Two events will be held at Gyeongbokgung this month to give visitors a literal taste of Joseon royal life. First held in 2016, the Gyeongbokgung Starlight Tour includes a tasting of an everyday meal for the king and queen, traditional music performances and a guided tour of the grounds. This year’s night tour begins at Heungnyemun Gate and offers an exclusive tour of the two halls--Jipgyeongdang and Hamhwadang -- which are normally not open to the public during the night tour. The to

DAEJEON -- With international travel more burdensome than ever because of the spread of COVID-19, many Koreans are traveling domestically for a summer break. The city of Daejeon, about a two-hour drive south of Seoul or an hour by high-speed train KTX, offers a plethora of unique outdoor-contact-free experiences for people thinking of travelling safely amid COVID-19. “In Daejeon and Gyeryongsan there are many socially distanced tourist attractions that are less affected by COVID-19, suc

Korail has introduced multilingual information kiosks in five of the KTX stations most visited by foreigners. The touchscreen machines can be used in four different languages. KTX train schedules and flight schedules as well as live traffic information and routes to destinations are provided. The machines also have information on the station’s facilities and nearby tourist attractions. Information on Korail Pass for foreigners is provided as well. The kiosk is available at Seoul, Yong

’Relax 26 Hours Package’ at Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotel & Residences presents a staycation package, “Relax 26 Hours Package.” The package includes a one-night stay, 30,000 won worth of food credit and free use of the hotel’s swimming pool, fitness center and kids’ zone. Guest can check in early, starting at noon, and check out late at 2 p.m. the next day for a total stay of 26 hours. The package, price

New trails on Geomunoreum to open temporarily for 2020 World Heritage Festival in Jeju

The small county of Yangyang in Gangwon Province, a 2 1/2-hour drive from Seoul, has morphed into a bustling surf town in recent years, as the hub of Korea’s surfing culture.  Surf shops, restaurants and cafes for surfers line Yangyang’s streets. On the weekends, the beaches are packed with surfers in wetsuits looking far out into the horizon with their surf boards, waiting for the right wave.  The local surfing culture is thought to have emerged in the 1990s and today

Site of worst oil spill in Korea is back in business with safety measures against coronavirus

Jeonju International Sori Festival The 2020 Jeonju International Sori Festival is a global music festival that centers on Korean music and vocals. It runs Sept. 16-20 at the Sori Arts Center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The festival bills itself as a major performing arts festival that brings together exquisite styles of music from around the globe, with its programs encompassing a wide array of performance genres. The program for the 2020 festival has not yet been set. For more inf

Sky Bridge Tour to open at top of Lotte World Tower

Jeonju International Sori Festival The 2020 Jeonju International Sori Festival aims to encompass both traditional Korean music and world music as a global music festival that centers on Korean vocals and music. The festival will be held at the Sori Arts Center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Sept. 16-20. The festival touts itself as a top performing arts festival where exquisite music from around the globe are brought together, with its programs ranging across a wide array of performance

Five months into COVID-19, I was itching to go somewhere, anywhere. The past few months had been filled with anxiety as I worried about family members in different countries. When we were finally all united in Seoul, the house got too crowded, as we mostly kept to home, other than returning to work. I needed to self-isolate in a quiet place -- undisturbed by anyone. Travel abroad was out of the question. So were crowded tourist destinations. That left me with an escape to Jeju Island, some

The Suncheon Bay National Garden, a massive ecological park in the country's southwestern region, was the most popular regional tourist destination last year outside of hot spots in and around Seoul, according to government data Wednesday. The number of visitors to the park, located 415 kilometers south of Seoul in the province of South Jeolla, reached 6.18 million, the largest among regional tourist destinations, last year, according to data provided by the culture ministry and its affiliated

Gangneung Coffee Festival Gangneung Coffee Festival is held every year to promote coffee culture and celebrate Gangneung’s growth as the leading coffee hub in Korea. The city in Gangwon Province is known to be a city of coffee, being home to some legendary baristas in Korea. This year’s festival, slated to be held Oct. 8-11 at Gangneung Ice Arena, will invite big name figures from the local coffee scene for talks and seminars. Barista competitions and performances will take place,

The Hantan River area near the inter-Korean border has been designated as a UNESCO Global Geopark, officials said Tuesday. The UN body made the decision to add the 1,165-square-kilometer area to the list during a meeting in Paris, according to the Gyeonggi provincial government. The designation raised the number of South Korean geoparks on the list to four, including the southern island of Jeju, Cheongsong in the southeast and Mount Mudeung in the southwest. "We will put special effort

The Korea Tourism Organization released a promotional video titled “Explore Korea,” made in collaboration with Netflix, using a compilation of clips of Korea shown in films and dramas on the global online streaming platform. The approximately 90-second clip was released Monday through the KTO’s YouTube channel. The clip, a compilation of scenes from Netflix original programming, shows the history, food and tourist attractions of Korea, along with local lifestyles. Tradition