Magazine
Everything Mori's Korea has written, in one place.
Jeonju Hanok Village: A Neighborhood Built Twice, a Century Apart
It looks like the one neighborhood Korea's rapid modernization skipped over. It wasn't preserved that way by accident — it was built on purpose, twice, a century apart, and its own popularity is now pricing out the people who kept it real.
Andong's International Mask Dance Festival Runs Through October 4 — 24 Countries Are Showing Up
Korea's own UNESCO-listed mask dance tradition is hosting 28 performance teams from 24 countries in a small Gyeongbuk city through October 4. Here's what's happening, and how to plan around it.
Gangnam's Free K-Pop Concert Is October 4 — PSY, ZEROBASEONE and Five More, and Yes, You Need a Ticket
Seven acts, one boulevard, a ticket price of zero (plus a 3,000-won booking fee) — but getting in runs through a Ticketlink booking, an ID check, and a wristband. Here's what's happening at the 2026 Gangnam Festival on October 4, and how to plan around it.
The Laptop Stays on the Table: Korea's Startlingly Low Theft Rate
Leave a laptop on a café table, a package on the doorstep, or a rack of clothes on the sidewalk — in Korea, it just sits there. Here's what the data actually says about why.
Korea Forecasts Autumn Leaves Like the Weather. Here's How to Plan Around It.
Autumn colour starts at the summits and comes down. Seoraksan logged its first colour on September 28; Bukhansan, inside Seoul, is still weeks away. How to pick your week, get to both mountains, and eat well in Gangwon.
Korea's Jindo Dog: The One-Person Dog, and What's True About the Famous Stories
A Natural Monument since 1962, a dog that came home across the country in 1993, and a law that keeps registered Jindos on their island. What's documented, what's legend, and where to see them in Jindo.
Tteokbokki at Home, the Way Koreans Actually Make It
No fish cake? No problem. Here's the version that actually shows up at family dinners.
Dwaeji Gukbap: Busan's Pork Soup, and the War That Changed It
Korean War refugees are the reason the bowl turned cloudy and pork-bone rich — and Busan still eats it by its own rules.
Bibimbap: Why Koreans Mix It Before They Eat It
It looks too neatly arranged to disturb — but mixing it thoroughly is the entire point of the dish.
Samgyeopsal: How Korea's Favorite Grilled Pork Actually Gets Eaten
Grilled at the table, wrapped in lettuce, gone in one bite — here's how the wrap actually goes together.
Naengmyeon: The Summer Noodles That Started Out as a Winter Dish
Korea's go-to hot-weather noodles are a northern winter tradition a war carried south — split the whole way into two completely different bowls.
10-Step Korean Skincare, Without the Overwhelm
What actually matters in a Korean routine, and what you can skip without guilt.
Seoul's Fireworks Festival 2026 — Here's What You Missed
About a million people along the Han River on September 5, per the organizer. What went down, and how to plan for next year.
Olive Young Has Opened in the US — What K-Beauty Fans Should Know
Korea's biggest beauty retailer opened real stores in California. Here's what's there, and what's still Korea-only.
Seoul in 4 Days — a Route That Doesn't Wreck You
Walkable mornings, transit-light afternoons, and the cafés worth the detour.
Hangul Day: The Alphabet Korea Built on Purpose
Most alphabets evolved over centuries with no single author — Hangul has a king, a year, and a document explaining why every letter looks the way it does.
Korea's Autumn Foliage, in the Order It Actually Happens
The color starts in the northeast mountains and rolls south for weeks — here's where it peaks first, and where to catch it last.
Bulguksa and Seokguram: The Parts That Are Actually 1,300 Years Old
The wooden halls are a 1970s reconstruction, and the Buddha everyone photographs has been sealed behind glass just as long — what's actually 1,300 years old here, and what isn't.
Haenyeo: The Real, Dangerous Job Behind Jeju's Most Famous Image
The women on Jeju's postcards and souvenir shelves aren't a folklore mascot — they're real free-divers, most in their 60s to 80s, working without oxygen tanks, and there are fewer of them every year.
Convenience Store Chuseok: Korea's Holiday Lunchbox Boom
CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, and Emart24 all sold Chuseok lunchboxes built for one this year — and three years of sales data say it's working.
Busan International Film Festival Opens October 6 — Tickets Are Now on Sale
Korea's biggest film festival returns for its 31st edition — 315 films, a new top prize, and announced guests including Isabelle Huppert and Michelle Yeoh in Busan from October 6 to 15.
Jajangmyeon: Incheon's Noodles, and the Immigrants Who Invented Them
It reads as standard Chinese takeout, but the dish barely exists in China — Chinese dock laborers invented it in 1880s Incheon, and a 1948 factory recipe made it black and sweet.
Samgyetang: The Boiling Soup Korea Eats to Beat the Heat
A whole young chicken stuffed with ginseng, rice, and jujube, eaten boiling hot on purpose — the iyeolchiyeol ('fight heat with heat') logic behind one of Korea's most counterintuitive summer traditions.
Bulgogi: The Marinated Beef, and the 2,000-Year Legend That's Still Disputed
The 2,000-year Goguryeo origin story has real gaps, and a 2018 fight over the word itself still isn't settled — plus the marinade that actually separates bulgogi from samgyeopsal and galbi.
Chodang Sundubu: Gangneung's Seawater Tofu, and the Man Who Didn't Actually Invent It
A 16th-century scholar gets credit for curdling tofu with seawater instead of brine — except a royal record from a century earlier already describes the same technique, and the village's real signature dish isn't the spicy stew most people picture.
Japchae: The Noodle Dish That Didn't Have Noodles Until 1919
Its own name means 'mixed vegetables,' and for roughly three centuries that's all it was — the glass noodles everyone pictures today didn't arrive until a 1919 factory changed the recipe for good.
Budae-jjigae: Korea's Army-Base Stew, and the President One Version Is Said to Be Named After
Born from scavenged US Army base surplus after the Korean War — Spam, sausage, and baked beans boiled into a pot with kimchi and gochujang — and one Seoul version still carries the name Johnson, though the story that it honors a US president turns out to be shakier than it sounds.
Jinju's Lantern Festival, October 3–18 — 16 Nights on a Battlefield River
Korea's biggest water-lantern festival floats 16 nights of lanterns on the river where they were first used as a battlefield signal in 1592. Free to walk into, newly funded as one of three national 'Global Festivals' — here's the official 2026 program, the prices, and how to get there.
Korea's Royal October: A Royal Procession on the 4th, Then Five Days Inside the Palaces
Two royal events land in the same October week — a full-scale reenactment of King Jeongjo's 1795 procession setting out from Gyeongbokgung on October 4, and the Royal Culture Festival opening four palaces and Jongmyo from October 7 to 11. Here's the announced schedule, what's free, and how visitors from abroad actually book a seat.
Geumsan's World Ginseng Festival, October 2–11 — the First Ginseng Farming System the UN Ever Recognized
Geumsan's own legend says its ginseng started with a mountain spirit and a dying mother's prayer 1,500 years ago — but what the UN actually recognized in 2018 was the farming method itself, the first ginseng system anywhere to make that list. Ten days of root-digging, red ginseng foot baths, and Korea's biggest ginseng market.
Olive Young Put Hello Kitty in a Hanbok for Its Biggest Sanrio Collab Yet
K-beauty's biggest retailer teamed up with Sanrio for its largest Sanrio collab yet — 81 brands, 321 products, and a Hello Kitty redesigned around hanbok colors with foreign visitors in mind. Campaign dates: August 30 through September 30, 2026.
Dak-Hanmari: The Everyday Chicken Pot That Turned a Dongdaemun Alley Into a Tourist Pilgrimage
A cheap 1970s market dish is now a must-stop for Japanese visitors to Seoul — viral knife-work videos, a national instant-noodle tie-in, and climbing prices to prove it.
Seoul Fever: Why So Many Tourists Say They Get 'Sick' for a City They Just Left
Tearful airport-train clips on Chinese social media helped spread a slang term — Seoul sickness — that K-pop fans picked up and Busan's tourism board borrowed for a campaign, with repeat-visit booking data pointing the same way.
The Pharmacy Is Becoming Seoul's Newest Must-Shop Stop — Right After Olive Young and Daiso
Foreign tourists' card spending at Korean pharmacies in May 2026 was 206% above a year earlier — the fastest growth of any sub-category, ahead of duty-free and department stores. Multiple data sources agree on the direction even when they disagree on the exact number.
K-Hiking: Why Foreign Visitors Are Adding Mountain Trails to Their Korea Trips
Korea's national parks logged an estimated 2.05 million foreign visits last year — more than double the previous count, though the park service changed how it counts — and one of the busiest mountains, Bukhansan, sits inside Seoul's own city limits.
PC Bang Tourism Is Booming — and Its Biggest Star Is Chasing a Second Asian Games Gold
Foreign tourist spending on K-leisure — PC bangs, karaoke rooms and traditional culture experiences — jumped 35.8% year on year in early 2026. Ground zero is a 24-hour gaming café built by Faker's own esports team — and from September 29 to October 2, Faker is chasing a second Asian Games gold medal against seven other nations, including Team India.
What's coming up and what just happened in Korea, timed to when it's actually relevant.
Andong's International Mask Dance Festival Runs Through October 4 — 24 Countries Are Showing Up
Korea's own UNESCO-listed mask dance tradition is hosting 28 performance teams from 24 countries in a small Gyeongbuk city through October 4. Here's what's happening, and how to plan around it.
Gangnam's Free K-Pop Concert Is October 4 — PSY, ZEROBASEONE and Five More, and Yes, You Need a Ticket
Seven acts, one boulevard, a ticket price of zero (plus a 3,000-won booking fee) — but getting in runs through a Ticketlink booking, an ID check, and a wristband. Here's what's happening at the 2026 Gangnam Festival on October 4, and how to plan around it.
Korea Forecasts Autumn Leaves Like the Weather. Here's How to Plan Around It.
Autumn colour starts at the summits and comes down. Seoraksan logged its first colour on September 28; Bukhansan, inside Seoul, is still weeks away. How to pick your week, get to both mountains, and eat well in Gangwon.
Seoul's Fireworks Festival 2026 — Here's What You Missed
About a million people along the Han River on September 5, per the organizer. What went down, and how to plan for next year.
Convenience Store Chuseok: Korea's Holiday Lunchbox Boom
CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, and Emart24 all sold Chuseok lunchboxes built for one this year — and three years of sales data say it's working.
Busan International Film Festival Opens October 6 — Tickets Are Now on Sale
Korea's biggest film festival returns for its 31st edition — 315 films, a new top prize, and announced guests including Isabelle Huppert and Michelle Yeoh in Busan from October 6 to 15.
Jinju's Lantern Festival, October 3–18 — 16 Nights on a Battlefield River
Korea's biggest water-lantern festival floats 16 nights of lanterns on the river where they were first used as a battlefield signal in 1592. Free to walk into, newly funded as one of three national 'Global Festivals' — here's the official 2026 program, the prices, and how to get there.
Korea's Royal October: A Royal Procession on the 4th, Then Five Days Inside the Palaces
Two royal events land in the same October week — a full-scale reenactment of King Jeongjo's 1795 procession setting out from Gyeongbokgung on October 4, and the Royal Culture Festival opening four palaces and Jongmyo from October 7 to 11. Here's the announced schedule, what's free, and how visitors from abroad actually book a seat.
Geumsan's World Ginseng Festival, October 2–11 — the First Ginseng Farming System the UN Ever Recognized
Geumsan's own legend says its ginseng started with a mountain spirit and a dying mother's prayer 1,500 years ago — but what the UN actually recognized in 2018 was the farming method itself, the first ginseng system anywhere to make that list. Ten days of root-digging, red ginseng foot baths, and Korea's biggest ginseng market.
PC Bang Tourism Is Booming — and Its Biggest Star Is Chasing a Second Asian Games Gold
Foreign tourist spending on K-leisure — PC bangs, karaoke rooms and traditional culture experiences — jumped 35.8% year on year in early 2026. Ground zero is a 24-hour gaming café built by Faker's own esports team — and from September 29 to October 2, Faker is chasing a second Asian Games gold medal against seven other nations, including Team India.
The deep-dive reads that go with a Mori's Korea video — recipes, background, and behind-the-scenes notes.
Korea Forecasts Autumn Leaves Like the Weather. Here's How to Plan Around It.
Autumn colour starts at the summits and comes down. Seoraksan logged its first colour on September 28; Bukhansan, inside Seoul, is still weeks away. How to pick your week, get to both mountains, and eat well in Gangwon.