AJU PRESS ASIA FIRST NEWS AGENCY

Journalist

Yoo Na-hyun
Yoo Na-hyun유나현
PhotographerGeopolitics, Culture, History, People & Photo Journalist
Photojournalist, AJU PRESS (AJP) Covering news, culture and society in South Korea through an Asian perspective. "Every moment is worth documenting."
Latest by Yoo Na-hyun
  • Korea Premium Week 2026 opens in Seoul
    Korea Premium Week 2026 opens in Seoul Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog-weon, Korea Exchange Chairman and CEO Jeong Eun-bo and other participants pose for a commemorative photo during the opening ceremony of Korea Premium Week 2026 at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung District, Seoul, Sept. 28, 2026. 2026-09-29 09:42:04
  • Chuseok Songpyeon sales boom in Seoul
    Chuseok Songpyeon sales boom in Seoul A vendor arranges songpyeon, half-moon-shaped rice cakes traditionally eaten during Chuseok, at Cheongnyangni Traditional Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 23, 2026, a day before the Chuseok holiday. This year's Chuseok holiday runs fr 2026-09-23 14:53:29
  • Seouls market buzz before Chuseok
    Seoul's market buzz before Chuseok People shop at Cheongnyangni Traditional Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 23, 2026, a day before the Chuseok holiday. This year's Chuseok holiday runs from Sept. 24 to 26. 2026.09.23 2026-09-23 14:51:24
  • Netflixs Bizarre B&B 2 with Kian84 and friends
    Netflix's 'Bizarre B&B 2' with Kian84 and friends Kian84, Kim Yeon-koung and Lee Jun-ho pose for photos during a press conference for the Netflix variety show "Kian's Bizarre B&B 2" at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Mapo District, Seoul, Sept. 22, 2026. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-09-22 14:55:15
  • Waiting for the full moon and a worry-free big Chuseok
    Waiting for the full moon and a worry-free 'big' Chuseok Chuseok, Korea’s autumn harvest holiday, is also known as Hangawi. In the old Korean name, han means “big” or “great” — fitting for one of the country’s biggest holidays and one of its biggest annual family gatherings. Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Chuseok is a time to give thanks for the year’s harvest and abundance and to reunite with family. Along with Lunar New Year, it is one of South Korea’s two most important traditional holidays. This year, Chuseok falls on Sept. 25. For many families, however, the holiday begins well before then — with grocery shopping. At Garak Market in Seoul’s Songpa district on Sept. 10, boxes of apples and pears rose in colorful stacks alongside vegetables, seafood and other seasonal produce. Merchants moved briskly between stalls preparing for customers, while shoppers made their way through the sprawling market looking for ingredients for holiday tables and gifts to take to family and relatives. The same preparations were under way at a Nonghyup Hanaro Mart in Seoul’s Seocho district, where gift boxes and seasonal foods filled the aisles and shoppers began stocking up for family gatherings. Chuseok shopping is one of the most familiar signs that the holiday is approaching. With relatives gathering under one roof, families often prepare more food than usual, buying fruit, meat, vegetables and other ingredients to share over several days. The growing abundance reflects the meaning traditionally associated with Chuseok itself: gratitude for the harvest and hopes for plenty. But preparations do not stop at the market. Apples and pears are among the most visible fixtures of the season. The fruit appears on holiday tables and is also widely exchanged as a gift. Native-breed hanwoo beef, seafood, agricultural products and household goods are likewise bundled into gift sets, filling supermarket shelves and market stalls as the holiday draws closer. As Chuseok nears, another familiar movement begins as people living in Seoul and other large cities prepare to return to their hometowns. For many, the journey starts with securing a train ticket. Reservations for popular routes draw heavy demand ahead of the holiday, especially for departure times that allow travelers to reach home before family gatherings begin. A single ticket can carry more than a seat assignment. It can mean seeing parents again, meeting siblings after months apart and returning to a table where the family is finally gathered in one place. When Chuseok arrives, families scattered across the country reunite at parents’ homes or return to their hometowns to eat, talk and spend time together. One of the holiday’s best-known foods is songpyeon, a half-moon-shaped rice cake traditionally prepared and shared among family members. Some households also hold charye, a memorial rite in which food is offered to ancestors, while others observe the holiday more simply through a family meal. Visiting ancestral graves, known as seongmyo, is another long-standing Chuseok tradition. Families travel together to burial sites, pay respects to ancestors and tidy the surrounding grounds. The way Koreans spend the holiday has changed over time. Some families travel abroad. Others gather for shorter periods or skip ancestral rites altogether. But reunion remains at the heart of Chuseok. That is perhaps why han — “big” — still feels fitting. Chuseok means big tables, big journeys and big gatherings. It brings crowded markets, packed trains and families moving back toward one another. As Hangawi draws closer, the piles of fruit grow higher, gift sets occupy more shelves and the movement toward hometowns begins to gather pace. Every box selected for a relative, every ingredient placed in a shopping basket and every train ticket booked carries its own sense of anticipation. Between the stacked apples and pears, the busy supermarket aisles and the journeys still ahead, another kind of abundance is quietly building — the expectation of seeing family again. 2026-09-18 09:00:00
  • Promoting palace etiquette with FIFTY FIFTY
    Promoting palace etiquette with FIFTY FIFTY Heo Min, head of the Korea Heritage Service, and Athena and Yewon of FIFTY FIFTY, promotional ambassadors for the agency, hand out promotional fans to visitors during a joint campaign to promote proper etiquette at royal palaces and tombs at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Jongno District, Seoul, on the morning of Sept. 17, 2026. 2026-09-17 16:25:32
  • Korea and IEA forge RISE ASIA partnership to enhance energy security
    Korea and IEA forge RISE ASIA partnership to enhance energy security Kim Sung-hwan, minister of climate, energy and environment, and Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), pose for a photo after signing a memorandum of understanding on the Korea-IEA Resilient and Integrated Security of Energy in Asia (RISE ASIA) Partnership during a joint press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in Jongno District, Seoul, on the afternoon of Sept. 17, 2026. 2026-09-17 16:23:06
  • Sejong law award ceremony with chief justice Cho
    Sejong law award ceremony with chief justice Cho Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and other attendees pose for a commemorative photo during the inaugural Sejong Law and Culture Award ceremony at Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan District, Seoul, Sept. 16, 2026. From left are Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, Kwak Bae-hee, head of the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations; Martha Koome, Chief Justice of Kenya; and Dave Sullivan, Deputy General Counsel at the World Bank. 2026-09-17 10:23:46
  • Seouls Sarang Festival: Odissi dance drama shines
    Seoul's Sarang Festival: Odissi dance drama shines Artists perform the Odissi dance drama “Siya Ram” during the Sarang Festival of India at Ewha Womans University’s Samsung Hall in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Sept. 15, 2026. Now in its 12th edition, the festival aims to introduce various aspects of Indian culture and promote cultural exchanges between South Korea and India. 2026-09-15 20:42:35
  • Indian culture celebrated at Sarang Festival
    Indian culture celebrated at Sarang Festival Artists perform the Odissi dance drama “Siya Ram” during the Sarang Festival of India at Ewha Womans University’s Samsung Hall in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Sept. 15, 2026. Now in its 12th edition, the festival aims to introduce various aspects of Indian culture and promote cultural exchanges between South Korea and India. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-09-15 20:40:52