MMCA Gwacheon presents ‘Olympic Effect: Korean Architecture and Design From 1980s to 1990s,’ an exhibition revisiting the architecture and design that shaped Korea

Fueled by social media users, digital art enjoys heyday in Korea

Won Buddhism announced Monday that it had appointed Juksan Hwang Do-gook as its new leader in the Americas. Hwang’s appointment ceremony took place virtually on Jan. 13 with followers from 23 countries watching. Hwang is the first leader in charge of Won Buddhism centers located outside South Korea, according to the religious group. The decision to appoint a leader outside Korea was reached as Won Buddhism found it necessary to have a leader who understands the local situation. Hwang h

Books that have been shown on TV entertainment shows are sweeping bestselling charts, reaching bestsellers lists in travel, poetry and cooking categories in the second week of January, according to the country‘s largest bookstore chain Kyobo Book Center. “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson, for example, became the bestselling travel book after screenwriter Kim Eun-hee introduced the book on KBS2’s “The Book U Love.” After the episode with a 2.3 percent vie

At a time when traveling is not an option, global house-sharing platform Airbnb hopes to invite guests to enjoy K-pop backstage through online classes starring hit K-pop bands from Monsta X to The Boyz, along with star dance instructors and makeup artists. Airbnb is hosting “Inside K-Pop” from Jan. 25 to Jan. 30, featuring 14 online experiences that offer insight into how K-pop stars are brought to the stage -- such as dance rehearsals, vocal practice sessions, makeup tutorials and

French artist hosts first museum exhibition in Korea, his largest show in the country

Boiled pork belly is a must menu item whenever a large number of people get together to celebrate or just to enjoy a meal at home. It comes from a long Korean tradition of having to prepare at least one or two meat dishes to entertain properly. No celebration was complete without a boiled pork dish, especially in the Jeolla provinces in the southern part of the peninsula. When presented with a variety of fresh leafy vegetables and ssamjang, it definitely takes center stage on any table. In mak

Over the Christmas holidays, seven Korean YouTubers gathered in a room to draw lots for a Secret Santa gift exchange. In another room, almost a hundred YouTubers posed together for a group picture. No one wore face masks. Or rather, their virtual, Lego-like avatars didn’t. Under South Korea’s strict social distancing guidelines because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the YouTube community took their gatherings online on Minecraft – the most popular video game of all time. Communiti

Korea Tourism Organization announced Wednesday, it labeled this year‘s domestic travel trends with the acronym BETWEEN, reflecting to the changes in the tourism industry sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The KTO, affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports, analyzed travel-related big data processed by social media, mobile carriers and credit card processing firms from January to August. Through the research, it was able to recognize how the tourism industry has been af

Even as borders closed around the world last year due to the pandemic, that didn’t stop the spread of the Korean Wave, or “hallyu,” from reaching new heights. There were a total of 100 million members in 1,835 Korean Wave-related clubs across the world as of September 2020, marking a 5.45 million increase from the year before, according to the latest report from the Korea Foundation, a public diplomacy arm of Seoul’s Foreign Ministry. The annual report, an account on th

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday announced that it plans to establish three funds worth a total of 298.5 billion won ($271.6 million) to support local content creators and sports and tourism businesses. The money will be injected through a fund-of-funds managed by Korea Venture Investment Corp., in line with the Culture Ministry’s practice since 2005 of investing indirectly in small and midsized cultural businesses through venture capital funds instead of choosing

The King Sejong Institute Foundation, a state-run institution overseeing some 170 Korean language centers worldwide, released a video promoting the beauty of Hangeul -- the writing system for the Korean language -- starring actor Lee Min-ho on Friday. Lee, an ambassador for the foundation, was featured in the 31-second clip introducing the uniqueness of Hangeul by showcasing Hangeul calligraphy along with fashion items and furniture pieces inspired by the Korean alphabet.   The foundati

The popularity of "hallyu," or the Korean Wave, seems to have continued unabated across the world despite yearlong coronavirus restrictions, as the number of global hallyu fans topped the 100 million milestone last year, a public foundation said Friday. The number of members of hallyu fan clubs in 109 countries worldwide, excluding South Korea, rose to 104,770,000 as of September last year, marking an on-year rise of 5.5 percent, or 5.4 million, from 99,320,000, according to the Korea

Lounge at Park Hyatt Seoul presents strawberry afternoon tea set The Lounge, the 24th-floor Korean tea house at Park Hyatt Seoul, presents Strawberry Afternoon Tea, a creative celebration of the return of the strawberry season. Inspired menu highlights include strawberry chocolate cups, strawberry yogurt mousse and Mont Blanc desserts, while strawberry jewelry in an elegant jewelry case, a favorite item of 2020, returns to charm guests for another year. The afternoon tea features a selection

The creator of Baby Shark and Secretary-General of the UN Generation Equality Forum Delphine O, winners of awards for helping to promote Korea’s image to the world, have shed light on what direction Korea should take moving forward in a post-COVID-19 era. O and creator Lee Seung-gyu were presented with the awards at the 2021 Corea Image Communication Institute Awards Ceremony at InterContinental Seoul COEX on Thursday. Since 2005, CICI – a nonprofit organization -- has honored cul