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Korea Times

Korea Times

News and features from the Korea Times, South Korea's oldest English-language newspaper.

Japanese visitors to Korea are buying rice to take home as the price of domestically grown rice soars. Photo: Getty Images

Food and Drinks

The best souvenir from Korea? It’s rice for some Japanese visitors

Amid a rice shortage in Japan that has seen prices rise 92 per cent in a year, Japanese visitors to Korea are buying the grain to take home.

27 Apr 2025 - 9:47AM

Selling comfort: ‘loneliness economy’ emerges as more South Koreans live alone

19 Apr 2025 - 1:35PMvideocam

Food and Drinks

A guide to Korean strawberries, from varieties to what makes them different

19 Apr 2025 - 12:15PM

South Korea’s new visa to resolve labour shortage faces backlash

A popular petition to abolish a region-specific skilled worker visa reflects rising worries among citizens about competing with non-citizens.

17 Apr 2025 - 5:19PMvideocam

Pedestrians in Seoul. According to Statistics Korea, the number of Koreans neither working nor looking for a job exceeded 500,000 for the first time in February. Photo: AFP

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

K-pop songs with a ‘French touch’? Korean precision meets French flair

Korean and French music professionals collaborated in Seoul’s first Atelier K-pop songwriting camp, creating K-pop tracks with a French vibe.

15 Apr 2025 - 4:15PM

Park Hae-soo says he’s never played such an ‘extreme’ character as in Karma

Squid Game actor Park Hae-soo says it was strange but also exciting to play the mysterious ‘Eyewitness’ in Netflix’s new Korean drama Karma.

14 Apr 2025 - 7:15AMvideocam

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Food and Drinks

There’s no Jollibee in Korea but this fried chicken joint is very close

Members of Seoul’s Filipino community are lauding FRYb’s chicken dishes for giving them a taste of Jollibee nostaglia. We paid it a visit.

9 Apr 2025 - 6:15PM

Southern American chicken and gravy at FRYb, a fried chicken restaurant in Seoul, South Korea, that serves American food with a distinct hint of the Philippines. Photo: Instagram/fry.bistro

Fame and celebrity

Korean actress Kim Min-hee gives birth to boy; film director the father

Actress, 43, who has been in relationship with filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, 65, for about a decade, gave birth at hospital in Hanam, South Korea.

9 Apr 2025 - 5:42PM

Church in Netflix hit When Life Gives You Tangerines draws K-drama fans

Gasil Cathedral, a historic Korean church, is the subject of renewed interest thanks to a scene with IU in When Life Gives You Tangerines.

8 Apr 2025 - 4:15PM

Korean golden seal smashes presale estimate, sells for US$13.9 million

Record-setting price paid for seal given by China’s Jin dynasty to a nobleman of Korea’s Goguryeo kingdom in China Guardian’s Hong Kong sale.

7 Apr 2025 - 6:15PM

A golden seal from Korea’s Goguryeo era which sold for HK$10.8 million (US$1.39 million), more than nine times its lower pre-sale estimate, at a China Guardian Hong Kong auction. Photo: courtesy of China Guardian

For Park Ji-hoon, new fights and friends in Netflix’s Weak Hero Class 2

Trailer for the Korean teenage action drama debuting April 25 show main character Si-eun battling unresolved trauma and more school violence.

5 Apr 2025 - 6:31PMvideocam

Park Ji-hoon reprises his role from Weak Hero Class 1 as Si-eun in Weak Hero Class 2, which premieres on April 25 on Netflix. Photo: Instagram/weakhero_class2

What did IU learn from Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines?

Singer-actress IU talks about playing Ae-sun and Geum-myeong and what the K-drama taught her about living a successful and fulfilling life.

4 Apr 2025 - 12:45PM

How When Life Gives You Tangerines made actor a better husband

Park Hae-joon says playing a devoted husband in the Netflix drama was ‘a turning point’ that inspired him to ‘change and grow’ in real life.

6 Apr 2025 - 9:05AM

Is that Park Eun-bin in Hyper Knife? Actress barely recognisable

Actress’ sociopathic doctor character in Hyper Knife is miles away from her roles in K-dramas Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Castaway Diva.

2 Apr 2025 - 5:15PM

Park Eun-bin in a still from Hyper Knife. Her sociopathic doctor role is miles away from her characters in K-drama series Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Castaway Diva.

Ancient grain farro a superfood trending in Asia. Why it’s so healthy

Singer-actress Uhm Jung-hwa is among Korean celebrities to have embraced a grain 2,000-plus years old, as farro recipes flood social media.

2 Apr 2025 - 3:15PMvideocam

Farro still features in Mediterranean cuisine. Photo: Shutterstock

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

How J-pop acts are seeking new fans in South Korea and beyond

Japanese superstar Kenshi Yonezu’s sold-out event in Incheon is a prime example of J-pop’s rising popularity in South Korea.

1 Apr 2025 - 1:22PM

Teenage K-drama Weak Hero Class 1 sees big resurgence after Netflix debut

The 2022 Korean drama with Park Ji-hoon and Choi Hyun-wook is earning widespread global attention for its performances and storytelling.

1 Apr 2025 - 4:15AMvideocam

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Want to explore Seoul’s culture, food, K-content? City to launch 10 tours

The day tours, part of the Seoul Quality Tour Programme, come in response to changing global travel trends, including a rise in solo travel.

29 Mar 2025 - 1:15PM

A young female solo traveller eats Korean street food in Seoul. The city was named the world’s No 1 destination for solo travellers in January by Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel platform. Photo: Getty Images

Suffering from a migraine? Cinnamon may provide remedy, study suggests

Researchers in Seoul ease man’s chronic migraines using cinnamon after traditional drugs fail. They say it works by inhibiting inflammation.

28 Mar 2025 - 4:15AM

Why Park Bo-gum was ‘deeply moved’ by When Life Gives You Tangerines drama

‘The warmth in this story made me want to be part of it,’ recalls Park Bo-gum – so much so he postponed work on another drama to take it on.

27 Mar 2025 - 4:15AMvideocam

Asian cinema: Korean films

Revelations director Yeon Sang-ho on exploring belief in new Netflix film

The Train to Busan and Hellbound director says his new film with Ryu Jun-yeol draws on people’s tendency to only see what they want to see.

26 Mar 2025 - 4:15PMvideocam

Ryu Jun-yeol (left) in a still from Revelations. Photo: Netflix

Asian cinema: Korean films

In Streaming, Kang Ha-neul plays someone ‘you don’t want to get close to’

Actor talks about playing someone who ‘got swallowed up by money’ in Korean thriller, and why he agrees with the film’s adults-only rating.

24 Mar 2025 - 4:15PMvideocam

Kang Ha-neul in a still from Streaming. The actor reflects on starring in the thriller as someone who “got swallowed up by money”. Photo: Instagram/kanghaneulsquad

Buddhism as therapy? Korean psychiatrist’s treatment is built around it

Doctor calls Buddhism ‘a perfect system for eliminating suffering’ – the goal of psychiatry. So he prescribes patients Buddhist meditation.

23 Mar 2025 - 6:15PM

Food and Drinks

Foodie K-pop stars spill the beans on favourite Seoul places to eat

Doyoung of NCT loves a street vendor’s spicy rice cakes, Itzy’s Yuna and Chaeryeong like Mexican and G-Dragon goes for Korean beef tartare.

23 Mar 2025 - 5:15PMvideocam

TV shows and streaming video

Who is the elusive writer of K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines?

K-drama writer Lim Sang-choon likes to stay out of the limelight, but her dramas, telling deeply humane stories, deserve recognition.

22 Mar 2025 - 5:15PMvideocam

Park Bo-gum as Yang Gwan-sik (left) and IU as Oh Ae-sun in a still from When Life Gives You Tangerines. Photo: Yoo Eun-mi/Netflix

Will Jeju Island feel ‘halo effect’ from filming of hit K-drama there?

With a recent drop in Korean visitors to Jeju, the island is hoping When Life Gives You Tangerines, which was filmed there, draws tourists.

22 Mar 2025 - 11:15AMvideocam

Park Bo-gum and IU in a still from When Life Gives You Tangerines.

Lee Jun-young shines in K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines

Lee is one of the highlights of the Netflix series, playing the lovestruck Park Young-beom, who is in love with K-pop star IU’s character.

19 Mar 2025 - 6:15PMvideocam

Sweet Home actress Lee Si-young divorcing after 8 years of marriage

Korean star married businessman Cho Seong-hyun, 9 years her senior, in 2017 and a year later gave birth to a son. The separation is ‘mutual’.

17 Mar 2025 - 5:56PM

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