The most expensive luxury on offer in Hannam-dong, Seoul, is the ability to enjoy a private life, out of reach. That is just what actor Byeon Woo-seok paid some 13 billion won ($9.7 million) for. The actor reportedly bought a 235-square-meter unit at Hannam the Hill in May. He joins a long list of corporate executives and celebrities, including So Ji-sub, Ock Joo-hyun and Choo Ja-hyun, as residents of the complex in central Seoul's Yongsan-gu. Hannam the Hill rose on the former site of Dankook U

Next Wednesday, a group of Korean travelers will sit inside a yurt on the Kazakh steppe and watch a rocket leave the ground. The seat, located at a safe distance from the launch pad, costs 28 million won, or roughly $20,600, per person. The seven-day Kazakhstan itinerary, sold by Modetour, is built around the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It covers the Gagarin launch pad, the assembly and fueling complex where the Buran space shuttle is stored, a test stand displaying the Energia-M rocket and an aerospac

Residents are designed not to cross paths. Service staff slips through hidden back corridors, guests are received in a separate lounge, and a fingerprint is all that opens the door. That is how Eterno Cheongdam looks after the 29 households in its single Cheongdam-dong tower, among them national soccer team captain Son Heung-min, who owns the most expensive home in the country. High-end residences trade on exclusivity. Few do so as hard as the building that has topped Korea's property valuations

86 floors above Seoul, inside Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, the country's most expensive spa treatment unfolds over four hours with guests wrapped in warm, edible chocolate. At Retreat Signiel Spa, the Chocolate Whole Body course runs 240 minutes and costs 1.5 million won ($1,000), the highest price of any spa program in Korea. Presented as the world's first full-body chocolate treatment, it draws on cacao's polyphenols and theobromine, delivered through heat meant to loosen the body and settle t

Where in Seoul do CEOs live? An analysis of the registered home addresses of 640 chief executives by local corporate data tracker CEO Score, released Wednesday, shows that many of the country’s top business leaders cluster in a handful of high-end apartment complexes in Seoul, especially in the affluent districts of Gangnam and Yongsan. The most common address, shared by 11 CEOs, as of April was The H Firstier I-Park in Gaepo-dong, southern Seoul. Among its most notable residents is Roh Tae-moon

For years, Busan’s luxury real estate story was easy to tell: look to Marine City. With its cluster of high-rise apartments facing Haeundae Beach, the district became the city’s defining symbol of wealth. But that map is starting to shift. Just uphill, Dalmaji Hill — Busan’s onetime enclave for the affluent — is staging a comeback, drawing a new wave of ultrawealthy buyers and reshaping the city’s luxury housing landscape. What makes this shift notable is geography. In South Korea, ultraluxury h

Louis Vuitton is stepping into Seoul’s dining scene with a high-end culinary venture, and now, food lovers and fashion enthusiasts alike are getting their first look at the menu — and the price tags. Reservations for Le Cafe Louis Vuitton, the brand’s first restaurant in Korea, opened Monday afternoon via the restaurant booking platform CatchTable. The venue is set to officially open on Sept. 1, occupying the fourth floor of Maison Louis Vuitton Seoul in the upscale neighborhood of Cheongdam-don

A trip to an island resort starts with a Rolls-Royce pickup and a helicopter ride. That’s how Villa Kosmos -- a two-floor residence with four rooms for up to eight people -- is serving an exclusive clientele seeking a secluded retreat on Ulleungdo. The island off the east coast of South Korea, together with Dokdo, forms the country’s easternmost group of islands. “A trip to Ulleungdo has never given our upscale clientele a single headache for the past eight years,” said Cho Hyun-jai, a chief man

High-end residences thrive on exclusivity. Since 2011, Piet Boon House at Oak Valley -- a resort complex in Wonju, Gangwon Province, that boasts the country’s largest golf course along with ski slopes -- is a private getaway frequented by a small but steady circle of high-net-worth individuals. The upscale clientele have their every whim catered to at Piet Boon House, a three-story residence that charges them over $10,000 per night -- excluding dining, which is prepared by five-star hotel chefs,

For people who see money as no object in search of a luxury skiing experience, exclusivity is what counts. Add wellness, and that’s how Hanwha Solutions is pitching Muwa Niseko, a luxury ski resort in Hokkaido, Japan. Muwa Niseko, meaning “my Niseko” with the French word “moi” spelled out phonetically, is nestled in the ski resort town of Niseko on Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido, best known for powder snow -- soft and dry flakes that make for silk-smooth turns for skiers. Open since Decemb