Adidas blends running culture with heritage at pop-up store

Global sportswear brand Adidas has opened the Adidas Performance Seochon pop-up store in Seoul's Seochon village near the historic main palace Gyeongbokgung, the company announced Friday. Operating through late December, the pop-up reinterprets traditional Korean aesthetics through the lens of modern running culture, reflecting Seochon's blend of heritage, contemporary art and active local communities. The two-story space combines warm wood-toned materials inspired by traditional Korean architec

Feb. 9, 2026

A glitch on Korea's Q&A site just exposed stars' past anonymous posts

Imagine if every anonymous post you had ever left on Quora — half-baked homework queries, oddly specific life advice — was suddenly linked to your real name for the whole world to see. That's more or less what happened this week in South Korea. The culprit is Naver Jisik iN, Korea's answer to Quora or Yahoo! Answers — a crowdsourced Q&A platform on Naver, the country's dominant search engine, that launched back in 2002. In its heyday, it was the go-to for everything from calculus homework to bre

Feb. 8, 2026

Maybe wear hanbok to a jazz club?

Tucked into Nakwon Sangga, one of the country’s largest instrument-focused shopping complexes, EDLS offers live jazz within a distinctly contemporary environment. Located in central Seoul and right in front of Jongno 3-ga Station on Subway Line No. 5, the venue is easily reachable via multiple transportation options. Its spacious interior is also designed to accommodate a sizable audience. Guests enter with a 15,000 won cover charge — drink order required — and are seated for high-quality live j

Feb. 6, 2026

Seoul Fashion Week blends experimentation and wearability for fall-winter 2026

From reconstructed military tailoring to intimate, pajama-soft layers, Seoul Fashion Week’s fall-winter 2026 season has balanced conceptual experimentation with everyday wearability — a signal that Korean designers are refining both their global voice and their connection to local consumers. Being held Feb. 3-8 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the six-day event features 15 brands, each offering a distinct aesthetic, while collectively sketching the evolving identity of K-fashion. The week opened with

Feb. 5, 2026

[Exclusive] Off-White taps Korean brand Vunque for exclusive bag design

Vunque is accelerating its global expansion with the launch of a standalone brand and a bag design commission from Off-White, marking a decisive shift beyond its South Korean roots. Seok Jeong-hye, chief executive of Vunque, confirmed that the company will introduce a separate label while simultaneously developing a bag for Off-White’s upcoming collection. “Beyond Vunque, we are launching a completely new brand called EEREP on Feb. 24,” Seok said. “And another piece of news — I’m designing a bag

Feb. 4, 2026

National Museum of Korea seeks operational overhaul, debates paid admission

Amid a surge in visitor numbers, the National Museum of Korea announced Tuesday that the museum will improve its visitor environment and lay the groundwork for paid admission. Starting next month, the state museum will move its opening hours up by 30 minutes, operating the museum from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in efforts to disperse visitor traffic with additional outdoor amenities set to be introduced in August, according to the museum. The museum will set up the visitor management system in Decem

Feb. 3, 2026

Palaces, Jongmyo, royal tombs open free for Lunar New Year

In celebration of Seollal, Korea’s Lunar New Year holiday, the nation’s four main palaces in Seoul — Gyeongbokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung and Changdeokgung — along with the shrine Jongmyo and royal tombs, will open their doors to the public for free from Feb. 14 to 18, the Korea Heritage Service said Tuesday. Typically, visits to Jongmyo require guided tours at set times, but during the holiday period visitors will be able to explore the area freely. Admission to Changdeokgung’s Secret Gar

Feb. 2, 2026

Pyeongtaek Arts Center makes grand opening with Chung Myung-whun and Lim Yunchan

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province — The Pyeongtaek Arts Center, a newly built cultural complex designed to help transform a city long defined by its industrial and military presence into a cultural hub, officially opened its doors Friday with one of the year’s most anticipated classical music events. The opening concert featured the Staatskapelle Dresden, one of the world’s oldest orchestras with a history of more than 470 years. The ensemble was led by conductor Chung Myung-whun, who has served as

Feb. 2, 2026

CookieRun: Kingdom seeks long-term global growth, says PD

CookieRun: Kingdom has become one of South Korea's most enduring mobile game success stories, and its parent company Devsisters is stepping up its international ambitions as the bulk of the game's audience now comes from overseas, according to its project director. In a written interview with The Korea Herald on Monday, Kim I-hwan, a project director who oversees the full production of CookieRun: Kingdom, said the company's long-term goal is to grow the franchise into a globally resonant IP. "At

Feb. 2, 2026

'Golden' from 'KPop Demon Hunters' wins Grammy

"Golden" from the soundtrack of Netflix's animated sensation "KPop Demon Hunters" won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 68th Grammy Awards. "Golden" earned the honor in a premiere ceremony of this year's Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles on Sunday (US time), marking the first time that a K-pop act has won a Grammy. Produced by Sony Pictures Animation, the film centers on Huntr/x, who live a double life, balancing their music careers with their duties as warriors who protect the world fro

Feb. 2, 2026

Curtains that define space: Rediscovering hanji and sambe

The following is part of a series exploring how Korean traditional living is reimagined for contemporary lifestyles amid renewed attention on Korea's cultural heritage — Ed. Hanji and sambe are rarely used for curtains or lighting in Korean apartments, largely due to the perception that they are difficult to maintain. Yet interiors reinterpreting Korean traditional paper and textiles are gaining attention for how these materials handle light and for the appreciation of the handicraft behind them

Jan. 31, 2026

Global entertainment leaders join S. Korea’s presidential committee on pop culture

Five high-profile figures from the global entertainment industry have been appointed special advisers to South Korea’s Presidential Committee on Popular Cultural Exchange, the committee announced Friday. The appointment ceremony took place on Thursday at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, where the committee officially named the five members who will advise on international strategies to expand the global footprint in Korean pop culture. The five members include CEO Jay Penske of Penske

Jan. 30, 2026

What happens after exhibition? MMCA challenges preservation practices

What happens after an exhibition ends is largely invisible to museumgoers — where do materials go, what is stored and what becomes waste? As concerns over climate change grow, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has brought the often-overlooked “afterlife” of exhibitions to the forefront with its first exhibition of the year, “Sak-da: The Poetics of Decomposition.” “The exhibition looks at how artworks are changing in response to growing environmental awareness and explores

Jan. 30, 2026

In time for Lunar New Year, exhibition welcomes good fortune through craft

To mark the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 17 this year, an exhibition that brings together tradition and contemporary aesthetics will open at The Heritage Museum on the fourth floor of Shinsegae’s main department store in Seoul. The special exhibition “Blessed Objects: Auspicious Motifs in Korean Heritage” presents traditional craftworks created to invite good fortune. Through some 250 works of traditional craftsmanship, including pieces developed through a collaboration program that pairs

Jan. 30, 2026

Chung Sang-hwa, artist who reshaped the canvas through discipline, dies at 93

Chung Sang-hwa, a pioneering figure in Korean contemporary art, known for his rigorous and process-driven painting practice, died Wednesday after a prolonged illness. He was 93. Born in 1932 in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province, Chung devoted his life to painting. His practice carried a distinctive methodology of “peeling off” and “filling in,” through which he transformed the two-dimensional canvas into a space of depth and restraint. Using kaolin clay and repeatedly cutting, folding, cracki

Jan. 30, 2026