Embers remain among the debris after most of the buildings were burned to the ground in a wildfire at Gounsa Temple in Uiseong on March 26, 2025. At least 18 people have been killed in one of South Korea's worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple blazes burning and causing “unprecedented damage”, the acting president said. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

Divers perform during an event to celebrate the upcoming Christmas at the aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, December 1, 2023. Christmas is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in South Korea. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

At this year’s Venice Bienniale in Italy, the Korean pavilion has a curious exhibit called “Commissions for Utopia”. It includes renderings from North Korea’s top architects and artists (all anonymous), many of whom studied at the Paekho Institute of Architecture, North Korea’s state-run architectural college, and none of whom have ever left the country. They were asked to create a vision of North Korea’s future sustainable architecture for its expanding tourism industry. Their final products are a glimpse into what it would be like to envision the future after being entirely cut off from the present for almost 70 years. (Photo by Nick Bonner/Kyle Vanhemert/Venice Architecture Biennale)

A sales woman of a fish shop shows king crabs to a customer and negotiates the price in Noryangjin Fish Market is seen on August 1, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. Noryangjin Fish Market was established in 1927 as Gyeongseong Susan in Jung-gu near Seoul Station and moved to its current location in 1971. (Photo by Shin Woong-jae/The Washington Post)

Women in costumes walk as they participate in Halloween celebrations in the downtown of Seoul, South Korea, October 31, 2015. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

A leaflet denouncing South Korean President Park Geun-hye lies on the ground after it was torn at a protest calling Park to step down, in Seoul, South Korea, November 19, 2016. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

People take a walk among cherry blossoms at a park in Seoul, South Korea on April 6, 2022. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

B-boy Amin Drillz of Austria (front) competes during the 2022 World Breaking Championship at the Olympic Park in Seoul on October 21, 2022. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)