K-wave AI News

Hello and welcome to your AI guide to the latest cultural updates from Korea.

Here's our top story.

Korea's oldest art market event, the 'Galleries Art Fair,' has officially kicked off at COEX in Seoul. Now in its 43rd edition, this year's fair brings together a record 168 galleries, the largest in the event's history.

First launched in 1979 as the 'Korea Galleries Association Exhibition,' the fair has grown into a flagship event of Korea's spring art season and is widely regarded as a barometer that shows the current trends of the country's art market.

Running through Sunday, the fair showcases a diverse array of works, including pieces by acclaimed artists from home and abroad, as well as bold, original creations by emerging talents.

An exhibition exploring surrealism in Korea's modern art opened today at the Deoksugung branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

While surrealism has often been overlooked in Korean art history, this exhibition sheds light on six artists who resolutely pursued their own surrealist visions, unaffected by contemporary trends.

Featured artists include Kim Jong-nam, who lived in Japan under the name Hideo Manabe, and Kim Uk-kyu, originally from the North, who fled to the South, leaving his family behind.

The exhibition offers a rare glimpse into the inner worlds of artists profoundly shaped by Korea's colonial history, war, and division. Their works will be on display until July 6.

Korea's web novel market saw a roughly 30% increase in size in just two years.

According to a recent report from the Culture Ministry, the market was valued at 1.35 trillion won, or around 950 million U.S. dollars, last year, up over 310 billion won, or roughly 220 million dollars, from 2022.

Web novels accounted for more than 45% of the total annual revenue from web fiction content, including webtoons.

Regarding royalties, around 30% of web novel creators earn between one million and three million won per episode, while only 1% make over 100 million won.

That's all from me. Keep it tuned to the Kulture Wave.