From movies to comic books: Where to cool off indoors this week

Visitors read books at Seoul Metropolitan Library in Jung District, central Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Library

The pavement shimmers, the air feels thick and heavy and stepping outside starts to feel like a dare. When the summer heat currently baking the Korean Peninsula turns punishing, these three spots in the greater Seoul area offer not just relief from the sun but reason to stay all day.

Seoul Metropolitan Library

Located in Jung District, central Seoul, Seoul Metropolitan Library is the city's flagship public library.

Located in the old City Hall building, which was constructed in 1926, during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial period, and continued being used as City Hall after Korea's liberation. The building was renovated in 2012 and the remaining original section was repurposed as a library after the addition of the new City Hall building.

With the original facade preserved, the building houses the General Collections of Korean-language books, the Digital Collections of DVDs and multimedia materials and the Seoul Document Collections of publications by the Seoul city government, along with the old mayor's office on the third floor, used until 2008.

Seoul Metropolitan Library in Jung District, central Seoul / Yonhap

Visitors can settle in with a book while taking in a view of Seoul Plaza through the windows. Browsing requires no membership, though checking out books, making reservations and accessing the preservation stacks require registration.

The Global Collections are especially popular among foreign residents and tourists, holding books in multiple languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese and German, as well as materials donated by embassies and cultural centers from 60 countries. The collection also offers 14 domestic and international newspapers and 46 magazines, alongside the Korean Collections, which introduces Korea to international readers.

The library is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. It is closed Mondays and public holidays.

Visitors look at an exhibit at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Sept. 30, 2022. Korea Times file

Korea Manhwa Museum

Opened in 2001, the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, collects and preserves the history of manhwa, or Korean comics.

Its collections are open to the public through a variety of exhibitions across five spaces: the Permanent Exhibition Hall, the Special Exhibition Hall, the Manhwa Experience Hall, the Manhwa Library and the Animation Cinema.

With about 260,000 volumes of Korean comic books and related materials in its collection, the Manhwa Library is the largest of its kind in the country. Admission is free and visitors can read in the air-conditioned space without paying the separate entry fee for the exhibitions.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last admission at 5 p.m., and is closed Mondays, New Year's Day and during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays.

Admission to the exhibits costs 5,000 won ($3.50) for adults and 16,000 won for a family pass of four. Bucheon residents 19 and under enter for free, while those 20 and older pay a discounted 2,500 won with proof of residency.

Seoul Film Center in Jung District, central Seoul / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Seoul Film Center

Located in Jung District, the Seoul Film Center is a complex built by the Seoul Metropolitan Government that opened last November. It was built in Chungmuro, long known as the birthplace of Korean cinema.

Spanning 4,806 square meters across three basement floors and 10 stories above ground, the center serves as a platform for promoting the film industry, supporting filmmakers and expanding public access to film culture.

The complex's three screening rooms, the largest of which seats 166 people, show celluloid films on 35mm projectors. The ninth floor houses an archive of film-related books and DVDs, and the complex also includes a special exhibition room, a multipurpose room, a rooftop theater and a film cafe.

The center is a two-minute walk from Exit 9 of Euljiro 3-ga Station on subway lines 2 and 3 and a five-minute walk from Exit 6 of Chungmuro Station on line 4. It is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays.