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Jhoo Dong-chan

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.

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People & Events

Gangnam District combines 4 major family fests into 1 large gathering

Long known globally as a playground for high-end fashion, tech conglomerates and sleek modern pop culture, Seoul’s southern district of Gangnam is shifting its focus toward grassroots community building this weekend. The Gangnam District Office said Tuesday that it will host the "2026 Gangnam Family Harmony Festa" Saturday, consolidating four previously separate annual events into a single, large-scale community gathering at Maru Park. Running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the streamlined event merges Gender Equality Week observances, the 37th Gangnam Children’s Writing and Drawing Contest, an all-family flea market and a multicultural festival into one unified program. District officials designed the combined venue to foster cross-generational engagement and promote social inclusivity within one of the capital's most densely populated urban hubs. The consolidation reflects a broader effort by local authorities in Seoul to streamline public programming while tackling social isolation. While Gangnam often projects an image of hypermodern luxury, local administrators face the challenge of se

Sep 1, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Gangnam District combines 4 major family fests into 1 large gathering
Companies

Pernod Ricard Korea launches 'Split Drinks' campaign promoting water with cocktails

Pernod Ricard Korea, the Korean unit of the French spirits group, said Tuesday it is launching its global responsible-drinking campaign called "Split Drinks" in Korea for the first time. The campaign builds on Pernod Ricard's long-running Drink More Water initiative, encouraging drinkers to pair cocktails with water at bars. Its centerpiece is a glass with a dual-chamber design, split into two sections — one for a cocktail, the other for water — allowing drinkers to sip both together to help pace their alcohol consumption while still enjoying a premium cocktail experience. The company is producing content for the campaign with Time Out Asia, a lifestyle magazine, and three Seoul bars recognized on the Asia's 50 Best Bars list: Zest, Bar Cham and Gong Gan. Each bar will create cocktails using Pernod Ricard brands, served in the dual-chamber glasses. The content will appear on Time Out Asia's digital channels, the bars' Instagram accounts and Pernod Ricard Korea's LinkedIn page. Later this year, major bars in Seoul will run programs letting customers try the Split Drinks format in pe

Sep 1, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Pernod Ricard Korea launches 'Split Drinks' campaign promoting water with cocktails
Companies

HiteJinro's nonalcoholic beer ad surpasses 20 mil. views in 30 days

HiteJinro Beverage said Tuesday that its advertising campaign for Terra Zero, a nonalcoholic beer-flavored drink, has drawn more than 20 million cumulative views in about a month, while cumulative sales of the product have topped 12 million units. The three-part campaign, released July 30, features comedian Kim Won-hoon and centers on the tagline "Why not." The ads spread quickly across YouTube, Instagram and other online platforms, drawing roughly 40,000 combined likes, comments and clicks, the company said. Kim has become a breakout star in Korea's recent wave of hyperrealistic comedy sketches, known for absurdist, deadpan humor drawn from everyday situations. Terra Zero reached 4 million units in canned-product sales within its first 100 days on the market before expanding into bottles, HiteJinro Beverage said. The campaign portrays the drink being consumed in a range of everyday moments — beyond the driving, pregnancy and health-focused scenarios typically associated with nonalcoholic beer — including ordinary Monday mornings and casual breaks, positioning Terra Zero as a "daily

Sep 1, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
HiteJinro's nonalcoholic beer ad surpasses 20 mil. views in 30 days
Companies

HLB's liver cancer therapy proves effective across all age groups in new study

HLB Group's liver cancer combination therapy showed consistent treatment benefits regardless of patient age, including in patients under 40, according to a new subgroup analysis to be presented this week at an international cancer conference. Elevar Therapeutics, HLB's U.S. subsidiary, will present an age-based post-hoc analysis of its global Phase 3 CARES-310 trial in a poster session at the International Liver Cancer Association's 2026 annual conference, running Thursday through Saturday at the Le Plaza Hotel in Brussels. The trial tested a combination of rivoceranib, an oral drug that blocks tumor blood vessel growth, and camrelizumab, an immunotherapy drug, in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer. Among patients under 50, median overall survival reached 21.5 months, versus 15.2 months for those on sorafenib, the standard comparator drug. Median progression-free survival — the time before the cancer worsens — was 5.5 months versus 2.7 months. Patients 50 and older saw similar gains, with overall survival of 23.9 months versus 1

Sep 1, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
HLB's liver cancer therapy proves effective across all age groups in new study
Travel & Food

Seoul redefines urban wellness with 100 top spots

From late-night temple meditation in a bustling business district to fine dining in a 500-year-old traditional courtyard, Korea’s capital is aiming to redefine how high-stress global travelers recharge. The Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled, Tuesday, the Seoul Wellness 100, a curated index highlighting 100 premier destinations designed to elevate the city as a major hub of high-end wellness travel. Selected through a rigorous evaluation process that narrowed down 217 public and expert nominations, the list breaks wellness down into three core pillars: "Rest" (52 spots covering meditation, nature therapy and stays), "Taste" (17 healthy culinary destinations) and "Style" (31 venues focused on beauty, spas and performing arts). The effort comes at a lucrative moment for global travel. According to industry projections, the global wellness economy is expected to balloon from $6.7 trillion to nearly $10 trillion by 2029. Crucially for city planners, international wellness tourists spend an average of $1,601 per trip — roughly 35 percent more than standard leisure travelers. To capture

Sep 1, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul redefines urban wellness with 100 top spots
Entertainment

Autumn on stage: Korea launches $3 mil. voucher drive to fuel live performance revival

Seeking to energize its performing arts scene and bridge a persistent regional cultural divide, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced a major ticket subsidy campaign Tuesday, releasing 220,000 performance vouchers valued at 10,000 won ($7.50) each. The 4.1 billion won initiative, backed by a supplementary government budget, runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30. It marks the second phase of a broader push to spur live entertainment attendance following an initial release in May. Starting Tuesday at 10 a.m., theatergoers can claim up to two vouchers per week across five major online ticketing portals, including Naver Booking, Yes24 and Ticketlink. The vouchers apply to a broad spectrum of live performing arts — including theater, musicals, classical concerts, traditional Korean music (known as "gugak") and dance — while excluding mainstream K-pop concerts and commercial pop dance shows. To prevent the nation's capital region from monopolizing cultural subsidies, officials designed targeted interventions for nonmetropolitan areas outside Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheo

Sep 1, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Autumn on stage: Korea launches $3 mil. voucher drive to fuel live performance revival
South Korea

Bingo card for the soul: Seoul uses small steps to help people step outside

When one resident signed up for a municipal outdoor initiative earlier this summer, taking a walk in the rain was not part of the plan. But after checking off a challenge to visit a nearby neighborhood garden, the experience offered a rare moment of solace. “If not for the challenge, it’s a place I never would have stepped foot in,” the participant later recalled in a city survey. “Stepping out into the rain with an umbrella felt unexpectedly wonderful, and watching others enjoy their stroll made me realize I need to get out of the house far more often.” That quiet epiphany is precisely what municipal officials are aiming for. Facing a growing national crisis of social disconnection and loneliness — a phenomenon exacerbated by rapid urbanization and changing family structures — the Seoul Metropolitan Government is leaning into a gamified strategy to coax isolated residents back into public spaces. City authorities announced Monday the second phase of the "365 Seoul Challenge," an initiative designed to ease chronic feelings of loneliness by transforming everyday outdoor act

Aug 31, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Bingo card for the soul: Seoul uses small steps to help people step outside
Travel & Food

Seoul unveils first-ever autumn night festival map

When the autumn sun sets over the Han River, the capital’s urban centers usually rely on bright neon storefronts and late-night eateries to fuel the city's nightlife. This season, municipal authorities are taking charge of the nocturnal landscape, launching an ambitious cultural campaign designed to turn the evening hours into economic engines. The Seoul Metropolitan Government released its updated seasonal "Seoul Festival Map," detailing a lineup of events from September through November. For the first time, city planners have carved out a dedicated "Night Festival" category. The strategic pivot aims to expand evening leisure choices for residents after work while extending tourist stay times to inject foot traffic into local neighborhood businesses. The initiative comes as local governments across Korea seek new avenues to boost domestic spending and support small merchants recovering from persistent economic headwinds. By bundling cultural programming with neighborhood commercial districts, city officials hope to capture tourism dollars that often evaporate once traditional daylig

Aug 31, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul unveils first-ever autumn night festival map
People & Events

Pikachu in hanbok: Pokémon powers up Korea's regional tourism drive

For millions of pop-culture enthusiasts around the world, catching ’em all is a lifelong pursuit. Now, Korea’s tourism authorities are betting that the world’s highest-grossing media franchise can help them capture the interest of a few million more international visitors. The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) signed a formal partnership with Pokémon Korea, Monday, to harness the global megabrand for regional travel promotion. By pairing Nintendo’s iconic pocket monsters with local cultural sites, officials hope to disperse tourist traffic beyond the heavily trodden streets of the capital and into the country's lesser-visited provinces. The centerpiece of the collaboration aligns with "Pokémon Mega Festa 2026," a global celebration marking the 30th anniversary of the franchise's origin. From Sept. 18 through Oct. 11, HiKR Ground — the KTO's multi-story immersive travel center in central Seoul — will undergo a total Pokémon takeover. Visitors navigating the venue's first three floors will encounter custom exhibitions and photo zones featuring Pikachu outfitted in traditiona

Aug 31, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Pikachu in hanbok: Pokémon powers up Korea's regional tourism drive
Travel & Food

Foreign tourist arrivals up 21.3% through July, driven by Japanese visitors

Korea welcomed 12.8 million foreign tourists in the first seven months of 2026, a 21.3 percent increase from 10.56 million during the same period last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday. Japanese travelers were a key driver. Through July, 28 percent of all Japanese people who traveled abroad chose Korea as their destination, the highest share on record and up 3.5 percentage points from a year earlier and outpacing the United States, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam as a destination for outbound travel. The number of Japanese visitors to Korea reached 2.28 million, up 18.8 percent, even as overall Japanese outbound travel grew at a more modest 4.1 percent to 8.14 million. Foreign tourist spending on credit and debit cards totaled 12.09 trillion won ($8.8 billion) through July, up 48.3 percent from 8.15 trillion won a year earlier. Officials attributed the Japanese travel boom partly to airlines shifting long-haul capacity to short-haul routes such as Korea amid high fuel costs, which pushed weekly Korea-Japan flight seats to 349,000, up 2.4 percent from the end of 20

Aug 31, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Foreign tourist arrivals up 21.3% through July, driven by Japanese visitors
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