K-Insider Guide

Kaohsiung National Stadium, Taiwan, where the Asia leg begins. Photo: rido-lin, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY 2.0 Can't get a stadium ticket? You may still be able to watch from a cinema seat. BTS (방탄소년단) takes its world tour ARIRANG to Asia from November 19 , and two of those shows, in Kaohsiung and Jakarta , will be screened in cinemas around the world. Korean broadcaster SBS reported on November 3 that the Kaohsiung and Jakarta concerts will be shown in cinemas in 80 countries , either live or with a delay depending on the local time zone. Here is the schedule by city and what you need to know about the cinema screenings. Dates below come from the official live viewing website and tour announcements, checked in November 2026 . At a glance: Asia leg starts in Kaohsiung on November 19 · cinema live viewing from Kaohsiung on Saturday, November 21 · cinema live viewing from Jakarta on Tuesday, December 29 · sign-ups and updates at btsliveviewing.com The Asia dates, city by c...

A tray of oysters in Geoje, on Korea's south coast. Photo: Kang Byeong Kee, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY 3.0 When the air in Korea turns cold, a certain sign starts appearing on restaurant windows and market stalls: 굴 (gul) , the Korean word for oyster. Koreans treat oysters as a cold-weather food, and if you are visiting between late autumn and winter, you have arrived at exactly the right time. This guide covers three things: when the season starts, what oysters cost right now, and where to go if you want to eat them close to where they are farmed. Prices come from Korean news reports from October 2026 , and place details come from local government and Korea Tourism Organization pages. Where something could not be confirmed, we say so. At a glance: new-season oysters reached markets from mid-October 2026 · most Korean oysters are farmed on the south coast around Tongyeong and Geoje · Seoul wholesale price was 13,800 won per 1 kg (shucked) in the second week of October · th...

"Why is everyone shouting the members' names in the middle of the song?" That is usually the first question a new K-pop fan asks after watching a concert clip. The second one is about the glowing sticks, and the third is about something called a "fan café." These three things sit at the heart of how K-pop fandom works, and none of them is hard once someone explains the logic. Below are the eight questions we hear most often from readers who are just getting into K-pop or planning their first show in Korea, answered as simply as we can. Q1. What exactly is a fan chant? A fan chant, called eungwonbeop (응원법) in Korean, is a set of words the crowd shouts together at fixed moments in a song. Chant formats vary by song, but some patterns come up again and again. Fans often call out the group's or members' names during the intro, stay quiet through parts where the singers need to be heard, and shout selected words with the artist or right after them. W...

Gwanghwamun Gate. Photo: *Youngjin, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 4.0 If you only have time for one palace in Seoul, make it Gyeongbokgung (경복궁) . It was founded in 1395 , at the start of the Joseon dynasty, and it is the largest of the city's five royal palaces. It is also the easiest to get wrong: people show up on a Tuesday, arrive after the last entry, or pay for a ticket when they were wearing hanbok and could have walked in free. This guide is a checklist. Go through it before you leave your hotel and your visit will be smooth. All hours and prices below come from the official Royal Palaces and Tombs Center (궁능유적본부) website, checked in November 2026 . At a glance: closed every Tuesday · adults 3,000 won · free in hanbok · last entry one hour before closing · guard ceremony at 10:00 and 14:00 Check 1: Is it open today? Gyeongbokgung is closed every Tuesday . There is one exception: if a Tuesday is a public holiday, the palace opens, and it closes on the next day that...

Sunset over the Bukhangang River, right outside the restaurant (our own photo) Here is the one tip I wish someone had given me before I walked in: eat the spicy noodles last. I ate them first, and everything after that tasted bland. Let me explain, and show you the whole meal. The place is Keungol Boribap Kalguksu (큰골 보리밥 칼국수) , a barley rice and knife-cut noodle house in Seojong-myeon, Yangpyeong, east of Seoul along the river. It appeared on the MBC variety show Hangout with Yoo (놀면 뭐하니?) in the episode that aired on October 24, 2026 , where the cast sat down to barley rice and spicy bibim noodles. We visited in early November and took every photo in this post ourselves. At a glance: Korean countryside noodles and barley rice · by the Bukhangang River · pet-friendly seats · self-service side dish bar · address: 1161 Bukhangang-ro, Seojong-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (경기 양평군 서종면 북한강로 1161) Step 1: Arrive before sunset and register at the door The restaurant sits on...

Picture a cold evening, a bowl of steamed rice, and a bubbling red stew full of thick tofu slices and tender beef. That is sogogi dubu jjigae (소고기두부찌개) , beef and tofu stew, one of the most common dinners in Korean homes. It looks fiery, but the heat is gentle and the broth is savory and a little sweet from the onion. This version follows a recipe from 10000recipes (만개의레시피) , one of Korea's biggest recipe sites, whose official YouTube video is linked at the bottom of this post. We have written the steps out in English, converted the spoon measurements, and added notes on what to use if you can't find some Korean ingredients outside Korea. At a glance: serves 4 · about 20 minutes · one pot · medium spicy Ingredients For the stew 1 block of tofu (firm or medium-firm) 200 g beef, cut for soup (small cubes or thin pieces) 1 pack of enoki mushrooms ½ onion 1 Korean green onion (daepa), or 2–3 regular scallions 400 ml water 1 tablespoon mirim (13 g) A pinch of black pe...

A Line 4 platform at Sanggye Station. Platforms have screen doors and signs in Korean and English. Photo: LERK, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 4.0 Do you really need a transit card in Seoul? Short answer: yes, and it is the first thing worth buying after you land. Seoul's subway and bus network is fast, clean and cheap, but almost everything runs on tap cards. The most common one is T-money (티머니) . Below are the questions first-time visitors ask most, answered one by one. Fares in this guide were checked in November 2026. Prices in Korea change from time to time, so treat the numbers as a guide and look at the station screen if something seems different. What exactly is a T-money card? T-money is a rechargeable card you tap on a reader when you get on the subway or a bus. You load money onto it, and the fare is taken off each time you ride. It works on Seoul's subways and buses, and on public transport in most other big Korean cities too. Many taxis and convenience stores ac...

Samgyeopsal (pork belly) with garlic and onion on the grill. Photo: hellochris, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY 2.0 You walk into a Korean BBQ restaurant, sit down, and a server drops a pair of tongs and scissors on the table. There is a grill in front of you, a menu written mostly in Korean, and everyone around you seems to know exactly what to do. If that sounds stressful, don't worry. Korean BBQ (gogi-gui, 고기구이, literally "meat grilling") follows a simple pattern, and once you know it, it becomes one of the most fun meals you can have in Korea. This guide walks you through the whole meal in order, from the moment you sit down to the moment you pay. Keep it open on your phone and you'll be fine. Quick version: order 2 or more servings of one meat, let it cook without flipping too often, cut it with scissors, wrap it in lettuce with a little sauce and garlic, and finish with stew or cold noodles. Pay at the counter on your way out. No tipping. Step 1. Check the menu:...