Seoul's art fair week is here

Frieze Seoul kicked off its fifth edition Wednesday at Coex in southern Seoul, where it opened to VIPs and the press a day before the public. More than 130 galleries from 30 countries and regions are taking part in this year's fair, which runs through Saturday. Sharing the building, as it has every September since 2022, is Kiaf Seoul, the homegrown fair put on by the Galleries Association of Korea. Now in its 25th year, Kiaf brings together 175 galleries from 18 countries and stays open a day lo

2026-09-02 16:53:54:00

G-Dragon's voice is now a 1.7-meter sculpture in Seoul

G-Dragon has been many things — K-pop legend, fashion icon, one-man brand — but rarely a subject of a work of art. At JN Gallery in Gangnam, southern Seoul, a sculpture derived from the singer's voice now stands 170 centimeters tall, cast in resin and steel and lit from within by LEDs. Named "PEACEMINUSONE" after the star's fashion brand, the artwork is the centerpiece of a solo exhibition by Korean artist Lee Kwan-young. The vertical column of light began with an in-person meeting, where Lee re

2026-09-02 11:06:19:00

Busan Film Festival sets biggest slate since 2019 with 315 films

The Busan International Film Festival will screen 315 films at its 31st edition next month, organizers announced Tuesday. The lineup includes 246 official selections from 59 countries — 95 of which are world premieres — making it the festival's biggest slate since 2019. This year's edition is the first since the International Federation of Film Producers Associations designated Busan as one of its 17 A-list festivals. The winner of the Busan Award for best film now also qualifies for submission

2026-09-01 18:25:09:00

Design Miami Seoul opens its second edition at DDP

Design Miami Seoul opened to the public Tuesday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, kicking off a six-day run that coincides with the city's biggest art week headlined by Frieze Seoul and Kiaf. Now in its second year, the fair takes place in the Design Lab of the Zaha Hadid-designed landmark under the theme "Resonance," which looks at how objects carry memory and emotion across generations. The event is organized in partnership with the Seoul Design Foundation and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Cho

2026-09-01 11:49:22:00

Koo Jeong-a turns Leeum inside out

Polished steel sits near bronzes cast to look like meteorites, and a monumental metal colossus shares a gallery with a tower of pencil leads that seem as if they might scatter at a touch. "Koo Jeong A: Ousssmos," the Paris-based artist's largest solo exhibition in Korea, revels in collisions like these — the futuristic scattered alongside the primitive, the industrial among the ancient — until a sense of estrangement takes hold, hard to pin down but oddly absorbing. Opening Saturday at Leeum Mus

2026-08-31 14:53:30:00

Torrential rain to lash Korea on Monday

Heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds, thunder and lightning is forecast across most of South Korea through Monday. The central west coast is expected to bear the brunt of the downpours. Rain was already falling in southern parts of the country Sunday, where heavy rain warnings were in effect as of 5 p.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The rain will spread across most of the country by Monday, hitting hardest in southern Gyeonggi Province, southwestern Gangwon Province, t

2026-08-30 20:02:37:00

It's official: 'The Odyssey' is Korea's biggest foreign hit of the year

The box office race that had local film fans hooked through the month finally has a winner. Over the weekend, "The Odyssey" pulled ahead of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" to become the year's biggest foreign release in Korea, capping a monthlong duel between two Hollywood blockbusters that have put up massive numbers worldwide. Christopher Nolan's Homer adaptation had drawn 8.47 million admissions as of Sunday morning, nudging past the 8.45 million recorded by Marvel's superhero sequel, according t

2026-08-30 17:24:08:00

Busan Biennale opens, celebrates sound as mode of resistance

The Busan Biennale launched its 2026 edition Friday with an opening ceremony at a shuttered high school in Yeongdo, kicking off a 65-day run through Nov. 1. Featuring 46 artists and collectives from 22 countries, the exhibition opened to the public Saturday. Led by co-artistic directors Evelyn Simons and Amal Khalaf, this year's edition treats rhythm, voice and assembly as means of communication and resistance — a tribute to the city's long tradition of labor activism and pro-democracy protest.

2026-08-30 14:07:53:00

Movies in theaters this week

"The End of Oak Street" (US) Opened Aug. 26 Sci-Fi/Adventure Directed by David Robert Mitchell A family fights for survival when their suburban neighborhood gets thrown back in the age of dinosaurs. "The Journey to Gyeongju" (South Korea) Opened Aug. 26 Comedy/Drama Directed by Kim Mi-jo A mother and her three grown daughters hit the road to get revenge for the youngest daughter's murder. "Warfare" (US/UK) Opened Aug. 19 War/Drama Directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland A Navy SEAL platoon's su

2026-08-28 09:00:00:00

Homer Hulbert, US missionary buried in Seoul, gets a bust in Vermont hometown

A memorial service for Homer B. Hulbert, an American missionary and educator who campaigned for Korea's independence from Japanese colonial rule, was held Thursday at his burial site in Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in Seoul. Born in New Haven, Vermont, in 1863, Hulbert arrived in Korea in 1886 to teach at the Royal English School, the country's first government-run Western-style school. Over the next two decades, he devoted himself to writing, producing the first textbook in the Korean

2026-08-27 17:17:15:00