Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Gangneung combines regional heritage with breathtaking landscape

Seen is the outdoor deck on the upper floor at Haslla Art World in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Dec. 22. Located on a hillside, the ocean view from the upper floor creates harmony with the art pieces there. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Lee Hae-rinGANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province ― If one asks what the favorite holiday destination of Koreans is, Gangwon Province always ranks high. Although less known than Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island among foreign travelers, the province's largest coastal city, Gangneung, offers the rustic charms of the countryside.Fortunately, Gangneung is easily accessible. A quick 90-minute ride on a KTX train from Seoul Station leads to the coastal city on the eastern end of the Korean Peninsula. Cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than the capital area, the city presents a picturesque landscape of both mountains and ocean, as well as a rich blend of traditional heritage with leading trends in arts and culture.Most of all, the city is getting ready to welcome foreign travelers once the borders reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, through the supp

Jan 6, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

Gangneung combines regional heritage with breathtaking landscape

Wine imports jump 76% in 2021 amid pandemic

gettyimagesbankSouth Korea's wine imports soared over 70 percent in 2021 as more people enjoyed drinking at home and alone amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy imported $506.2 million worth of wine in the January to November period of last year, up 76 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and industry sources.It marks the first time that the country's wine imports have surpassed the $500 million level.South Korea's wine imports have been on a steady rise ― they came to $244 million in 2018 before rising to $259.3 million in 2019 and $332 million in 2020.Industry sources said wine imports soared as people preferred drinking by themselves at home instead of going to bars amid the coronavirus pandemic.France was the largest exporter of wine to South Korea with $162.6 million, followed by the United States with $81.6 million, Chile with $68.6 million and Spain with $37.9 million.The data also showed South Korea's whisky imports hitting a five year high of $154.3 million in the 11-month period, up 37.4

Jan 5, 2022

Wine imports jump 76% in 2021 amid pandemic

Foreign travelers to Korea expected to be below 1 million in 2021

A man looks at the decorations for the coming 2022 Year on New Year's Eve in Seoul, Dec. 31. AP-YonhapThe number of foreign tourists who visited South Korea last year is expected to have fallen below the 1 million mark due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.The data from the state-run Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) showed 877,000 foreigners visited the country from January to November, down 64.3 percent from a year earlier.Considering that only 94,000 foreigners visited the country in November, it is certain the yearly tally of foreign tourist arrivals fell below 1 million for the first time since 1984 when data began to be compiled in 1984. The previous low was 129,700 recorded that year.The slump was attributed to strict travel restrictions imposed by countries around the world as the pandemic continued for nearly two years.Tourists from China nose-dived 76.6 percent on-year to 159,000 in the 11-month period, with those from Japan tumbling 96.7 percent to 14,000 from a year earlier. In comparison, 5,514,000 tourists came to visit Korea from China during the same period in 2019.Th

Jan 4, 2022

Foreign travelers to Korea expected to be below 1 million in 2021

Koreans drawn to unhealthy bread

gettyimagesbank By Yoon Ja-youngWhile Koreans are increasing their consumption of bread, they seem to be drawn too often to “unhealthy” types rather than healthy ones, according to a research paper that especially warned against Ang-Butter and croissants.A research team led by Kim Byung-hee, a professor at the Department of Food and Nutrition of Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul, analyzed the fat, sugar and sodium content of 13 types of commonly consumed bakery items in Korea. Among them, nine including sweet red bean bread, croissants, plain bread, castella (Japanese sponge cake), muffins and choux cream pastries were on the government's list of 728 “key foods,” while the remaining four were frequently searched for by consumers using online search engines. They include “mammoth bread,” or a sweet bun with a streusel-like crust stuffed with jam and Ang-Butter, which has layers of sweet red bean paste and chunks of butter in between. The research noted that the r

Jan 3, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

While foreigners love Korean-style chicken, Koreans say it isn't really Korean: surveys

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngPeople overseas pick Korean-style fried chicken as their favorite Korean food, while more than half of the Koreans surveyed do not think it belongs in that category, according to recent polls.A survey of 1,500 Korean nationals by the Korean Food Promotion Institute shows that 63.9 percent believe that regular fried chicken is not Korean food, while 45.1 percent say that neither is marinated fried chicken. Respondents were asked whether they would consider each of thirty different kinds of food consumed here as Korean. The survey results showed that kimchi is the dish that most people (99.7 percent) consider Korean, followed by doenjang-jjigae, or soybean paste stew, at 99.3 percent, buchimgae, or savory pancakes, at 95.3 percent, japchae, or glass noodles with fried vegetables, at 94.3 percent, and gimbap, or seaweed rice rolls, at 90.8 percent. Koreans' perception of fried chicken as not Korean contrasts with another survey by the institute in which people living overseas picked fried chicken as their favorite Korean dish. In the survey conducted in Au

Dec 30, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

While foreigners love Korean-style chicken, Koreans say it isn't really Korean: surveys

Grand Hyatt Jeju finds success during pandemic by expanding choices for customers

By Lee Hae-rinPaul Kwok, the general manager at Grand Hyatt Jeju / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt JejuTwo new skyscrapers appear in sight from an airplane descending to the tarmac on Korea's favorite vacation island of Jeju. Standing near the island's international airport is Grand Hyatt Jeju within Jeju Dream Tower, which opened in December of last year, the first urban integrated resort in the country.With some 1,600 rooms in two towers, Grand Hyatt Jeju is the second-largest Hyatt property among more than 1,100 across the globe and so far the biggest in Asia. Visited by over 1.3 million people within a year since its opening, the integrated resort has quickly become a leading tourist attraction of the island.Undeniably, Jeju Island has been the top beneficiary of the closure of international borders during the COVID-19 pandemic. But besides the advantage of the time of the opening, the key to the hotel's success lies in expanding customer choices, according to Paul Kwok, the general manager at Grand Hyatt Jeju.“Just 10 minutes away from the airport, the hotel provides guests the co

Dec 30, 2021By Lee Hae-rin

Grand Hyatt Jeju finds success during pandemic by expanding choices for customers

Busan builds future from cultural heritage of Korean War refugees

An aerial view of Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, which is often dubbed, “Korea's Santorini,” due to the colorful houses built on the hillside / Courtesy of Busan Tourism OrganizationBy Lee Hae-rinBUSAN ― Just a three-hour ride in the KTX “train to Busan” from Seoul is all it takes to get down to the country's largest harbor city, Busan, in the southeastern part of the country. Known as the home of Asia's largest international film festival, with a beautiful seashore and fantastic maritime food, it is one of the most popular destinations for travelers here and abroad. Most of all, Busan is a historical landmark that served as the nation's provisional capital for 1,063 days during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953.If one is already acquainted with Busan's skyscrapers, fancy restaurants and shops along the beaches and is ready to explore more about the city, Busan's “old towns” are recommended for a visit. The towns offer unique historical and cultural heritage that has been regenerated, while still being filled with the stories of both natives and

Dec 23, 2021By Lee Hae-rin

Busan builds future from cultural heritage of Korean War refugees

Egyptian guide offers tours in Korean

Ezzeldin Elhassan Soliman is a veteran Egyptian tour guide with a Korean tour interpreter license. He has guided many Korean tour groups since he first started this job in 1999. Courtesy of Ezzeldin Elhassan SolimanBy Jung Da-min For many Korean tourists who have traveled in Egypt with Ezzeldin Elhassan Soliman, one of the most memorable parts of the trip may have been this Egyptian tour guide's fabulous Korean language skills. For this reporter who visited Egypt from late November to early December, there was an interesting moment when Ezzeldin was giving an explanation of an ancient drawing of a flail, an agricultural tool used for threshing wheat, which is called a “dorikkae” in Korean. The tour group was surprised and amused that Ezzeldin called the flail a dorikkae but got stuck for a moment when asked what it was named in Arabic.Ezzeldin, a 54-year-old veteran guide with a Korean tour interpreter license, has guided many Korean tour groups since he first started this job in 1999. He said it was a miracle that he could be the first Egyptian providing Korean-language

Dec 22, 2021

Communication is key to success amid pandemic at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul

'Lead With Care' program helps customers stay safe, healthyBy Lee Hae-rinRainer Stampfer, the president of hotel operations for the Asia Pacific at Four Seasons / Courtesy of Four SeasonsCOVID-19 has closed international borders and frozen the tourism industry since early 2020, but the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, the brand's first and only property in the country, is one of the few that are sailing downwind amid the pandemic, in terms of sales and customer satisfaction. Rainer Stampfer, the president of hotel operations in the Asia Pacific region, said that he has confronted several pandemics before since joining the brand in 2001, but “nothing could have prepared us to a crisis of this extent.” He said that communication with customers as well as employees is the key to the success of the brand's Seoul branch, amid the ongoing pandemic.“Through this time of crisis, communication ― or over-communication ― is absolutely critical,” Stampfer said in an interview with The Korea Times at the Seoul property, Dec. 8. “We try to deliver value for our customers and

Dec 16, 2021By Lee Hae-rin

Communication is key to success amid pandemic at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul

How kimchi changed Africa Yoon's life

Africa Yoon, author of "The Korean," poses with vegetables and “banchan” (Korean side dish) including kimchi. Getty Images / Marco GarciaBy Kwon Mee-yooThe Cover of Africa Yoon's memoir “The Korean” / Courtesy of BlackyoonicornAfrica Byongchan Yoon, a Cameroonian-American activist, unravels her journey from Suzanne Engo to Africa Byongchan Yoon, sparked by kimchi, in her memoir "The Korean."An experience at a Korean grocery store in New Jersey changed her life completely when Yoon was in her late 20s. Back then she gained weight from stress coming from being an activist and when she was trying a sample of Korean cream bread, an elderly Korean woman told Yoon that she was "fat" and she should eat Korean food. Instead of being offended, Yoon asked the elderly woman, whom she later calls "halmoni" (the Korean word for grandmother), to help her and Yoon began to explore a whole new realm of Korean food and its ingredients. "When I ate the kimchi the halmoni gave me, I started to feel all the ingredients of Korean food. I was like feeling the food with all the sens

Dec 15, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Travel & Food