Tag: Seoul

  • South Koreans contest to find out who is best at doing nothing

    South Koreans contest to find out who is best at doing nothing

    South Korea held one of the strangest competition in the world where contestants are judged for being best at doing absolutely nothing.

    In Seoul, more than 100 people gathered over the weekend to do nothing. Officially, the event is called Space-Out competition which was started by a visual artist, Woopsyang, as a protest against the country’s hyper-competitive society almost 10 years ago in 2014.

    The Space-out competition was founded by a visual artist who goes by the pseudonym Woopsyang, after she suffered severe burnout. 
    CNN

    She suffered severe burnout and this event provided her along with others a respite.

    Spectators vote for the participant who’s best at zoning out for 90 minutes without falling asleep, checking their phone or talking.

    Participants’ heart rates are monitored, while onlookers vote for their 10 favorite contestants. Whoever has the most stable heart rate among the 10 takes home the trophy.

    More than 4,000 people applied to participate in the competition while the 117 contestants ranged from a child in second grade to people in their 60s.
    This year’s competition was won by freelance announcer Kwon So-a, who took home a trophy shaped like the sculpture of “The Thinker.”

    Freelance announcer Kwon So-a won this year’s competition in Seoul and took home a trophy shaped like Auguste Rodin’s sculpture “The Thinker.” 
    Charlie Miller/CNN

    Doing nothing is “good for your mental health as well as your physical health because your body has to relax, but your body can only relax when your brain relaxes,” she said while talking to CNN.

  • ‘We are BulletProof’: BTS set to release a new album in June

    Korean pop group BTS’s agency, BigHit Music has posted a montage video on Twitter which hints that something special is coming soon. This video was first dropped at their concert, ‘Permission To Dance on Stage’ in Las Vegas.

    Their agency also posted an official statement on the fan community platform, ‘Weverse’ along with the teaser.

    “Hello. This is Big Hit Music. BTS will be back with another new album on June 10, 2022. Details on the new album will be provided in a separate notice at a later date. We look forward to your love and support for BTS’s new album. Thank you.”

    BTS dropped its last album, BE in November 2020 which includes its most listened song, Live Goes On, which depicted the impacts of covid-19 on human lives around the world.

    BTS just finished their Las Vegas Concert series, ‘Permission To Dance on Stage’ in The United States (US). The group performed for four days on the stage. According to the data compiled by the agency, around 624,000 fans joined the K-pop group BTS concerts series both online and offline.

    The agency official said, “According to Allegiant Stadium, BTS has been the one and only music act that has performed solo concerts at the venue four times in a row and attracted 200,000 people through four sessions of the show.

    “Permission to Dance on Stage” series was first launched in October last year in Seoul, Korea through Livestream. Then, they later performed in Los Angeles in November/December and then in Seoul in March 2022. BTS wrapped the concert series in Las Vegas this month.