Korea to issue e-visas for Southeast Asians to tackle THAAD fallout

The Korean government on Wednesday announced that it will start issuing electronic visas to Southeast Asian tourists in May, as part of its plan to aid the local tourism industry which has been hit by tension between Seoul and Beijing.In opposition of last year’s joint decision by the Korea-US alliance to station the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here, China has been curbing Chinese tours to Korea. This includes the reported order by Beijing to ban its tourism agencies from selling

March 22, 2017

[Travel Bits] Festivals in Korea this week

Yangpyeong Strawberry FestivalThe Yangpyeong Strawberry Festival is being held through the end of May. Visitors can pick their own strawberries at the strawberry farms and participate in a variety of activities and programs in the village. Reservations are required.Exclusive events for bloggers are on offer at blog.naver.com/yp_nadri. Up to 50 groups can participate. The festival is open to visitors of all ages. Visit www.yp21.net for information provided in Korean, English, Japanese and Mandari

March 17, 2017

[Weekender] Travel bits

Yangpyeong Strawberry FestivalThe Yangpyeong Strawberry Festival is being held through the end of May. Visitors can pick their own strawberries at the strawberry farms and participate in a variety of activities and programs in the village. Reservations are required.Exclusive events for bloggers are on offer at blog.naver.com/yp_nadri. Up to 50 teams can participate. The festival is open to visitors of all ages. Visit www.yp21.net for information provided in Korean, English, Japanese and Mandarin

March 10, 2017

[Weekender] Walk across a land frozen in time

CHEORWON, Gangwon Province -- Venturing deep inside the remote county of Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, one finds the village of Gimhwa-eup, just a stone’s throw away from the inter-Korean border.Here lies the Demilitarized Zone, a no man’s land set as a buffer zone between the Koreas on July 27, 1953 when the US, representing the United Nations Command, and North Korea reached an armistice agreement that brought a truce to the Korean Peninsula.Nearly 64 years on, the DMZ remains uninhabited, save

March 3, 2017

Hitting the road less traveled for unique rewards

Shim Soo-jin didn’t like heavy topics, but when she saw the images of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine through a television documentary, she was “hooked.” The ravaged, desolate building and its surroundings were so mind-boggling that she decided to tour the place while she was a university student. Having visited the place three times since 2015, she has filmed one of her trips and talked about her experiences on radio and at seminars. “I felt so many things there, sadness, happiness

March 3, 2017

[Weekender] Travel bits

Yangpyeong Strawberry FestivalThe Yangpyeong Strawberry Festival is being held through the end of May. Visitors can pick their own strawberries at the strawberry farms and participate in a variety of activities and programs in the village. Reservation is required.Exclusive events for bloggers are on offer at blog.naver.com/yp_nadri. Up to 50 teams can participate. The festival is open to visitors of all ages. For more information, visit www.yp21.net for information provided in Korean, English, J

March 3, 2017

[Weekender] Stranger places: out-of-the-ordinary destinations

For those weary of typical travel itineraries -- looking at landscapes, eating local food, sightseeing -- The Korea Herald recommends a number of unique, and somewhat strange, places to visit, ranging from interesting accommodations to unusual places of interest. Robotic comfortsIn Nagasaki, Japan, there is a hotel staffed almost entirely by robots, from automated employees at the reception desk and electric bellboys to droid waiters at a restaurant. 　Upon entering the futuristic establishment,

March 3, 2017

[Eye Plus] Forgotten past relived at Tongin Market

Between the forests of gray buildings in northern Seoul, a 300-meter alley near Gyeongbokgung beckons passersby for a short trip into Korea’s past.Tongin Market is a 75-store covered arcade located between Gwanghwamun and the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, and is a constant reminder of what the lives of ordinary Koreans used to be like -- long before they were tinged with the convenience brought by evolving technology and modernization. From the faces of children waiting for dalgona, a sn

Feb. 24, 2017

From Orlando to Sanibel Island, finding magic in the Florida kingdom

For more than a moment, I found magic in Orlando.As I stood in the glow of Cinderella’s Castle on a crisp November night, fireworks filled the sky and the songs of childhood pealed when Tinker Bell, a human sprite in bright green tights and Day-Glo wings, popped out of a turret and zip-lined toward Tomorrowland like a cartoonish flare.Thousands of stunned park-goers clapped furiously as the light show dimmed -- a perfect end to my first day in Florida with two nephews, a great-niece and Grandma

Feb. 17, 2017

[Travel Bits] Festivals in Korea this week

Ganghwa Icefish FestivalHeld in the Hwangcheong Reservoir at the base of mountains Deoksan and Guksusan, Ganghwa Icefish Festival is managed and sponsored by the fishery community of Hwangcheon Reservoir in Naesu-myeon. Visitors can enjoy ice fishing and visit nearby Yongdure Village for various agricultural and traditional experiences. Admission fees are 5,000 won per person and there is no age limit. Visiting hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can register on site.For more information, c

Feb. 10, 2017

[Travel Bits] Festivals in Korea this week

 Ganghwa Icefish FestivalHeld in the Hwangcheong Reservoir at the base of Deoksan Mountain and Guksusan Mountain, Ganghwa Icefish Festival is managed and sponsored by the fishery community of Hwangcheon Reservoir in Naesu-myeon. Visitors can enjoy ice-fishing and visit nearby Yongdure Village for various agricultural and traditional experiences. Admission fees is 5,000 won per person, and there is no age limit. Visiting hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and visitors can register on site.For more i

Feb. 3, 2017

Korea Grand Sale 2017 kicks off

A shopping and tourism festival has been kicked off to attract foreign tourists by offering them exclusive discounts during their stay in Korea.Visit Korea Committee, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, launched Korea Grand Sale 2017 Friday with an opening ceremony in front of Doota Mall in Dongdaemun, Seoul.Representatives of the Visit Korea Committee, Korea Tourism Organization, Korea Tourism Association, and the Korea Association of Travel Agents attended the event which also f

Jan. 22, 2017

[Travel Bits] Festivals in Korea this week

Yangpyeong Icefish Festival The Mulmalgeun Yangpyeong Icefish Festival takes place in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, each winter. Visitors can eat warm fish cakes and roasted chestnuts at the festival. Aside from ice fishing, other traditional winter games and activities such as kite-flying, top spinning, sledding and making jjimbbang (steamed buns with red bean filling) will be available.The festival will continue until Feb. 12, and online reservations are available at soomyland.winterfesti

Jan. 20, 2017

[Travel Bits] Festivals in Korea this week

Mulmalgeun Icefish Festival The Mulmalgeun Yangpyeong Icefish Festival takes place in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, each winter. Visitors can eat warm fish cakes and roasted chestnuts at the festival. Aside from ice fishing, other traditional winter games and activities such as kite-flying, top spinning, sledding and making jjimbbang (steamed buns with red bean filling) will be available.The festival will continue until Feb. 12, and online reservations are available at soomyland.winterfesti

Jan. 13, 2017

[Travel Bits] Festivals around Korea

Boseong Green Tea Plantation light festThe annual Boseong Green Tea Plantation Light Festival has kicked off its celebrations this year, lighting up the country’s famed green tea fields in Boseong-gun, South Jeolla Province. There are various attractions, such as the Korea Tea Culture Park’s Galaxy Tunnel, the colorful Tea Plantation Wave of Lights, Light Valley of Hope, Korea Tea Museum’s Light Plaza, Wishing Tree, along with photo spots. The festivities will also extend to the nearby Yulpo Bea

Jan. 6, 2017

In this ‘weird, lost corner of America,’ the beach of your dreams awaits in the remotest national park

Even for a Saturday in the South Pacific, this was a sleepy morning.On American Samoa’s main island of Tutuila and its neighbor, Ofu, villages were still, beaches empty.On the west coast of nearby Ta’u, a battered little fishing boat sidled up to the wharf, and a pale stranger stepped off, looking half-queasy and half-euphoric, a bagged octopus in his left hand.That was me on Day 6 at America’s most far-flung national park.National Park of American Samoa, 4,000 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, is

Jan. 6, 2017

Culture Ministry recommends themed travel outside of Seoul

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced a new initiative to promote travel outside of Seoul next year, recommending destinations based on different themes. 　The ministry selected its top sightseeing cities outside of Seoul. Separated into 10 regions, the new travel promotion initiative highlights themes such as “Peace and National Security,” “Road to Pyeongchang,” “Seonbi (classical scholar) Culture,” “Time Travel” and “Islands and Wind.” 　To allow travelers to get the best out

Dec. 27, 2016

Winter is a cool time to explore the desert

Seeking something other than the traditional 70-degree, sunny Christmas that Southern Californians like me often take for granted, I persuaded my dad to spend the long holiday weekend last year somewhere more remote, and perhaps white.We signed up for a three-day trip with an Asian tour bus company out of Monterey Park, just east of Los Angeles, to Arizona and Utah. Disclaimer: The trip is better done driving your own car, especially if you like legroom.At the crack of dawn, we loaded our luggag

Dec. 17, 2016

[Travel bits] Upcoming festivals, travel news

Everland Romantic Illuminations festEverland’s Romantic Illumination festival is continuing its celebrations until March 1 with beautiful and enchanting illuminations for a romantic and memorable holiday season.The festival will feature an extravagant 26-meter-tall Romantic Tower Tree, which will be displayed at the fountain area between Four Seasons Garden and Rose Garden. The hollowed out Christmas tree tower can accommodate up to 50 people.The tree’s interior showers visitors with enchanting

Dec. 17, 2016