Winter’s end with Luminarie and a seafood gem

Winter is drawing to a close, but its lingering, mysterious aura remains in Seoul, where tunnels of light offer a glowing escape, like a passage to another world. For a contrasting experience, a small, intimate seafood restaurant in Sindang, central Seoul, invites diners to savor the freshest seasonal flavors in a quiet corner of the city. The following are The Korea Herald's picks for this weekend. Each February, the outdoor plaza at the foot of sky-piercing Lotte World Tower is given over to a

Feb. 20, 2026

Packages and promotions

Cassia Sokcho welcomes spring flavors with dining promotions Cassia Sokcho is offering limited dining experiences built around seasonal herbs, seafood and matcha. At Vista, the hotel’s fourth-floor buffet restaurant, specials include herb-marinated tender roast beef, grilled king prawns, chili crab with crown daisy greens, sea squirt mulhoe and tuna carpaccio with seasonal greens. Horizon cafe and bakery's seasonal items include fernbrake and beef brisket aglio e olio, basil-cream shrimp fettucc

Feb. 20, 2026

Movies in theaters this week

"Humint" (South Korea) Opened Feb. 11 Action/Thriller Directed by Ryoo Seung-wan A South Korean intelligence officer (Zo In-sung) and a North Korean state security agent (Park Jung-min) find their missions colliding in Vladivostok, where a shared connection to a North Korean woman (Shin Se-kyung) draws them into a dangerous game of espionage and survival. "Wuthering Heights" (US) Opened Feb. 11 Romance/Drama Directed by Emerald Fennell On the windswept Yorkshire moors, Catherine Earnshaw (Margot

Feb. 20, 2026

Festivals, sights across Korea

The 2026 Uljin Snow Crab and Red Snow Crab Festival will take place Feb. 27-March 2 at Hupo Port in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, celebrating one of the region’s most prized winter delicacies. Held at Wangdolcho Plaza, the festival highlights Uljin’s signature seafood — snow crab and red snow crab — through tastings, auctions and hands-on experiences. Visitors can watch live performances by local artists, join cultural programs and try red snow crab fishing and yacht rides along the coast. L

Feb. 20, 2026

Under her father’s wing, teen ballerina finds new beginning in Lausanne

Seventeen-year-old ballerina Yeom Da-yeon, who won second prize at one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in Lausanne, Switzerland, said her love for dance never loosened its hold on her -- even in moments when she wanted to quit. “I think I endured the difficult moments because I truly love ballet,” she said during a press conference on Thursday in Seoul, following her second-place finish at the 2026 Prix de Lausanne earlier this month. “Even on days I wanted to rest or give up, I foun

Feb. 19, 2026

19th-century view of Korean Peninsula unfolds in Daedongyeojido

How did Koreans understand the geography of their country centuries ago? A large map of the Korean Peninsula put together by geographer Gim Jeong-ho in 1861 during the Joseon era marked a milestone in Korean geography history. The National Museum of Korea on Feb. 12 unfurled the map, known as Daedongyeojido — spanning 6.7 meters in height and 3.8 meters in width — in the museum's permanent gallery on the first floor, bringing together all 22 sections of the map. The map divides the Korean Penins

Feb. 19, 2026

Morning to matinee: concerts shine by day

Across Korea, major and regional performing arts venues are expanding morning and afternoon concert series this year to attract daytime audiences and make classical music more accessible, with tickets priced between 10,000 won and 30,000 won. Matinee programs, which combine performances with commentary, make concerts more accessible by lowering barriers for first-time listeners. Popular programs, which typically begin at 11 a.m., include Lotte Concert Hall’s “Matinee" and the Seoul Arts Center's

Feb. 19, 2026

Korean cafes shape LA’s evolving coffee culture

LOS ANGELES — In Los Angeles, where coffee trends often emerge from independent roasters and neighborhood cafes, Korean-led coffee shops are increasingly shaping how the city drinks its daily cup. Justin and Hailey Bieber are known to start their mornings at Community Goods, a small takeout-focused cafe that has become the go-to for Korean-style lattes. Since opening in February 2023, the cafe has drawn long weekday lines for drinks developed by Korean head barista Brandon Cho. Among the most po

Feb. 19, 2026

Disney+ shaman survival show denies using deceased firefighter’s story without consent

The producers of Disney+’s fortune teller survival show “Battle of Fates” are facing backlash for using the story of a deceased firefighter in a competition round in which shamans were asked to predict his fate. In the episode in question, participating shamans were presented with details of real people and were asked to infer their cause of death. The late Kim Cheol-hong, who died in 2001 while responding to a fire in Seoul’s Seodaemun district, was among them. After the show aired, a social me

Feb. 19, 2026

Seollal movie attendance rebounds but still falls short of pre-COVID highs

Lunar New Year has long been one of the Korean film industry's most reliable cash grabs, a stretch of days when families flood multiplexes and distributors place their biggest bets. That formula held strong for years, then came apart during the pandemic, and has been slow to reassemble ever since. This year's holiday was a step forward, measured against a low bar still. Korean theaters drew 3.23 million admissions across the four-day Lunar New Year stretch from Feb. 14 to 17 — a marked recovery

Feb. 18, 2026

Treasures from National Museum of Korea

Nationality/Period Joseon Era (1392-1910) Materials Ceramics - White Porcelain Category Food - Tableware - Foods and Drinks - dish Dimensions D. 14.8cm Accession Number Sujeong209 Location Donated Collection2 This blue-and-white porcelain dish was made in the 19th century at the government-sponsored kiln in Bunwon-ri in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. It is decorated with a waterside scene brushed in the folk-painting style. Although the decorative design is rather complex, the different shades of c

Feb. 18, 2026

Nearly half of Korean cultural artifacts abroad are in Japan, government survey finds

More than 250,000 Korean cultural heritage items are currently overseas, with Japan accounting for the largest share of 43 percent, government data showed Wednesday, reflecting a global dispersal shaped by war, colonial rule, collecting and cultural exchange. As of Jan. 1, a total of 121,143 catalogued records comprising 256,190 artifacts have been identified overseas, according to the Korea Heritage Service and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. The figures are based on surveys c

Feb. 18, 2026

Park Jung-min on 'Humint' crew: 'I don't think I'll ever have something like this again'

Somewhere in Latvia, in the dead of winter, with no reliable cell service and nothing to do after wrap, the cast of "Humint" found themselves stuck with each other. The film, director Ryoo Seung-wan's $16 million spy thriller, was shot extensively in Riga as a stand-in for Vladivostok, Russia, where much of the story unfolds. Looking back on those weeks abroad, Park Jung-min gets nostalgic. "We'd finish shooting and walk around these freezing, snowy streets together, talking about the movie, han

Feb. 18, 2026

Zo In-sung is done being the leading man

Zo In-sung walks into a press interview in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, on Wednesday like someone who could do it in his sleep. He greets every reporter by name, collects business cards, works the room with the kind of ease you only get from decades of doing the rounds. At 44, he gives off the easygoing, chatty vibe of someone who knows exactly who he is and where he stands. At the moment, is atop the box office. "Humint," Ryoo Seung-wan's high-octane spy thriller, opened this week at No. 1. H

Feb. 17, 2026

Diriyah Biennale seeks to engage, not antagonize

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The 30-minute drive from King Khalid International Airport to Riyadh is lined with signs announcing the upcoming 2030 World Expo taking place in the Saudi capital. With construction sites and tower cranes looming over the desert horizon, there is a palpable sense of transformation. The transformation is being driven by Saudi Vision 2030, launched in 2016, which seeks to transform the oil-dependent kingdom into a modern, inclusive state with sustainable development and tech

Feb. 16, 2026