By August this year foreign shoppers had spent a trillion won in its stores, a third of everything sold at the tills. We went to the Myeongdong flagship to see why, and to learn how the tax refund at the counter works before you get there.
Written by the Kverything editors. Photograph by Xuedi Liu on Unsplash.
멋 Style쿠션ku·syeonThe cushion compact turns eighteen. It is still the thing people fly home with.
맛 Taste웨이팅we·i·tingWhy Seoul queues for lunch, and how to put your name down from the subway
맛 Taste라멘ra·menHongdae’s ramen shops open at eleven. The line forms at ten thirty.
놀이 Play인생네컷in·saeng·ne·keotThe photo booth is the new postcard. How four frames took over the night out
맛 Taste편의점pyeon·ui·jeomA convenience store at midnight is a place to eat, not a shop
길 Streets홍대hong·daeThe art-school neighbourhood keeps changing its mind. What is still there.
화면 Screen포장마차po·jang·ma·chaThe orange tent in every drama, and the real ones still open in Jongno
소리 Sound리스닝 바ri·seu·ning baSeoul started listening again. Here is where it happens.
화면 Screen이태원 클라쓰i·tae·won keul·la·sseuItaewon Class in four scenes, on foot
길 Streets성수동seong·su·dongSeongsu this week: four pop-ups, two of them closing Sunday
멋 Style모나미mo·na·miThe three-hundred-won pen that got its own shops, and an ink bar
멋 Style무신사mu·sin·saThe streetwear app that opened real shops. What sells, and how the refund works.
소리 Sound컴백keom·baekA comeback is a week-long event. How to follow one from abroad, and what the fans queue for
말 Words존댓말jon·daen·malSix ways to say the same sentence, and the two you actually need
말 Words화이팅hwa·i·tingThe English word Koreans say to mean you can do it
놀이 Play노래방no·rae·bangA room, two microphones and a tambourine. How to book a singing room by the hour
삶 Life배달bae·dalHow a city eats at midnight삶 Life카카오톡ka·ka·o·tokThe app the country runs on, and how to set it up before you land
멋 Style한복han·bokHanbok for the afternoon: what to rent, where to walk, and the free entry it gets you
길 Streets북촌buk·chonBukchon before ten in the morning, and the rule the residents asked for
길 Streets광안리gwang·an·riGwangalli at dusk: the bridge, the drone show and the raw-fish floors
Under a minute each. Official channels or a credited creator, played on YouTube.
Streets with a scene. Seoul first, then Busan. All of it lives in 길 Streets.
홍대hong·daeThe art-school neighbourhood keeps changing its mind. What is still there.성수동seong·su·dongSeongsu this week: four pop-ups, two of them closing Sunday북촌buk·chonBukchon before ten in the morning, and the rule the residents asked for광안리gwang·an·riGwangalli at dusk: the bridge, the drone show and the raw-fish floorsEvery story belongs to one. The names are single Korean words; the colours are obangsaek, the five directional colours, and their in-between shades.
The calendar writes a third of the magazine. Holidays, exam day, comebacks, pop-up closings and the first snow come back every year with a new story each time.
Pick one or add your own. We read every answer on Monday; the thing named most becomes a story the week after.
104 answers so far this week. One vote each; you can change it.
