Sep 18, 2026
The actor found clues to portray the reclusive writer in interviews and videos, also discovering she had nothing in common with her character
To an older generation that used to argue over the check, each insisting on paying for the group, Gen Z's habit of "1/N" — or splitting a bill and increasingly paying only for what you personally ordered — looks unfamiliar and hard-hearted. For young Koreans, settling the exact amount shows consideration and reason in their own way, as they refuse to leave the table owing anyone anything. It goes further than etiquette. It is an attempt to secure fairness and equity at the very foundation of human relationships. 1/N: Way to protect relationships Participant 6: "For the older generation, if five friends met, one would pay today and someone else would pay next time. Even without settling every time, over the long run, it came to roughly a fifth each. So I think it is why the older generation sees today's split-it-right-now approach as lacking human warmth." Participant 5: "Older people might see it that way, but our generation has always done it like this. If you meet enough times, everyone probably ends up paying about the same, but isn't it much cleaner to just finish it there and th
At Sunhyewon, the secluded traditional Korean house-turned-art space in Seoul’s Samcheong-dong, a glittering carpet unfurls across the lobby. Looking closer, however, Choi Sung-im’s “Golden Blanket” (2026) reveals itself to be handwoven from thousands of the gold wire ties used to seal bags of sliced bread. The 6.2-by-4.8-meter installation, which took more than a month to make by hand, anchors PODO Museum’s “A Note From Trembling Things.” “For me, a blanket is not simply a household item,” Choi said during a press preview during Frieze Seoul Art Week. "When I open my eyes in the morning, it is the first landscape that I see and it touches my body — a world larger than my body.” She wanted to place it at a threshold, she said, such as wooden floor of "hanok" traditional Korean house, where interior and exterior meet. The exhibition explores the ways people inhabit the world together, featuring works by Choi, Lebanese-British artist Mona Hatoum and Korean artist Kim Yun-soo. “Every being changes, and perhaps it is because we change that we are vulnerable,” Choi s
In an aggressive move to expand its international tourism footprint beyond traditional Asian markets, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) hosted top travel buyers from emerging Western and Oceanian markets for an intensive eight-day showcase aimed at developing premium, experiential travel packages. The initiative, which wrapped up Friday, brought 20 prominent travel agency representatives from 10 high-potential nations — including Spain, Sweden, Poland, Brazil, Canada and New Zealand — for business matchmaking and hands-on regional tours across Seoul, Busan, and Andong. At the heart of the campaign was the "2026 Americas, Europe & Oceania Travel Mart," held Thursday at The Plaza Hotel Seoul. The B2B event facilitated 315 one-on-one business consultations between the international buyers and 30 local entities, including Korean destination management companies, regional governments and hotel chains. For many small-to-medium Korean agencies that lack global marketing networks, the gathering offered a crucial direct link to Western markets. Unlike traditional sightseers who prioritize
Around 500 global taekwondo family members and local residents walked side by side along the scenic shores of Uiam Lake in Chuncheon, Thursday, stepping outside the arena to share a message of unity and peace. The inaugural Chuncheon Peace Walk was co-hosted by Goodwill Cooperation Service (GCS) International, World Taekwondo, The Korea Times, Chuncheon City and the Chuncheon Leisure Taekwondo Organizing Committee. Organized to complement the ongoing 2026 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, which runs through Sunday at the Songam Sports Town Airdome, the event offered participants a refreshing break from the intense indoor competitions. The walk also commemorated the 45th anniversary of the United Nations International Day of Peace, observed annually on Sept. 21. Starting at 10 a.m. from the Songam Sports Town Inline Skating Arena, participants enjoyed an easy 4-kilometer walk to the Uiamho Skywalk, a glass view platform over the calm waters of Uiam Lake. Upon crossing the finish line, every participant received a commemorative key ring along with local refreshments. The festivities c
From regal courtyards to historic grounds, Korea’s grand royal palaces and tombs are offering free admission this Chuseok — the nation's major autumn harvest festival — giving visitors a rare, four-day pass to dive headfirst into Korean heritage. The Korea Heritage Service said Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace, Deoksu Palace and Changgyeong Palace, along with Jongmyo Shrine and Joseon royal tombs, will waive admission fees from Thursday through Sunday. Changdeok Palace’s rear garden will remain excluded from the free admission program, while Jongmyo, which normally operates by reservation, will allow visitors to enter without advance bookings during the holiday. Visitors can also watch the changing of the guard ceremony at Gyeongbok Palace at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., guard patrol ceremonies at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and the royal guard patrol at 3 p.m. without reservations. The Korea Heritage Service is also offering an online program, “Everyone’s Genre Painting 2026,” starting Friday and running through Nov. 1, allowing participants to create personalized characters inspired by
As competition for international students intensifies worldwide, The Korea Times has expanded and refined its University Rankings 2027, evaluating 60 universities across four categories: education, research, student support and graduate outcomes. The rankings aim to assess how well Korean universities are building sustainable environments for international students and scholars, shifting the focus beyond enrollment numbers toward the quality and depth of internationalization. This year’s evaluation features 19 indicators worth a total of 200 points, with 65 percent of the score directly tied to globalization. The following tables present the top 30 universities overall, along with the top 30 in each category.
The Korea Times University Rankings 2027 focus on universities’ internationalization capabilities rather than their overall institutional strength. Unlike comprehensive rankings such as QS and Times Higher Education (THE), which place greater emphasis on reputation and research, The Korea Times rankings evaluate the diverse resources and achievements of universities from an internationalization perspective. Through the assessment, The Korea Times aims to help international students considering studying in Korea make informed choices and promote healthy competition among universities to strengthen their internationalization capabilities. Differences in evaluation method The Korea Times excluded the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) from its University Rankings, although both rank among Korea’s top universities in global rankings. The exclusion was based on a comprehensive consideration of the number of international students, institutional size and regional balance among Korean universities. In the QS
The Korea Times has revised the evaluation criteria for its University Rankings 2027 to provide a more comprehensive and rigorous assessment of the internationalization of Korean universities. This year’s evaluation expanded its coverage from 54 universities last year to 60, while increasing the total score from 190 points across 18 indicators to 200 points across 19 indicators. Notably, The Korea Times introduced a new indicator measuring the proportion of full-time international faculty. It also changed the calculation method for the academic retention rate of international students, focusing the measure on degree-seeking students, and refined the evaluation period for research performance. The new international faculty indicator, worth 10 points, is designed to strengthen the assessment of internationalization in the education and research environment, marking the biggest change in this year’s rankings. Accordingly, the education category’s score increased from 60 points to 70 points. The category now consists of seven indicators, including the ratio of degree-seeking internationa
Academics and industry observers said revision to The Korea Times University Rankings 2027 represent a meaningful step forward, with updated indicators that offer a more comprehensive measure of university internationalization. This year’s revisions placed greater emphasis on faculty diversity, student success and sustained research collaboration. Shin Jang-sup, a professor of economics at the National University of Singapore, said the overall framework has improved from last year, highlighting the addition of an indicator measuring the proportion of international full-time faculty, as well as changes to the international student retention indicator. “Including the international student retention rate is a very desirable change,” Shin said. “It strengthens the rankings’ focus on evaluating universities from the perspective of international students.” Seo Myeong-seok, managing director of the Korea Advancing Schools Foundation, also emphasized that the revisions have strengthened the overall framework. He pointed to the introduction of the international full-time faculty ratio,
Internationalization is no longer an option for Korean universities but a necessity for their survival, as the nation’s higher education system faces an unprecedented structural transformation. Yet The Korea Times University Rankings 2027 reveal a stark reality: Korean universities still have a long way to go to achieve full-fledged internationalization. Universities have met the basic requirements for internationalization. But investment in faculty recruitment and student support has failed to keep pace with the increasing number of international students, while graduate outcomes remain weak. The Korea Times launched the university rankings last year to assess the level of internationalization among domestic universities. This year’s rankings covered 60 universities using 19 indicators in four categories: education, research, student support and graduate outcomes. Universities were assessed on a 200-point scale, with 70 points allocated to education, 50 points to research, 40 points to student support and 40 points to graduate outcomes. The education category saw the strongest overall
Korea University retained the top spot in The Korea Times University Rankings 2027 for the second consecutive year, as the country’s leading universities largely held their ground while Sejong University emerged as the biggest mover in the top 10. First launched last year, The Korea Times University Rankings aim to look beyond the number of international students to assess how well universities are building the broader ecosystem needed for globalization. This year’s results suggest that while Korean universities have made progress in attracting and managing international students, many still lag in areas such as international faculty, financial support and post-graduation outcomes. The disparity was evident across the four evaluation areas. Universities performed strongest in education, while scores were lower in student support and lowest in graduate outcomes, underscoring the challenge of building an environment that supports international students not only upon arrival but throughout their studies and beyond graduation. Korea University topped the rankings with 149.52 points out o
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