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  • Travel & Food

    Meet Korea’s pioneering ‘instant noodle critic’

    For many, instant noodles are a quick, cheap meal designed for convenience. But for Ji Young-jun, Korea's pioneering "ramyeon critic," they represent a lifetime of history, complex food science and a rapidly growing cultural phenomenon. Ji’s unconventional journey into the world of noodles began during a period of personal frustration. After enduring consecutive failures on Korea's grueling college entrance exam, he enlisted in the military. It was while wandering the aisles of the military commissary (PX) that he found an unexpected spark of inspiration. "Before finishing my service, I set a humble goal for myself: 'Let’s taste every single instant noodle available here,'" Ji recalls during an interview with The Korea Times, Monday. "Astonishingly, that simple objective completely revitalized my military life and filled it with excitement. I wanted to carry this amazing energy into the civilian world, so in 2013, I began sharing my detailed reviews on social media." For a decade, Ji balanced his passion for instant noodles with a stable career as a primary school teacher. However,

    4 MIN READBy Park Jin-hai
    Meet Korea’s pioneering ‘instant noodle critic’
  • Travel & Food

    Hong Kong teams up with Korea's travel industry group to invite tourists back

    2 MIN READBy Baek Byung-yeul
    Hong Kong teams up with Korea's travel industry group to invite tourists back
  • Trends

    Why Gen Z are turning to 'worry stones' to ease anxiety

    2 MIN READBy Hankookilbo
    Why Gen Z are turning to 'worry stones' to ease anxiety
  • People & Events

    'KPop Demon Hunters' director visits Lotte World Adventure

    1 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    'KPop Demon Hunters' director visits Lotte World Adventure
  • People & Events

    Exhibition honors heroes of Korean War

    2 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    Exhibition honors heroes of Korean War
  • Korean Heritage

    Rare shamanic paintings gain national heritage status

    2 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    Rare shamanic paintings gain national heritage status
  • Music

    Lim Yunchan wins Instrumentalist of the Year at Germany's top classical awards

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Lim Yunchan wins Instrumentalist of the Year at Germany's top classical awards
  • Trends

    Rare Pokémon cards fetch premium prices among Gen Z, sparking thefts

    2 MIN READBy Hankookilbo
    Rare Pokémon cards fetch premium prices among Gen Z, sparking thefts
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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Travel & Food

Science behind Korea's favorite pork pairing

Click here for more articles by Kormedi.com. A social media post from Korean comedian Shim Jin-hwa — known for maintaining a 12-kilogram weight loss — has renewed attention on one of Korea's most traditional culinary pairings and the nutritional logic underpinning it. Shim posted a photo on social media showing fresh minari (water dropwort) piled on top of golden-brown grilled samgyeopsal (pork belly), writing, "I love the combination of minari, bracken and samgyeopsal." While raw minari carries a strong bitter taste, roasting it alongside the meat transforms the flavor into a savory complement while naturally neutralizing the pork's gamey odor. Cholesterol reduction and cardiovascular health Beyond flavor, the pairing actively reduces body fat absorption and protects cardiovascular health. According to the Rural Development Administration, minari contains 10 to 15 milligrams of phytosterols per 100 grams. These compounds help lower blood cholesterol levels, providing a biological counterbalance to heavy, fatty meats. Potassium density and sodium flush Korean barbecue diners traditional

Mar 7, 2026By Kormedi.com
Science behind Korea's favorite pork pairing
Travel & Food

Cherry blossoms and canola flowers: 3 spring spots to visit in Gyeongbuk

As winter gives way to spring, flowers are beginning to bloom across Korea’s cities, lakes and coastlines, creating vivid landscapes. The Gyeongsangbuk-do Culture and Tourism Organization on Thursday selected three must-see destinations in North Gyeongsang Province where visitors can enjoy the season’s blossoms. Daereungwon, Gyeongju A historic site framed by cherry blossom trees, Daereungwon is one of the most popular spring walking spots in Gyeongju. Walking along the low stone wall surrounding the ancient royal burial mounds beneath rows of cherry trees, visitors might feel as if they have stepped into a world of blossoms. In some sections, the branches arch overhead, completely enveloping the path in pink flowers, while the occasional gust of wind sends petals drifting down like rain. Despite the crowds that gather each spring to see the cherry blossoms, the walkway remains wide enough for a slow and comfortable stroll. Extending the walk to nearby Hwangnidan Road and Cheomseongdae Observatory is also recommended. Yeonhwaji, Gimcheon A walk along the lakeside path beneath cherry blo

Mar 7, 2026By Hankookilbo
Cherry blossoms and canola flowers: 3 spring spots to visit in Gyeongbuk
Books

Author Lee Uk-bae wins prestigious 2026 BolognaRagazzi Award

The global influence of Korean picture books continues to rise, with veteran author Lee Uk-bae securing a prestigious win at the 2026 BolognaRagazzi Awards. On Friday, Sakyejul Publishing said Lee’s 2020 picture book "The Story of a Brother and a Sister" was selected as a winner in the Fables and Fairy Tales category of this year’s BolognaRagazzi Awards. The award is widely considered one of the most coveted honors in international children’s publishing. The organizers said they saw a record-breaking 4,120 titles submitted from 73 countries and regions, marking a 6.8 percent increase in entries compared to the previous year. The awards typically feature five core categories — Fiction, Non-Fiction, Opera Prima (debut works by illustrators), Comics and Toddler — but also designate a special focus each year. For 2026, the committee selected Fairy Tales and Fables as the special category, where Lee’s work earned the top honor. Lee, 66, has long been celebrated for his ability to infuse traditional Korean aesthetics and humor into modern picture book storytelling. "The Story of a B

Mar 6, 2026By Baek Byung-yeul
Author Lee Uk-bae wins prestigious 2026 BolognaRagazzi Award
Arts & Theater

Actor Park Shin-yang explores inner world in new art exhibition

Since his debut in 1992, actor Park Shin-yang has spent decades inhabiting the lives of others on screen. Early in his career, he played a Buddhist monk in “Yuri” (1996), a mafia leader in “A Promise” (1998) and a divorced businessman in "Lovers in Paris" (2004). More recently, he appeared as a lawyer in the KBS drama series “My Lawyer, Mr. Jo” (2016). Offscreen, however, Park has long focused on understanding himself. Over the years, he read widely in psychology and philosophy, took courses and turned to painting as a way to explore his thoughts and emotions. Nearly four decades of introspection have culminated in an exhibition that opened at Sejong Museum of Art on Friday. Titled “The 4th Wall," the exhibition reflects Park’s attempt to bridge the distance between artist and viewers. In theater, the fourth wall refers to the invisible barrier separating actors from the audience. The exhibition features nearly 150 works with several recurring motifs. One of them is the apple. Park began painting apples after receiving one from a philosopher he deeply respected. “As time

Mar 6, 2026By Kim Se-jeong
Actor Park Shin-yang explores inner world in new art exhibition
Travel & Food

Seoul Grand Park set to welcome spring visitors

Seoul Grand Park is rolling out seasonal maintenance and landscaping projects as it prepares to welcome spring visitors, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday. Opened in 1984 in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, the park spans about 9.13 million square meters and features Seoul Zoo, the nation’s largest zoo, home to about 1,950 animals from 216 species, as well as Seoul Land, an amusement park, and a branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. To help maintain the trees and the park environment, workers washed 983 trees — including cherry and zelkova — removing fine dust and pollutants that had accumulated over the winter. Workers also pruned trees across the park, removing hazardous branches and dead trees. Landscaping byproducts, such as trimmed branches, were reused as natural toys for animals in outdoor enclosures, helping encourage natural behavior and reduce stress. The park’s Theme Garden is preparing for roses to bloom in May, with winter covers removed and 500 bags of fertilizer applied as spacing adjustments, transplanting and pruning get underway. S

Mar 6, 2026By Park Ung
Seoul Grand Park set to welcome spring visitors
Arts & Theater

InterviewNo photos, no objects: Tino Sehgal's art exists only when you're there

As an arts reporter, you learn to live with a certain inadequacy: Whatever words you lay down on the page will never equal the impact of encountering the work itself. In the end, every review bends toward the same conclusion — you, dear reader, simply have to go and see it for yourself. Still, you can attempt a translation. You can describe the atmosphere and the scale. You can single out details, place them in context and include photographs that give readers something tangible to hold onto. At the very least, you can offer an echo of the experience persuasive enough to make them step outside and walk into the museum. With Tino Sehgal, even that modest consolation falls away. There are no images to describe. No objects to analyze. No installation shots to accompany a paragraph. His craft emerges instead in the immaterial space between strangers, through voices and choreographies that materialize from thin air and dissolve just as quickly. So this may be the rare instance in which a review must confess its own futility from the start. For Sehgal’s art, there can be no descriptive surr

Mar 6, 2026By Park Han-sol
No photos, no objects: Tino Sehgal's art exists only when you're there
Korean Heritage

Game worlds recast through traditional crafts

Video game worlds take on new forms in silk, thread and wood in Nexon’s latest cultural collaboration. Familiar characters and landscapes from the popular Korean titles MapleStory and Dungeon & Fighter have been reimagined through traditional crafts at the hands of students from the Korea National University of Heritage. Seven works are now on permanent display at the headquarters of Nexon Korea and its subsidiary studio, Neople. At Nexon Korea’s headquarters, six pieces draw on the imaginative universe of MapleStory: “Panoramic View of the Land of Peach Blossoms,” “Embroidered Five-Colored Pouch,” “Awaken from the Oldest Darkness, a Thousand Years of Sleep,” “Oasis of Light,” “Under the Maple Tree” and “Monster Norigae.” At Neople’s office, a single work inspired by Dungeon & Fighter — “Hexagonal Magic Map” — is on view. The project grew out of the Nexon Foundation’s “Borderless” arts support initiative. Last November, the foundation and the university joined forces on the exhibition “BORDERLESS: Opening the Portal to the World of Tradition,

Mar 5, 2026By Park Han-sol
Game worlds recast through traditional crafts
Travel & Food

Michelin Guide celebrates 10th anniversary in Korea

BUSAN — The Michelin Guide marked a milestone in Korea, Thursday, celebrating a decade of showcasing the country’s culinary identity through one of the world’s most influential dining authorities. This year, a total of 233 restaurants in Korea have been selected for the Michelin Guide. They include one three-star restaurant, 10 two-star restaurants, 35 one-star restaurants, 71 Bib Gourmand restaurants, 116 Suggested restaurants and four Green Star restaurants. The Michelin Guide hosted its 2026 Seoul and Busan ceremony at Signiel Busan, unveiling this year’s selections and honoring new culinary talents. The event, themed “A Decade of Journey,” highlights the evolution of Korean cuisine since the guide’s debut in 2017 and its continued expansion beyond the capital. Launched initially as the Michelin Guide Seoul, the publication broadened its scope in 2024 to include Busan, Korea’s second-largest city and a rising hub of gastronomy. The move reflected the growing diversity of Korean cuisine and the international attention local chefs have drawn with their inventive yet dee

Mar 5, 2026By Lee Hae-rin
Michelin Guide celebrates 10th anniversary in Korea
People & Events

2026 Incheon Pentaport Music Festival to open in July

The annual Incheon Pentaport Music Festival, one of Korea's largest rock events, will return for a three-day run in the western port city in July, organizers said Thursday. Hosted by the Incheon metropolitan government, the festival has been held every year in the city's Songdo district, about 30 kilometers west of Seoul, since 2006. The 21st edition will take place from July 31 to Aug. 2. This year's event will be held under the theme "movement," reflecting the organizers' aim to capture the dynamic spread of music beyond the stage to people, cities and across Asia. "We plan to strengthen the festival's role as a platform for meaningful exchanges between domestic and overseas musicians and industry figures, rather than simply a show to watch and enjoy," a Pentaport official said.

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
2026 Incheon Pentaport Music Festival to open in July
People & Events

Actor Myung Gye-nam appointed governor of N. Korea’s Hwanghae Province

Actor Myung Gye-nam, 74, has been appointed as the new governor of Hwanghae Province, one of the five North Korean provinces over which South Korea claims symbolic governance. Myung is a well-known figure in the nation’s film and theater industries as both an actor and a producer, including “Spring in My Hometown” and “Peppermint Candy.” Myung has long been active in supporting liberal politicians. In 2002, he served as the leader of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s official fan club. In both the 2022 and 2025 elections, he also campaigned for Lee Jae Myung, then-presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea. “He was deemed fit to carry out the duties of Hwanghae Province governor, given, among other things, his father’s status as a displaced person from Gaeseong,” an official at the Ministry of Interior and Safety said. Governors of the North Korean provinces are appointed by the South Korean government as a symbolic administrative gesture. Hwanghae, North and South Pyongan, and North and South Hamgyong all have administrators appointed by the president on the

Mar 5, 2026By Jung Min-ho
Actor Myung Gye-nam appointed governor of N. Korea’s Hwanghae Province
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