Korean Culture Explained: Life, History, Music & Language | NowHitz · 6

A cooperative of artists and audiences

Honguju brings together artists, event organizers, venue operators, producers, audience members and activists. According to the center, the group began meeting in 2013 when Seogyo Art Space faced closure and formed a social cooperative in 2014.

Members keep up their own work while tackling problems in the arts scene that are hard to solve alone.

Solidarity concerts at Gongsangondo

When the café and performance space Gongsangondo ran into rent-related difficulties, Honguju and musicians organized the Gongsaeng Gongsang concerts. The center says ticket proceeds and donations went to the venue.

The cooperative’s 2023 project record names the people who handled planning, operations, publicity and design.

Workshops and a street festival

The A.L.T.O. art school ran small workshops where artists exchanged questions and experience. FESTIVAL THE SUB, launched in 2022, took indie music into the street so passers-by could catch a performance without a ticket.

The profile says the festival pairs music with exhibitions on indie-culture history, talks and participatory programs.

Fifty guitarists

The accompanying photograph shows Amateur Amplifier and 50 Guitarists at THE SUB in 2024, with a line of people holding guitars facing an outdoor stage.

A scene like this depends on a place to play and people willing to build it together. Small-venue programs list organizers and spaces alongside the performers.

Mokgireogi and mokan

The National Institute of Korean Language describes mokgireogi as a carved and painted wooden goose used in place of a live goose at traditional weddings. Another name is mokan, written 木雁: wood and wild goose.

Jeonanrye

According to Culture Portal, the groom presented the wooden goose on arriving at the bride’s family home as the first rite of the wedding, a step called jeonanrye.

The link between the goose and enduring affection is a cultural symbol expressing a wish for the marriage, not a description of the bird’s behavior.

About the object

In the photograph, overlapping black curves mark the body, while the neck and bill form a spare, elongated outline. The carving suggests the bird with a few lines rather than modeling it in detail.

The museum classifies the object as wood and dates it to the Japanese colonial period. Its use in an old wedding custom does not make this piece a Joseon-period artifact. Whether it is currently on display has not been confirmed; the museum’s online record carries the original image and catalog details.

Two songs, two pairings

Rude John and okamotoemi co-wrote “Out of the Blue,” which the project describes as rooted in retro R&B and city pop.

Someone’s Alley and JIN’s “LOVE & DANCE” takes a retro synth-pop approach, linking images of Hongdae in Seoul and Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. Both songs switch languages midway.

How they were made

Online collaboration ran from May to late June. The Japanese musicians joined their partners in Seoul for recording and rehearsals on July 9–15, and the two songs had their live premiere at Seogyo Square on July 17.

The documentary That Summer’s Voyage Log follows the process.

Release dates

The official pages for both music videos went up September 20, followed by the documentary page on September 21.

Watching the documentary after the two songs, then returning to one of them, brings out details missed on first listen.

The collection

The shelves hold old cookbooks, food research and children’s books on food culture. Anyone can read for free without registering, but books cannot be borrowed and must be read on site.

Artwork and programs

Original illustrations from food-related books line the route from the first floor to the basement. The official catalog can be searched by topic before a visit.

Classes and events have separate application procedures.

From “Home.”

CHOYY debuted with the single “Home.” in 2023 and has since released songs including “Autumn Breeze” and “Postcards.” Label Colortones describes the artist as working between bossa nova and jazz-pop.

The official introduction to “Apple Juice” compares sudden affection to a spreading stain that cannot be hidden.

Credits and tracks

MUSIC&NEW credits CHOYY as producer, lyricist and composer, with the arrangement by CHOYY and Im Su-hyeok. The single contains “Apple Juice” and “Apple Juice (Lp ver.).”

The red cover places apples and the song title inside a cream ornamental frame.

BEO PORT focuses on the listening space rather than on displaying products. Bang & Olufsen developed it with artist and designer Kwangho Lee. Interior photographs supplied by the brand show green seating, wooden tables and large circular panels covering the ceiling and walls.

The panels and furniture use Kvadrat fabrics. The brand links the circles to the forms of its products, such as the Beosound A9, and says the colors and textures were drawn from Busan’s sea and harbor.

A wall-mounted limited edition of the Beosound Shape modular speaker carries Lee’s enamel work, bringing deep green and teal onto the surfaces of its modules.

Le Montreux, a music space in Jinju, selects music to suit the time of day and atmosphere. GOOF, based in Jeonpo, runs the lounge and its bar. Private listening sessions and exhibitions have been announced as plans, but no dates or bookable programs have been released.

The Shape collaboration edition is made to order, with modules configured for each customer’s space. It will be shown only at BEO PORT in October, go on sale at stores nationwide from November and be sold in limited quantities through December. Opening hours and other visitor information will be released after the opening.

Languages and pronunciation

According to its official FAQ, the tool supports names from nineteen languages, including English, Japanese and Chinese. It also offers alternative spellings, pronunciation guidance and audio playback.

Because people pronounce the same spelling differently, a suggested spelling may not match how a person says their own name.

Font previews and name cards

The site offers font previews and a downloadable name-card image. When making a card for someone else, it is best to ask how they want their name pronounced and written. The tool is at myhangulname.com.

From singing in cafés to writing songs

Originally from Daejeon, Shin sang with an acoustic guitar in the cafés of the city’s Eunhaeng-dong before his recording debut. He later recalled that the songwriting credits on Yoo Jae-ha’s first album inspired him to start writing. Knowing who had created a song mattered to the young singer. In November 1990, he debuted with his own “미소 속에 비친 그대”; the second album containing “Invisible Love” followed in 1991.

One name behind the voice, words and melody

The singer, lyricist and composer are all Shin Seung Hun, as the licensed Bugs catalog for the 2024 remaster confirms. One reading of the song focuses on the gap between a relationship ending and the heart catching up. Attachment persists even as separation becomes real. This is an interpretation of the song, rather than a claim about the singer’s private life.

The chart history behind a familiar song

His official profile records five consecutive weeks at No. 1 on KBS’s Gayo Top 10 and fourteen on an SBS music-chart show in 1992. Those results help put the song’s place in Korean ballad history in context. The dates refer to different things: the album appeared in 1991, its chart run belongs to 1992, and the performance below was broadcast in 2011.

The musician behind the “ballad emperor” title

In a 2020 KBS interview, Shin pointed to his work in disco and mambo and said he did not intend to confine himself to ballads. He also remembered the deliberate act of listening to both sides of a cassette and rewinding it. Returning to “Invisible Love” offers a glimpse of that listening culture: making time for a song rather than letting an album pass unnoticed.

Watch the songwriter sing it himself

This is KBS’s archive of Shin’s own Immortal Songs performance, broadcast on July 30, 2011 and uploaded to YouTube on January 3, 2024. It features the original singer. On a first listen, follow the familiar melody; on a second, attend to the way the songwriter gives his own words a voice.

A small wooden box seems an unlikely piece of bedding. This headrest at the National Museum of Korea supported the head during short rests and naps.

Catalogued to Korea’s Japanese colonial period, it measures 21 cm across. Its zelkova panels meet in 45-degree mitre joints.

Inside is a drawer: lifting the side panel reveals a storage compartment. The photo shows the headrest closed, but the museum record describes the hidden space. The place for the head was also a place for belongings.

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records other examples. A Joseon-period bamboo headrest has a compartment for medicinal herbs beneath its top. A wonangchim is a long pillow shared by a married couple. Pillow-end panels bear characters wishing for longevity and good fortune.

Storage, material, a length meant for two and decoration at the ends: each reflects a choice beyond comfort. Together, the four file photos show how a familiar household object recorded what people kept, shared and hoped for.