Korea Now: Seoul Events, K-pop & Local Guide | NowHitz · 3

One email and you're in

CJ Olivenetworks said on the 14th that CJ ONE Global is now open to foreign visitors. You sign up with email verification alone, with no Korean mobile number or ID.

A mobile barcode appears in the app right away. Use it to earn and spend points at partner stores across the country.

Partners on the tourist trail

The partners sit along routes visitors already take. N Seoul Tower covers sightseeing and Shinsegae Duty Free covers shopping.

For food there are Tous les Jours and Mega MGC Coffee, for convenience stores CU and Emart24, and at the airport Incheon Airport's Gourmet Bridge.

Points and coupons

Benefits cover earning and using points, coupons and member-only perks, including sign-up and birthday benefits.

Some partner channels have a hidden page open only to global members, where exclusive coupons are handed out.

Why it is launching now

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, about 12.8 million foreign visitors came in January-July, up 21.3% from a year earlier.

CJ ONE manager Im A-jin said, "CJ ONE Global is the starting point for connecting global customers and many partner brands in a single membership." CJ plans to add multilingual support and features for global members.

Before you go

You need CJ ONE app version 5.0 or later and have to switch the app to global mode. English and Japanese are supported.

Show the barcode issued right after sign-up at the store.

When and where

Curtain Call Garden runs Oct. 15 to Nov. 8 in the Garden of Arts behind Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. It is open 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and closed on Mondays.

Admission is free and no reservation is needed. The name says it all: the night starts again outside the theater after the curtain falls.

Live jazz, Wednesday to Saturday

The music is programmed by the jazz club Janus. Shows run every Wednesday to Saturday, 15 in total over the season.

Expect straight-ahead jazz, bossa nova, blues and tango from the band Prelude, the four-piece Karina Nebula led by vocalist Malo, the jazz tango group Salon de Oh Soo-kyung and the street jazz orchestra Hontoni.

Show times and who plays when

The jazz sets run 6:30 to 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 5 to 5:50 p.m. on Saturday. Club Janus, which programs them, opened in 1978 as one of Korea's first jazz clubs.

Still to come: Oct. 21 Na Hee-kyung Quartet, Oct. 22 Park Ra-on Quartet, Oct. 23 Yejin Angela Park Quartet, Oct. 24 Park Ji-eun Quartet, Oct. 28 Hontoni, Oct. 29 Maeil Nonet, Oct. 30 Kim Ga-on Trio, Oct. 31 Park Jae-hong Band, Nov. 4 Jungran Young&Beautiful, Nov. 5 Carina Nebula, Nov. 6 Trust and Nov. 7 Richman & Groove Nice.

The garden

The landscaping is by Orangerie, with seats and lights placed around the garden. It is part of Seoul's night-economy project, taking culture out of the concert halls so people linger in Gwanghwamun later.

A beer and a discount

Craft beer brand Euljimaegok and Korean food brand Yoon's Food Lab run booths. Hold a same-day Sejong Center ticket and food and drinks are 30% off; participating artists get 50% off.

A map of restaurants around Gwanghwamun is handed out too.

Before you go

It is close to exits 1 and 8 of Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5). Check the event page on Sejong Center's website before you go. Inquiries: Sejong Ticket, 02-399-1000.

It is an outdoor garden and the nights are getting cold. Bring a jacket.

80,000 people on day one

Reports say the 2025 festival prepared 100,000 rolls and still drew 80,000 visitors on the first day alone. Each booth had to cap buyers at four rolls.

So this year Gimcheon City has changed how people queue, and stretched the schedule from two days to three.

Phone instead of a line

The big change is QR ordering: pick your gimbap and pay on your phone, using a system built with KakaoPay. Staffed kiosk booths are there for people less comfortable with digital devices.

The grounds grow too, with the Eco-Friendly Ecological Park joining Jikji Culture Park and Sasimdaesa Park. Expect five information booths (one with interpreters for foreign visitors), luggage storage and a dedicated Kakao Map.

Sixty kinds of gimbap

Gimcheon City says around 60 kinds will be served: gimbap-factory rolls, regional oddities and winners of the Cook-King contest. The gold-prize recipe may even reach CU convenience stores nationwide.

After eating there is gimbap art, a gimbap train and a shop selling goods of the mascot Kkodali.

Getting there

The trip to the venue is the real challenge. About 60 shuttle buses run from three stops: the Gimcheon Sports Town parking lot, Gimcheon-Gumi Station and Gimcheon Station. A Sopung Taxi from the stops costs 5,000-8,000 won.

Kakao T runs direct shuttles from Seoul (Jamsil, Sadang, Seoul Station), Daejeon City Hall Station, Daegu Banwoldang, Gwangju Central Bus Terminal and Busan Seomyeon. Book through the shuttle menu in the app and riders get two Kkodali goods and one gimbap roll.

Before you go

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except opening day on the 23rd, which starts at 10 a.m. Questions: 054-420-6714.

Mayor Bae Nak-ho said the city took last year's feedback on board and promised a festival where visitors are the stars.

From No. 77 to No. 1

'NEON' dropped on the 13th at 6 p.m. By 10 that night it sat at No. 77 on Melon TOP100.

It cracked the top 10 at 9 a.m. on the 14th and hit No. 1 at 11 p.m. the same day, about 29 hours after release.

How it stacks up

Reports call it the fastest debut-song No. 1 by a new group since Melon revamped its chart in August 2021. The old mark belonged to All Day Project's 'FAMOUS' (June 2025), which took about three days.

NewJeans' 'Attention' needed eight days and ILLIT's 'Magnetic' just under two weeks, though Melon's ranking method has changed, so comparisons only go so far.

What is in those three minutes

A heavy bass line, a dance break that explodes, and stacked a cappella harmonies, all packed into a little over three minutes.

The song builds on Lee Soo-man's SMP framework with producer Yoo Young-jin and US producer Dem Jointz. At the Oct. 12 showcase, Lee said he hopes people feel it is good before they look for what is different.

Why Melon No. 1 is hard

Melon TOP100 now ranks hourly by adding the last 24 hours of listening to the last one hour. Analysts say fandom rallying or a single burst of buzz rarely tops it.

That is why 29 hours turns heads. In the 10 p.m. snapshot on Oct. 18, 'NEON' was still No. 1.

Hear it now

The official music video is on the STONE MUSIC YouTube channel, and you can play it above.

The group's first music-show stage was Mnet's M Countdown on the 15th. Further stages will be announced by A2O Entertainment.

Grab a tray and tongs

The concept is 'a bakery without bread': the bakery hideout BBanggomie runs, moved into a store.

You pick goods with a tray and tongs, just like choosing bread at a bakery. There is also participatory content such as the 'BBanggomie baking challenge'.

300 items, and what they cost

Dolls, key rings, cushions, magnet key rings and pyjamas add up to about 300 items. Dolls (3 types) are 29,500 won each, bakery key rings (5 types) and Krungji key rings (4 types) 16,500 won each, and giant-bread cushions (3 types) 58,000 won each.

The BBanggomie pyjamas (5 types, 48,500 won each) debut at this pop-up.

A photo with the costume

During the pop-up there is also a photo-time event with the BBanggomie costume character.

Before you go

It is at Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam, B1 Sweet Park, and runs until the 25th. Check on site for times of the baking challenge and photo time.

Totals climb fast once the tray fills up, so starting with the key rings is the gentler route.

A wall TV that finally lost the cables

LG Signature OLED W is the successor to the world's first wallpaper TV from 2017. Earlier wallpaper TVs needed their driving hardware placed separately outside the set to stay ultra-thin.

This model slims every part, from panel to speakers, and fits them in one body, about 9 mm thick.

The box can sit 10 m away

Set-top boxes and other devices plug into the 'Zero Connect Box'. It can be placed up to 10 m from the TV and, LG says, sends 4K 165 Hz video and audio wirelessly with no loss or delay.

The box is 35% smaller than that of earlier wireless TVs. According to LG, the wireless transmission earned the world's first TÜV Rheinland 'True Wireless Lossless Vision' certification.

Glare gets handled first

It pairs the third-generation Alpha 11 AI processor with 'Reflection Free Premium' technology, which LG says was the industry's first to win Intertek certification.

When it debuted at CES this year, TechRadar, T3 and HDTVTest each gave it a top award. In Korea it went on sale first on June 24, with a staged global rollout.

Who else is on TIME's list

TIME picked 300 inventions this year, judged on originality, efficacy, ambition and impact. The list came out on the 15th, US time.

Korean media report that Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S26 Ultra, Bespoke AI Family Hub refrigerator and Odyssey G8 gaming monitor also made it.

Why it stayed shut for 59 years

It goes back to Jan. 21, 1968, when North Korean commandos came down to attack the Blue House. Afterwards civilians were kept off Bugaksan and some 30 military posts and guard facilities went up.

Because the slope sits right behind the presidential compound, this south-west stretch was the last to be released.

Three openings, 6.52 km in total

Bugaksan opened in stages: 2.2 km on the north side in 2020, 3.0 km on the south-east side in 2022, and now the final 1.32 km.

Add them up and the open trails total 6.52 km. The Presidential Security Service's map shows all three phases in yellow, orange and red on one sheet.

What the new section is like

The service built it mostly along the patrol paths soldiers already used, without damaging the landscape. From here you can look down on the Blue House grounds from behind.

The map marks the 1.21 Pine, Baegak Maru and Manse Dongbang along the way.

Open at night, with a safety net

Like the existing trails, the new section has no closing time. Patrols from the information centres and CCTV run alongside.

On the 7th, Jongno fire station, the Korea Forest Service, Jongno-gu Office and Jongno police held a joint wildfire drill on the section.

Who made it happen

The security service has been preparing since last July with the other agencies: new trail building, upgrades and safety measures. The Korea Heritage Service worked on the visitor environment of the scenic site Bugaksan, and Jongno-gu supported trail construction.

"With this phase 3 opening we have been able to return Bugaksan to the people in full," said PSS head Hwang In-kwon.

Before you go

The new section runs on the Cheongun-dong side and has no closing time.

The security service's phase 3 map shows the stages and the information centres.

One shot ahead, wind and rain

Ma began the final round one stroke clear. A birdie at the 1st got her going, then back-to-back bogeys at the 2nd and 3rd.

A birdie at the 4th brought one back, but she dropped another at the 5th. The opening stretch wobbled in the wet.

Pars from the 6th to the 18th

From there she held on. Ma made nothing but pars from the 6th to the 18th and closed with a 73 (two birdies, three bogeys).

Seong birdied the 14th to go two ahead, then bogeyed the 15th and 16th. Both finished on 4-under 212.

Second playoff hole: 8.4 m and 5.2 m

The first playoff hole was halved with pars. The decider came on the same 18th (par 4).

Ma's second shot found the green, 8.4 m away, and she two-putted for par. Seong's second went over the green, her chip ran long and the 5.2 m par putt missed.

From seed worries to 2028

Before this week Ma sat around 50th on the money list, worried about keeping her card. The KRW 270 million first prize lifts her season earnings to about KRW 442 million and her ranking to 22nd.

She now has tour status through the 2028 season. She was sent down to the second-tier Dream Tour a year after her 2023 debut and came back through the qualifying school this year, which makes the turnaround bigger.

"I'm not a talented player, but I won"

"I always thought only talented players win. I'm not a talented player, but I won. I hope many young golfers take heart," Ma said.

Two events remain this season, and she says she wants to win once more while enjoying it.

Ahead twice, penalised twice

Seoul went ahead in the 22nd minute when Climala finished a cut-back from Jung Seung-won.

But Gimcheon's Lee Sang-heon scored from a penalty late in the first half to make it 1-1.

Climala draws level at the top of the scoring chart

In the 6th minute of the second half Moon Seon-min's low cross set up Climala to make it 2-1. His 16th league goal ties him with Ulsan's Yago for the lead.

He tried a turning shot for a hat-trick moments later, but it went just wide.

Gimcheon's punch was a penalty again

In the 21st minute of the second half Seoul's defence conceded a second penalty while stopping a counter-attack. Kim In-gyun took it and the game ended 2-2.

Gimcheon moved to 34 points, two clear of 11th-placed Bucheon (32).

66 points, three still needed

Seoul sit on 66 points, well clear of second-placed Ulsan (50). A title would be their first since 2016 and the seventh overall.

Yonhap News TV had already flagged both the "early coronation" and the "Gimcheon jinx" before the match.

The Gangwon game on the 24th

If Seoul beat Gangwon at home on the 24th, they reach 69 points, a total that clinches the title even if they lose their remaining five games and Ulsan win all of theirs.

A draw or a loss pushes the clincher to the following round.

380 m, up to three storeys

The building's tall ceilings let the track roll up and down. It is a four-wheel kart course built for speed and cornering.

The kart is a separate paid product from the activity ticket, first come first served on site. Of the 20 minutes, about 6 are actual driving; the rest is safety training.

Sliding through the air, crossing it too

Sky Glider runs 210 metres along rails hung from the ceiling. You need an ADVENTURE ticket and a height of 140 cm.

Sky Trail is a three-storey structure with 39 obstacles to cross in mid-air.

An 11 m wall and a net playground

Clip 'n Climb is an indoor climbing wall up to 11 m high with 29 themes. The district says beginners can try it.

Net Play, a climb through aerial netting, sits in the same adventure zone.

Not only for kids

There is laser-tag survival, interactive body-motion games and RC heavy equipment and mini cars. Preschoolers under 120 cm get their own kids ground.

A 400-seat food lounge serves Korean food, snacks, fast food and bakery items. You do not have to live in Nowon to use it.

What it costs

Since Oct. 2, an ADVENTURE ticket is KRW 23,700 for 2 hours and KRW 35,100 for 3. PLAY is KRW 18,000 for 2 hours and KRW 29,400 for 3, without Sky Trail, Clip 'n Climb and Sky Glider.

A single-seat kart is KRW 15,000 on weekdays and KRW 18,000 on weekends. The kids ground costs KRW 15,200 for 2 hours.

Before you go

It is a 5-minute walk from Hagye Station (Line 7) Exit 3, within 300 m. JUMP is closed every Monday in October, so Oct. 19 and 26 are out.

Parking is tight and the official notice recommends public transport. The neighbouring vehicle-inspection centre lot is off-limits on weekdays and usable from 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets can be booked on the official site; karts are first come, first served on site.

No. 1 on Saturday, and climbing

MBC's 'What Do You Do While Playing?' drew 5.2% nationwide and 5.2% in the capital area on Oct. 17 (Nielsen Korea), top among Saturday variety shows. The 2054 demographic hit 3.2%.

The first preliminary round a week earlier got 4.5% nationwide, so it rose 0.7 points. The 6.0% peak minute came when Yeongsim-i passed.

'95 Seoul Song Festival: an audition with no faces

Contestants sing hits from 1990 to 1995. They go by nicknames like 'Yeongsim-i' and 'The Shawshank Redemption', and Yoo Jae-suk, Ha Ha, Joo Woo-jae and Heo Kyung-hwan decide on voice alone.

Guessing who is behind the nickname is half the fun. In round 1, Heo Kyung-hwan sneaked in as 'Stop Right There' and was outed by his voice.

Round 2: seven of eight advance

The seven who passed: 'Ghost' (Kim Gun-mo, "Beautiful Farewell"), 'Yeongsim-i' (Park Mi-kyung, "Warning of Eve"), the band 'General Hospital' (Choi Jae-hoon, "After I Sent You Away"), 'Jealousy' (Mono, "You Are Always"), 'Last Game' (Green Zone, "I'll Love You"), 'Bathhouse Men' (Lee Sang-woo, "100m Before I Meet Her") and 'Adolescence' (Yoon Sang, "Between Hidden Times").

The only one out was 'Pilot', comedian Park Young-jin. Heo Kyung-hwan's verdict: "If he goes up, it's a problem."

The rematch decided the held acts

'Stop Right There', held from round 1, was Heo Kyung-hwan himself, and he was out after wobbling on the high notes. 'Love in Your Arms' ("Sad Wedding") and 'Shawshank Redemption' passed.

"Producer Yoo, how did you get a lineup this good?" Joo Woo-jae asked.

Next: the main round on Nov. 7

Everyone who passed rounds 1 and 2 takes the main-round stage on the Nov. 7 broadcast, two weeks away.

The Yeongsim-i stage is on MBCentertainment's official YouTube channel, so you can hear it even if you missed the show.

228,800 won, 1,700 bottles

Stores began selling it on Friday the 16th. The mobile app opened at 10 a.m. the same day. When the stock is gone, the sale is over.

The price is 228,800 won a bottle. Emart24 says it is the largest volume of Kimchangsoo Whisky it has secured for a single channel.

Four sherry casks, one bottle

Amontillado, Oloroso, Moscatel, Pedro Ximenez. The whisky was matured in four sherry casks with very different characters and blended, running from dry and deep to sweet and rich, over Kimchangsoo's signature soft peat.

It is bottled at cask strength, with no water added to bring the proof down: 52.2% ABV.

The two-minute precedent

In June Emart24 released 296 bottles of the single-cask 'Celestial Series Moon (Eclipse)' through the 'Bottle Order' function of its app. They sold out in under two minutes.

The 1,700-bottle run was sized on that reaction. The Gimpo series has come out once a year since 2023.

Before you buy

Store stock varies by branch. The app opened at 10 a.m. on launch day and sales stop when stock runs out, so check your nearest store or the app first.

Emart24 liquor MD Kim Si-hun said whisky buyers now care about story and scarcity as much as taste and quality.