Ulsan Ganjeolgot Sunrise Festival Ganjeolgot Cape, known to be the first place in Korea to see the sunrise, will hold the annual New Year’s Sunrise Festival. Starting at sunset on Dec. 31, various cultural performances will take place at Ganjeolgot Park near the lighthouse. Bid goodbye to 2022 and ring in the new year with a wish as the sun rises over the horizon. Detailed information can be ...

Naver's translation app Papago has added a service to help tourists understand Korean menus, in partnership with the Culture Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization. The service is uses the app's image translate function. Users can take a picture of a Korean menu to translate it as normal, but tapping "select all" at the bottom brings up a "Food info" tab, with translations that have been ta...

Nokwon Salon Nokwon Salon, a social book salon with all kinds of books and alcoholic beverages, opens after sundown. Located just a few steps from Chungmuro Station, the place is an evening hideout for bookworms from 7 p.m. until midnight. “I noticed a pharmacy on the street corner one day, and thought it might be fantastic if the place could be turned into a bookstore that cures the soul,” No...

Jeju Fire Festival The Jeju Fire Festival will be held at Saebyeol Oreum in Aewol-eup on Jeju Island from March 18-20. The annual festival is a reinterpretation of “bangae,” the oldest nomadic culture in Jeju, where people pray for richness and health by burning off the old grass and killing vermin in the fields. The shimmering flames provide a stupendous view for visitors. In an attempt to h...

“Next year, we will promote both the K-culture popular destinations and the beautiful natural landscapes of the country so that global travelers can think of Korea as a place to go to and experience.” an official at the Culture Ministry’s national tourism policy bureau said. Pamphlets containing information on the must-visit sites can be obtained at tourist information centers around the country...

Suseong Light Art Festival, Daegu The fourth edition of the Suseong Light Art Festival started Dec. 9 and runs through Jan. 2, 2023 at Suseongmot Lake in Daegu. Ranging from a school project created by Light Art School students from 5 to 19 years old to works from professional artists, the festival is set to display various creations to entertain visitors. A total of 300 light-bearing drones w...

The workforce of major South Korean travel agencies has nearly halved over the past three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the number of tour firms also plummeting, industry data showed. The headcount of industry leader Hana Tour came to 1,204 as of the end of September this year, down 52.3 percent from three years earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Servic...

MZ generation increasingly book a 'longcation' to relax away from the city

Making wise choices The average number of travel companions is seeing a major drop, recording 3 persons last year compared to 4.3 people in 2019, according to a Tourism Knowledge and Information System survey. The tendency for travelers to choose well-known locations has also decreased, from 18.2 percent to 16.1 percent. In other words, Koreans today prefer traveling in small groups and are inc...

Coex Winter Festival, Seoul Ahead of the new year, the Coex Winter Festival will present artworks featuring rabbits to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, the fourth animal of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs. The seven-day festival, starting on Dec. 19, presents various programs, including brick arts, digital arts, paintings, balloon arts and more. This year’s festival will be held at Coex’s K-pop S...

The Korea Tourism Organization is accepting reports on improper use of foreign languages on tourism-related websites operated by public organizations in Korea in a special event running through Dec. 16. The public may submit instances of inaccurate or wrong uses of foreign languages found on English, Chinese and Japanese versions of websites operated by public museums, performance centers and ga...

Ranging from studio flats to three-bedroom types, it offers guests an array of accommodation options, suitable for those looking for short getaways to those on business trips or a long vacation. Many units include a fully equipped kitchen and guests can also choose to have a special meal cooked and prepared by private chefs. The integrated resort is also home to more than 10 world-class restaur...

The lights change every 10 minutes to create daytime and nighttime views of the country -- pink for sunrise, blue for sundown and everything turns black at night. The pavilion is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday with last admission at 6 p.m. The admission fee costs 2,000 won for adults and 1,000 won for children, with a 50 percent discount for Nowon residents. The exhibition hall ...

E-World Illumination, Daegu E-World Illumination kicked off Nov. 19 and runs through Feb. 28, 2023 at E-World in Daegu. The festival features the areas around E-World and 83 Tower with ten million lights. A 15-meter-tall Christmas tree and a garden of 100,000 light-emitting diode roses are set to provide memorable photo zones for visitors as well. Admission costs 11,100 won per person on week...

Ting Tong Chang‘s video work, "The Blue Wave Woman," a 10-minute single channel video based on the artist’s research about the shrine is presented on the site. The work features traditional folk songs from Jeju Island which he collected in collaboration with a local musician. “I worked with Hong Kong composers, so we used experimental music and combined folk music from Korea,” the artist said. ...