[LIFE&CULTURE:Sep.30] [Reportage] Exploring the DMZ
An in-depth look at one of the world’s most fortified borders
Cutting across the midsection of the Korean Peninsula, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has ironically been the world’s most heavily militarized zone for the past 70 years. With more landmines buried than can even be determined, it is a “national border,” but one that no person can cross.Now a new wind is blowing into this space of total separation. With their military agreement on Sept. 19 of last year, South and North Korea agreed to develop measures to prohibit all military training in the DMZ region and turn it into a zone of peace.
[LIFE&CULTURE: Sep.9] Yo-Yo Ma plays peace concert at Korean demilitarized zone, Yo-Yo Ma ‘saves’ Korea with Bach’s cello suites
On Sunday, Chinese American cellist Yo-Yo Ma delivered his message of “I want Bach to save the world” to the Seoul audience.
Ma, 64, performed J.S. Bach’s six cello suites for solo cello as part of the Credia Park Concert at Jamsil in eastern Seoul, playing all 36 movements without an intermission in a 150-minute concert. The Bach Project began in August 2018 and has spread across 36 cities on six continents over a period of two years. “I want Bach to save the world,” Ma said in the belief that Bach’s music can heal and bring people together.
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will throw a concert along the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone next month to celebrate the first anniversary of the Joint Pyongyang Declaration, adopted by the leaders of the two Koreas last year, the culture ministry said Tuesday.
Set for Sept. 9 at Dorasan Station just south of the land border with North Korea, the DMZ Peace Concert, with the theme "Culture Connects," will bring together musicians from many different genres for a joint performance.
How K-pop is luring young North Koreans to cross the line
SEOUL — As a little girl, Ryu Hee-Jin was brought up to perform patriotic songs praising the iron will, courage and compassion of North Korea’s leader at the time, Kim Jong Il.
Then she heard American and South Korean pop music.
“When you listen to North Korean music, you have no emotions,” she said. “But when you listen to American or South Korean music, it literally gives you the chills. The lyrics are so fresh, so relatable. When kids listen to this music, their facial expressions just change.”
North Korea's 'hotel of doom': The tallest abandoned building in the world
In 1987, ground was broken on a grand new hotel in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. The pyramid-shaped, supertall skyscraper was to exceed 300m in height, and was designed to house at least 3000 rooms, as well as five revolving restaurants with panoramic views.
The Ryugyong Hotel -- named after a historical moniker for Pyongyang meaning "capital of willows" -- was supposed to open just two years later. But it never did.
While the structure reached its planned height in 1992, it stood windowless and hollow for another 16 years, its naked concrete exposed, like a menacing monster overlooking the city. During that time the building, which dwarfs everything around it, earned itself the nickname "Hotel of Doom."
Inside North Korea: What life for a rare foreign student in Pyongyang reveals about the reclusive country
Alek Sigley was, in many regards, just like any other 29-year-old postgraduate student.
But there was one key factor that set him apart: he was studying in North Korea, one of the world's most isolated, secretive nations.
Until recently, the Australian native was pursuing a master's degree in Korean literature at Kim Il Sung University in the capital, Pyongyang.