French newspaper and radio take a look at Gyeongju’s Seokguram
Seokguram, the stone grotto on Mount Toham in Gyeongju, has featured in back-to-back reports by the French newspaper Le Monde and radio station France Culture. A special exhibition on the grotto runs at the Korean Cultural Center in Paris until March 13, 2027, with an immersive installation added from November 23.
Le Monde and France Culture
In an October 2 report from Seokguram, Le Monde’s Fabienne Darge noted the principal Buddha’s combination of strength and delicacy. France Culture followed on October 8 with a 4-minute, 21-second report. According to Edaily, the Le Monde reporter’s September visit to Gyeongju was part of a press tour arranged by the Korean Cultural Center in France. The coverage reflects journalists’ assessments, not visitor-popularity statistics.
The grotto
Built in the eighth century under Unified Silla, Seokguram is an artificial grotto made from finely fitted granite components. A rectangular antechamber and passage lead into a circular main chamber, where sculpture surrounding the principal Buddha and a hemispherical ceiling form a single space. Seokguram and Bulguksa Temple were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List together in 1995.
Han Seokhong’s 2000 photograph
Han Seokhong’s 2000 view from the antechamber shows the carved side walls and the principal Buddha beyond the passage in one frame. The wall figures draw the eye to the centre, and the rounded stone structure above contrasts with the straight lines of the floor. The difference in scale between the foreground carvings and the distant Buddha conveys the depth of the space. The photograph records Seokguram itself, not the Paris exhibition.
The Paris exhibition
The Korean Cultural Center in Paris presents Han’s photographs, tactile and braille materials, and contemporary works. Lee Seung-chul’s hanji-paper Buddhas reinterpret Silla sculpture in a modern material. French outlet Timodelle praised the restrained, contemplative setting around the paper figures and a pagoda. Le Monde also reported separately from Lee’s studio.
Exhibition dates
The main exhibition runs October 2, 2026–March 13, 2027. A separate immersive exhibition, Seokguram, un monde infini, with projections on four screens, opens on November 23. Until then, the display centres on photographs, sculpture and contemporary reinterpretations.
CULTURE INFO
Source Le Monde · Fabienne Darge Checked 2026.10.12 10:55
Sources & context
2026-10-13T10:32:58.466Z
Le Monde · Fabienne Darge ↗Le Monde · Fabienne Darge ↗France Culture · Le Reportage de la rédaction · 2026-10-08 ↗Apple Podcasts ↗Timodelle Magazine · Aïssata K. ↗coree-culture.org ↗coree-culture.org ↗paris.fr ↗UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple ↗gyeongju.go.kr ↗nrich.go.kr ↗KOGL ↗nrich.go.kr ↗edaily.co.kr ↗Korea Tourism Organization ↗Interior of Seokguram seen from the antechamber. Photograph by Han Seokhong, 2000. An archival view of Seokguram, not the Paris exhibition.