The Ven. Hongseung has worked diligently for close to 30 years to popularize temple food. Along the way she often heard criticism from people who said “temple food has lost its tradition and become fusion food because of too much emphasis on popularization.” But she disagrees. “I am not sure where the boundary between traditional food and fusion food is, but it could be a matter of ingredients. Vegetables like broccoli and paprika didn’t exist before in Korea. I use thes

Food July 23, 2022

Four Seasons Seoul holds mud crab promotion Yu Yuan, a Cantonese restaurant located in Four Seasons Seoul, is presenting a mud crab promotion starting July 26, just in time for Busan’s blue crab season. The restaurant’s crabs are selected by the head chef Koo Kwok Fai, who created the new crab menu using Yu Yuan’s unique Cantonese cooking method. Guests can choose from a number of sauces -- chili, black pepper and white pepper -- which are used during cooking process. Man

Food July 22, 2022

Hanbok saenghwal -- a series of cultural practices which encompass the whole experience of making, wearing and enjoying hanbok -- made it to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced Wednesday. The Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee decided to finalize the official name as “hanbok saenghwal” instead of its provisional title, “hanbok wearing,” announced earlier in March, considering the name to be a better rep[resen

Culture July 20, 2022

Guards slowly opened the gates to welcome visitors to Cheong Wa Dae as dusk fell. On Tuesday evening, a day before the official opening of the Cheong Wa Dae nighttime tour, a press event was held with some 50 reporters and public honorary promotion ambassadors in attendance. The 90-minute tour was led by Shim Yong-hwan, a historian, writer and professor, who gave a brief overview of the buildings and facilities. He also provided fun facts and tidbits about former presidents who worked and li

Culture July 20, 2022

The 2022 World Heritage Festival in Jeju Island, named “CONNECT- Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes,” which seeks to promote the importance of Jeju’s UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites through the story of the volcanic island’s birth, will return as an on-site program after a break last year. Jointly organized by the Cultural Heritage Administration and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the festival will be held Oct. 1-16 at major World Natural Heritage locatio

Culture July 19, 2022

With expanded global tourism infrastructure and distinctive travel themes, Seoul looks to become a landmark city like Paris and London, according to Kil Ki-yon, head of the Seoul Tourism Organization. The STO announced its “endemic tourism” initiative, a strategy to promote tourism in the latter half of the year, during a press conference on Monday in Seoul. The organization will work together with Seoul Metropolitan Government to achieve its goal of attracting an average of 28 mi

Culture July 18, 2022

A study of Gyeongbokgung’s rear garden -- the site of Cheong Wa Dae -- will be conducted more than two months after the former presidential office was opened to the public. The Korea Association for Architectural History, which won the bid to conduct the research, has 120 days to report its findings, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday. Historical records show that the area functioned as part of the rear garden of Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace during the Jo

Culture July 18, 2022

 The National Museum of Korea has opened the “Astana Tombs – A House of Eternity” exhibition in the Central Asia Gallery located on the third floor of the Permanent Exhibition Hall. The exhibition has on display figurines, pottery and documents discovered inside some 400 Astana tombs at a cemetery of the ruling class built near Turpan in Xinjiang, China, near the ancient city of Gaochang that dates back 1,300 years. The relics are recorded to have been discovered or tra

Arts & Design July 15, 2022

Shilla Seoul launches ‘Refreshing Moment with Molton Brown’ package The Shilla Seoul, located at the heart of Seoul, is launching a special collaboration package with Molton Brown, a bath and body fragrance brand, for the month of July. The package includes a Deluxe Room and complimentary entry to the Urban Island Moonlight, an outdoor pool with a jacuzzi at the hotel’s rooftop. A complimentary Molton Brown shower gel and body lotion set are provided. Package visitors are

Food July 15, 2022

A popular summertime dessert in Korea, bingsu, shaved ice traditionally topped with red beans and drizzled with milk, keeps getting fancier with endless varieties of toppings and presentations. At the forefront of bingsu’s eye-catching makeover are five-star hotels that spare no effort in coming up with ever more decadent shaved-ice variations each summer. At the height of indulgence, a bowl of bingsu for two can cost as much as 90,000 won ($69) at hotels, while more humble varieties ser

Food July 9, 2022

Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas launches ‘Summer Cruise Royal High Tea’ Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Seoul’s Samseong-dong is offering an ocean landscape-inspired tea set at the Lobby Lounge and Bar on the ground floor, through Aug. 31. A raffle will also be hosted for customers to win a chance to board a luxury yacht, as well as other hotel vouchers. The Summer Cruise Royal High Tea promotion offers pearl-setting macarons and blue lemonade. Following four diff

Food July 8, 2022

This year’s Sinchon Water Gun Festival, which had been scheduled for two days starting July 30, was canceled by the Seodaemun-gu Office on Wednesday, according to Heyway, the main organizer of the event. Jointly sponsored by the city of Seoul, Seodaemun-gu Office and Sinchon Merchants’ Association, the Sinchon Water Gun Festival attracted over 1 million cumulative participants from 2013 to 2019. The festival has been halted for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The

Culture July 7, 2022

The National Palace Museum of Korea and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation are presenting a special exhibition titled, “Treasures of Ours Treasured by Others: Journey of Korean Cultural Heritage,” starting Thursday. The museum is presenting a selection of 40 cultural artifacts that have been brought back from abroad, six of which are being shown to the public here for the first time. A considerable number of Korean cultural artifacts were plundered and taken out of

Culture July 6, 2022

Nearly two months since the opening of Cheong Wa Dae to the public, the fate of the former presidential compound remains unclear, leading to concerns among experts and the public alike. One of the key pledges by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, “to return Cheong Wa Dae to the public,” was implemented on the day of the inauguration. But little preparation was made for the opening itself, and even less thought appears to have been given to the future of the grounds. The large influ

Culture July 4, 2022

BUSAN -- Busan is one of the cities to head to if you are looking to feast on fresh seafood, but the city also has great know-how about preserving seafood to be enjoyed later. Myeongnan, or pollack roe, is a popular side dish that is often also called “bap doduk,” meaning rice thief. Bap doduk is a moniker used for side dishes that have you eating more rice than usual because the combination is so tasty. While there is a misconception that myeongnan originates from Japan’s me

Food July 2, 2022