The Korea Times

Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026: Everything you need to know

This year's Seoul International Fireworks Festival is set for Saturday, with teams from Korea, the United States and Britain set to showcase fireworks displays unique to their respective countries. The festival, hosted by Hanwha Corp., is expected to attract over a million visitors, many of whom gather at Yeouido Hangang Park to enjoy the lightshow in its full glory. The collective anticipation is palpable, as Starbucks Yeouido Hangang Park seat packages offering panoramic views of the fireworks — priced up to 300,000 won ($220) — sold out in 30 seconds. Here are all the details you need. When is the festival happening? The fireworks festival will take place on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., with shows running from 8 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. Britain's Pyrotex Fireworx will kick off the show from 8 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., followed by the U.S.' Ace Pyro from 8:20 p.m. to 8:35 p.m. For the finale, Korea's Hanwha Corp.'s fireworks display will take place from 8:40 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. A five-minute break will take place between each performance. A pre-festival event is scheduled for Friday, from 1 p.m.

Aug 30, 2026By Kim Young-moo

Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026: Everything you need to know

Opinion

ZOOMER DIARIES Everything is rigged in 2026

Recently, Spain won the 2026 World Cup final against Argentina, a result that was widely celebrated as the public opinion on Argentina generally swung negative. Among the more justifiable points of criticism, such as racism and foul play, was a more interesting and less believable claim, that the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament had been rigged in Argentina’s favor. I don’t care much for the veracity of the claim than the existence of the claim itself. "Rigged" seems to have become an all-too-common excuse for anybody to fall back on, from election results to archaeological discoveries, and apparently now football. Baseless claims on the internet, of course, are not new. I remember reading conspiracy theories online for entertainment growing up: Area 51, anti-vaxxers, flat earthers. Back then, they were the collective laughingstock of the Internet, relegated to backwater Facebook forums. But I must admit, it’s not so funny now. Older conspiracy theories about chemtrails or the antivax movement revolve around the distrust of the unknown, whether it be new technology or new values. Tech

Jul 29, 2026By Kim Young-moo

[ZOOMER DIARIES] Everything is rigged in 2026

Opinion

ZOOMER DIARIES Gen Z horror has a face, and it's almost mine

I have been a longtime fan of horror, from slasher movies to analog horror Youtube series to even eldritch video games. During this search for new media to disturb and scare me, I have come to realize that Gen Z's idea of horror has begun wearing a face — and unconvincingly at that. Horror media is a reflection of societal fears of the time of its creation. Slasher movies of the 70’s and 80’s, for example, reflect the American phenomenon of high-profile serial killers and pushback against the sexual liberation of younger generations. Modern horror titles, such as “Midsommar” or “The Babadook,” focus on trauma, family and mental health instead. Amid this trend, there is a subgenre of horror that is widely known to Gen Z and has been incubating online for years, but is only now beginning to gain mainstream attention. It exists primarily in short-form horror skits on social media and indie Youtube channels, silently gaining millions of views from zoomers such as myself. For lack of a better term, I will call it “mimic horror.” The concept of mimics is one that has been bub

Jul 21, 2026By Kim Young-moo

[ZOOMER DIARIES] Gen Z horror has a face, and it's almost mine

K-pop

RESCENE named half-time performers for upcoming Man City vs. AT Madrid match

K-pop girl group RESCENE will take to the stage during an upcoming high-profile football match in the 2026 Coupang Play Series. Coupang Play on Wednesday announced RESCENE’s performance during the half-time show for the 2026 Coupang Series’ Manchester City vs Atlético Madrid match, set to take place at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Aug. 9. RESCENE, consisting of members Woni, Liv, Minami, May and Zena, debuted in 2024 with the release of their first album “Re:Scene" under The Muze Entertainment, a newly formed agency. The group went viral this year on social media with a video showing Woni and Minami’s Japanese “gyaru” style makeup — based on the Japanese subculture and its over-the-top makeup, clothes and hair — during a visit to Woni’s rural hometown of Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province. The video sparked widespread interest in RESCENE, as well as spawning memes. The group’s performance carries particular significance due to RESCENE’s passion for football. Most notably, the group streamed their reactions and commentary on Korea’s performance in the 2026 FIFA World

Jul 15, 2026By Kim Young-moo

RESCENE named half-time performers for upcoming Man City vs. AT Madrid match

Opinion

ZOOMER DIARIES Betting on the apocalypse

My friends and I have begun taking bets on when the apocalypse will happen. The years we picked did not matter so much as the fact that we all agreed that we would see it in our lifetime. In fact, everyone in my generation that I’ve talked to confesses almost shamefully that at the back of their mind, there is a sense that everything is going terribly wrong. The apocalypse, for our generation, can be best understood as — and sometimes at — an all-you-can-eat buffet. Every time I visit a buffet, a wave of nausea and dread washes over me. People rush past each other with dishes stacked with delicacies, from tropical fruits to steaming meat. The floors and tables are sticky with the memory of countless food spills past. Dishes of half-eaten food are whisked away by unseen waiters, presumably to be discarded by the truckload. While I bite down on the leg of a turkey and its juices run down my chin, a mother carefully divides her rationed bread and hands her starving child the bigger piece in Gaza, in Sudan, in Haiti. For environmentalists, the apocalypse is the still-rising GHG emissi

Jul 14, 2026By Kim Young-moo

[ZOOMER DIARIES] Betting on the apocalypse

Sports

The Korean hair tie behind Norway's Viking hero

Amid Norway's unexpected breakout success in the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup, all eyes are on Erling Haaland, who has become the viral poster child of his national team. While Haaland was already famous for his status as one of the best strikers in the world, the World Cup has brought widespread focus on the footballer’s striking features and imposing 1.95-meter frame that make him instantly recognizable on and off the field, even to first-time football fans. Of particular note is Haaland’s long blond hair, which he ties into a slicked-back bun during his games. This iconic hairstyle is helped along by KKNEKKI, a brand that has its roots in Korea. KKNEKKI, meaning yarn in Gyeongsang dialect, was created in Korea in 1987, incorporating Korea’s traditional artisan spirit into its production. It was later bought by the family-owned Norwegian group Bon Dep. The hair ties are made from woven polyester fabric and tied off with a plastic bead. The soft weave provides a comfortable and snag-free tie, especially for fragile and easily-damaged hair. There are over 700 colors to choose from, in

Jul 9, 2026By Kim Young-moo

The Korean hair tie behind Norway's Viking hero

Environment & Animals

Warmer seas bring endangered whale shark to Jeju coast

A fishing boat reported sighting a whale shark in the waters near Jeju Island, Wednesday. A video uploaded to fishing vessel Seungryong's social media account shows the distinct white spots and the broad head shape of a whale shark, estimated to be around 3 meters in length. While whale sharks are typically found in tropical waters, they have been sighted in waters near Korea in recent years, a trend attributed to warmer ocean temperatures as a result of climate change. Korean waters have traditionally been a crossroads for cold and warm ocean currents, but a 2020 study found that the sea surface temperature of Korean waters has been increasing nearly 2.5 times higher than the global average. As a result of climate change, the Kuroshio Current — the main source of heat from equatorial waters to Korea — has shifted northwards by roughly 1.7 degrees of latitude and continues to advance. Meanwhile, the North Korea Cold Current continues to weaken due to warming temperatures in subarctic regions. Consequently, sightings of subtropical oceanic species such as chub mackerel and bluefin tuna

Jul 2, 2026By Kim Young-moo

Warmer seas bring endangered whale shark to Jeju coast

Society

Searching for K-Sappho: LGBTQ+ people in Korean history

“I tell you / Someone will remember us / even in another time.” This three-line fragment of a poem is attributed to Sappho of Lesbos, a poet well-known for her wistful yet romantic musings on love. She is also the etymological origin of the term “sapphic,” and the more widely known “lesbian.” Sappho is a rare case of a historical figure that is widely agreed to have been part of the LGBTQ+ community. Historical figures, unless their sexualities are explicitly voiced, are often viewed through a lens of heteronormativity. Even considering shifting societal attitudes toward sexual orientation and gender expression, history yields proof that people have always been more complex than the comfortable binaries many believe in. Though not widely known or referenced, Korean history too features its own half-forgotten Sapphos, often mentioned only in passing but with enough consistent presence that they cannot be entirely overwritten — and when better than now to remember them? Warrior-poets of Silla Surviving records of Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935) showcase a different set of norms

Jun 22, 2026By Kim Young-moo

Searching for K-Sappho: LGBTQ+ people in Korean history

Films

Eerily nostalgic liminal spaces become destinations in Korea's crowdsourced 'Backrooms Map'

Horror movie "Backrooms" opened in Korea May 27, drawing in nearly 400,000 admissions in its opening week and quickly rising to the No. 2 spot in the box office amid heavy competition with highly anticipated blockbusters. "Backrooms" is a horror movie directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons and based on his miniseries on YouTube of the same title, featuring infinitely sprawling and vaguely nostalgic rooms and passageways — in-between spaces beckoning the foolish and the foolhardy to enter. While the iconic mildewed wallpaper and the hum of fluorescent lighting are hard to find, the aesthetic of liminality — of being in between destinations — is one that has resonated with many viewers. Following the movie's release, a crowdsourced "Backrooms Map" launched, allowing for intrepid urban explorers to visit spaces around Korea that seem transient and half-remembered. Liminal horror draws in younger audiences The concept of the Backrooms, originating in a post to an anonymous image board in 2019, is the face of liminal horror, a modern subgenre of horror that focuses around transitionary spa

Jun 4, 2026By Kim Young-moo

Eerily nostalgic liminal spaces become destinations in Korea's crowdsourced 'Backrooms Map'

Others

K-pop, K-film and K-food: Why not K-games?

Role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by French video game studio Sandfall Interactive and Hollow Knight: Silksong, the sequel to the critically acclaimed Hollow Knight, by Australian indie game studio Team Cherry were both released in 2025, marking a very memorable year for video games. Both titles were heralded as hallmarks in video game development, showcasing bold artistic choices, player-driven narratives and exploration of complex themes. Most importantly, however, the two games would continue to remain culturally relevant, spawning numerous inside jokes, memes and fan creations through most of the year — a remarkable staying power for a video game that few, if any, developed in Korea have yet to achieve. In recent years, Korea has become a cultural powerhouse in fields such as music, film and food, cultivating a loyal global fandom. Yet, the country has continuously struggled in the nascent video game market. It raises the question: Within the K-storm, why are there no K-games? How do games find cultural relevance? Video games have become a highly saturated market, with

Jun 2, 2026By Kim Young-moo

Kim YoungMoo

Read more

Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026: Everything you need to know

ZOOMER DIARIES Everything is rigged in 2026

ZOOMER DIARIES Gen Z horror has a face, and it's almost mine

RESCENE named half-time performers for upcoming Man City vs. AT Madrid match

ZOOMER DIARIES Betting on the apocalypse

The Korean hair tie behind Norway's Viking hero

Warmer seas bring endangered whale shark to Jeju coast

Searching for K-Sappho: LGBTQ+ people in Korean history

Eerily nostalgic liminal spaces become destinations in Korea's crowdsourced 'Backrooms Map'

K-pop, K-film and K-food: Why not K-games?

Top 5 stories