Changsha, capital city of central China's Hunan Province, has been awarded the title of the "2017 Culture City of East Asia" in a program established by China, Japan and South Korea in Beijing. [...] The three candidate cities were judged by an 11-member committee of experts in the fields of cultural exchange, cultural service system construction and intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance.

Baum + Whiteman food consultancy recently chose Kimchi, Korea’s traditional fermented vegetable dish, as one of the top food trends for 2016. According to Google, Bibimbap was one of 2015’s top five ‘rising’ foods by search query volume. And T.G.I. Friday’s—the north star of mainstream Americana—has even experimented with adding Korean tacos to its menus.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, affirmed in Laos on Monday their intention to implement the landmark bilateral settlement on the “comfort women” forced into Japan’s military brothels during the war by setting up a foundation this week designed to help the surviving victims.

An international touring group will bring one of the most traditional Korean love stories to life Sunday, July 17, on the Sunnyside High School stage. The performance of “Choon-Hyang,” a love story vaguely resembling “Romeo and Juliet,” will be performed by Theater Seoul, an English-language youth theater group whose members travel the world to sing and dance.

The Korean government views communication anchored in a respect for the core values of culture as the essential foundation for viable cooperation and partnership. Accordingly, the government is carrying out a nation branding campaign to enhance global understanding of Korea’s core cultural values.

Media can only become regional or global in a broadcasting regime that enables content to move freely beyond national borders. Regional broadcasting, which was restricted in the 1980s in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, now allows for the legitimate transfer of content across national borders. Within this framework, Japanese interaction with its East Asian neighbours can be viewed from two perspectives: politics and popular culture. The two are not mutually exclusive, but are driven by different forces.

The government has adopted "Creative Korea" as the new national slogan of Korea. The new slogan integrates values of Korea coming from traditional and contemporary culture and suggests a direction for the future, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Monday. The government will televise the promotional video through international media outlets such as CNN and BBC.