Culinary delight of Gangwon-do: freeze-dried pollack “We’re all ready to serve during next year’s Olympic Games.” Kim Sunyeol runs Hwangtae Hoegwan (황태회관), one of the time-honored hwangtae (황태) restaurants in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do Province. The town of Pyeongchang is one of the three host cities for next year’s 2018 PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic…
Korea’s biggest cherry blossom festival A famous writer once said, “I dream of standing under trees while cherry blossom petals fall all around me.” Well, it’s that time of the year when cherry blossom trees are about to bloom. Yes, spring is coming. Seeing cherry blossom festivals is a big dream of many…
Seoul’s vertical metropolis awaits grand opening Lotte World Tower’s Sky Deck observation platform, 478 meters from the ground on the 118th floor, offers surreal views of Seoul’s cityscape, as miniature cars move along streets that connect clusters of blocks that give shape to a bustling city. A “vertical metropolis” is the term coined for…
Maehwa apricot blossoms welcome spring The Wondong Maehwa Festival, held in Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, will welcome guests with maehwa apricot flowers on March 18 and 19 this year. In Seoul, people are still wearing thick coats and scarves to block out the cold wind, but in the southern parts of the Korean Peninsula,…
Gangneung, a city of skating, coffee The Gyeongpo branch of Bohemian Roasters is located next to the Gangneung Ice Arena, the venue that will play host to the skating events at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games next year. The coffee shop was filled with visitors during the ISU Four Continents…
Spring has sprung along Jeju’s canola trails At the Seogwipo Yuchae Canola Flower International Walking Festival, held in Seogwipo-si, Jeju Island, on March 18 and 19, participants can walk on 5-km, 10-km or 15-km trails that weave through the island’s blooming fields of canola flowers. The trails connect several tourist attractions along the…
Major Leaguers explore Seoul’s attractions MLB.com’s section Cut 4 features Team Israel’s Josh Zeid (left) and Ryan Lavarnway’s adventure through the streets of Seoul on March 4, as they try as many street foods as they can get their hands on, just days before the World Baseball Classic (WBC) opening against Korea on March…
The goblin that took Korea by storm Have you heard of the Korean TV show “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” (도깨비)? We’re guessing you might have. It was such a big hit in Korea. Want some proof? It got a very high viewing rate for a program on a cable channel. It…
Hongdae: Shopping, music, dancing, busking and more Hongdae, famous for its youthful ambience, unique cafes, dance clubs, fashion outlets and busking, attracts people in their 20s and 30s. As the sun goes down it comes alive. Exit No. 9 of Hongik University Station, on line No. 2, leads one directly to paradise. Sounds funny?…
Abandoned mine becomes must-visit tourist attraction In 2010, only about 3,000 tourists visited Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi-do Province. However, by 2015, that number had jumped 514 times, hitting 1.54 million. The secret behind the surprising boost is the Gwangmyeong Cave, a forsaken gold mine that used to be full of waste and which has been…
