Korean traditional culture meets modern retail at Seoul festival

The Korea Times - Nov 12, 2026

The 2026 Today’s Tradition Festival opened Thursday at Culture Station Seoul 284, a cultural complex housed in the historic former Seoul Station building in central Seoul, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. Co-hosted with the Korea Craft & Design Foundation, the four-day event runs through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with last admission at 5:30 p.m. Now in its fourth year, the festival aims to integrate Korean heritage into contemporary lifestyles and modern consumer tastes. This year’s theme, “Bokjak Bokjak, Today’s Tradition,” plays on a Korean expression evoking a lively, bustling crowd while hinting at making and sharing “bok,” or good fortune. At the heart of the event is a pop-up market featuring 104 brands — including 39 traditional culture startups — selling home goods, fashion, food, beverages and handicrafts. Highlights include rugs woven with reimagined traditional motifs, color-changing glassware inspired by celadon and white porcelain, and hanbok, Korea’s traditional attire, redesigned for everyday wear. An adjacent exhibition sho

Read full article

MORE NEWS

Rising violence greets new Bangsamoro gov’t

Nov 12, 2026

Rising violence greets new Bangsamoro gov’t

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — A resurgence of violence greeted the start of the regular government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia (CCAA), a nonprofit organization monitoring peace and security issues in the region, said the recent surge of violence was driven by clan feud,

In Caraga, DA rolls out relief measures for farms

Nov 12, 2026

In Caraga, DA rolls out relief measures for farms

SAN FRANCISCO, AGUSAN DEL SUR, Philippines — Widowed farmer Nelly Boot would have spent this week harvesting palay alongside her neighbors at Barangay Patin-ay in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur. Instead, her rain-fed paddies sit cracked, gray and barren. With irrigation canals dry, Boot has been reduced to carrying water by hand from a distant creek

Pets, farm animals part of Bulacan’s El Niño prep

Nov 12, 2026

Pets, farm animals part of Bulacan’s El Niño prep

CITY OF MALOLOS, BULACAN, Philippines — The provincial government of Bulacan has approved a P2.5-million allocation for the protection and care of the province’s nearly half a million pet dogs and cats during a “very strong” El Niño phenomenon. There are an estimated 450,709 household pets in Bulacan’s 20 towns and cities, according to Dr.

Tourists Brave a Muddy Jungle Trek to See a Famed World War II Wreck

Nov 12, 2026

Tourists Brave a Muddy Jungle Trek to See a Famed World War II Wreck

Seven Chinese tourists, a dozen villagers and a couple of journalists forded streams and bushwhacked to the downed plane of Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese admiral. Machetes proved handy.

Love spicy instant noodles? Here's what they do to your body

Nov 12, 2026

Love spicy instant noodles? Here's what they do to your body

Click here for more articles by Kormedi.com. Spicy instant noodles may offer a temporary sense of stress relief, but the fiery kick that makes it appealing can also trigger heartburn, abdominal pain and other digestive discomfort, particularly for people with sensitive stomachs. Capsaicin, the compound responsible for the burning sensation in chili peppers, stimulates pain receptors and can prompt the release of endorphins, chemicals involved in the body's response to pain. While this reaction may help explain why some people feel better after eating spicy food, the sensation of relief does not necessarily mean the food is beneficial to their health. The potential health effects have drawn renewed attention following a Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) report examining 12 popular instant noodle products sold in Korea. Why spicy food can upset your stomach Capsaicin activates receptors that detect heat and pain, producing the burning sensation associated with spicy food. The body responds to this stimulation through a series of physiological reactions, including sweating and changes in pain perc

'The old America is gone': OPCON transfer is Korea's answer to changing US, Moon Chung-in says

Nov 12, 2026

'The old America is gone': OPCON transfer is Korea's answer to changing US, Moon Chung-in says

Korea's push to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) of its military is not just an attempt to reclaim military sovereignty, but a necessary response to a fundamental shift in the United States' foreign and security policy, according to Moon Chung-in, a former presidential special adviser. In an interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday, Moon, currently a professor emeritus at Yonsei University, argued that President Lee Jae Myung's pursuit of OPCON transfer comes in line with Washington's growing expectation that Seoul assume primary responsibility for its own defense, rather than the self-reliant defense agenda set by former President Roh Moo-hyun. "The U.S. is changing, but we are still clinging to the old America. The old America is gone," Moon said. He pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated demands that Korea shoulder a greater share of its defense burden. Under such an arrangement, Korean forces would take the lead in conventional defense against North Korea, while U.S. forces would provide complementary capabilities in areas where Seoul remains relatively weak, i

Lee calls for unity at dinner meeting with DPK leaders

Nov 12, 2026

Lee calls for unity at dinner meeting with DPK leaders

President Lee Jae Myung called for unity between the government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) as he held a dinner meeting with DPK leader Kim Min-seok and floor leader Han Byung-do on Wednesday, his office said. During the dinner at Cheong Wa Dae, Kim asked the government for bold and swift measures to overcome polarization and boost consumption, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing. In response, Lee stressed the need for the party and the government to "move as one" in order for the people's lives to improve, and asked that the party and the National Assembly extend their active support to get the government's 2027 budget proposal passed, Kang said. Lee also asked his chief of staff, Lim Kwang-hyun, and senior political affairs secretary, Choi In-ho, to closely communicate with the National Assembly at all times. Lim and Choi were among the dinner participants. Though there had been speculation Lee and the party leaders could discuss controversial issues, such as real estate taxes and a special counsel bill on alleged fabricated indictments,

Korea opens final 2026 round of foreign worker permits

Nov 12, 2026

Korea opens final 2026 round of foreign worker permits

Korea will accept its final round of applications this year for foreign worker visas starting Nov. 23, offering 6,699 new permits to help businesses ease persistent labor shortages while introducing incentives for employers who complete human rights and labor law training, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Thursday. The five-day application window, running through Nov. 27, covers nonprofessional employment visas, known as E-9, across five major sectors. Manufacturing accounts for the lion’s share of the quota with 4,510 slots, followed by agriculture and livestock with 954, fisheries with 897, construction with 198 and services with 140. Should employer demand exceed sector caps, officials said they will tap into a flexible reserve pool of 10,000 additional permits. The announcement underscores Korea’s growing reliance on overseas labor to sustain its export-driven factories, farms and fishing fleets amid one of the world’s fastest-aging populations and lowest birthrates. Over the past several years, the government has steadily expanded its Employment Permit System, which

Police to seek arrest warrant for man in 15-year-old girl's murder

Nov 12, 2026

Police to seek arrest warrant for man in 15-year-old girl's murder

Police said Thursday they plan to request an arrest warrant for a man in his 50s apprehended the previous day on suspicion of killing a 15-year-old girl who was reportedly sexually assaulted by his son. The 59-year-old suspect, whose identity was withheld, was detained Wednesday after allegedly murdering the girl at a short-term rental property in northern Seoul while heavily intoxicated, according to the Seoul Seongbuk Police Station. The girl was reportedly a victim of statutory rape in a case involving the suspect's son, who is in his 20s. The alleged offense took place in January. By law, sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 constitutes statutory rape even if consensual. The son has been under investigation by prosecutors. The police said the murder suspect has continued to refuse to give a statement even after sobering up. The rental property where the murder took place was reportedly rented by a woman in her 20s who was in a de facto marital relationship with the murder suspect. The police said they are investigating the possibility that all of the four individuals m

Beloved 1970s comic 'Chorus of Pigeons' named modern cultural treasure

Nov 12, 2026

Beloved 1970s comic 'Chorus of Pigeons' named modern cultural treasure

The original manuscripts of “Chorus of Pigeons,” a beloved 1970s family comic by the late cartoonist Lee Sang-moo, have been designated as preliminary cultural heritage, the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency said Thursday. Finalized by the Korea Heritage Service earlier this week, the designation encompasses 601 hand-drawn manuscript pages and scripts for a television adaptation, all housed at the agency. The state category protects artifacts under 50 years old that are too recent for formal cultural heritage registration yet deemed vital to preserve. Serialized in the children’s magazine "Sonyeon Joongang" from April 1978 to June 1979, the story resonated widely with readers for its portrayal of an ordinary family holding onto hope amid poverty and hardship. Even in an era when comics were largely dismissed as lowbrow entertainment, the series earned rare official acclaim. It won an excellence award from a national ethics committee for books and magazines in 1980 and was named a recommended book by the Ministry of Culture and Public Information the following year. In 1988, broadcaster

Korean researchers shrink augmented reality lenses to fit everyday eyewear

Nov 12, 2026

Korean researchers shrink augmented reality lenses to fit everyday eyewear

Researchers in Korea have developed an ultrathin optical lens system that keeps digital images bright and legible even in direct sunlight, overcoming one of the main engineering hurdles preventing augmented reality glasses from looking and feeling like ordinary eyewear. The joint team from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and Samsung Research built a prototype featuring a 1.5-millimeter-thick waveguide—the transparent channel that guides light from a tiny projector into the wearer’s eye—using engineered nanostructures called metasurfaces. The findings were published Thursday in the journal Nature, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. For years, technology giants from Meta and Apple to Google and Samsung have raced to build lightweight smart glasses capable of overlaying turn-by-turn directions, translations and messages onto the real world. However, engineers have struggled with a stubborn trade-off: widening the viewing zone so a user can glance around without losing the image typically causes light to scatter and leak out of the lens, leaving displ

Lee's disapproval rating again outruns approval rating: poll

Nov 12, 2026

Lee's disapproval rating again outruns approval rating: poll

President Lee Jae Myung's disapproval rating rose to 47 percent this week, surpassing his approval rating, a survey showed Thursday. In a survey of 1,001 adults nationwide conducted Monday through Wednesday, positive assessments of Lee's job performance fell 2 percentage points to 44 percent from two weeks earlier, according to the National Barometer Survey (NBS). Negative assessments rose 3 percentage points to 47 percent. Lee's disapproval rating had remained higher than his approval rating for several weeks before the trend reversed in the previous poll. The survey also showed that 51 percent of respondents said Lee should scale back his use of social media to directly communicate with the public on his policy direction, citing concerns that remarks made "without sufficient deliberation" could cause confusion. Another 42 percent supported his use of social media for communication. Support for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea fell 1 percentage point to 35 percent, while that of the main opposition People Power Party remained unchanged at 25 percent. The poll has a margin of error of p

RECOMMENDED

The Life Voyager

The Life Voyager puts travel news into perspective, bringing you unique and secluded side to popular travel destinations you never know exist.

ABOUT US
NEWSLETTER

Copyright © 2015 - 2026 The Life Voyager. All Rights Reserved.