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IVE turns Seoul's futuristic DDP into K-pop comeback stage

Seoul is transforming one of its most iconic architectural landmarks into a high-octane venue for K-pop, partnering with girl group IVE to launch its latest comeback campaign at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in an effort to turn global fandom into tourism revenues and longer hotel stays. The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Design Foundation are supporting the campaign, titled “DIVE IN TO LIGHT,” which began Monday at DDP and runs through Nov. 30. The building’s exterior displays special videos featuring IVE, with a more elaborate presentation planned to coincide with the release of the group’s new album on Monday, when synchronized laser effects and lighting will accompany its new music. A promotional booth is operating at DDP from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. through Nov. 1, featuring album-themed photo zones and displays of hero masks worn by IVE members. Visitors who post photos of the installations and DDP’s outdoor media displays on social media can receive commemorative postcards created through the collaboration, while Honey Presso, a cafe inside DDP Market, is offering

Oct 21, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
IVE turns Seoul's futuristic DDP into K-pop comeback stage

Gwanghwamun memorial garden draws 500,000 visitors, celebrates Swedish ties

Seoul’s Garden of Gratitude has drawn more than 500,000 visitors in its first 160 days, as the memorial space prepares to celebrate its ties with Sweden through a weekend of cultural events, performances and a special light display. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the garden recorded 500,157 visitors as of Monday, according to an automated counting system. Located at Gwanghwamun Square, the garden honors countries and veterans who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War and invites visitors to reflect on freedom, peace and international solidarity. Its outdoor installation, “23 Lights of Gratitude,” symbolizes appreciation for the countries that supported Korea during the war, while an underground exhibition hall called Freedom Hall uses digital media to tell the story of the conflict and Korea’s transformation from an aid recipient into a donor nation. Sweden has added a new element to the memorial, donating syenite quarried in Ekeröd, Sweden, in August, the city said. The dark stone, flecked with green and shimmering silver, purple and gold crystals, marks the first stone donat

Oct 21, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Gwanghwamun memorial garden draws 500,000 visitors, celebrates Swedish ties

Seoul Wellness Travel Week brings meditation, food, art to city

Seoul will turn meditation, traditional cuisine and live music into a citywide invitation to slow down as it hosts Seoul Wellness Travel Week beginning Saturday, with programs centered on Gangnam District and eight wellness destinations across the city. Organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the 12-day event, running until Nov. 4, will showcase experiences designed around three themes: rest, food and culture, under the slogan “Seoul, Defines the Next Wellness.” At Bongeunsa Temple, visitors can join sound-bowl meditation, yoga, tea gatherings and restorative exercise on Saturday and Sunday, with 15 wellness programs planned across the two days. Highlights include a meditation session led by Ven. Geumgang, chair of the Jogye Order’s Seon Meditation Committee, and an evening walking meditation through the temple grounds. Most temple programs cost 5,000 won ($3.60), while Ven. Geumgang’s meditation session is free. At Pilkyungjae, a traditional Korean house in Gangnam with a history spanning about 500 years, artist Kim Won-cheon’s handmade "hanji" (traditional Korean paper

Oct 21, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul Wellness Travel Week brings meditation, food, art to city

Seoul Architecture Festival draws 40,000 visitors in extended monthlong run

The 18th Seoul Architecture Festival drew about 40,000 citizens and architects during its run, which was extended to about a month this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday. The festival was held from Sept. 15 to Oct. 11 at the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture in central Seoul under the theme “Assembling Seoul: Discovering Seoul.” Last year’s two-week edition drew 19,505 visitors. Its centerpiece exhibition, created in collaboration with a photographer, placed photos of Seoul’s urban architecture throughout a maze-like space so that visitors could look at familiar city scenes in a new way. The festival’s director built the exhibition spaces from recycled wooden pallets to keep down costs and environmental impact. An exhibition of the 10 winners of the 44th Seoul Architecture Awards, the city’s annual prize for buildings, was led by the grand prize winner, the Seo-Seoul Museum of Art, designed by THE_SYSTEM LAB. A special exhibition featured last year’s grand prize winner, “Core Dismantling System” by FHHH Friends. The festival also highlighted you

Oct 21, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul Architecture Festival draws 40,000 visitors in extended monthlong run

Gwanghui Road Festa launches Seoul's downtown 'Gourmet Silk Road'

From Mongolian lamb ribs to Uzbek shashlik and Russian Napoleon cake, a unique food festival in central Seoul’s Gwanghui-dong neighborhood will offer visitors a taste of five cultures on Saturday, aiming to transform the multicultural district into a prime destination for global cuisine. The 2026 Gwanghui Road Festa will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., taking place across the commercial alleyways near Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, according to the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation’s Myeongdong Comprehensive Support Center. Organized with Jung District, the festival is part of Seoul’s local-brand development initiative, which aims to promote the Central Asian street in Gwanghui-dong as a commercial district where food and cultures converge. The event will introduce Gwanghui Road, a new brand inspired by the Silk Road and its historic role in connecting people, goods and culinary traditions across regions. The area near Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station has about 250 businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores serving Uzbek, Russian and Mongolian specialti

Oct 21, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Gwanghui Road Festa launches Seoul's downtown 'Gourmet Silk Road'

Models from 35 countries to compete in 'model Olympics' in Seoul next month

About 500 models representing 35 countries will gather in Seoul next month for what organizers call the world’s first Olympic-style modeling competition. The Seoul Model Festival 2026 runs from Nov. 23 to 25 at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul and Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro District, according to the Asia Model Festival Organizing Committee, which is hosting the event. Models chosen from 50 cities will compete as national representatives in three categories: fashion, advertising and beauty. The theme of the event is “Models wearing the beauty, fashion and arts industries.” The Korea Model Association and a Korean association of professional makeup artists are co-organizing it, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government is a sponsor. Organizers said the festival is different from conventional fashion shows and modeling contests because it treats models as athletes and the runway as a playing field. Judges will score contestants on walking, posing, expression, creativity and teamwork. Designers, brands and makeup, hair and nail artists will team up with the models to complete each entry. T

Oct 20, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Models from 35 countries to compete in 'model Olympics' in Seoul next month

Former Cold War bunker in Seoul hosts art exhibition on peace and nature

At a former Cold War military outpost in northern Seoul, a new public art exhibition is set to open in a tranquil garden, inviting visitors to reflect on how traces of division and conflict can transform into spaces of peace and ecological renewal. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that the exhibition “Afterimages of Peace” will run from Saturday through Dec. 13 at Seoul Iris Garden in Dobong District, a park near Mount Dobong in the northeastern part of the capital. The show is the first part of a public art project linking the garden with the nearby Peace Culture Bunker. The bunker is a former anti-tank defense facility, built around 1970 on a route North Korean tanks used to invade Seoul during the 1950-53 Korean War. It reopened as a cultural venue in 2017. The exhibition features six works by two teams of emerging artists and four student teams from Seoul National University, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Hanyang University and Hongik University. The works explore the relationship between forests and nature, and between people and the environ

Oct 20, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Former Cold War bunker in Seoul hosts art exhibition on peace and nature

Korean sci-fi writers bring imaginative worlds to major French festival

Three Korean authors are set to bring their imaginative visions to one of Europe’s premier science fiction festivals, offering French readers a fresh lens on identity, nature, humanity and power. The Literature Translation Institute of Korea, affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Kim Bo-young, Park Seo-ryeon and Dolgi Min will participate in Les Utopiales, an international science fiction festival in Nantes, France, from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2. Under this year’s theme, “Perspectives,” the three writers will participate in seven programs showcasing Korean science fiction and other forms of speculative literature, including fantasy and queer fiction. Kim returns to the festival after being invited in 2023, while Park continues to expand her presence at international literary events and Dolgi, whose work has recently been published in French translation for the first time, will meet French readers. The Korean authors will join internationally recognized science fiction writers, including Hugo Award winner Robert Jackson Bennett and Audrey Pleynet, a recipient

Oct 20, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Korean sci-fi writers bring imaginative worlds to major French festival

Seoul launches stamp tour linking downtown cultural attractions

Seoul is turning Friday night into a cultural scavenger hunt, linking downtown exhibitions, hands-on activities and performances in a walking tour that invites visitors to explore the city one stamp at a time. The Seoul Metropolitan Government will pilot “Stamp Your Way Through Culture” on Nov. 6, connecting Seoul Gallery, Sejong Story, Chungmugong Story and Garden of Gratitude before participants choose between a craft performance and a literary reading. The tour is part of “Culture Night, Culture Bit by Bit,” a city program that runs every Friday evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at eight cultural venues from April through December. Applications open Wednesday through Seoul’s public service reservation system, with places available for 50 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. The tour begins at 3 p.m. at Seoul Gallery, in the basement of Seoul City Hall, where participants can explore an exhibition marking the centennial of the creation of Korean Hangul braille and make business cards bearing their names in braille. Starting at 4 p.m., participants can visit Sejong Sto

Oct 20, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul launches stamp tour linking downtown cultural attractions

Photographer examines Jongno 3-ga beyond its 'coolest neighborhood' tag

Before Jongno 3-ga claimed the top spot in Time Out's list of the "world’s coolest neighborhoods" in September, its bustling, vibrant streets filled with street food stalls and busy shops have long stood witness to its reputation as one of Seoul’s hippest hangout spots. But beyond this trendy landscape, photographer Park Kwang Bok’s attention gravitated towards the area’s more precarious yet intimate side. For his exhibitions titled “Earthly Paradise” and “Nights in Paradise” — both opening Tuesday — the artist explored the neighborhood’s gritty, hidden corners in search of narratives of joy, companionship and freedom. “Earthly Paradise” displays scenes of companionship and moments of happiness among the homeless despite their difficult circumstances. Featuring black-and-white photographs, the showcase seeks to “lift the veil of social prejudice and reveal the joy, tenderness and dignity that often go unnoticed.” Meanwhile, “Nights in Paradise” explores the lives of gay men who gather around Jongno 3-ga, portraying the community’s humanity, relationsh

Oct 20, 2026By Mariel Abanes
Photographer examines Jongno 3-ga beyond its 'coolest neighborhood' tag
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