With the joint cultural festival between Istanbul and Gyeongju, Istanbul in Gyeongju 2014, kicking off festively, a variety of events will be taking place from this weekend in the historic South Korean city of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The events, taking place alongside the 10-day festival introducing Turkish culture, seek to promote the host city’s various appeals as a place to travel, do business in or just live in. “A lot of events will be held alongside ‘Istanbul in Gyeongju 2014.

Family members dressed in traditional hanbok gather for the ancestral rite early in the morning on Chuseok, which falls on Aug. 15 on the lunar calendar. Dozens of dishes are laid out on the table for the rite, prepared by female family members over several days. After the ceremony, family members eat breakfast together. They make up for living apart in different regions by spending time together making songpyeong, a half-moon-shaped rice cake eaten during Chuseok. Such typical Chuseok scenes ar

JANGSU, North Jeolla Province ― This year’s Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving Day, falls in the second week of September, the earliest in 38 years. Chuseok, one of the major traditional Korean holidays, celebrates the fall harvest and abundance on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. The moon is said to look fuller on Chuseok than on any other day.But the early Chuseok this year has advanced the harvesttime and delivery start for products and gifts by two weeks to a month. Chuseok

Fall package at Lotte Hotel Seoul Lotte Hotel Seoul is presenting a fall package that includes a picnic at a royal palace in Seoul. The “walk package,” priced at 280,000 won, includes a one-night stay in a superior room, breakfast for two, a picnic box containing four pieces of bread and two cups of coffee, and an admission ticket to four major historical sites in Seoul, including Gyeongbokgung Palace, Deoksugung Palace and Jongmyo Shrine. The hotel will hold Oktoberfest 2014 from Sept. 20 to Oc

Korean staff present sample dishes during a celebration marking the opening of the first Asian branch of Panda Express in Seoul on Wednesday.Panda Express, a chain of restaurants serving American-Chinese cuisine, launched its first Asian branch in Seoul on Wednesday. The global restaurant chain joined hands with Seoul-based SF Innovation Co. to open Korea’s first Panda Express in the basement of Lotte Department Store in downtown Seoul. SF Innovation is a Korean restaurant business well-known fo

The opulence and glamour of old Istanbul will be recreated in the historic South Korean city of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, during “Istanbul in Gyeongju 2014,” an upcoming cultural festival to tie the two cities as partners.The festival will kick off a 10-day run on Sept. 12 as part of the Gyeongju World Culture Expo, amazing visitors to Gyeongju with decorations resembling historic sites in Istanbul. It will also entertain them with performances, exhibitions and parades, all with a foc

The Grand Hilton Seoul is presenting fall accommodation packages available from Sept. 6 to Nov. 30. The “Autumn in Hilton I” package includes a one-night stay at a deluxe room and breakfast for two. The “Autumn in Hilton II and III” packages, which target couples, include a one-night stay at an executive room, tickets to N Seoul Tower on Mount Namsan and a heart-shaped love lock which couples can lock onto a metal fence as proof of their love. Two cups of coffee and a slice of cake included in t

Chuseok package at The Grand Hilton Seoul The Grand Hilton Seoul presents three Chuseok holiday packages, available from Sept. 5-10. Package 1 includes a one-night stay in a deluxe room and two movie tickets. Package 2 comes with breakfast for two at the buffet restaurant. Package 3 includes a one-night stay in an executive room, two movie tickets and happy hour for two adults. Package 3 also includes free access to the Executive Floor Lounge, which offers breakfast and happy hour finger food an

CHEORWON, Gangwon Province ― Mount Soisan, a lowly hill just tens of meters across from a three-story building constructed by North Korea in 1946 as the Communist Party Headquarters, had a U.S. Army barrack and several secret bunkers that were used during the Korean War (1950-1953). Until 2001, civilians were prohibited from climbing the mountain as it was in the civilian control area adjacent to the demilitarized zone. “Underneath where you stand are bunkers used during the war. This mountain i

Stone sculptor Han Jin-sub strikes a lump of granite with a hammer and chisel. A chunk breaks off with a spark and thud that echoes through the space for his solo exhibition. Part of his art studio has moved to Gana Art Center. Some of the tools and plaster miniature models he has used in stone sculpting for the last 40 years offer a window to an unfamiliar world of stone sculpture. “It’s like having a conversation with the rock. If I understand the layer and break it, a big chunk cracks off. Bu

The historic former Space group building will open again as a museum in September with an extensive exhibition of the contemporary art collection of Kim Chang-il, chairman of Arario Group. The ivy-covered, black brick building, built by the first generation Korean modern architect Kim Swoo-geun in 1977, has undergone a transformation since November last year. Following the bankruptcy of the architecture company, the building was put on auction and purchased by Kim, the only Korean art collector

“Bojagi.” (The Museum of Korean Embroidery)Traditional Korean wrapping cloths, or “bojagi,” and modern interpretations of them are being showcased on Jejudo Island until Aug. 28. Artists from more than 10 countries, including Korea, the U.S., Australia, Canada, France and Japan, present their interpretations of bojagi and what the craft means to them in the context of today’s culture. The exhibitions as part of the Korea Bojagi Forum are being held at five galleries, in the Jeoji Artist Village

Chuseok holiday feast at Sheraton Seoul D Cube City HotelSheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel’s buffet restaurant Feast presents Korean traditional Chuseok cuisine in celebration of the holiday from Sept. 7-8. The hotel chefs will present Chuseok holiday menus such as galbijjim braised beef rib, japchae noodles and various kinds of jeon pancakes. The dessert section will present a wide variety of traditional Korean desserts, including rice cakes, persimmon, soojeonggwa cinnamon punch and sikhye, a s