Seoul, Right Now

There are many places in Seoul where you can look at the city. From a tall building, you can see rows of apartment towers. From a bridge, you can watch the Han River flow through the city. From Namsan, you can look down at the buildings and streets below. But Haneul Park offers something different. You are standing in a vast field of silver grass, high above the Han River, while one of the world's busiest cities stretches out in front of you. And if you arrive near sunset, Seoul seems to change while you are watching. The City Begins in the Distance Haneul Park is part of World Cup Park in western Seoul. It sits on what was once a landfill at Nanjido. Today, it is one of the city's best-known places for seeing Seoul from above. The park is about 98 meters above sea level and has a large field of silver grass, along with numerous viewpoints and resting places. From the park's newer viewing areas, you can look toward the Han River and the city beyond it. The view stretches fr...

Once a month, a group of men in their 90s meets in Jongno 3-ga. They do not all live nearby. Some come from Incheon or Bucheon. Others come from Hanam. Some live in Yangjae-dong in Seoul, while another lives near Dobongsan Station, at the northern edge of the city. Yet once a month, they make their way to the same place. Jongno 3-ga. A Meeting Place in the Middle of Seoul One reason is simple: transportation. Jongno 3-ga Station is where Seoul Subway Lines 1, 3, and 5 meet. For people coming from different parts of the Seoul metropolitan area, it is a practical place to gather. But transportation alone does not explain why they keep coming back. Jongno 3-ga has almost everything they might want to do during one of their monthly meetings. Most months, they start with a meal. They sit down together and eat a bowl of beef soup. There is nothing particularly elaborate about the meal. They meet, eat, talk, and spend some time together. Sometimes, though, the plan changes. When There Is a Mo...

There is a line outside a pharmacy in Namdaemun. Not a famous restaurant. Not a bakery. Not a popular coffee shop. A pharmacy. People are standing outside, waiting to go in. Seoul has pharmacies everywhere. You can find them near subway stations, hospitals, apartment neighborhoods, and busy shopping streets. So why would anyone travel across the city just to buy something from a pharmacy? One answer is price. But that is only part of the story. In Namdaemun and Jongno 5-ga, pharmacies have become destinations in their own right. People go there not only because they are sick, but because they want to take care of their health — sometimes for themselves, and often for their families. The Line at Wangsol Pharmacy Wangsol Pharmacy is in the Namdaemun area, close to the busy market streets. What is hard to miss is the line. People wait outside before going in, especially when the pharmacy is busy. For someone seeing the scene for the first time, it can be a little surprising. Why wait for ...

If you take the subway in Seoul, you will notice something before the train even arrives. There is a glass wall between you and the tracks. The doors open when the train arrives. They close when it leaves. For someone visiting Seoul for the first time, it may seem like a very ordinary part of the subway. But it wasn't always there. And once you start looking at the screen doors, you may notice that people in Seoul do much more than simply stand behind them. Seoul Didn't Always Have Screen Doors Platform screen doors are now such a familiar part of the Seoul subway that it is easy to forget they are relatively new. The first platform screen doors in Seoul were installed at Sadang Station in 2005. From 2006 to 2009, they were installed throughout Lines 1 through 8. By 2025, screen doors had been installed at 345 stations, including Line 9 and the Ui-Sinseol Line. The main reason was simple: Safety. The doors create a physical barrier between passengers and the tracks. And they ma...

Walk through Changdong Market in northern Seoul, and you might come across a small toast shop. It is not a place that looks particularly unusual at first. There is a griddle, some bread, eggs, vegetables, and a woman standing behind the counter, making toast for customers. But look at the name. It is still called “Grandma’s Toast.” There is just one problem with that name. Grandma is no longer there. So why is this Seoul toast shop still called Grandma’s Toast? It Started With a Grandmother The story begins with the late Park Yi-soon, who ran the toast shop in Changdong. In 2019, KBS introduced her and her Vietnamese daughter-in-law, Jung Soo-yeon, who was helping her make toast. The two women stood together behind the griddle, preparing the kind of inexpensive, filling toast that has long been part of everyday life in Seoul. The toast was simple. Bread was toasted on the griddle. An egg mixture filled with vegetables was cooked alongside it. The vegetables made the egg filling thick a...

Ask a Korean when autumn has arrived, and the answer might not be a date. It might be a flower. In late September and October, cosmos begins appearing across Korea—in parks, along rivers, beside roads, and in large flower fields. Its thin stems move in the wind, usually carrying pink, white, or reddish flowers. The scene is so familiar that it can feel as though cosmos has always belonged to the Korean autumn. But it hasn't. A Flower That Came From Somewhere Else The cosmos most commonly seen in Korea, Cosmos bipinnatus , is native to Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States. It is an annual flower that can bloom from summer into fall. In Korea, however, it became remarkably familiar. The Korea Biodiversity Information System describes cosmos as a flower that makes people feel that autumn has arrived. It also notes that although the flower feels like an old Korean flower, it was actually introduced to Korea after the opening of the country and became established surprisin...

On weekday mornings, around 7 a.m., something unusual happens in central Seoul. Tour buses begin gathering around City Hall. At Exit 3 of City Hall Station, people arrive carrying small backpacks, tote bags, and cups of coffee. They look at their phones, check the bus information, and wait for their group to gather. They are not going to work. They are leaving Seoul for the day. The Bus Leaves at Seven A number of day-trip tour companies use central Seoul as a departure point. One current tour from Seoul to Andong, for example, lists 7:00 a.m. departure from Exit 3 of City Hall Station, followed by a stop at Jamsil Station. The itinerary includes Wolyeonggyo Bridge, Andong Old Market, Hahoe Village, and Byeongsanseowon Confucian Academy before returning to Seoul. Another tour operator uses the area around Gwanghwamun as a 7:00 a.m. departure point, with City Hall Station Exit 3 just a few minutes' walk away. Its day trips range from Hongseong and Inje to Yeongju, Boeun, Cheongju, a...

Walk around Seoul and you will notice something that seems almost impossible to miss: hair salons. They are tucked into apartment shopping centers, squeezed between restaurants and convenience stores, hidden on the second floor of small buildings, and sometimes located in places you would never notice unless you were looking for them. And there are a lot of them. According to Seoul's commercial-area data, there were about 16,100 hair salons in Seoul in the second quarter of 2026. For comparison, Seoul had about 6,500 convenience stores. Coffee and beverage shops were even more numerous, at about 22,200. So Seoul had roughly two and a half times as many hair salons as convenience stores. That sounds surprising. You can find a convenience store almost anywhere in Seoul. But there are even more places where you can get your hair cut. But Where Are All Those Hair Salons? Most people do not travel across Seoul every time they need a haircut. They go somewhere nearby. There may be a hair...

Summer finally seems to be leaving Seoul. The unbearable heat has eased. Nights are cooler. People are starting to think about long sleeves, autumn clothes, and sleeping with the windows open again. And then the mosquitoes came back. At least, that's what it feels like. One person recently described spending the night hunting mosquitoes. First, there was a faint buzzing sound. One mosquito was caught. Then another. Then another. Eventually, the person woke up in the middle of the night and got out of bed. By morning, there was a serious question to consider: Should I buy one of those small mosquito nets that cover a single bed? But what if the mosquitoes suddenly disappear next week? Then I'd have bought a mosquito net for nothing. That seems to be the kind of conversation people in Seoul are having these days. Where Did the Mosquitoes Go in Summer? This year's mosquitoes seem to have confused everyone. During the hottest part of the summer, some people barely noticed them....

There is a man in Korea who has visited about 300 banchan shops. His name is Lee Jae-young, and in a 2025 episode of the Korean TV program Master of Living , he was introduced as a banchan-shop enthusiast. He has spent years traveling around in search of good side dishes. Three hundred shops. That number made me wonder. Why would anyone visit that many banchan shops? And then I started thinking about the people who actually shop at them. What Is Banchan? Banchan are the small dishes that accompany a Korean meal. Kimchi, seasoned vegetables, stir-fried dishes, braised foods, pickles, egg dishes, and many other foods can all become banchan. In a traditional Korean meal, rice, soup, and banchan come together on the table. Unlike the single side dish that might accompany a main course in some Western meals, Korean banchan can include several different dishes at once. And this is where the banchan shop comes in. A banchan shop is a store where you can buy these dishes already prepared and t...

I Went to My Local Government Office for a Blood Pressure Check. Then Came a Singing Class, Lunch, a Workout, and a Library. If you hear the words “local government office,” you might imagine paperwork. In Seoul, there is a place called a 주민센터 (jumin center, pronounced “joo-min center”) where local residents can take care of administrative matters. But a jumin center can be much more than a place for paperwork. I know this because I recently went to my local jumin center to check my blood pressure. And that was only the beginning of my day. First, a Blood Pressure Check I went to the jumin center for a simple health check. After checking my blood pressure, I could have gone home. Instead, I stayed. My local jumin center is also connected with activities and spaces that local residents can use. And that morning, I had somewhere else to go. A singing class. A Singing Class at the Jumin Center The singing class is one of the community activities available to local residents. People gather...

Cash, fruit boxes, Spam gift sets, and the little dilemma behind Korea’s holiday gifts As Chuseok approaches, gift sets begin appearing everywhere in South Korea. Department stores and supermarkets fill their shelves with neatly arranged boxes of Korean beef, fruit, cooking oil, health products, and canned Spam. For many people, however, the holiday season brings a familiar question: What should I give my parents, relatives, or someone I want to thank? It sounds simple. But choosing a Chuseok gift can involve more thought than expected. The recipient’s age, personal taste, health, and daily habits all come into consideration. And sometimes, the gift that looks impressive may not be the one the recipient actually wants. The Gift Dilemma: What Should I Buy? A look at conversations on 82cook, a Korean online community where people share everyday questions and advice, reveals just how many possibilities people consider when choosing Chuseok gifts. When someone asks what to give an older fa...

From red clay trails and city streams to barefoot walks by the sea, a look at Korea’s growing interest in walking for well-being. In Seoul, a walk in the park can sometimes mean leaving your shoes behind. Across the city, people are taking off their sneakers and stepping onto red clay trails, forest paths, and even shallow streams. Some walk slowly along carefully maintained trails in public parks. Others prefer the soft sand left behind by retreating waves at the beach. For some, it is simply a pleasant way to spend time outdoors. For others, barefoot walking has become a daily ritual they believe has changed their lives. Online communities are full of personal stories about better sleep, fewer headaches, less pain, and a renewed sense of energy. There are also questions about whether barefoot walking is really responsible for these changes—and whether it is safe for everyone. So, what draws people to these paths? And what can we learn from the way they walk? The Red Clay Trails That ...