Since January 2014, the last Wednesday of every month has been designated a special “Culture Day” to boost support for the local culture and arts.

During Culture Day, museums offer discounts for exhibitions. Cultural sites such as the royal palaces and Jongmyo Shrine offer free admission or discounted admission fees, while performances at national art organizations such as the National Theater of Korea, National Gugak Center, Korea National Opera, and Korean National Ballet are free of charge or discounted.

With the two-week period from Wednesday until Nov. 6 marking the height of fall travel in Korea, this month’s Culture Day on Oct. 26 will feature nationwide discounts under the theme of “fall travel,” with the participation of 2,563 cultural programs. 

Participating programs also include roughly 660 libraries and 350 movie theaters, offering twice the library books borrowing cap as well as slashing movie ticket prices to 5,000 won at selected theaters. Movie ticket discounts include both local and international releases.

There will also be a number of free cultural performances on Wednesday. In Seoul, the tourist hotspot of Insa-dong will play host to a free live gugak -- Korean traditional music -- performance that starts at 5 p.m.

The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul is offering a 50 percent discount on admission to its “Olafur Eliasson: The Parliament of Possibilities” exhibition, while Lotte World is offering half off on its nighttime tickets.

For more information on all Culture Day special offers and events, visit www.culture.go.kr.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)