Seoul to connect local medical providers with overseas buyers

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will host a business event in September to connect local hospitals, clinics and medical tourism companies with overseas agencies seeking to send patients to Korea. The event comes after Seoul attracted a record 1.76 million foreign patients in 2025, accounting for 87.2 percent of all foreign nationals who visited Korea to receive medical services that year, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The eighth edition of Seoul I

2026-08-23 15:26:52:00

Seoul cultural facilities to extend nighttime opening starting September

Eight municipal museums and other cultural facilities in Seoul will remain open until 9 p.m. five days a week, expanding nighttime access currently available only once a week, according to the city government. The extended hours will be introduced sequentially from September and tested through November before becoming a permanent program in 2027. Under the new Seoul Museum Night program, eight facilities run by the city government — including Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul Museum of Craft Art and Se

2026-08-23 15:26:40:00

Is Yongsan Park a quick fix for Seoul’s housing shortage?

Seoul needs more homes, and Yongsan Park looks like the kind of land the government would find hard to ignore. The site is large, centrally located and largely undeveloped. But it is also a former military garrison that Seoul has spent years planning to turn into a national urban park. Those competing priorities collided Thursday as Land Minister Kim Yoon-deok and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met over the future of the site but failed to agree on whether part of the main site should be used for housin

2026-08-20 16:24:25:00

Seoul to triple late-night autonomous taxis in Gangnam

Seoul will increase the number of late-night autonomous taxis operating in southern Seoul from seven to 19 starting Thursday and plans to gradually introduce vehicles without a safety operator in the driver’s seat. SWM and Kakao Mobility, the two operators of the Gangnam service, will increase their fleets from five to 13 vehicles and from two to six, respectively. Gangnam-gu is the only district in Seoul currently operating an autonomous taxi service, which was launched in 2024. A total of 15,1

2026-08-19 14:20:59:00

[Treasures from National Museum of Korea] Stupa of Master Yeomgeo

Period: Unified Silla Period Materials: Stone Dimensions: H. 170.0cm, W. 92.0cm Designation: National Treasure 104 Unlike stone pagodas built to enshrine the Buddha’s relics, stupas containing the remains of eminent monks are generally smaller and more varied in design. Such stupas began to be built in earnest during the late Unified Silla period (676–935), as the nine major monasteries of the Seon, or Zen, school were established. The Seon school emphasized personal enlightenment. Stupas were e

2026-08-19 13:55:22:00

Seoul brings shade to the streets for hotter summer

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to create shaded walking routes across the city to protect residents from increasingly severe summer heat, Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Wednesday. “Shade should no longer be a convenience available only in certain places, but a basic urban service that protects citizens’ health and daily lives,” Oh said at City Hall as he announced the initiative, which he dubbed the “right to shaded walking.” “We will test and evaluate the initiative through pilot projects in 20

2026-08-19 13:39:00:00

Justice minister offers resignation amid dispute over prosecution reform

Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho submitted his resignation Tuesday afternoon after expressing differences with the ruling Democratic Party over prosecutors' authority to conduct supplementary investigations, according to local reports. Jung had raised concerns about abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers, while the Democratic Party has pushed to fully separate investigative and prosecutorial functions to prevent excessive power from being concentrated in the prosecution. Prosecu

2026-08-18 16:53:02:00

Seoul to welcome second-largest incentive travel group from India

A 1,400-member incentive travel group from India will arrive in Seoul in three batches between Sept. 6 and 11, marking the second-largest group of its kind from India to visit Seoul, the city government said Tuesday. It will be the largest incentive group from India since 3,257 employees of HDFC Bank visited in 2023. The group, organized by global nutrition company Herbalife, initially considered Georgia as its destination, but Seoul was selected following two inspection trips in June and July,

2026-08-18 14:50:51:00

Frieze put Seoul on global art map, but can it sustain the momentum?

Four years ago, Korea’s art market was riding a pandemic-era boom and the inaugural edition of Frieze Seoul fueled expectations that Seoul was poised to emerge as another art capital in Asia. It was also around the time that Korea's art market reached a record 806.6 billion won ($572 million) in sales. International galleries opened new outposts, expanded their existing spaces or staged pop-up exhibitions in Seoul. Korea’s relatively favorable tax regime was another factor that attracted interna

2026-08-18 11:23:28:00

Seoul offers free palace tours led by historians

The city-affiliated Seoul Historiography Institute will run free guided tours of four royal palaces from September to November. The tour program will begin at Gyeongbokgung on Sept. 5 before moving to Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung in October and November, according to the official research and archival organization under the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The tours will explain the historical events associated with each palace, the culture and everyday life of the royal family an

2026-08-14 15:15:32:00