'A good taco starts with a good tortilla'

South Korea’s southern island of Jeju beckons with trek on a hidden trail through Geomunoreum, a UNESCO world natural heritage site. Geomunoreum International Trekking, an event taking place Thursday through Monday, will be held around Geomunoreum, a volcanic cone northeast of Hallasan, South Korea’s tallest mountain. The five-day event offers a rare opportunity to explore Yongam-gil, a restricted zone. Yongam-gil, meaning “lava path” in Korean, is a 6-kilometer walking p

SAMCHEOK, Gangwon Province -- When temperatures across the country start to soar, people start taking summer refuge along nearby river banks or in department stores, where powerful air conditioning offers cool respite for heat exhaustion. Some people may joke that they wish they could sit inside their refrigerators at home. Samcheok, Gangwon Province, might just grant such a wish and offer a much bigger space than a mere refrigerator. Though often overshadowed by the region's famous mountai

A Goryeo-era manuscript of a Buddhist sutra has been repatriated to South Korea from Japan. The Cultural Heritage Administration and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation unveiled the manuscript -- Vol. 6 of Saddharmapundarika Sutra, also known as the Lotus Sutra -- during a press conference held at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul, Thursday. The sutra, bound in a folding screen format, is written in gold and silver paint on indigo-dyed paper. It is presumed to have been p

Artist Kim A-young's video piece, "Delivery Dancer’s Sphere (2022)," has been awarded the Golden Nica in the New Animation Art category at the Prix Ars Electronica 2023, Gallery Hyundai said Friday. The award was given to Kim on Monday in Linz, Austria. Kim is the first Korean to receive the Golden Nica at the Prix Ars Electronica. Established in 1987, the Prix Ars Electronica is the longest-running media art competition for digital arts, culture and music. A total of 3,176

The Cultural Heritage Administration and the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, an NGO that focuses on promoting international exchanges, are seeking foreign college students to join this year's Global Cultural Heritage Ambassadors program. The program aims to foster the promotion and exchange of Korean culture and history with the world. A total of 30 people who are currently enrolled in Korean colleges as international or exchange students will be appointed as ambassadors. Selected ambass

Max Park only needed 3.13 seconds to solve a 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube, setting his fifth Guinness World Records in speed cubing, at an event in California last weekend. According to Guinness World Records, the 21-year-old Korean-American advanced the previous record of 3.47 seconds, held by China's Yusheng Du since 2018, by 0.34 seconds. Smashing records at a breathtaking speed in other speed cubing categories, Park also holds Guinness World Records for solving 4x4x4, 5x5x5, 6x6x6 and 7x7x7

Giant, surreal stone cafe in Daelim-dong Lostone, a four-story cafe in Daelim-dong, Seoul, offers a unique spacial experience beyond just visiting a cafe for a cup of coffee. Lostone is an abbreviation of “lost stone.” Dozens of giant stone pieces make up part of the wall on each floor, creating a unique atmosphere. The cafe building took three years to come together. Inspired by oddly formed rocks and strangely shaped stones frequently seen in Korean and Chinese landscape paintings,

Pocheon Herb Island’s Lavender Festival The Lavender Festival, which started on April 22, will run through July 1 at Herb Island in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. Botanical garden Herb Island seeks to mesmerize its visitors not only with the purple-colored fields, but also with the aromatic scent of lavender. Aside from flowery photo zones, the festival offers various programs, including natural soap and cosmetics making, herb foot bath experience and more. Admission fees vary by age and prog

Grand Hyatt Seoul unveils 'Taste of Summer' Grand Hyatt Seoul, located in Yongsan, central Seoul, launches its summer BBQ promotion at the Terrace, featuring a live buffet station overlooking panoramic views of the city. The promotion includes a variety of international cuisines. At the buffet section, Italian, Chinese, Southeast Asian, American and Korean dishes are prepared. At the live cooking station, chefs will prepare Korean ginseng chogye salad, refreshing chilled chicken and

The latest issue of the English journal "The Review of Korean Studies," published by the Academy of Korea Studies, explores Confucianism in 19th century Joseon and the belief system's response to the challenges it faced at the time. Presenting three analyses by specialists in Joseon-period Confucianism -- Prof. Baek Min-jung of the Catholic University of Korea, Prof. Kim Seon-hee of Ewha Womans University and Prof. Lee Haeng-hoon of Hallym University -- the journal explores how th

The Korean Publishers Association, the organizer of the Seoul International Book Fair, said it has canceled novelist Oh Jeong-hui’s participation in the fair as a promotional ambassador. Oh had been selected as one of the six promotional ambassadors for the country’s biggest book event, which kicked off Wednesday at Coex in Gangnam-gu, southeastern Seoul. The novelist was scheduled to participate in a talk program with five other ambassadors on Sunday. On Wednesday, a group of cultur

Culture Communication Forum 2023 offered a place of communication and exchange, where participants were able to reveal their "hidden talents." The forum hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute took place Tuesday evening at the French ambassador's residence in Seodaemun-gu, western Seoul. Six people, including a number of ambassadors to Korea, gave special performances to rounds of enthusiastic applause from the audience. French Ambassador Philippe Lefort surprised the au

The fourth annual World Cultural Industry Forum kicked off Wednesday in Daegu. This year’s WCIF focuses on the creator economy and sustainability. On the first day of the two-day event, the ASEAN-Korea Center co-organized the WCIF’s special talk session, “Creative Economy with ASEAN Young People,” on the sidelines of the event where it invited creators from Southeast Asia to hear their visions for creating culture that brings people around the world together. "As K-c

Emerging strong from pandemic, SIBF explores theme of 'nonhuman'