Festivals, sights across Korea

KIMA Week, an annual marine leisure festival held in Busan since 2013, runs through August, featuring a mix of beachside events, water sports and a national rowing competition. The festival is co-hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Busan Metropolitan Government and organized by the Korea Marine Leisure Network. The KIMA Beach event zone at Dadaepo operates through Sunday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., offering experience booths, a flea market, indie band performances, film screenings

2026-07-31 09:00:00:00

Packages and promotions

Paradise Hotel Busan runs beach volleyball wellness class Paradise Hotel Busan will hold a beach volleyball wellness class for hotel guests Sunday on Haeundae Beach. Played on sand, the sport works more muscles than a standard court, while cushioning the joints. The sea air and surroundings are meant to aid recovery. Lee Jin-hwa, a former pro volleyball player and national beach volleyball team member, leads the class, which first-timers can join. The program moves from dynamic stretching throug

2026-07-31 09:00:00:00

Four Seoul bars make Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026, with Zest again Korea's best

Four Seoul bars earned places on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026, with Zest ranked No. 2 and named the Best Bar in Korea. The rankings, sponsored by Perrier, were revealed Tuesday at Wynn Palace in Macao. Zest held the No. 2 spot for a third consecutive year and took the Best Bar in Korea title for a fourth straight year. The bar, which is located in Seoul's Gangnam-gu, works to a zero-waste philosophy, making its own sodas and spirits in-house and finding use for leftover peels, pulp and produce. Its

2026-07-29 17:50:08:00

Quiet Haenam village takes starring role in Na Hong-jin's 'Hope'

Na Hong-jin's creature feature "Hope" drew more than 3 million admissions in less than two weeks in theaters. Now the village where much of it was filmed is drawing visitors of its own. The film's main location is Namchang-ri, in the Bukpyeong area of Haenam-gun, South Jeolla Province. Over roughly eight months of production, its narrow alleys and low-slung buildings stood in for Hopo-ri, the fictional town at the heart of the story. The production settled on the village for its landscape and wo

2026-07-28 17:42:15:00

Japan, Vietnam lead Korean travelers' overseas searches in H1

Despite elevated US dollar-Korean won exchange rates, Korean demand for overseas travel held steady through the first half of 2026, with Japan and Vietnam dominating the destinations travelers searched most, according to data released Tuesday. International passenger traffic at Incheon Airport reached 32.41 million from January through May, up 7.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the Incheon International Airport Corp. Travel platform Agoda, drawing on accommodation searches from Januar

2026-07-28 12:01:36:00

Gua sha and massage tools in celebrities' pouches

Foot rollers, octopus-shaped scalp massagers and body sticks keep turning up in pop stars' and actors' everyday kits. Gua sha is now a fixed step in many routines, and the tools that go with it have found a spot in celebrities' pouches. One recent example came from Jeon Somi's YouTube channel, Imos, where Twice's Nayeon went through her world tour suitcase. Between performances, she said, she cares most about puffiness and tight muscles, since she dances in heels and the fatigue collects in her

2026-07-27 15:38:38:00

KTO, Eastar Jet partner to draw Chinese travelers through regional airports

The Korea Tourism Organization signed an agreement with Eastar Jet on Thursday to expand Greater China routes at regional airports and attract more foreign visitors, the organization said. Under the deal signed at the KTO's Seoul office, the two sides plan to build a strategic partnership that uses regional airports as a base for bringing in overseas tourists. The organization aims to raise the share of Eastar Jet's inbound traffic passing through regional airports to 45 percent this year, then

2026-07-27 14:06:58:00

[팟캐스트] (811) 노리개·댕기 만들기…외국인들 사로잡은 전통 장신구 체험

진행자: 홍유, Tannith Kriel Beyond hanbok, foreign tourists now craft their own K-accessories 기사요약: 한복 체험을 넘어 노리개와 댕기 등 전통 장신구를 직접 만들어보는 프로그램이 외국인 관광객들 사이에서 인기를 끌고 있다. [1] International visitors to Korea are moving beyond wearing hanbok for photos and are now making their own traditional accessories to take home. to move beyond A: A를 넘어서다, A에서 한 단계 더 나아가다 [2] Hands-on workshops where tourists craft "norigae," ornamental pendants hung from hanbok, and "daenggi," traditional ribbons used to tie braided

2026-07-25 16:13:08:00

Artists with disabilities put technology in pursuit of the senses

In a compact gallery a short walk from Seoul Station, a strand of light circles an oval room. Step into its path and the space answers with sound. Linger, and the tones you set off drift into the ones left by whoever crossed the beam before you, so that strangers end up in a chord none of them planned. That work, Bak Yu-seok's "Cylinder Movement," sets the tone for "Media Sullae: When Technique Follows," the 2026 disability-and-technology exhibition organized by the Korea Disability Arts & Cultu

2026-07-25 16:04:23:00

Packages and promotions

Andaz Seoul pairs breakfast, bingsu in summer package Andaz Seoul Gangnam, near Apgujeong Station, has launched its Summer Essential Package, available for stays through Aug. 31. The package pairs the breakfast buffet at Jogakbo with a premium bingsu at Bites & Wine on the second floor. Guests choose from the hotel's signature mango bingsu, honey tomato bingsu or organic red bean bingsu, served once per stay. Also included are complimentary minibar access covering snacks, nonalcoholic drinks and

2026-07-25 16:00:00:00