Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Int'l writers' festival to kick off in Seoul next month

An annual literary festival bringing together writers from Korea and abroad will take place next month, with participants set to navigate the role of human values and literature amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, organizers said Monday. The event will take place at Ara Art Center in central Seoul from Sept. 11-16, with 24 renowned writers set to take part, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea). Under the theme "Who Are We," some 20 programs — including talks between authors, graphic novel artists, translators and readers — will take place through both online and in-person sessions. Renowned Korean writer Kim Ae-ran and Chilean novelist Benjamin Labatut will headline the opening session titled "We Are Someone." Also set to attend the event are Korean writers Lee Seung-u, Moon Ji-hyuck and Yeh So-yeon as well as Taiwanese novelist Chen Xue, Canadian poet Emily Jungmin Yoon and Japanese novelist Keiichiro Hirano, according to the organizers.

Aug 10, 2026By Yonhap

Int'l writers' festival to kick off in Seoul next month

70-year-old Sinchon bookstore defies decline with staff bond

Seven people gathered around a small table for a lively discussion of Albert Camus' "The Stranger" in the fifth-floor lounge of Hongik Mungo in Seoul's Seodaemun District on July 29. The staff reading club calls itself Odok Odok, a pun combining the number five of the fifth-floor and reading in Korean. "Just as light casts shadows, truth comes with discomfort," one member said. "Isn't the sun in the novel a device that reveals the truth?" "The sun cannot be avoided and keeps following him around. So I thought it was the inescapable fact of his mother's death," another member said. "Even while sunbathing or on a date, his mother's death keeps weighing on his mind." The participants first met as co-workers. Five of the bookstore's eight current employees participate in the club, gathering before their afternoon shifts to talk. Two former employees pursued other book-related careers, but they still return to their former workplace every month. The club has forged a bond extending beyond the store. Hongik Mungo, located just outside Sinchon Station on Seoul Subway Line 2, has been a fixture

Aug 8, 2026By Hankookilbo

70-year-old Sinchon bookstore defies decline with staff bond

From busking to water parks, Seoul Facilities Corp. launches summer festivities

The Seoul Facilities Corp. said Friday it will run a series of summer events for residents from Aug. 8-23, ranging from underground busking performances to a movie night at Gocheok Sky Dome and free water play for children. At the Jamsil underground shopping center, artists from independent label Fever Lab will perform Aug. 8 starting at 1 p.m., with another lineup taking the stage from 4 p.m. Performance spaces at the Jamsil and Hoehyeon underground shopping centers can be booked free of charge on the second Saturday of each month through the city's public reservation site. Nearby, two gallery spaces near Euljiro will also host public-interest exhibitions, including one featuring art therapy works by dementia patients from Seoul Seobuk Hospital. On Aug. 14, the corporation will hold its fourth annual outdoor movie night at Gocheok Sky Dome, Korea's first domed baseball stadium, themed "Dome on a Summer Night." Held in partnership with the Seoul Art Book Repository, the free event runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and will open up the stadium's field and locker rooms to visitors, along with a pop-up

Aug 7, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

From busking to water parks, Seoul Facilities Corp. launches summer festivities

The Korea Times offers foreign students step-by-step guide to local housing contracts

The Korea Times hosted an online seminar Thursday offering international students in Korea a step-by-step guide to navigating housing contracts, aimed at reducing the language barriers, deposit risks and visa complications many face when renting a home. The online session, titled "3-Step K-Housing Survival Guide," was led by Park Song-I, team leader at Foreedom, a company that supports foreign residents with housing issues. Park laid out a three-step process — secure contract, deposit protection and visa safety — to help students avoid common pitfalls. Park opened by explaining the differences between Korea's main rental types, including "jeonse," a lump-sum deposit system in place of monthly rent, and "wolse," or monthly rent. She noted that foreign nationals can sign such leases, but that legal protections under Korea's Housing Lease Protection Act generally require an Alien Registration Card, which allows tenants to report a change of residence and obtain a fixed date stamp on their lease. Renters without a registration card may have limited legal recourse, she said, advising stu

Aug 7, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

The Korea Times offers foreign students step-by-step guide to local housing contracts

Seoul museum to mark Liberation Day with youth orchestra concert, family activities

To mark the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, the Seoul Urban Life Museum will host a dynamic cultural festival on Aug. 15. Running from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., the Culture Flows Through the Museum festival offers residents and visitors an engaging mix of classical music performances and hands-on family activities centered around the historic national holiday. The festival’s centerpiece is an afternoon concert by the Nowon District Youth Symphony Orchestra, set to begin at 3 p.m. The youth ensemble will perform a carefully curated repertoire designed to match the solemn and triumphant spirit of Liberation Day, including Ferdinand David’s expressive "Trombone Concerto" and Giuseppe Verdi’s stirring "Song of Victory." Founded in 1997 and managed by the Nowon Cultural Foundation, the orchestra consists of talented local teenagers and has grown into a cornerstone of the district’s vibrant performing arts scene. This year marks the third consecutive annual collaboration between the museum and the Nowon Cultural Foundation, a partnership established in

Aug 6, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Seoul museum to mark Liberation Day with youth orchestra concert, family activities

Korea launches big data contest to boost regional tourism

As data analytics increasingly shape how modern cities manage crowd flows and revitalize neighborhood economies, Korea’s official tourism agency is turning to the public for innovative ways to turn massive data sets into real-world economic strategy. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in tandem with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), announced on Tuesday the launch of the 2026 Korea Tourism Data Lab Contest. Running through late September, the nationwide initiative invites individuals, researchers and businesses to demonstrate how insights harvested from the country’s official tourism data portal can solve pressing industry challenges, optimize local festival planning and boost regional spending. The contest comes during a period of surging engagement for the platform. In the first half of this year alone, the Korea Tourism Data Lab logged an average of 780,000 monthly visitors — a 23.6 percent increase compared to the same period of 2025, driving cumulative traffic past 5 million users. Meanwhile, media citations referencing the portal’s behavioral analytics have l

Aug 4, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Korea launches big data contest to boost regional tourism

Seoul to pitch outdoor reading culture at global library summit in Busan

Long celebrated for its tech-forward innovations and globally exported pop culture, Korea is now exporting a quieter, more literary phenomenon: its open-air reading culture. Next week, the Seoul Metropolitan Library will bring its signature outdoor library initiative to the global stage at the World Library and Information Congress in Busan, framing public reading as a vital new pillar of K-culture. Organized by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, the summit is the largest gathering of its kind in the global library sector. Returning to Korea for the first time in two decades, the 2026 congress is expected to draw over 5,000 librarians, policy experts and delegates from roughly 150 countries to the coastal city’s BEXCO convention center from Aug. 10-13. At the center of Seoul’s presentation is the Seoul Outdoor Library, an ambitious civic initiative launched in 2022 that reimagined public reading spaces by dotting plazas, parks and riverbanks with beanbags, shade umbrellas and open shelves. The program has drawn an astonishing 8 million visitors th

Aug 4, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Seoul to pitch outdoor reading culture at global library summit in Busan

World's top dance crews face off in Seoul on Saturday

Elite dance crews from around the world will battle it out in Seoul through the International Dance League (IDL), as the Seoul Series, the fourth stop of the league's 2026 season, takes place Saturday at Kyung Hee University. Launched in 2025, IDL is the world's first global professional dance league, with six franchise teams competing across a regular season for the IDL 2026 Championship title. The league has sold out all three of its previous series in New York, Vancouver and Sydney, surpassing 600 million cumulative views and impressions worldwide. Ahead of the Seoul opener, the league gathered IDL co-founder and CEO Connor Lim and the competing teams at a hotel conference room in central Seoul on Friday to share what audiences can expect. For Lim, a dancer since the age of 13, the league is about reframing how dance is seen. "Dance has been on reality TV shows for a very long time, but not presented as a sport," Lim said. "We are controlling all of the creative, all of the sporting aspects and the way that the dancers are represented ... the way that we believe dance should be repres

Jul 31, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

World's top dance crews face off in Seoul on Saturday

Seoul Botanic Park marks Liberation Day with massive flower showcase

Long before it became the official national flower of Korea, the "mugunghwa" — or Rose of Sharon — held a quiet, defiant place in the country's collective memory. During decades of Japanese colonial rule in the early 20th century, the resilient pink and white blossom was systematically targeted for eradication, viewed by imperial authorities as a dangerous symbol of Korean independence and cultural endurance. As Korea prepares to mark the 81st anniversary of its liberation from colonial rule on Aug. 15, the Seoul Botanic Park said Friday it will open a massive, 18-day exhibition celebrating the historical flower. Featuring 6,086 mugunghwa plants spanning 104 distinct varieties, the outdoor display in the park's Open Forest aims to reintroduce urbanites to a blossom whose story is deeply intertwined with the nation's modern sovereignty. Running from Aug. 1-18, the showcase goes beyond standard horticulture to feature rare floral bonsai and preserved genetic lineages. Among the highlights is the public debut of a "descendant tree" saved through advanced genetic preservation techniques

Jul 31, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Seoul Botanic Park marks Liberation Day with massive flower showcase

Korean polar scientist receives Norwegian order of merit for Arctic cooperation

Kang Sung-ho, principal research scientist at the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) and its former president, was appointed Officer of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by King Harald V, becoming the first Korean honored under the order. Norwegian Ambassador to Korea Anne Kari Hansen Ovind presented Kang with the diploma and insignia of the order at a ceremony at her residence in Seoul, Wednesday. The appointment recognizes Kang's role in advancing Norwegian polar research and building research ties between the two countries, according to the Norwegian Embassy. "Through his research and leadership, Dr. Kang has played a key role in deepening polar research cooperation between Norway and the Republic of Korea, advancing scientific knowledge of the Arctic, and inspiring a new generation of researchers," Ovind said. A polar oceanographer with more than three decades of Arctic and Antarctic fieldwork, Kang took part in 37 polar expeditions. He joined KOPRI in 1993 and went on to lead the institute as its seventh president, a tenure the embassy credited with strengthening international

Jul 30, 2026By Kwon Mee-yoo

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