[Around the Hotels] Promotions and packages

Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul collaborates with Lemona Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul, an urban oasis nestled on the slope of Seoul’s Namsan in central Seoul, is offering a new dessert experience in collaboration with Lemona, the country’s popular vitamin powder brand, starting from Saturday. The promotion “Weekend Table” features brunch dishes including Burrata cheese salad, arugula-themed focaccia, lobster Cacciucco and more. Guests can enjoy lemon-flavored welcome

TravelOct. 25, 2024

[Well-curated] Peaceful autumn with dumplings, flower farm, garden festival

Hidden dumpling shop Mandu are Korean dumplings filled with ingredients such as seasoned minced meat, tofu and vegetables like napa cabbage and green onions. They're a classic food enjoyed by all ages, found in small eateries and street stalls across Korea. Gwi-Il Dumpling, a local gem in Geumho-dong, Seoul, offers six varieties of mandu -- meat, kimchi, shrimp, galbi (Korean marinated ribs), spicy galbi and a mix of meat and vegetables. The restaurant also serves jjinppang, steamed buns fi

CultureOct. 25, 2024

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“A Normal Family” (South Korea) Opened Oct. 16 Drama Directed by Hur Jin-ho Successful lawyer Jae-wan (Sol Kyung-gu) and his brother meet for dinner with pediatrician Jae-kyu (Jang Dong-gun) to discuss how to handle a violent crime committed by their children, which tests the brothers' consciences. “Love in the Big City” (South Korea) Opened Oct. 1 Drama Directed by Lee Eon-hee Jae-hee (Kim Go-eun) and Heung-soo (Noh Sang-hyun), young Seoulites who have known each

FilmOct. 25, 2024

[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Fall colors at Beartree Park Hiking trails and a scenic route that meanders through Beartree Park in Sejong City will be rewarding for those seeking fall foliage. Jazz performances will take place at the Autumn Festival, which will run through Nov. 10 at the park from 9 a.m. to sunset. Admission for adults is 13,000 won ($9.43). Pets and food are banned. For more information, visit beartreepark.com. Iksan in blossom Through Sunday, the Iksan Ten Million Blossom of Chrysanthemum Festiva

TravelOct. 25, 2024

[Lee Byung-jong] President Park’s legacy

In this season of Nobel Prize awarding, South Koreans were happily surprised twice. The biggest news was of course the winning of the Nobel Prize in literature by the novelist Han Kang. Equally important, but perhaps less noticed news was the fact that the three winners of the Nobel Prize in economics revealed their work was largely inspired by the success of the Korean economy. In studying why some countries succeed economically, while others fail, they used Korea as a prime example of a succ

ViewpointsOct. 25, 2024

Fire breaks out at USFK storage facility in Busan

A fire broke out at a US Forces Korea (USFK) storage facility in the southeastern port city of Busan on Thursday, officials said, with no casualties reported so far. The blaze occurred at 6:31 p.m. at the USFK's Busan Storage Center in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to officials. More than 160 personnel and 51 pieces of fire equipment have been mobilized to extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started during plumbing work. As of 7:55 p.m., Busan fire authoriti

Social AffairsOct. 24, 2024

PPP leader's call to appoint inspector for presidential family corruption sparks internal rift

Ruling People Power Party (PPP) chief Han Dong-hoon's call for appointing an independent inspector general investigating corruption by the president's family has sparked internal conflict, driving a wedge between him and the floor leader. During a supreme council meeting Thursday, Han reiterated his calls to begin the process to appoint an independent inspector general responsible for investigating corruption by the president's spouse, close relatives and senior presidential aides

PoliticsOct. 24, 2024

Prosecutors again demand W3m fine for DP leader's wife

Prosecutors on Thursday reaffirmed their demand for a fine of 3 million won ($2,174) against the wife of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on charges of providing free meals to several people ahead of the 2021 party election to pick a presidential candidate. The Suwon District Prosecutors Office demanded the fine against Kim Hye-kyung during the closing hearing on charges of election law violations. She was indicted for providing meals worth 104,000 won to the wives of three former and current p

PoliticsOct. 24, 2024

Abductee families’ group vows to send leaflets to Pyongyang next week

A group representing the families of those abducted by North Korea vowed Thursday to fly leaflets into North Korea next week, aiming to raise awareness about the abductee issue. About 100,000 leaflets bearing the names and photos of abductees in North Korea will be sent across the border from the western border city of Paju sometime next week, the group said in a press conference in Suwon, south of Seoul. A copy of the leaflet shown by the group included images and descriptions of those abduct

Social AffairsOct. 24, 2024

KB posts record Q3 earnings, vows higher shareholder returns

KB Financial Group reported record third-quarter profits driven by increased interest revenues from expanded loans while announcing a plan to enhance shareholder returns linked to its financial stability. The group posted a net profit of 1.61 trillion won ($1.17 billion), a 17.5 percent on-year increase, marking its best performance for the third quarter to date. Cumulatively, the year-to-date net profit reached 4.4 trillion won, up 0.4 percent from the previous year. However, compared to the

EconomyOct. 24, 2024

South Korea to lead Japan, Taiwan in GDP per capita: IMF

South Korea’s gross domestic product per capita is projected to continue its lead over Japan and Taiwan in 2024, according to International Monetary Fund data. In its “World Economic Outlook,” released on Monday, the IMF forecasted Korea's GDP per capita to rise this year to $36,132, which would be an increase of 1.6 percent from last year’s $35,563. The figure for Japan is expected to decline from last year by 3.1 percent to $32,859, while Taiwan is forecast to reco

EconomyOct. 24, 2024

Hybe COO denies Illit plagiarized NewJeans, Hybe chart manipulation allegations

Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae-ho, who also serves as Hybe’s chief operating officer, has refuted allegations that his company's rookie girl group Illit plagiarized NewJeans' concept. "It is not true that Belift Lab plagiarized NewJeans. As the CEO of Belift Lab, I would like to state that we have filed a civil lawsuit and pressed charges against former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin regarding this issue,” Kim said during a National Assembly audit on Thursday. “We are awaiting the

K-popOct. 24, 2024

Critics slam this year's parliamentary audit as 'worst ever'

This year's National Assembly audit was slammed by critics on Thursday as the worst to date, with civic groups denouncing both sides of the political sphere for failing to carry out a proper audit. A monitoring group consisting of 270 different local civic groups here graded this year’s National Assembly audit a near-failing score of D-minus. The National Assembly Audit NGO Monitoring Group called this year’s parliamentary audit, which kicked off Oct. 7 and is set to wrap up Fri

PoliticsOct. 24, 2024

Yoon signals flexibility in no-weapons policy for Ukraine

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday suggested possible flexibility in the country's longstanding policy of withholding lethal weapons aid to Ukraine, framing it as part of a phased counterstrategy in response to North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia. Yoon's comment came after South Korea's presidential office confirmed Tuesday that, depending on how the battlefield situation in Ukraine unfolds, Seoul will first consider providing defensive weapons, with the option of late

Foreign AffairsOct. 24, 2024

South Korea moves to regulate popular wiki site

For South Koreans seeking information online, all signs point to Namuwiki. The home-grown open-source encyclopedia has emerged as the country’s go-to knowledge hub, offering a more casual and community-driven alternative to Wikipedia. Boasting over 6.5 million entries that span everything from academic discourse to pop culture, it ranked as the nation's fifth most visited domain as of September, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb. Operating through servers in Paraguay, Namuwik

Social AffairsOct. 24, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Rose logs 100m views with solo music video

Rose of Blackpink garnered 100 million views on YouTube with the music video for her Bruno Mars collaboration “Apt.,” her agency The Black Label said Thursday. The artist expressed gratitude via the agency, saying the song came out naturally while hanging out at a studio playing the game -- originally a drinking game in Korea -- and is “really touched and grateful that so many are listening to and enjoying it.” "Apt." achieved the feat in five days, the shortest

K-popOct. 24, 2024

[Contribution] Future-oriented partnership between Korea, Singapore

By Lee Seong-woo, Vice president of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Living up to its reputation as a “small but mighty” country, Singapore has been an economic hub of Asia and is home to the Asian headquarters of many global companies. Its business-friendly investment environment, talented workforce and strategic location have made it a center of the Asian economy. The government of Singapore offers nondiscriminatory investment incentives to both local and foreign companies,

IndustryOct. 24, 2024

Korean travelers seen to prefer short-distance trips for 2025

South Korean holidaymakers will be interested in traveling to less-visited destinations in Asia next year, according to Skyscanner, a UK-based online flight, hotels, car hire options search engine. The trend forecast was based on the company's tourism data, analysis by industry experts and a survey of 1,000 South Korean holidaymakers, said Brendan Walsh, Skyscanner's head of commercial, at Travel Trend 2025 held at Music Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Oct. 15. “We exp

TravelOct. 24, 2024

Quiet Blue House neighborhoods become tourist destinations

Hoping to promote the neighborhood near the Blue House -- the former presidential office known as Cheong Wa Dae -- to tourists, the Culture Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization are jointly running a travel campaign entitled “2024 Around Cheongwa” until Dec. 30. Featuring Cheongwadae Sarangchae, “2024 Around Cheongwa” will offer various programs ranging from history lessons and a stamp tour to trekking. Cheongwadae Sarangchae is the former meeting spot for Blue Hous

TravelOct. 24, 2024