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Kim Se-jeong

Korea Times K-Culture Reporter

I am covering trend, food and fashion. Previously, I covered diplomacy, city, environment and unification.

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Music

'Squid Game' composer to premiere ‘Inferno’ with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Composer Jung Jae-il, known for his haunting music in films and dramas such as "Parasite" (2019) and "Squid Game" (2021), is stepping into the classical spotlight with his first original orchestral creation written for the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO). The 15-minute piece, titled "Inferno," will premiere Thursday and Friday during SPO’s concerts at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul. Next month, it will make its America debut during the orchestra’s U.S. tour, including a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City. "What set this project apart from my previous works was that everything had to start and end with the music itself,” Jung, 43, said during a press conference on Tuesday. “In the process, I endured days of despair that felt like hell.” The composition, structured in four movements, draws inspiration from the final lines of Italo Calvino’s novel "Invisible Cities" (1972) and depicts a descent into inferno, then ascends toward peace through orchestral structure. Despite his impressive resume, the project pushed Jung to his limits. Without formal education in classical mu

Sep 23, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
'Squid Game' composer to premiere ‘Inferno’ with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
People & Events

How opera director Ahn Joo-eun uses music to connect world

When Ahn Joo-eun left for Russia in 2000 after one year at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the desire for the music student was to seek independence from her famly. "I didn't let my parents know that I was leaving Italy. And I kept it like that for two years," Ahn, a 45-year-old opera director, told The Korea Times during an interview in Seoul Monday. She studied vocal music at a university in Novosibirsk, a city in central Russia. Looking back, she believes that the random decision to move to the Russian city laid the foundation for her career as an opera director who is also actively connecting Korea with the wider world through music. When Ahn arrived in the Russian city over two decades ago, she didn't speak a word of Russian. “I didn’t leave my room for three days until I had memorized the alphabet," she recalled. She pushed herself to learn the language quickly. After acquiring a bit of fluency in the Russian language, she took side jobs to support herself, among which was an interpreter position with Orion, the Korean snack company known for Choco Pies, assist

Sep 23, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
How opera director Ahn Joo-eun uses music to connect world
Music

'Gugak' orchestra festival to showcase Korea's musical roots

From music by BTS, BLACKPINK and Seventeen to the soundtrack of the animated hit "KPop Demon Hunters," Korean pop music is heard everywhere. But for those curious about the roots of it — and Korean music more broadly — the upcoming Korea Traditional Orchestra Music Festival will offer a chance to explore. Running from Oct. 15 to 25 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul, the festival will feature performances by 10 gugak, or traditional Korean music, orchestras from across the country. “In the past two editions, we’ve seen growing interest and support for gugak among the public. This year, the popularity of 'KPop Demon Hunters' is a big boost,” Ahn Ho-sang, CEO of Sejong Center, said during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. Gugak encompasses a wide range of traditions: music once enjoyed by the royals and aristocrats of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty; folk genres such as pansori (musical storytelling) and sanjo (solo instrumental music); court music and dance; and ritual music tied to Buddhism and shamanistic practices such as salpuri. Reflecting on th

Sep 19, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
'Gugak' orchestra festival to showcase Korea's musical roots
Travel & Food

Korea is now growing tropical superfoods — try these easy recipes

Korea’s climate is warming faster than the global average, and the country’s kitchens are slowly reflecting the change with more homegrown subtropical ingredients. According to the Ministry of Environment, the nation’s average annual temperature has risen by about 0.18 degrees Celsius per decade over the past century. The warming trend has fueled more extreme weather — heat waves, cold snaps and stronger typhoons — and is gradually changing the country’s agricultural map. To prepare for the shift, the Rural Development Administration (RDA) researched crops better suited to Korea’s future climate. Last year, the agency unveiled 17 candidates, including bitter melon, artichoke, okra, Indian spinach, water spinach, chayote, yam bean, turmeric, mango, olive, avocado, lychee, dragon fruit, pineapple guava, passion fruit, papaya and coffee. Some are already cultivated in Korea. As part of its awareness campaign, the RDA and chefs developed recipes for these new ingredients. Early adopters have already begun sharing their creations online. The Korea Times has collected a few for

Sep 18, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
Korea is now growing tropical superfoods — try these easy recipes
  • From tangerines to olives: How climate change is reshaping Jeju agriculture
Travel & Food

From tangerines to olives: How climate change is reshaping Jeju agriculture

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island — Beneath the iconic slopes of Mount Halla, Jeju’s orchards are starting to look a little different. Tangerines still dominate the island’s fields, but now olive trees, with their silver-green leaves and Mediterranean flair, are taking root, reshaping the island’s agricultural identity as it gets warmer and drier. In the beginning of September, clusters of light green olives — some already darkening — dangled from trees that swayed gently in the wind, ahead of their harvest. Seom Olive, an olive farm run by Kim Gil-young, focuses on breeding and preserving olives. Kim, one of Korea’s olive pioneers, sees potential for wider cultivation. “Jeju’s climate is definitely changing, and it’s becoming favorable for olive trees,” he told The Korea Times. According to Kim, the island’s May and June — a critical period for pollination of olive trees — are getting drier in recent years. “The fact that it’s dry when pollination takes place is an advantage for olive trees,” he said. He explained that unlike other plants, olive trees rely only on w

Sep 18, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
From tangerines to olives: How climate change is reshaping Jeju agriculture
  • Korea is now growing tropical superfoods — try these easy recipes
People & Events

Rev. Billy Kim wins Korea-US Alliance Grand Award

Rev. Billy Kim, 91, also known as Kim Jang-hwan, chairperson of the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC)-Korea, received the 2025 Alliance Grand Award on Wednesday in recognition of his contributions to strengthening ties between Korea and the United States. “Pastor Kim Jang-hwan has dedicated his life to the advancement of the ROK-U.S. alliance. He was particularly instrumental in raising funds for the construction of the Wall of Remembrance, which was added to the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.,” the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation said in a statement issued after the award ceremony, held on the sideline of the ROK-U.S. Alliance Veterans Conference in Seoul. Completed in 2023, the Wall of Remembrance stands as a symbol of the alliance between the two countries. Kim expressed gratitude for the honor. “I don’t deserve this award, but I accept it on behalf of all Koreans who support the Korea-U.S. alliance,” he said. Lim Ho-young, chairperson of the foundation, said Kim’s lifelong efforts to strengthen the alliance serve as an inspiration to younger generations

Sep 17, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
Rev. Billy Kim wins Korea-US Alliance Grand Award
Books

Sci-fi writer Kim Cho-yeop explores limits of coexistence at Seoul International Writers’ Festival

Two award-winning science-fiction writers, Korea’s Kim Cho-yeop and America’s Sarah Pinsker, delved into the uncomfortable, often contradictory realities of coexistence, truth and imagination during a book talk as part of the Seoul International Writers’ Festival, Sunday. Kim, one of Korea’s most prominent science fiction writers, imagined dispatchers exploring an Earth blanketed in cosmic dust and encountering humans struggling under attacks from spores born of that dust in her 2023 novel, “Ground Explorers.” The book is yet to be translated into English. Asked about her views on coexistence with others, Kim described it as neither idealized nor easy. “Far from being beautiful, peaceful or soft, coexistence can be quite violent and unpleasant,” she said. “But whether we coexist or not is not a matter of choice. We just have to live together and deal with it. And that’s the bottom line in the story.” Kim made her literary debut in 2017 with “If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light,” a bestselling short story collection that won her the Galaxy Award for Most Popula

Sep 15, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
Sci-fi writer Kim Cho-yeop explores limits of coexistence at Seoul International Writers’ Festival
Books

'Everybody has a story to tell': Irish author Sinead Moriarty inspires Seoul readers

Are you an avid reader who dreams of writing but doesn’t know where to begin? Renowned Irish author Sinead Moriarty has simple advice: “Everybody has a story to tell. so just write. I mean just sit down and just see what comes out. You don't have to have a big plan. You don't have to have an amazing original fantastical idea. Just write what you're interested in saying and you will be amazed what comes out. It's just about exercising the creative muscle.” She also offered a practical tip: “When you wake up and you're still not fully awake — you're still kind of a little bit asleep — just sit down and write and just see what comes out because you don't have time to think about it or process it and that can be a great way to start. That's an exercise that lots of people do when they're starting to write." Moriarty is in Seoul this weekend at the invitation of the Embassy of Ireland in Korea, which co-hosts an annual book talk for Irish authors at the Seoul Metropolitan Library. Alan Nolan, another Irish author who writes children’s books, was invited as well. Many in the aud

Sep 13, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
'Everybody has a story to tell': Irish author Sinead Moriarty inspires Seoul readers
Arts & Theater

Hong Kong Week 2025 to bring music, dance to Seoul

Major orchestras and leading dance companies from Hong Kong will visit Seoul this fall to take part in Hong Kong Week 2025 @ Seoul, a tourism roadshow highlighting cultural elements. The event will open on Sept. 26 with the Hong Kong Ballet’s performance of "Romeo & Juliet" at the National Theater of Korea, marking the troupe’s first appearance in the country. On Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, students from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Dance will present the experimental "Collab Asia Project" at Sungkyunkwan University. The same performance will take place also at a park in the nearby Daehangno neighborhood on Oct. 3 and 4. Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra will perform on Oct. 11 at Lotte Concert Hall, joined by pansori singer Kim Soo-in, organist Park Joon-ho, mouth organist Chen Yiwei and the Wizard Children’s Choir. The program will include works by Tan Dun, the Chinese-American composer and conductor known for blending Eastern and Western traditions. On Oct. 19, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra will appear at the Seoul Arts Center with

Sep 11, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
Hong Kong Week 2025 to bring music, dance to Seoul
  • Now in Seoul, Wu Guanzhong's landscapes dance between East and West
Books

LTI Korea connects Korean literature, global publishers

Despite rising global interest in Korean literature, connecting with foreign publishers remains a big challenge for local publishers, particularly for small and medium-sized presses. That’s where the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) steps in. Its K-Literature Fellowship 2025, happening through Thursday, demonstrates its ongoing efforts to support Korean publishers in introducing their titles abroad and facilitating international copyright sales. On Tuesday at Coex Magok in western Seoul, 18 translators of Korean literature into English took the stage one by one. Each presented a synopsis of a work they hope to fully translate, introduced the author and spoke briefly about themselves. The authors highlighted included Jeong You-jeong, author of “Seven Years of Darkness” (2011) and “The Good Son” (2016); Choi Eun-young, who wrote “Shoko’s Smile” (2016); Kim Soom, author of “One Left” (2020); and Sung Hae-na, who wrote “Summer Left Behind” (2023). Among the translators were Joheun Lee, Sung Ryu, Lisa Kim, Kim Soyoung, Lee Kyung Min, Snigdha Gupta,

Sep 10, 2025By Kim Se-jeong
LTI Korea connects Korean literature, global publishers
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