Hashima Island. Courtesy of Museum of Japanese Colonial History in Korea A UNESCO committee has expressed “strong regret” over Japan’s management of its World Heritage Sites, including Hashima Island, citing the country’s failure to keep its earlier promise to honor victims of wartime forced labor, primarily Koreans and Chinese.   On July 22 (local time), the World Heritage Committee (WHC) held a virtual session adopting a resolution calling on the Japanese government

Photo by Shim Hyun-chul ● Millennials, Gen Z view North Korea as a poor, needy neighbor. ● Unlike older South Koreans, the younger generation is lukewarm about unification.        Recent public opinion surveys found that North Korea is a flash point that drives a rift between South Korea’s young and old generations.   Unlike their parents and grandparents, younger Koreans are not eager to see their homeland reunited and some are eve

gettyimagesbank With a hegemonic war over semiconductor production and distribution being waged, Korea, home to two memory chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, is responding by aiming to become a world-leading chip powerhouse by 2030.   In May, President Moon Jae-in unveiled his “K-semiconductor” blueprint to firmly place Korea within the world’s largest semiconductor supply chain – for both memory and system chips – by 2030 in cooperation with local chip com

News that the Samsung Group’s heirs pledged to donate late Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s vast art collection to state-run museums made headlines both inside and outside the country in late April.   The National Museum of Korea (NMK) and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) became the biggest recipients of the donation. The NMK received some 21,600 works and the MMCA nearly 1,500 pieces.   Now, the long-awaited exhibitions showcasing the creme de la c

A page of "Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon." Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration “Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon,” a valuable 15th century handbook of the Korean alphabet “Hangeul,” designated as National Treasure No. 70, will be sold as NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The announcement came recently from the Kansong Art Museum in Seongbuk District, Seoul, which holds an original copy of the manuscript in its collection.   This will be the first time that one of Korea’s National Treasur