.07 01:45
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“AND THEY all lived happily ever after.” Most fairy tales end with such a happy ending. In contrast to people in the real world, characters in fairy tales seem to be carefree. At least, they are never concerned about how they could earn a living and seem to be in bliss by falling so easily in love. Furthermore, most fairy tales seem to guarantee that “anyone can be anything”, as the saying goes in the Disney movie Jutopia. Yet, the reality is not that simple; life is very much unfair in many aspects and, sometimes, financial conditions prevail over love. Then one might wonder, what if fairy ta
Review
Lee Kyung-chul
2016.06.16 17:31
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Album: Splendor in the GrassIn the modern world, everyone seems too busy. The album Splendor in the Grass, by Pink Martini, suggests that people should stop for a while to take a look around their surroundings. Most of the songs in the album consists of peaceful melodies accompanied by an orchestra. The title song of the album, “Splendor in the grass”, proposes that listeners should take a rest by lying on the lawn and listening attentively to the sound of growing grass. Just as the lyrics express, “Maybe I am a hopeless dreamer, maybe I have got it wrong … life has been moving oh so fa
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Lee Kyung-chul
2016.05.11 00:23
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HAVE YOU ever tasted Italian pizza, Chinese noodles or Japanese sushi? South Korea is also blessed with a plethora of tasty traditional foods, such as bi-bim-bap*. Instead of merely going to a restaurant and ordering such foods, there is another unique way to taste them. The non-verbal performance, Bi-bap presents a cooking competition involving food around the worldthrough impressive beats and b-boy dancing. Ever since the show was first performed in 2012, it has been massively successful in attracting not only the South Korean public but also foreign visitors who yearn for an exotic experien
Review
Lee Kyung-chul
2016.04.12 17:24
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PEOPLE ARE deeply running out of breath these days. The world is increasingly becoming more competitive, brutal and hectic. So, where exactly do people go to find refuge? When do they have the time to enjoy their lives or to express their creativity, and, take a step back to breathe a little? Not to worry, because snack culture is ready for those who do not have time for a full-course meal but are eager to make up for it with a delectable snack. The world of snack culture offers a legion of entertainment, information, and culture; all compacted and designed to be revealed in just a few minutes
Culture
Kim Yeon-seung
2016.03.06 16:38
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Album: Scene From a MemoryReleased in 1999, the album Scene From a Memory is the 5th album of Dream Theater. Dream Theater has pioneered the progressive metal genre, which avoids the common structure of popular music that is mainly composed of verse and chorus. Songs in the album are characterized by music that last for more than 20 minutes. With the long duration of the songs in the album, the complex themes are developed in more detail. The album is comprised of 12 tracks that are interconnected with each other. Such characteristics enable the album to narrate an entire complex story. These
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Lee Kyung-chul
2016.03.04 16:27
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Album: Welcome to the Age of My BodyThis month’s theme is all about sexuality. It is about embracing it, feeling comfortable with it, and valuing it. Mary Lambert’s Welcome to the Age of My Body offers a nice start to the theme. The album was released in 2014 by Mary Lambert, a Seattle-based singer-songwriter who often deals with the topic of gay rights. Her Christian upbringing had made her struggle with her lesbian sexuality. But in her song “She Keeps Me Warm,” she speaks out powerfully and courageously by completely admitting to and embracing her sexuality. Songs with strong voices and mes
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Kim Yeon-seung
2015.12.06 00:01
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LET’S BE completely honest. Who has never taken a selfie? Never participated in a trend so ubiquitous that 93 million selfies are taken every day, according to CBS local? What seemed like a passing fad has become more of a cultural phenomenon, stimulating the creation of hundreds of apps for modifying selfies and the “selfie stick,” a stick that enables a selfie from farther away, to become one of the most omnipresent items of 2015. How did this prevalent trend come about and why are so many people seemingly addicted to this simple activity? Following the footsteps of a selfieA selfie is “a ph
Culture
Kim Yeon-seung
2015.12.05 23:59
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KOREA IS blessed with a plethora of creative and individualistic performances. Nan-ta, for one is a great example of an original Korean performance well known all over the world. The Original Drawing Show continues this legacy. As the world’s first nonverbal performance combining visual arts and dance, The Original Drawing Show displays an unprecedented form of an original stage piece. Since the show’s first appearance in 2004, it has been massively successful in entertaining the Korean public as well as international visitors looking for exotic experiences in Korea. Some theater-going fans mi
Review
Kim Yeon-seung
2015.11.05 03:29
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Album: Quel qu’un m’a ditJust when you thought you could not love France any deeper, fall in love all over again with Carla Bruni’s debut album, full of tunes that are sweet as honey-like molasses slowly dripping. In the album, widely acclaimed songs such as “Quel qu’un m’a dit,” “Toute le monde,” “Le ciel dans une chambre” are sung by the former first lady of France, Carla Bruni. Even though the album was released in 2002, more than 10 years ago, the classical composition with the lyrical sounds of the guitar is impossible to become outdated. It was a nation-wide hit since its release, with t
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Kim Yeon-seung
2015.10.08 21:10
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HAVE YOU ever fully basked in the splendor of Korea’s high Rocky Mountains, force of the river valleys, and the melodious trickles of waterfalls? Have you maybe even felt the specific emotions of joy that are solely existent in the Korean vocabulary, like heung or shin-myung? Become swept away with a kaleidoscopic array of hues on Korea’s beautiful traditional wear, han-bok? In this particular Korean traditional dance performance, called Bae-bi-jang-jeon or The Story of Secretary Bae, viewers might peek at the idea of what experiencing Korea really might be. The epic chant, pan-so-riThe origin
Review
Kim Yeon-seung
2015.09.10 09:46
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“THE OPERA ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants, or the concierge. No, he existed in flesh and blood, though he assumed all the outward characteristics of a real phantom, that is to say, of a ghost.” -Gaston LerouxThere have been many cases in which novels are transformed into different genres, such as movies, musicals, and so on. In most cases, the original novels
Review
Namgyung You-kyung
2015.06.08 23:00
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MYSTERY DRAMAS are always interesting. In fact, mystery dramas have been loved by millions of people for a long period of time as these dramas stimulate people’s curiosity and enable them to imagine their own plot for the rest of the story. In this way, a mystery drama with a reversal is guaranteed to keep audiences on the edge of their seats… The play Hangover: the Start of the Game, is that very play which will stimulate your curiosity and keep you imagining about what is to happen next. Why would I kill my beloved wife? Chul-hee is a cook who loves his wife, Su-hyun, a lot. To celebr
Review
Namgyung You-kyung
2015.05.11 20:07
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Album: Beginning of the Long JourneyThe album Beginning of the Long Journey is Epitone Project’s mini album, which was released on Feb. 24, 2009. Epitone Project is an electronic music group with one composer, Cha Se-jung; and is currently one of the hottest groups on the indie scene. Through this album, Epitone Project attracted the public’s attention and sold more than twenty thousand albums without any publicity. This album is also well known for having songs with sensational melodies that bring together pure passion and dazzling sentimentality. Especially, one of the songs on the album, “S
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Namgyung You-kyung
2015.04.01 18:42
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“TO TELL the truth, the peasant subjects suit as there were no painters who studied paintings that focused on people.This quote by Jean-François Millet best portrays what Millet was trying to convey through his paintings. Born in the 19C, Millet concentrated on not only the nature surroundings in peasants’ working life, but also in the details of people. It was an unusual phenomenon at that time in the artistic community as there were no painters who studied paintings that focused on people.Bicentennial anniversary of Jean-François MilletThe year 2014 was Millet’s 200th birthday.
Review
Namgung You-kyung
2015.03.02 15:31