Matt Kelley

Matt Kelly is native of the US Pacific Northwest and is half-Korean by ethnicity. He lived in Korea for five years and has written hundreds of travel guides for Wallpaper, TimeOut, the Boston Globe and Seoul Magazine and was a host for several different variety shows on Korean radio and television.

Seoul Bukchon Hanok Village

A narrow street in Bukchon Hanok Village with wooden buildings on either side, decorated with red and white tile work. Blue sky and clouds in the background.

Seoul Bukchon Hanok Village is a special historical neighborhood, but sadly the city’s last with a high concentration of traditional Korean homes.

Seoul Design Olympiad 2008

A view into a large expansive room with columns brightly lit in pink light.

Seoul Design Olympiad 2008 (SDO) is an international design festival held by Seoul City aimed at showing the important role design plays in improving the quality of people’s lives.

Heyri Artists Village in Paju Korea

Just six km. from the DMZ and inter-Korean border, Heyri Artists Village is a beautiful place where 500 writers and artists live and work together. Read more now!

Geumsansa Gold Mountain Temple

Gold statues of Buddhist monks praying, at Geumsansa temple, with green, purple, red and gold paint effects on the walls and the ceiling.

The Geumsansa Gold Mountain Temple is among Korea’s finest Buddhist temples. It is best known for the magnificent three-story Maitreya Hall.

The House of Sharing in Korea

Two photos in collage that shows a former Korean "comfort woman" on the left and on the right four "comfort women" when they were younger posing with a Japanese soldier pre WWII.

South of Seoul stands a house. The residence is home to seven elderly Korean women in their 70s and 80s. During World War II, they were forced by the Japanese military to become “comfort women,” or sex slaves. Read more now.

A Low-Cost Airlines Bonanza for Korea

Side by side images on the left is a collage of smiling people in black and white, with orange and white text in the middle. To the right are three members of a flight crew. Two men dressed in white shirts, black pants with bright blue ties stand either side of a woman dressed in white with a bright blue sash and a striped scarf.

After conspicuously avoiding Northeast Asia for years, a low-cost airlines bonanza for Korea is taking place, with more than a half-dozen new carriers.

Jongmyo Royal Shrine

Exterior view of a very long building at Jongmyo Royal Shrine. The low red building has pillars, and a dark roof.

Built in the late 14th century, the Jongmyo Royal Shrine was built to honor ancient Korea’s kings and queens and is part of the UNESCO list.

Korea’s Full Moon Festival Chuseok

A black table, laden with plates and bowls of different food. A large green watermelon on the left of the frame, with whole fish, various meats and fruits and noodle dishes to the right of the frame.

Korea’s Full Moon Festival Chuseok is an ancient autumn harvest festival when millions of Koreans return to their ancestral home towns and feast!