[Weekender] Busan, beloved filming location of content creators

BUSAN -- Though there are many coastal towns in South Korea, the southern port city of Busan is one of the most treasured sites for renowned television and film directors and content creators. The city mesmerizes them with upscale luxury high-rise apartments, hotel buildings, vast natural landscapes, panoramic seascapes and, of course, the unique Gyeongsang dialect. Visiting the city’s famous tourist sites will surely make for an exciting getaway. Especially if you are a passionate Netfl

May 28, 2022

[Weekender] Matisse is having a moment in S. Korea

When “Henri Matisse: Life and Joy” -- a retrospective exhibition of Matisse held in Seoul -- was drawing to an end in April, thousands of visitors came to see original works by the pioneering French painter and sculptor. “People continued to come to the exhibition despite the spread of the omicron variant, which began in February. Some 5,000 visitors were coming on a single day toward the end. It received a great deal of attention and love,” said director Seo Hyung-won a

May 21, 2022

[Weekender] Planting for peace of mind

For Kim Yoo-jun, a 31-year-old firefighter, farming is a newfound hobby -- not necessarily to put fresh vegetables on his table, but to regain strength to continue his mission of saving lives. Looking back at the last three years, Kim realized that he was under a lot of stress at his high-risk job. He realized that he desperately needed to do something other than taking pills or counseling to manage his stress. “I run my own little farm near my mother’s house. It’s as small

May 14, 2022

[Weekender] All washed up: Beach trash holds truths about North Korea

Kang Dong-wan, a 48-year-old South Korean professor at Dong-A University in Busan, has become a trash-to-treasure hunter after he realized the genuine value of trash that drifted in from North Korea along the eastern and western seaboards. The professor views the washed-up trash as a window into the reality of North Korea and the people’s daily lives. Kang has so far collected around 3,000 wrappers and packages of North Korea-produced items from the beaches on the West and East coasts

May 7, 2022

[Weekender] Bugaksan opened to the public after 54 years

As the trees start to dress in green and the warm breeze brings a spring-like atmosphere, mountain lovers are in search of mountains to scale. These passionate trekkers will be surprised by the new mountain trail which opened to the public for the first time in 54 years. When North Korean military infiltrators slipped into Seoul through the mountain route of Bugaksan to attack Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 21, 1968, South Korean forces faced a fierce firefight. The hilly path of Bugaksan was used as

April 30, 2022

[Weekender] Foreign vacations are back, but come with hefty price tags

Attention travel-starved Koreans. The cost of air travel is rising, with more upward pressure building from high jet fuel prices and soaring tourism demand. If you are fixed on an overseas vacation, don’t wait too long to book it, experts say. “Airlines are selling their flight tickets well and there is a supply shortage. We are in a situation where prices are forced to go up,” an Asiana Airlines official told The Korea Herald. “The number of flights in operation has

April 23, 2022

[Weekender] Back to normal?: ‘It will never be the same’

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a source of suffering for all, but it has offered an unexpected opportunity too -- to experience what relaxed mornings are like on weekdays. Without having to take that subway from hell while suppressing a hangover from the company dinner the night before, not to mention the shirt-ironing and face-to-face meetings, many workers in South Korea -- known as one of the hardest working countries in the world -- spent more than two years free from fitting themselves into

April 14, 2022

[Weekender] Rise of never-aging young women in Korea

South Korea’s entertainment and commercial fields have seen a rise of beautiful, multi-talented young women capable of doing almost everything -- from acting to fashion design. Despite being in their early 20s, they display impeccable skills and give performances that exceed human expectations. They have no stress, no sleep and no scandals. Though they are labeled as perfect human beings, they have their own limits. They are not actual people, but virtual humans produced by cutting-edge co

March 31, 2022

[Weekender] Disputes surrounding new presidential office continue

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced that he would begin his term on May 10 as president of the Republic of Korea at the Ministry of National Defense compound in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul. Cheong Wa Dae -- which has been the presidential office for 70 years, since South Korea’s inaugural President Syngman Rhee -- is to open to the public on the same day. 　 Putting an end to the legacy of the “imperial presidency” and to better communicate with people are reasons offered i

March 26, 2022

[Weekender] The great gate debate

A vote took place at one of the most expensive apartment complexes in central Seoul last May. “Due to the indiscriminate actions of passersby within the complex, damage to residents such as trash throwing, unauthorized use of facilities, theft accidents and pet excretion continues to take place,” read the notice for the vote, asking residents to express their opinion through the poll on the installation of fences and a gate to limit the access of strangers. Of 1,148 households in

March 19, 2022

[Weekender] Deliver us...pretty much everything

When 65-year-old retiree Kim Ji-yeon decided to move to the outskirts of Seoul, she found that shopping for groceries could become a sizable hurdle for a senior couple living in a town several transfers away from the nearest retail store. Solution? Delivery apps. “There’s pretty much everything on Coupang, from food to daily necessities. There are also applications run by retail stores like E-mart or Costco, so I don’t really have to go shopping,” Kim said, adding that

March 12, 2022

[Weekender] Unity and coalition stand as key challenges for the next president

Whoever wins the 20th presidential election on March 9, the winner faces the complex task of bringing unity among South Koreans -- a pledge repeated by almost all recent presidents -- and measure out policies to bring naysayers to the table for the next five years. The race so far has largely been centered on mudslinging and denunciations, especially between ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea and his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Part

March 5, 2022

[Weekender] Available at touch of button, mental care apps empower patients

Han Na-yeon, a pseudonym for a 34-year-old office worker, experienced an anxiety attack during a job interview six months ago, almost having a breakdown in front of interviewers. This encounter preceded a months long period of depression and repressed anger. Beginning to wonder if she had anxiety or some other issue, she delved into various online communities in an attempt to get to the bottom of her problem. Following a readily available online test, she was presented with a diagnosis of atten

Feb. 26, 2022

[Weekender] Investing in the metaverse: Look before you leap

Touted as the next big thing, the metaverse has been undeniably the talk of the global town since last year. The metaverse frenzy accelerated further when Facebook changed its name to Meta in October. Hoping to take the lead in the new online virtual world, all sectors regardless of their specializations have jumped on the metaverse bandwagon. This has led to lofty projections luring individual investors. The global metaverse market is forecast to reach $829 billion (993 trillion won) in 202

Feb. 19, 2022

[Weekender] How South Korea went from ‘test, trace, treat’ to ‘let it spread’

South Korea is determined to go easy on omicron, which is behind the ongoing record surge in COVID-19 patients, in the hope that the new dominant variant will not be as bad as the ones that came before. But is this reckless?　 The rationale for the shift to the omicron response plan is that the new variant is less threatening than its predecessor, delta, the government says. Messaging from health officials surrounding omicron has been consistently hopeful. Son Young-rae, spokesperson for th

Feb. 4, 2022

[Weekender] Making tteokguk gets trendy in pandemic times

Yu Kyoung-suk found joy by making special tteokguk, or rice cake soup, this year. As the year became 2022, he came up with a fancy tteokguk -- topped with flower-shaped dumplings and jidan (egg garnish) -- to share with his wife and their two sons. He squeezed juice from beets and carrots to add colors to the dumpling dough to make a special tteokguk this year. “When the New Year comes, Koreans eat tteokguk made using rice cake slices from garaetteok (a stick of long rice cake) which sy

Jan. 30, 2022

[Weekender] Tteokguk with jidan, beef topping

Basic ingredients - 400 grams rice cake slices (tteokguk tteok) - 130 grams minced beef - 2 green onion stalks - 2-3 eggs For beef seasoning - 1 tablespoon soy sauce - 1 tablespoon sesame oil - 1 teaspoon minced garlic - 1 teaspoon sugar - pepper to taste - a little cooking oil to coat frying pan For soup - 5 cups of dried kelp (dashima) broth - 1/2 big spoon soup soy sauce - 1 small spoon minced garlic - salt and pepper to taste Directions - If rice cake slices

Jan. 29, 2022

[Weekender] Finding peace in winter wonderland

Unlike last winter, South Korea’s high vaccination rate has given people courage to step outside and participate in outdoor activities. Skiing and snowboarding remain popular choices, but this winter, people are seeking out less extreme activities such as hiking and fishing in search of serenity. “Just standing on the top of Mount Halla on Jeju Island was a breath of fresh air for me,” said Lee In-ho, a 36-year-old office worker in Seoul. Lee had been delaying the planned h

Jan. 22, 2022

[Weekender] Kids still under threat of abuse as improvements remain weak

A 20-month-old baby girl in Daejeon was murdered in June after months of physical and sexual abuse, apparently from her stepfather, and neglect by her biological mother. The toddler’s body was found in a cooler at the stepfather’s house with severe bruises and scars apparently from the abuse. Her stepfather was reported to have beaten her for more than an hour on the day of her death just because she was annoying him by crying too much. The stepfather reportedly testified during th

Jan. 15, 2022

[Weekender] What to expect in the Korean art scene next year

South Korea’s art scene has enjoyed an unprecedented booming year in 2021 with art fairs and auction houses seeing record-breaking sales. This trend was backed by emerging younger collectors who are increasingly embracing the arts as part of their culture. The late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s art collection donated to the country also triggered an interest in art, with people lining up to see the artworks given to two national museums. On top of that, internationally renowned ga

Jan. 1, 2022