Bukhansan Mountain reveals Seoul’s hidden beauty The Hidden Wall (center) is known for offering one of the best views of Bukhansan Mountain. To the left is Insubong Peak and on the right stands Baekundae Peak, the highest of the mountain’s many peaks.(photo: Jeon Han) Seoul, the capital city, got its original shape when…
Robot baseball fans make headlines worldwide Baseball — possibly Korea’s biggest sport — is in the news for new reasons.Over the past few years, stadiums have seen a sharp rise in the number of spectators, partly due to fans’ hyper-enthusiasm, the cheerleaders’ singing and dancing for every individual player and the fact that…
46 days to go for Incheon Asian Games The eyes and ears of the world’s 4.5 billion Asians will focus on Incheon later next month. The city is bustling with final preparations for the upcoming 17th Asian Games. Less than 50 days are left before the games take place in Incheon, from September…
10 Bukhansan viewpoints: public parks via subway “Joseon is a country of mountains. Wherever you step your foot, you cannot miss mountains.”So wrote Claude-Charles Dallet (1829-1878), a French Catholic missionary, when he arrived in Korea in the mid-19th century. As Dallet says, mountains are everywhere in the country, whether in the heart of…
The shouts were all of laughter. Even though they were attacked by strangers, people were still happy and having fun. They are all participants in the Sinchon Water Gun Festival, which marks its second year this year.
Koreans use the expression saram naemse, “the smell of the people,” to express the feeling of being surrounded by humanity. This sense of being together as one with a crowd, even in the absence of a relationship between each individual, is an important part of Korean culture. When people seek this scent of humanity, one of the first places they go to is the local sijang, or market
The Fairy and the Woodcutter: tragic love, Korean-syle The Fairy and the Woodcutter is one of the most popular of all Korean folktales. Almost all children in Korea grow up reading a version of this love story. The story has three well-known versions that differ mainly in plot length. The following is a…
Life Trail follows the path of Catholic martyrs in Seoul Seoul’s Seosomun Historical Park is where a great number of Catholics were executed amid the persecutions that took place during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Earlier this year, it was officially designated as a “historical park.” Pope Francis will honor the martyrs during his…
Love padlocks at N Seoul Tower Chinese tourists pose for photos in front of the ‘Trees of Love’ padlock formations at N Seoul Tower atop Namsan Mountain in Seoul on July 22. There are seven tree-shaped frames covered with padlocks at the base of the tower. (photo: Jeon Han) N Seoul Tower is…
Beat the heat with summer concerts Ozzy Osbourne. Queen. Lady Gaga. Richie Sambora. Maroon 5.These are just some of the world-class musicians who will head to Korea this summer. Large-scale concerts this season will feature popular musicians from both Korea and abroad, covering various genres from rock ‘n’ roll and R&B through to…
