“Japanese businesses are more systematic, but do not bring as much emotional warmth to the service. But you feel it in Koreans’ every touch, smile and word.”

Ginkgo trees, beautiful in the fall season with their bright golden hues, are both loved and hated for the picturesque sight they provide and the rancid stench emitting from its rotting berries. A mistaken step on the ginkgo berries leaves the smell of stinky socks throughout the day. In Seoul, talks are being thrown around to switch the female trees to male trees. But as the smelly period of the fallen berries only goes on for about a month, some environmentalists argue it is unreasonable to ge

More than 70 percent of foreign visitors who come to South Korea for Korean Wave events are Japanese, a study said Thursday.An analysis by Kwon Tae-il of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute showed that among tourists who participated in K-pop, traditional festivals and other cultural events that are broadly called "hallyu," 74.8 percent are from Japan. Chinese visitors come next with 18.4 percent, followed by 3.8 percent from Hong Kong, 0.8 percent from Malaysia, 0.7 percent from Thailand an

Korean restaurants Gaon and La Yeon keep their three Michelin stars

Incheon-based center for expats offers support services, cultural, language classes

Gwangju International Center will run its Kimchi Road program on Nov. 18-19. Held as part of the Gwangju International Kimchi Festival, the two-day tour visits a forest lodge in Mudeungsan, where guests will get an introduction to kimchi and hands-on instruction at making kimchi themselves.The program includes shopping for ingredients and harvesting them from fields as well as making kimchi and a cookery competition using kimchi as an ingredient.Participation is 10,000 won. Registration is open

Short-play competition returns with 16 plays from Korea, overseas

Gwangju Performance Project will stage William Shakespeare’s comedy “The Taming of the Shrew,” but with a twist: The roles are gender-swapped.In the play, Lucentia wants to marry Bianco, but cannot until his bad-tempered older brother Cato first finds a wife. The plot revolves around efforts to tame Cato and allow Lucentia to get her man. Shows are Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., and again at the same times the following weekend.Tickets are 8,000 won to the early Saturday sho

Seoul Global Center’s Business Start-Up School is offering a course on how to take advantage of Korea’s e-commerce platforms. It is the sixth advanced course offered by the school, in partnership with its business consulting service. Up to 25 people can join the course, which runs at the center’s main building. Classes are in English and take place from 7-9 p.m., from Nov. 29-Dec. 1. The course is free of charge and open to all foreign residents in Seoul.Applications are accepted on a first-come

Design gurus from Korea, Japan and the US shared their thoughts on technology during a talk session of the Herald Design Forum 2017 that took place Tuesday in Seoul.Lampix CEO George Popescu, Daylight’s creative director Sung Jung-gi and Balmuda CEO Gen Terao came to the stage with moderator Kim Ji-hyun, editor-in-chief of The Investor, during a Design Talk session under the theme, design in the “new normal era,” leading changes in the future. Asked how they viewed technology from a design persp

George Popescu, Jung Sung-gi, Gen Terao talk about new ways of thinking in design

Leaders of design world gather at premium dinner talk to share philosophies

In the era of the “fourth industrial revolution” characterized by hyper-intelligence, hyperconnectivity, and hyperconvergence, the role of creativity and comprehensive thinking is greater than ever. The role of design is also expanding at an unprecedented speed, as it is a key player in the development of new industries and convergence among industries. In the new era, empirical “design thinking” has become imperative in solving today’s issues.For the second session of the Herald Design Forum 20

Leading minds in architecture and product design from around the world gathered at the Herald Design Forum 2017, to discuss the concept of design thinking and the significance it holds in the industry today.“Design thinking, for me, is about dreaming how you want the future to be. While business people focus on predicting the next jackpot, designers, they can imagine how life would be in next 10 and 20 years,” said Aernout Dijkstra-Hellinga, design director of Bugaboo International, at a Design

Design rooted in playing, imagining and communicating