Near 뱅뱅사거리 (Baengbaeng Sageori) in southern Seoul, 무화잠 강남점 is a long-running Korean seafood restaurant specializing in 대게 (snow crab), 킹크랩 (king crab), and 랍스터 (lobster). The Gangnam branch is at 서울 강남구 강남대로 292, close to the office-heavy area between Gangnam and Yangjae.
If you’re flying from the far end of Incheon Airport Terminal 2, there’s a Korean Air lounge that is easy to miss.
Korean Air, Prestige Garden East Lounge at ICN T2
The Korean Air Prestige Garden East Lounge is located on the 4th floor opposite Gate 281, making it especially convenient for flights departing around Gates 281–283. It opened as part of Korean Air’s major Terminal 2 lounge expansion and renovation project.
Korea’s hangover-remedy shelves keep getting more inventive. Dong-A Pharmaceutical’s 모닝케어 프레스온 (Morning Care Press On) looks like an ordinary drink, but several tiny 환—traditional-style pills—are hidden separately inside its cap.
Korea has officially confirmed what many travelers already suspected: a good trip may begin with a train ticket, but it ends with a bakery bag and bakery tourism.
For the new “Korea Attractions Discovery 100×100” project, 40,145 people cast more than 1.53 million votes for nearly 10,000 attractions across 100 themes.
When Koreans travel, they don’t just eat—they learn. Cooking classes have become a popular way for Korean travelers to connect more deeply with a country’s culture. Instead of simply ordering dishes, they want to understand ingredients, techniques, and the story behind the food.
Cooking classes
This mindset starts at home. In Korea, many people take cooking classes to learn traditional dishes like kimchi, 된장찌개, or 잡채—especially younger generations who didn’t grow up cooking. Others learn through family, watching parents or grandparents prepare meals during holidays and daily life. Cooking is not just a skill; it’s a way to preserve culture.
So when Koreans travel to places like Bangkok, joining a cooking class feels natural. They approach it the same way they would at home—hands-on, curious, and focused on learning.
For many Koreans, food is not just something you eat. It’s something you understand.
A Korean traveler visiting Bangkok might sign up for a half-day cooking class instead of just eating at a famous restaurant. They learn how to make pad thai from scratch—cutting vegetables, balancing flavors, and cooking over high heat.
This mirrors what happens in Korea. A young professional in Seoul might take a weekend class to learn how to make kimchi or simple home dishes they never learned growing up. In both cases, the goal is the same: not just eating the food, but understanding how it’s made and why it matters.
Vocabulary
요리 수업 (yori sueop) — cooking class 체험 (cheheom) — hands-on experience 문화 (munhwa) — culture 재료 (jaeryo) — ingredients 김치 (gimchi) — kimchi
Step into an elevator in Korea and you’ll notice something immediately—silence. No small talk, no casual greetings, just people standing quietly, often looking at their phones or straight ahead. To many foreigners, this can feel cold or awkward. But in Korea, it’s actually a form of respect.
Samyang Foods transformed instant noodles into a global phenomenon with its Buldak (fire chicken) ramen. Known for intense heat and addictive flavor, Buldak gained traction through viral social media challenges and export-driven strategy.
Spicy “Fire chicken”
The product line has expanded beyond noodles into sauces, snacks, and limited-edition flavors like carbonara and cheese, balancing spice with richness. Samyang’s positioning is precise: high-impact flavor, bold branding, and rapid SKU innovation.
Various buldak noodles from the Samyang America website
Today, Buldak is not just a product—it’s a cultural export, reinforcing Korea’s growing influence in global food trends.