“It is far more beautiful than it looked in photos. It feels like an open-air museum.”

From Jeongdong Observatory, looking down over Deoksugung in its early winter scenery, Joy (Singapore) said this, unable to take his eyes off it for a long while. As the winter sunlight gently seeped over the palace roofs, he seemed to slowly savor the unique currents of Korea's modern history.

Beyond K-culture, a K-art journey

On the 29th of last month, about 30 foreigners gathered in small groups at the entrance to Jeongdong-gil, which meets City Hall Station in Seoul. They came to take part in ‘Arts in Seoul (Arts in Seoul)’, an art-tourism program for foreigners operated by the Seoul Tourism Foundation. ‘Arts in Seoul’ was designed not just for sightseeing at famous spots but with the aim of positioning Seoul as a city of art. It seeks to break the long-held preconception that foreign visitors are only interested in K-pop·K-dramas, and to expand their focus to art and local culture.

For about a month, the foundation piloted a variety of courses in Samcheong-dong·Namsan·Hannam·Seongbuk-dong, including a one-day class in Korean traditional music, making dancheong, traditional craft experiences, and a templestay at Gilsangsa. The Jeongdong program, the final sequence, was organized to follow the city's time and texture by walking the route linking the Deoksugung Stonewall Walk and the site of the former Russian Legation.

Although they were strangers, their shared interests quickly closed the distance. As they left the Seoul Museum of Art, when the cultural interpreter shared the saying “If you walk together along the Deoksugung Stonewall Walk, you break up,” participants burst into laughter, asking, “Then should we walk apart as well?” They continued to compare notes with their own countries and discovered anew the distinct atmosphere of Korean culture and the city.

Ka Hou Shin (Hong Kong), who said he had also joined the Samcheong-dong and Seongbuk-dong courses, toured the site of the Agwan Pacheon where King Gojong stayed for a year and the former Russian Legation, and said, “The tension of Korea's modern history reached me directly. This kind of experience is precisely how one comes to understand Seoul in depth.” Lihi (Vietnam), a history majoring international student, also said, “The way tradition and modernity flow naturally together within a contemporary city is impressive,” adding, “Next time I want to stroll through other neighborhoods at a slower pace.”

The foreign tourists we met that day went beyond simply taking photos, showing a desire to understand architectural contexts, historical backdrops, and neighborhood stories. Their interest was not in ‘quickly look and move on’ tourism, but in a slow, participatory art-tourism experience that sequentially engages with architecture·history·performance.

As the sun went down, participants moved to the National Jeongdong Theater. While waiting for their first-ever Korean traditional music musical, <Light the Cheongsachorong>, they heard the meaning of the lantern they had received as a ‘prop’ and let out gasps. Set under the idea of ‘the wedding planner of Joseon’, the work reinterpreted traditional wedding culture in a contemporary way and immersed audiences despite the language barrier.

Ryu Shin from Malaysia said, “The desire to be loved and blessed is the same for everyone. I do not know Korean well, but I could understand enough.” With the staging in which actors moved through the seats and made the audience participate as ‘wedding guests’, Luo Jiai (Singapore) also gave a thumbs-up, calling it “a life experience.”

According to the Seoul Tourism Foundation, Seoul is rich in arts infrastructure, ranking fourth in the world for number of galleries, fourth for performance venues, and seventh for national·public art museums and museums. However, there has been ongoing criticism that art-tourism products for foreigners lack systematic organization, leaving real-world accessibility low.

Amid this, the art tour became a good precedent for shifting to a travel style that ‘walks, sees, and feels’ the city's texture. Seoul's alleys and exhibition·performance venues were connected like a single narrative, and participants were able to perceive the urban arts ecosystem firsthand and in detail.

This year's ‘Arts in Seoul’ program concluded with the Jeongdong course. Based on the results of this pilot run, the Seoul Tourism Foundation is preparing an upgraded version next year with expanded routes and experiential content. Centered on the Seoul Arts Tourism Alliance, a public-private consultative body for arts tourism, collaborations are also underway to distribute content and establish brand awareness. Another tour that weaves together Seoul's everyday life and art awaits.