SEOUL Weekly: Chuseok Market

To mark the upcoming Chuseok holiday, a special market will be held in Seoul Plaza, Cheonggye Plaza and Gwanghwamun Plaza from Sept. 14 to 18.

This market/celebration will feature not only agro-fishery products from around Korea, but also unique cultural performances from the provinces. Moreover, you’ll be making direct purchases, meaning you can get the roughly 2,000 products on sale for up to 30% less than what you’d get them for at the store.

The market will begin with an opening ceremony featuring celebratory performances in Seoul Plaza at 4 PM on Monday. From 11 AM, however, you’ll be able to wander around the many booths set up in the City Hall/Gwanghwamun area and purchase goods, get tourist information from Korea’s many beautiful localities, take in cultural performances or participate in hands-on programs. Fringe events will be held, too.

VENUE: Seoul Plaza, Cheonggye Plaza and Gwanghwamun Plaza
PERIOD: Sept. 14-18
MORE INFO: See here (Korean)
ADMISSION: Free
GETTING THERE: City Hall Station (Line 1) or Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5)

Bicycles go where rivers flow
Exploring Seoul’s scenic Hangang Valley on two wheels

Seoul Travel Bits
Seoul area bike rides

A miscellany of high-quality hyperlinks from the week, courtesy of SEOUL editor-in-chief Robert Koehler

• The government is asking Koreans to slow down on the mountains.
• The Washington Post Magazine visits Korea for 10 days.
• Check out the interview with writer and historian Robert Neff at the Korea Observer.
• More and more foreign students are quitting Korea.
• Has the COEX Mall lost some of its mojo?
• Off to the islands in Taean.
• That’s a lot of sunflowers in Haman.
• Changgyeonggung Palace at night.
• The sun rises and waves crash at Busan’s Orangdae.
• Another week passes at Robert Koehler’s photo blog.

Bukchon Music Festival 2015



Set against the beautiful backdrop of Seoul’s Bukchon Hanok Village, the Bukchon Music Festival attempts to break down the boundry between traditional and modern with a program that, while centered on Korean traditional music, also features music of a wide range of genres, including world music, jazz, indie and sound performances. This year, the festival’s fourth, organizers encourage us to ponder the various meanings of love under the theme, “Love Story in Bukchon.”

Among the Bukchon venues hosting performances are the Arario Museum in Space Theater, the sunken stage of the MMCA Seoul, the Bukchon Traditional Crafts Experience Center, the Korean traditional music studio Gugak Sarang and several Bukchon hanok guesthouses.

VENUE: All over Bukchon Hanok Village
DAYS: Sept. 12-13
MORE INFO: T. 02-962-7911 or click this link.
ADMISSION: Free
GETTING THERE: Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 2

TEDx: Seoul Foreign School



Seoul Foreign School is proud to present its first ever TEDx event! TED stands for Technology, Education, and Design. It is devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”, and has stood by this ideal by being a great platform for thinkers to share their ideas in under 18 minutes. TEDx (x= independently organised event) is an endeavour to broaden that platform, bringing TED to the local community through self organised events. 

Seoul Foreign School is bringing TEDx worthy ideas and discussions to you through thought provoking speeches, exciting performances, and amazing talks from TED. This will also be opportunities to appreciate how the youth serves the community through the activities that they do and the ideas that they share.

VENUE: Seoul Foreign School, Black Box Theater
DATE: Sept. 19, 12:30-4:00
MORE INFO: See here
GETTING THERE: See here

Dim Sum@Feast at the Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel

With its panoramic view of the city from the 41st floor, the Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel’s signature restaurant “Feast” introduces representative Cantonese cuisine dim sum. Guests can enjoy the taste of China with juicy dim sum such as Steamed fresh shrimp dumplings stuffed with shrimps and cornstarch, Truffle dumplings with minced pork, pork fat, shrimp, dried mushroom, black truffle, caviar and wonton skin. Or try the Steamed pork ribs with black bean sauce, Beef ball in consomme, Steamed fish shaped shrimp dumplings and Pan fired pork bun. A wide range of authentic Chinese dim sum, soups, small dishes and Chinese desserts that guests can experience the taste of China are prepared at Dim Sum@Feast and delight the guests. Guests can indulge in sweet desserts to finish the meal such as fresh coconut milk cake, sweet sago with coconut milk, egg custard cake with bird nest and more.

VENUE: Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel
PERIOD: Thru Sept. 24
MORE INFO: 02-2211-1710
COST: Lunch: KRW 60,000, Dinner: KRW 80,000
GETTING THERE: Sindorim Station (Line 1, 2), Exit 1

Lay back and relax at the urban oasis Dragon Hill Spa!

Refresh body and Seoul at Seoul’s most famous spa, conveniently located just next to Yongsan Station, Line 1.

And if you bring the coupon in SEOUL, you can get get in at KRW 2,000 less!

Dragon Hill Spa is a one-stop leisure emporium, with saunas, pools, tanning facilities, massage rooms and top-quality restaurants bound to revive your heat-oppressed tastebuds.

MORE INFO: www.dragonhillspa.com, e2@eyangji.com, T. 02-792-0001
GETTING THERE: Yongsan Station (Line 1)

Korean Contemporary Artists Series Choi Jong Tae Retrospective

The Choi Jong Tae Retrospective is organized as part of the Korean Contemporary Artists Series with a focus on highlighting the practice of a great artist in the field of sculpture. Choi Jong Tae has been an important figure in Korean contemporary sculpture, making great contributions to the modernization and nativization of religious sculpture in Korea. The current exhibition surveys the life and art of the artist through a comprehensive investigation of his practice since the 1960s to the present.

VENUE: MMCA Gwacheon
PERIOD: Thru Nov. 29
MORE INFO: See this link or call T. 02-2188-6000
ADMISSION: KRW 2,000
GETTING THERE: Click here.

2015 Joy Olpark Festival

The fourth Joy Olpark Festival opens in Olympic Park with a program featuring performances by local and overseas musical artists such as Yun Sang, Lisa Ono and 10cm and lectures by poet Ko Un, comedian/talk show host Kim Je-dong and others. Also on the program are an assortment of healing and therapy programs including sports programs, hand massages, nail art, Taro card readings and more.

VENUE: Olympic Park
PERIOD: Sept. 19-20
MORE INFO: See here (Korean)
ADMISSION: KRW 22,000 (one-day pass)
GETTING THERE: Olympic Park Station (Line 5), Exit 3

Seocho Seoriful Festival

Celebrate the culture of Seorae Village and the rest of Seocho-gu at the Seocho Seoriful Festival.

The opening ceremony will take place on Sept. 15, 7 PM at Sevitseom (Yevitseom Media Art Gallery). Throughout the duration of this festival, there will be cultural art performances from Seoul Arts Center, the National Gugak Center, Korean National University of Arts, Baekseok Arts University, and more.

Other activities include the Korea-France Music Festival, Jamwon Naru Festival and the Yangjae Happiness Music Festival. And then there’s the Seocho Gangsan Parade on Sept. 20. After the parade is over, the festival will conclude with a classical concert at Shinsegae Square.

VENUE: Banpo-daero, Seoul Arts Center, Seocho Area & Sevitseom
PERIOD: Sept. 15-20
MORE INFO and GETTING THERE: See this link.

RAS-KB Excusion: Walking Tour: Korea’s Native Faiths and Gods

Koreans have traditionally followed Buddhism and Confucianism as their two main religions. However, in addition to these two traditions, there has existed a variety of faiths and gods whom Koreans have worshiped and enshrined. The goal of this excursion is to introduce some of Korea’s unique gods and indigenous faiths in our urban surroundings.

VENUE: Several religious sites in Seoul
DATE: Sept. 13
MORE INFO: See this link.
ADMISSION: KRW 25,000 for members and KRW 30,000 for non-members
GETTING THERE: See link above.

Bukchon alleyway on a rainy afternoon. Photo by Robert Koehler, editor-in-chief of SEOUL.

Seoul Selection’s Free Book Giveaway – Our free book give-away continues! Check out the list in last week’s newsletter here.

Seoul Selection Offline Bookshop Sale – One of the greatest repositories of Korea-related English-language books anywhere, Seoul Selection is offering a 10% sale on any and all books published by Seoul Selection purchased from our OFFLINE bookshop next to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Looking for Translators – Seoul Selection is looking for a few good translators (Korean to English) for general translation work. Those interested should send a resume and cover letter to Kyehyun at atoz@seoulselection.com. Experienced translators only.

Seoul Selection eBooks – You can purchase some Seoul Selection titles in ebook format via Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Apple’s iBookstore. Titles include Ask a Korean Dude, Moon Tides, Doing Business in Korea, Once Around the Sun, and seven volumes of our Korean Film Directors series: BONG Joon-ho, IM Kwon-taek, KIM Jee-woon, LEE Chang-dong, LEE Man-hee, PARK Chan-wook, and SHIN Sang-ok.

Send Your Event Info – If you would like to advertise any upcoming events you are organizing, please send us the press release material at pubco@seoulselection.com by the preceding Friday in order for it to appear in the following Tuesday’s issue.

Freelance Contributors Wanted – SEOUL Magazine needs writers who are fluent in both Korean and English. Writers should have a strong interest in Korean culture and be able to interview Koreans. Send your resume and writing samples to english@seoulselection.com.