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
  • Heat wave hits Seoul pedestrians hard
    Heat wave hits Seoul pedestrians hard A pedestrian carrying a parasol walks along a street in Seongdong District, Seoul, amid an ongoing heat wave on July 30, 2026. 2026-07-30 20:22:40
  • Seoul swelters under intense heat wave
    Seoul swelters under intense heat wave Heat haze rises above a road near the Jamsil Station Transfer Center in Songpa District, Seoul, amid an ongoing heat wave on July 30, 2026. 2026-07-30 20:19:15
  • Seoul sizzles at 41.1 degrees celsius
    Seoul sizzles at 41.1 degrees celsius A thermometer displays 41.1 degrees Celsius in Seongdong District, Seoul, amid an ongoing heat wave on July 30, 2026. 2026-07-30 20:14:00
  • Seoul finds relief from summer heat between bookshelves
    Seoul finds relief from summer heat between bookshelves SEOUL, July 29 (AJP) - As record-breaking heat and sudden downpours alternate throughout the summer, people across Seoul are increasingly retreating indoors. Instead of traveling to the mountains or the sea, some are choosing a “bookcation” — a blend of “book” and “vacation” — spending time reading and resting inside the city’s air-conditioned libraries. Upon entering Seoul Metropolitan Library in central Seoul, visitors are immediately drawn to towering shelves packed tightly with books. Outside the windows, the summer sun beats down on Seoul Plaza. Inside, readers quietly turn pages. Some settle into the tiered seating with a book. Others open their laptops, while still others wander slowly between shelves in search of their next read. Each moves at a different pace, yet together they fill the library with a shared sense of calm. Standing before such an immense collection, a person can feel momentarily small. But after lingering among the books, one begins to feel like part of the library itself. Even those who enter simply to escape the heat can find themselves slipping away from the speed of everyday life as soon as they open a book, beginning a quiet holiday of their own. Starfield Library, located in the heart of the COEX complex in southern Seoul, has grown beyond a place for reading into one of Gangnam’s most recognizable cultural attractions. Foreign tourists raise their cameras before the enormous shelves stretching toward the ceiling, while local visitors sit on steps and at tables, absorbed in their books. Some preserve the space through photographs. Others sit quietly and encounter its sentences. People speaking different languages and arriving for different reasons gather in one place through the common medium of books. In the middle of a bustling shopping mall, the library briefly slows their footsteps and draws strangers into a single scene. At Songpa Book Museum in eastern Seoul, books become exhibitions, games and hands-on experiences. During the summer vacation period, children and their families explore the museum, complete missions, solve quizzes and examine artifacts, experiencing the world of books with their whole bodies. Unlike a conventional library, where visitors sit quietly and read, the museum turns the process of making, preserving and passing down books into a story of its own. Children walk, touch and imagine, encountering books not merely as objects of study but as something familiar and alive. A book becomes more than an item placed on a shelf. It becomes a medium through which families create memories together. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is running its seasonal “Libraries Are Cool: Turn It Off and Go to the Library” campaign through Aug. 31 at Seoul Metropolitan Library and 222 other libraries across the capital. The campaign encourages residents to temporarily switch off their air conditioners at home and visit a nearby library, where they can escape the heat while enjoying reading and cultural activities. “Reading is like holding a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.” The words attributed to French philosopher René Descartes suggest that opening a book is an invitation to enter another person’s thoughts across time and space. At Seoul Metropolitan Library, visitors find a moment of quiet reflection. At Starfield Library, strangers gather within the same landscape through books. At Songpa Book Museum, stories are touched, explored and experienced. Across Seoul, residents are enduring the summer in their own ways amid towering shelves and countless stories. Some head toward the water. Others search for shade. And some surrender themselves to the space between bookshelves, quietly turning to the next page. Perhaps the deepest and coolest refuge this summer lies within the pages of a book. 2026-07-29 17:52:11
  • KOSPI plummets nearly 6 percent in Seoul
    KOSPI plummets nearly 6 percent in Seoul SEOUL, July 29 (AJP) - An electronic board shows the KOSPI and other market indexes at the dealing room of Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 5,663.24, down 360.42 points, or 5.98 percent, from the previous session, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ finished at 662.68, down 43.17 points, or 6.12 percent, on July 29, 2026. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-07-29 17:00:12
  • Seoul stocks tumble as KOSPI and KOSDAQ slide
    Seoul stocks tumble as KOSPI and KOSDAQ slide SEOUL, July 29 (AJP) - An electronic board shows the KOSPI and other market indexes at the dealing room of Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 5,663.24, down 360.42 points, or 5.98 percent, from the previous session, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ finished at 662.68, down 43.17 points, or 6.12 percent, on July 29, 2026. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-07-29 16:57:42
  • Gwanghwamun Square becomes splash zone
    Gwanghwamun Square becomes splash zone Children play in a fountain at Gwanghwamun Square as the daytime high in Seoul reached 32 degrees Celsius on July 28, 2026. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-07-28 18:41:39
  • Heatwave hits Seoul kids find fountain fun
    Heatwave hits Seoul kids find fountain fun Children play in a fountain at Gwanghwamun Square as the daytime high in Seoul reached 32 degrees Celsius on July 28, 2026. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-07-28 18:34:33
  • Tourists find relief at Cheonggyecheon stream
    Tourists find relief at Cheonggyecheon stream Foreign tourists cool off at Cheonggyecheon Stream as the daytime high in Seoul reached 32 degrees Celsius on July 28, 2026. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-07-28 18:20:32
  • Seouls heatwave relief canopy at crosswalks
    Seoul's heatwave relief canopy at crosswalks Pedestrians wait for the traffic light under a heatwave shade canopy installed at a crosswalk in front of Daehanmun Gate at Deoksugung Palace in Jung-gu, Seoul, on July 28, 2026. Seoul’s daytime high reached 32 degrees Celsius. AJP Yoo Na-hyun 2026-07-28 18:11:35