Paintings and calligraphy works related to butterflies and spring flowers are on display at the National Museum of Korea starting April 10. The photo shows the ‘Painting of Flowers’ (화훼도, 花卉圖) by Joseon artist Shin Myeong-yeon (신명연, 申命衍) (1809-1886). (National Museum of Korea)
By Xu Aiying and Kim Young Shin
Museums across Korea are celebrating the new season by hosting exhibitions on many different...
A volunteer for the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) teaches elementary students about sanitation and hygiene, in Cambodia in December 2017. (KOICA)
By Kim Eun-young and Sohn JiAe
Official developmental assistance (ODA) aid that Korea gave last year to developing countries has totaled USD 2.2 billion, equivalent to around KRW 2.23 trillion. This figure puts Korea in 15th place among the 29 member states...
President Moon Jae-in (right) shakes hands with the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, at Cheong Wa Dae on April 11. (Cheong Wa Dae)
By Sohn JiAe
President Moon Jae-in met with Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on April 11 to share his opinions on global issues, including North Korea.
President Moon expressed his gratitude...
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will plant flowers in the shape of the Korean Peninsula on the grass at Seoul Plaza starting on April 13 to celebrate the upcoming Inter-Korean Summit. The photo is a digital image of the flowers that will be planted. (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
By Kim Young Deok and Kim Young Shin
White flowers will bloom in the shape of the Korean...
Yang Gwon Mo, a general manager from the Gwangju Call Center, and a representative from the Vietnamese Social Security (VSS) bureau gather during a workshop about how to run a call center, in Korea on April 10. (Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service)
By Park Hye Ri and Hahm Hee-eun
Korea has reached out to the Vietnamese government to share with it its know-how...
Chang Hoon (second from right), head of the Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change at the Korea Environment Institute (KEI), and Patricia Espinosa (center), executive secretary at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), attend the closing ceremony of the NAP Expo 2018, in Egypt on April 6. (Korea Environment Institute)
By Park Hye Ri and Hahm Hee-eun
Korea will host the...
Seoul will be host to many free weekend concerts this April. The photo above shows people enjoying a ‘Concert to be Watched Lying Down’ (누워서 보는 콘서트) at the Yeouido Hangang Park in April 2017.
By Lee Kyoung Mi and Kim Young Shin
Photos = Seoul Metropolitan Government
Seoul is welcoming the warmer weather by hosting a range of free weekend concerts for springtime picnickers...
As the 200 servings of halal food -- today, it's chiken tikka masala -- are sold out within an hour, Seoul National University (SNU) students face a sold-out sign in the Gamgol Cafeteria at Seoul National University (SNU) on April 10.
By Kim Young Deok and Hahm Hee-eun
Photos = Kim Sunjoo
Seoul | April, 12 2018
“Every single day, I eat halal food for my meals.”
Seoul...
President Moon Jae-in (right) shakes hands with his Slovak counterpart, President Andrej Kiska, prior to a summit at Cheong Wa Dae on April 10. (Cheong Wa Dae)
By Sohn JiAe
President Moon Jae-in held a summit on April 10 with his Slovak counterpart, President Andrej Kiska, currently on an official visit to Korea. The two leaders discussed ways to further develop bilateral...
The government of Korea has taken steps toward improving animal welfare, as the pet population and awareness of animal protection has increased across the country. (Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency)
By Hahm Hee-eun
With the steady increase in the number of households with animal companions, the Korean government has further improved animal welfare by revising the nation's Animal Protection Act.
According to a...
Director General of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Kim Kwang-woo (left) gives the Ambassador of Peace Medal, a medal awarded to Korean War veterans, to Burley Smith, one of the crew members on the U.S.’ SS Meredith Victory during the famous Hungnam Evacuation, on April 6.
By Kim Tae Won and Sohn JiAe
Photos = Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs
President Moon...
A performance of ‘Seongjuya Seongjuroguna’ (성주야 성주로구나), a collection of musical pieces from different shamanistic rituals, seongjugut (성주굿), from all across Korea, takes place at the Yeak-dang Theater at the National Gugak Center on April 5.
By Min Yea-Ji and Kim Young Shin
Photos = National Gugak Center
Seoul | April 5, 2018
In Korean folk mythology, there are house deities that protect different rooms, such as the Jowangsin kitchen...
Seoul’s public bike system, Ttareungyi, or 'Ding-a-ling,' is getting attention for its smart technology that it offers. In March this year, the registered number of people using this eco-friendly form of transportation exceeded 620,000, after just two and a half years since it was first set up in Seoul, in September 2015. (Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation)
By Hahm Hee-eun
Public bikes are...
President Moon Jae-in speaks during a luncheon with members of a special advisory committee on constitutional reform, at Cheong Wa Dae on March 13. (Cheong Wa Dae)
By Sohn JiAe
Across society, there have been outcries over the current Constitution, established in 1987, that, over the past three decades, people claim has become too outdated to handle all the changes facing politics,...
Stage director Cathy Rapin poses for a photo in front of the Dongyang Arts Center where 'Nine Little Girls' (Neuf petites filles), a play that celebrates the 10th anniversary of the foundation of Theatre Francophonies, is being staged, in Seoul on March 30. She introduces herself as 'a Korean stage director that transforms French works into Korean.'
By Jung Joo-ri and Kim Young...
President Moon Jae-in (left) and first lady Kim Jung-sook plant a pine tree at a garden near the Yeomingwan office building at Cheong Wa Dae to commemorate Sikmogil Arbor Day on April 5.
By Kim Hyelin and Kim Young Shin
Photos = Cheong Wa Dae
Every year, people celebrate Sikmogil Arbor Day (식목일) on April 5. It's a national celebration to promote trees, forests, tree-planting and gardening.
In 1946, the...
Mark Tetto, the first non-Korean honorary gatekeeper at Gyeongbokgung Palace, stands beside his fellow guards at an appointment ceremony at the palace's Heungnyemun Gate on April 1. (Lee Kyoung Mi)
By Lee Kyoung Mi and Lee Hana
Seoul | April 1, 2018
The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) appointed its first non-Korean honorary gatekeeper to guard Gyeongbokgung Palace on April 1. The appointee is Mark Tetto,...
President Moon Jae-in and the first lady assist a surviving victim of the Jeju Uprising down the stairs during the 70th commemoration for the victims of the Jeju Uprising, at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park on Jeju Island on April 3.
By Lee Hana
Photos = Cheong Wa Dae Facebook
On April 3, President Moon Jae-in paid his respects to the victims of...
A baekbi, a blank memorial stone, lies in Exhibition Hall 1 at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park. Its description says, 'Someday, this stone will be risen, inscribed with the proper word for Jeju 4.3.” (Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation)
By Kang Gahui and Kim Young Shin
Although the "Jeju 4.3 incident" saw the largest loss of life in Korea in the country's modern history, barring the...
Pope Francis’s most recent Urbi et Orbi given on Easter, April 1, includes wishes for harmony and peace on the Korean Peninsula, and hopes that the inter-Korean dialogue will bear fruit. The photo above shows the pope visiting Seoul in August 2014. (Korea.net DB)
By Kim Young Shin
Pope Francis expressed hope for a fruitful conversation about peace on the Korean Peninsula...