Hangang River Festival Outdoor enthusiasts should check out the Hangang River Festival, running through Sunday at Yeouido, Banpo and Ttukseom Hangang Parks. Kayaking and river cruises as well as fireworks are some of the highlights, in addition to music performances. For more information, go to festival.seoul.go.kr/hangang. Gyeonggi Ceramic Biennale Mark your calendar for the 2024 Gyeonggi Ceramic Biennale in Icheon, a city in Gyeonggi Province known for ceramics. Through Sunday, 26 ar

Travel Oct. 18, 2024

Korean craft is making inroads in Germany. The Berlin Craft-expansion Fair is the latest highlight for Cheyul, a Korean luxury handcraft brand invited to participate with a collection that is definitively Korean in origin but deeply universal in aesthetic appeal. The inaugural fair was held from Wednesday to Saturday. Cheyul’s 25-piece collection ranging from lacquered furniture to a black porcelain moon jar -- alongside 20 pieces from nine Korean craftspeople -- made up close to half of t

Arts & Design Oct. 15, 2024

세계적인 프랑스 명품 브랜드 루이비통이 이달 23일부터 내달 1일까지 제주도에서 국내 VIP 대상으로 일대일 맞춤형 ‘프라이빗 쇼핑’ 행사를 연다. 13일 명품 업계에 따르면, 루이비통은 100~500명의 VIP들을 서귀포시 5성급 호텔인 JW 메리어트 제주 리조트 & 스파로 초청한다. 항공·숙박비는 루이비통의 부담이고 VIP의 상품 구매는 필수다. 올해 선보인 ‘2025 봄·여름(SS) 컬렉션’을 비롯한 신상품 등이 대상이다. 앞서 이번 비공개 행사가 이틀간 VIP는 물론 연예인 등 유명인과 언론인과도 함께 진행될 것이라는 관측은 사실과 다른 것으로 파악됐다. 다만 행사에 참석하는 정확한 VIP 인원은 확인되지 않았다. 루이비통은 자사 VIP 선정기준을 구체적으로 공개한 적이 없다. 루이비통이 제주에서 대규모로 비공개 행사를 개최하는 건 이번이 처음이다. 가장 최근 행사로는 작년 4월 서울 잠수교 &ls

한국어판 Oct. 13, 2024

Louis Vuitton has invited Korean VIPs on an exclusive 10-day shopping trip to the five-star JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa, starting Oct. 23, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The French luxury house will pay for flights and accommodations for between 100 and 500 VIP guests, who will be asked to purchase at least one showcased item, among them the brand’s latest spring-summer 2025 collection revealed earlier this year. The sources confirmed that the event wouldn&

Culture Oct. 13, 2024

Reduce, reuse, rehydrate At A Cup of Dungji in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, you can enjoy a delicious drink while reflecting on the environment. Though it may seem like any other cafe with its warm wooden interior and sunlight pouring through large windows, A Cup of Dungji is a special space run by the zero-waste brand Sojunghan Everything. Here, you can explore a vegan menu and learn about resource-recycling methods. All dishes are vegan, with no eggs, butter or milk used. Drinks that usually require

Culture Oct. 11, 2024

Fall blooms in Jangseong Check out fall flowers -- everything from cosmos to sunflowers, verbenas to zinnias -- all in their full glory in Jangseong-gun, South Jeolla Province. For the past nine years, the Jangseong Hwangryong River Fall Flower Festival has been one of the major local attractions. The festival, which saw over 60,000 visitors on its first day, runs for nine days through Sunday. For more details, visit jangseong.go.kr. Gimpo Laveniche Festival This year’s Gimpo Lav

Travel Oct. 11, 2024

Negotiations between a US museum and the South Korean government are dragging out over the terms on which the museum will lend a 14th-century Buddhist reliquary to Korea, as the two sides follow up on their February agreement to push for a temporary loan. According to Rep. Lee Ki-heon of the Democratic Party of Korea on Thursday, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has yet to say what it thinks of a June proposal by the Korea Heritage Service that it would immediately return the Buddhist reliquary

Culture Oct. 10, 2024

A two-day forum on promoting intangible cultural heritage will take place next week in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, hosted jointly by the Korea Heritage Service and UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific office handling intangible cultural heritage. The Oct. 17-18 meeting, held annually and now in its eighth edition, will explore how peoples have maintained their self-identities over migration and what intangible cultural heritage could do to help advance cultural diversity. Over 30 participants from 14

Arts & Design Oct. 10, 2024

A 12-week English program exploring Korean heritage from food to architecture will take place every Saturday through Nov. 30 for interested foreign nationals living in Korea, according to the Korea Heritage Service. The program, launched last week, features a series of lectures by faculty of the agency-run Korea National University of Cultural Heritage at such historic places as the main Joseon-era (1392-1910) palace Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul. A field trip to Jinkwansa, a

Culture Oct. 9, 2024

The Korean language and its writing system Hangeul are not easy to learn, let alone teach. Two non-Korean scholars have shown that that notion might be changing -- and the Korean government agrees. The two scholars will be awarded the Order of Culture Merit, the highest national recognition for contributions in the field of culture, at an official ceremony marking Hangeul Day on Wednesday morning in Sejong City. The city is named after King Sejong the Great (1418-1450), the fourth Joseon king wh

People Oct. 8, 2024

An annual festival run by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism will officially host performances by Jogye Buddhist followers for the first time in the festival’s history. Now in its fifth year, the Buddhist Culture Festival, running Oct. 17-24, includes a series of performances -- singing and dancing -- delivered by nine teams of 60 Jogye followers on Oct. 19 at the Historic Cultural Memorial Center of Korea Buddhism at the Jogyesa complex in Seoul, the headquarters of the nation’s lar

Arts & Design Oct. 7, 2024

The biannual festival at the four biggest Joseon-era (1392-1910) palaces in Seoul will start a five-day run Wednesday packed with performances from ballet to classical music and musicals. The K-Royal Culture Festival, held in spring and fall, will host performances at Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung. At Gyeongbokgung, “The Royal Concert: Ballet and Sujecheon” will be performed Oct. 10-13, showing a blend of ballet and the royal court music of Joseon. On O

Arts & Design Oct. 4, 2024

Cultural objects like a white porcelain moon jar will be reimagined with a BTS theme, Hybe, the label behind the K-pop superstars, announced Friday. Fourteen items decorated with BTS lyrics and designs linked to the seven-member boy band have been created in the latest collaboration between Hybe and the state-run National Museum Foundation of Korea, Hybe said. A white porcelain moon jar and a seated pensive bodhisattva and are some of the items to be made public Wednesday, which is also Hangeul

K-pop Oct. 4, 2024

A government ceremony officially recognizing those who have helped promote Korea’s writing system Hangeul will be held on Hangeul Day, which is recognized each year on Oct. 9. Miyuki Hamanoue, a professor of the Korean language at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan, and Dafna Zur, a professor teaching Korean literature at Stanford University in California, will receive the Order of Culture Merit, the highest recognition by the Korean government, according to the Ministry of

Culture Oct. 4, 2024

Nighttime view of Gongsanseong A nighttime stroll around the storied Gongsanseong is perfect for those wanting a leisurely walk that is also enlightening. The fortress in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, will be lit up between 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. through Oct. 10. Installations will also give a glimpse into the Baekje Kingdom (18 BC to 660 AD). Visit ggm-art.kr. Wild chrysanthemums Check out a wide variety of chrysanthemums in full bloom at the Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong, G

Travel Oct. 4, 2024