Winter festival underwhelms tourists amid unseasonably warm weather

Herb Island Lighting Festival The Herb Island Lighting Festival creates a romantic ambiance with beautiful lighting displays. Visitors can enjoy the pink wish tunnel, sparkling buildings, the Santa Village, a photo zone and other twinkling places.It is open to visitors of all ages, and admission costs 9,000 won. Children, senior citizens, people with disabilities and groups of 20 or more get in for 7,000 won per person. The festival runs through April 30.For more information in Korean, English o

E-World Starlight Festival (1) The E-World Starlight Festival in Daegu features 10 million lights in a large area around E-World and 83 Tower. Hot air balloons, illuminated roses and mask light decorations are all part of this carnival-like festival. Large trees are decorated along the 200-meter Light Road, as well as the Umbrella Road, Carnival Road and a photo zone with 1,000 lights. Some 10,000 light-emitting diode roses cover the “proposal stairs.”The festival runs until March 1.

Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite France (1)The sixth Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite France will be held at the Petite France Park in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, until Feb. 29. The annual festival is inspired by the southern French town of Montpellier. In addition to beautiful lighting at night, another highlight is the 30-meter light tunnel installed next to a round structure modeled after asteroid B 612, home of the Little Prince from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s book

Organizers of a world-famous ice fishing festival on Thursday decided to delay its opening to Jan. 11 from the originally announced Jan. 4 due to safety issues.On Wednesday, the organizers -- local government of Hwacheon and Nara Foundation -- tested the ice condition of Hwacheon River, where the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival’s signature program that allows visitors to catch sancheoneo -- a species of trout known to live only in very clean freshwater-- takes place. “We normally c

Making wishes while watching the first sunrise of the new year is considered a special event for many Koreans, who believe the practice will bring them luck in the year ahead. Rising before dawn on New Year’s Day is difficult, but watching the beautiful sunrise is worth the effort. Similarly, some people enjoy watching the sunset on the last day of the year, reflecting on the passing year. Here are some of the best spots for catching the sunset or sunrise in Seoul, and around the country.H

Part of the joy of the Yuletide season is visiting Christmas markets. Although not as grand as those found in some European cities, Seoul has places where one can shop for Christmas decorations, gifts and treats. Han River Park Seoul’s Bamdokkaebi Night Market’s official 2019 run ended in mid-October, but is back for a special Christmas edition. Opening today at the Multiplaza inside Yeouido Han River Park, the market’s Bamdokkaebi charm is intact -- a mix of delectable fo

From Seoul’s Cheonggye Stream to Busan’s beaches, South Korea is decked out for Christmas

Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite France (1)The sixth Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite France will be held at the Petite France Park in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, until Feb. 29. The annual festival is inspired by the southern French town of Montpellier. In addition to beautiful lighting at night, another highlight is the 30-meter light tunnel installed next to a round structure modeled after asteroid B 612, home of the Little Prince from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s book

Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite FranceThe sixth Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite France will be held at the Petite France Park in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, until Feb. 29. The annual festival is inspired by the southern French town of Montpellier. In addition to lighting decorations at night, one highlight is the 30-meter-long light tunnel installed next to a round structure modeled after asteroid B 612, home of the Little Prince from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s book.

A website that provides foreign language translations of local menus was launched Wednesday.According to the state-run Korea Tourism Organization, Food Trip in Korea (foodtrip.or.kr) was launched Wednesday afternoon with translations of 8,500 Korean dishes in English, Japanese and Chinese as its main feature. The service had been previously provided via the agency’s Visit Korea (visitkorea.or.kr) site. The tourism organization plans to add a mobile page of the website, various menu designs

Everland theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is holding “2020 Begin Again with Everland,” a series of events to welcome the year 2020 through next February.Kicking off the events is a drawing contest for children in sixth-grade or younger, which kicked off Monday and will continue until next Tuesday. Those wishing to participate can submit drawings of their goals for the future through Everland’s homepage or its social media pages. A total of 220 winners will receive prize

Gamcheon Culture Village, a hilltop village in Busan’s Saha district, is a tourist hot spot, drawing an increasing number of visitors.Camera-toting tourists from Korea and elsewhere explore terraced rows of small houses, painted in pastel colors, and labyrinth-like alleys, with some so narrow only one person can pass at a time. The town has hidden gems as well -- murals, sculptures, installation art, galleries and eateries.Among its recent visitors was Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who

JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul was named the best-performer of the hospitality group’s more than 750 properties in the Asia-Pacific region, the hotel said Wednesday.  The global hotel chain recognized the Seoul hotel for its large increase in sales, number of visitors and efforts to adjust to the rapidly evolving trends of the hospitality industry, it explained. “This award further underscores our commitment to putting our customers first, and our efforts to become the lead

Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite France The sixth Little Prince Starlight Festival of Petite France will be held throughout the Petite France Park in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, until Feb. 29. The annual festival is inspired by the southern French town of Montpellier. In addition to lighting decorations at night, one highlight is the 30-meter-long light tunnel installed next to a round structure modeled after asteroid B 612, home of the Little Prince from Antoine de Saint-Exupery