Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Ancient wisdom meets Gen Z humor at Seoul’s Buddhist pop-up
A humorous photo zone featuring a Buddha image wearing sunglasses is displayed at a pop-up store at I'Park Mall in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Buddhism may be rooted in millennia of tradition, but in Seoul, it’s getting a hip makeover complete with merchandise, memes and karma-cleansing stations.
Long seen as serious and solemn, Buddhism is being reimagined by Korea’s younger generation. A growing number of 20- and 30-somethings are reshaping ancient Buddhist practices into something modern, playful and healing.
The movement — dubbed "hip-bul," combining "hip" and with the Korean word for Buddhism — is turning religious ideas into a trendy lifestyle, mixing humor with heritage.
Dozens of young visitors flocked to a Buddhist-themed pop-up at I'Park Mall in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. However, they were not there to pray in silence or perform rituals. Instead, they came to enjoy a modern and witty take on Buddhist practices to help them kick start the year with a smile and a sense of relief.
Under the theme "May everything go as you say," the pop-up replaces heavy religious teachings with playfulness and humor, offering good-luck items and lighthearted displays designed to appeal to visitors in their 20s and 30s.
The event reflects a growing shift in Korea, where traditional culture is being incorporated into mainstream trends for younger people to express identities, seek comfort and find meaning.
Fueled by a desire to start the new year with light-hearted wisdom, the event’s popularity even rivaled that of nearby pop-ups dedicated to globally famous comics and games, proving that when tradition is reinterpreted with humor and creativity, it can stand toe-to-toe with modern fandoms.
Crowds of people gather at a Buddhist-themed pop-up store at I'Park Mall in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul
Beyond purchasing merchandise, visitors were drawn to hands-on experience zones designed to offer emotional healing and light-hearted reflection. One station invited guests to create their own good luck pouches inspired by traditional Korean crafts.
The most popular attraction was the "karma-clearing zone," where guests could symbolically cast off the weight of the past. Participants wrote down personal regrets or mistakes from the previous year on slips of paper and fed them into a paper shredder marked "clearing box."
"I wrote down all the bad karma and mistakes I made over the past year," a man in his 20s said. "Watching it get shredded and disappear made me feel like I could truly make a fresh start for the new year."
The trend reflects how many people find relief from daily stress by turning heavy spiritual ideas like karma into fun, hands-on experiences that are affordable, easy to share on social media and fit neatly into everyday life.
"We saw that content reinterpreting our own culture appeals just as much to the youth as global brands do," an I'Park official said. "In this event, we hope people can find both laughter and comfort as they look forward to their fortunes in the coming year."