Hallim Park Narcissus Festival The Narcissus Festival, which began Jan. 21, will run through Feb. 19 at Hallim Park, one of the most popular tourist spots on Jeju Island. The park, reaching almost 100 thousand square meters in size, is home to various types of flowers and plants. More than a million narcissuses welcome flower lovers during its flowering season. Admission is 9,000 won ($7.38), ...

The Korea Tourism Organization predicted this year's domestic travel trend as focusing on individual travelers' aspirations to discover their interests and preferences rooted in their daily lives, summarizing the trend with the acronym, MOMENT. The travel trend forecast was announced by the Culture Ministry and KTO on Tuesday, based on an analysis of travel-related big data collected over three ...

Winter sports The steep drop in temperature means it's prime time to hit the slopes -- for skiing, snowboarding and sledding. Multinational online travel company Trip.com recently announced it is offering free sledding on Nami Island, a small half-moon shaped island in Chuncheon, in collaboration with Gangwon Province. Visitors who hold tickets to Nami Island -- made famous as the shooting loc...

Full Moon Festival, Samcheok The highland city of Samcheok, Gangwon Province, is set to celebrate its annual Full Moon Festival, known as “Jeongwol Daeboreum.” Jeongwol Daeboreum is a traditional holiday marking the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. The festival will be held Feb. 3-5 at areas near Samcheok Beach and Expo Square in the city. The three-day event offers a singing competition...

Pinocchio and Little Prince Starlight Festival The second edition of the Pinocchio and Little Prince Starlight Festival will run through March 5 at Italian Village and Petite France in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. The event allows visitors to experience a bit of overseas travel via the flea market lined with European antiques, traditional Italian houses and more. The splendid lighting aside, t...

A shuttle to Cheong Wa Dae that circuits back to Gyeongbokgung is free of charge for everyone starting this year. The Cheong Wa Dae tour bus launched last June and was only free to people over 65, children under 8, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. The number of passengers last year amounted to 49,820, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday. The shuttle runs 12 ...

MANILA, Philippines -- So many aspects of our lives have been deferred due to the pandemic, especially the joy of getting away from it all. After three long years, as countries opened their doors to foreign visitors South Koreans spared no time, contributing to an uptick in tourism in destinations like Japan, Guam and the Philippines. The Philippines attracted 2.65 million visitors last year, in...

Daegwallyeong Snow Festival, Pyeongchang The Daegwallyeong Snow Festival will run from Jan. 20-29 in the area around Songcheon Stream in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. The annual festival began in 1993, and has become among the most famous winter festivals in South Korea. The event features beautiful snowy hills and enjoyable activities for both children and adults. Admission fees for the sno...

Incheon Airport relaunched its daily transit tour program departing at the airport terminals on Jan. 1. Transit tours are provided free of charge to passengers transferring to another country via Incheon Airport. Using their transfer wait time, passengers can tour major attractions on round-trip tour buses, led by professional guides. Seven different tours are on offer, with four new courses ad...

Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival, Cheongyang The Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival runs from Jan. 1 to Feb. 12 at the Alps Village in Cheongyang-gun, South Chungcheong Province. The festival offers various activities, including sledding, bobsledding, ice fishing, a zip line course, horseback riding, bare-handed fishing and more. Visitors who do not wish to participate in the hands-on experience...

Muju Deogyusan Resort Some 200 kilometers south of Seoul in Muju-gun, North Jeolla Province, Muju Deogyusan Resort awes visitors with a spectacular snowscape of Deogyusan, a top winter destination. Starting Dec. 24, the resort began operating the “Dawn Ski” program, allowing early birds to enjoy the slopes starting at 7 a.m. The majority of the slopes in Korea open at 9 a.m. Two advanced slop...

Ulsan Ganjeolgot Sunrise Festival Ganjeolgot Cape, known to be the first place in Korea to see the sunrise, will hold the annual New Year’s Sunrise Festival. Starting at sunset on Dec. 31, various cultural performances will take place at Ganjeolgot Park near the lighthouse. Bid goodbye to 2022 and ring in the new year with a wish as the sun rises over the horizon. Detailed information can be ...

Naver's translation app Papago has added a service to help tourists understand Korean menus, in partnership with the Culture Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization. The service is uses the app's image translate function. Users can take a picture of a Korean menu to translate it as normal, but tapping "select all" at the bottom brings up a "Food info" tab, with translations that have been ta...