By Li Xinyi, compiled and reported
The Seoul branch of the Korea Tourism Organization, located on the B1 level of Cheonggyecheon-ro in Jung-gu, operates a Tourist Information Center (TIC) that regularly hosts cultural experience events each year, allowing visitors to Korea to enjoy local traditional culture for free. This year’s new offerings include various hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) experiences, where visitors can freely choose their favorite hanbok to wear and take photos; calligraphers dressed in traditional hanbok who write visitors’ Korean names on hanji (traditional Korean paper) on-site; and during special events such as Lunar New Year and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), there are opportunities to try traditional Korean folk games including yutnori (a board game played with sticks), kicking a shuttlecock, tuho (arrow throwing), spinning a top, and wearing a sangmo (a traditional hat with a ribbon).
The Korea Tourism Organization offers free hanbok experiences at its Seoul tourism service center. (Photo provided by the Korea Tourism Organization)
In addition to free cultural experiences, the newly renovated service center offers a wider range of services and surprises. Want to meet popular K-pop stars like Girls' Generation, Super Junior, BIGBANG, and 2NE1 all in one place? Then the Hallyu Promotion Hall is the best spot. It features life-sized cutouts of K-pop idols, as well as handprints of popular Korean drama characters and photo cards. The K-Star Shop, a Hallyu goods store, also lets you take home special merchandise from your favorite K-stars as souvenirs.
The tourism center also offers free samples of Korean cuisine. (Photo provided by the Korea Tourism Organization)
Additionally, the Korean cuisine experience venue “Talk About Korean Food” offers free tastings of dishes such as bibimbap, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and kimchi jeon (kimchi pancakes), and accepts individual and group reservations for Korean cooking experiences. The specialty exhibition area also allows you to bring home famous local products from across Korea as gifts. The service center provides consultation in four languages—Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean—as well as free Wi-Fi, free international calls, and a resource room where you can access the latest information on Korea’s tourism industry.