Korea Now: Seoul Events, K-pop & Local Guide | NowHitz · 37

The premise

Hyeok-jun, buried in debt, is recruited by a mysterious staffing office called Geomi Manpower for unusually lucrative temporary jobs. The pay is real, but each workplace is an abnormal and dangerous survival test.

If he makes it home alive, the next job pays even more.

Cast and crew

Lee Jae-wook plays Hyeok-jun. Go Min-si plays workplace-accident investigator Yeon-ju, Kim Min-ha plays his younger sister Ji-yun, and Lee Hee-jun plays the enigmatic agency boss.

Kim Da-min directs from scripts by Kyung Min-sun and Lee Shin-ji, with Han Jun-hee as executive planner.

Official teaser

Netflix Korea’s official teaser turns an ad for an easy, high-paying job into a series of increasingly strange survival situations. The series launches on Netflix on October 30.

THE STORY

Hwaseomun, the west gate of Suwon Hwaseong, was completed in 1796. During the 2026 event, which ran September 19 through October 6, the fortress itself served as the screen for media art.

WHY KOREANS LOVE IT

A UNESCO-listed fortress route used for daytime walks took on light and moving images at night. The event let visitors experience the heritage site as part of the city after dark.

ONLY HERE 1

During the event, the main Hwaseomun projection ran three times, at 19:30, 20:30 and 21:30. Visitors could plan a walk around Hwaseomun and the fortress wall around one screening.

ONLY HERE 2

Jangan Park hosted fringe performances, botanical media art, bubble lighting and interactive works, extending the event beyond the main projection at Hwaseomun.

ONLY HERE 3

The event guide linked Hwaseomun with Janganmun, Jangan Park and the fortress walk. Banghwasuryujeong is a separate Suwon Hwaseong site that could be added after the main event zone.

BEST TIME

During the event, visitors could arrive at Hwaseomun for the 19:30 first screening, then walk toward Janganmun and Jangan Park. The final projection was at 21:30, and the event closed at 22:00.

HOW LONG

On the event route, Hwaseomun, Janganmun and Jangan Park took roughly 60–90 minutes, or about two hours when continuing along the fortress to Banghwasuryujeong.

GETTING THERE

Hwaseomun is the starting point. From Suwon Station, transfer to local public transport or take a taxi to Hwaseomun, then walk along the fortress. Travel times are shown on live map apps.

No. 1 on the last holiday

The film drew 178,856 admissions nationwide on October 5, bringing its total to 2,412,815. It played on 1,117 screens and took 30.33% of daily box-office revenue.

Ticket controversy and video

The Megabox collector-ticket controversy is covered in a separate story. The video is the distributor’s official main trailer.

A mountain-shaped lid

The lid rises as overlapping sacred peaks associated with a Daoist realm of immortals, with a phoenix at the summit. Small holes between the peaks let incense smoke escape.

Five musicians

Buyeo National Museum describes five musicians playing strings, pipes and a drum among sages, birds, animals and plants. The object brings Baekje aesthetics and several religious ideas together in one detailed form.

Start dates by age

According to the KDCA, influenza vaccination begins October 6 for people 75 and older, October 12 for ages 70–74 and October 15 for ages 65–69. COVID-19 vaccination starts October 12 for those 70 and older and October 15 for ages 65–69.

Where to get vaccinated

Shots are available at participating clinics and public health centers regardless of registered address, with about 23,000 providers nationwide.

Before visiting, check a clinic’s availability through the KDCA vaccination website or the local public health center, and bring identification. Individual eligibility is determined by the medical provider.

Korean release

Lumix Media and Nine Planners are handling the Korean release, set for October 15. The film follows Azrael after she escapes a post-Rapture community where speaking is treated as a sin and becomes the target of a ritual hunt.

Main trailer

The Korean main trailer uses almost no dialogue, cutting between forest imagery, ritual scenes, bows, guns and a night car chase. The film was invited to the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival’s Adrenaline Ride section.

The tiny drawers

A wall of small labeled drawers let shop workers separate many materials and retrieve them quickly. The museum recreates a traditional shop in its ‘Yakjeon Han-yakbang’ exhibit, alongside historical medical tools.

A market shaped in the 1960s

VisitKorea says the modern Seoul Yangnyeongsi took shape around Jegi-dong in the mid-to-late 1960s, as medicinal materials from across the country moved through the Cheongnyangni transport hub. Together, the market and museum show the trade’s urban history.

Culture, not treatment

This story does not recommend specific herbs for any condition or personal use. It focuses on the material culture of Korean medicine: drawers, packets, tools, distribution routes and the market streets.

October 5 report

The distress call was received at 3:04 a.m. Nearby fishing boats rescued nine foreign crew members, who were reported to have no major health problems.

The vessel had declared eight people aboard before departure, but 11 were actually on board.

Overnight search plan

After daytime underwater searches on October 5 failed to find the two missing, the Coast Guard said it would continue searching from 6 p.m. that day until 6 a.m. on October 6.

Record after 699 games

Average attendance stands at 17,685 through 699 games. With 21 regular-season games left, the league has already passed last year’s 720-game total.

A record eight clubs have drawn more than one million fans.

330 sellouts

The October 5 games at Jamsil, Daegu and Suwon sold out, bringing the season’s sellouts to 330, one short of last year’s 331. All attendance and sellout figures are as of October 5.

The product

Gateau Chocolat is the second flavor in the Nama Choco Pie line, which arrived in Korea last year. Seven-Eleven Korea began the seasonal release on October 1 with 600,000 units prepared.

The retail price is ₩4,000. The product weight could not be confirmed from public material.

Taste and texture

Seven-Eleven describes a moist cake layer filled with rich chocolate fresh cream and finished with a thin, crisp chocolate coating. Where the first release emphasized soft, abundant cream, the follow-up leans into stronger chocolate flavor.

Checking stock

Seven-Eleven Korea’s official profile links a stock finder for Nama Choco Pie Gateau Chocolat. Store-level quantities change frequently.

Worth a look?

For fans of dense chocolate desserts, or anyone curious about a more chocolate-forward follow-up to the first Nama Choco Pie, the product is worth seeking out. Given the ₩4,000 price and limited run, checking local stock first is advisable.

No end date for sales has been announced.

Who has adopted it

Woori began ending Fridays one hour early in May, and Shinhan followed in June. Hana is piloting a two-hour Friday reduction.

BC introduced a 4.9-day workweek in October, the first among non-bank corporate card issuers.

Customer service

The companies say customer-center and other consumer-facing hours remain unchanged, covered by shift work or shortened hours on other days. KB Kookmin Card and Lotte Card are still considering the change.