Hangul Comes to Life Across Seoul as Shinsegae Duty Free and Artist Hong In-sook Turn "Annyeong" into Art

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As global interest in Korean culture continues to expand beyond K-pop and K-beauty, Hangul, Korea's unique writing system, is emerging as a new way to experience Korean culture and creativity.

To celebrate Hangul Day, Shinsegae Duty Free is presenting Annyeong on Hanji, a new digital media artwork created in collaboration with Korean artist Hong In-sook as part of its cultural arts initiative, K-Reflection.

The artwork transforms the Korean word "안녕" (annyeong)—a familiar greeting that conveys wishes for peace, happiness and well-being—into a vivid visual landscape of blooming peonies, cascading waterfalls and traditional Korean motifs. The work will be displayed across major digital media spaces in Seoul, allowing both local and international visitors to encounter Hangul not simply as written language, but as a visual and cultural experience in the heart of the city.

When a Korean Greeting Becomes a Landscape

At the center of Annyeong on Hanji is the Korean word "안녕," recreated through the forms of abundant peonies and flowing blue waterfalls.

Hong In-sook's distinctive approach to Hangul explores the visual structure of Korean characters as an artistic language. For this project, elements drawn from more than 20 of her works—including pine trees, phoenixes, tigers, swallows, clouds and flowers—are layered together to create a three-dimensional landscape filled with movement and symbolism.

As Hong explains, "Annyeong is one of the oldest expressions of love passed down through generations." In Korean culture, Annyeong is more than a casual "hello." It carries the sentiment of wishing another person peace and well-being.

The artwork translates that sentiment into visual form: a wish for life to bloom beautifully and abundantly like a peony, and to flow freely like a waterfall.

The white peonies featured in the work also carry a deeper meaning. Created by combining all colors of light, white symbolizes the efforts and dedication of the countless people who preserved Korea's language and writing system, allowing generations to continue sharing their thoughts and feelings through Hangul.

From Traditional Art to a Digital Seoul

The project brings Hong In-sook's two-dimensional paintings into a contemporary digital environment through a collaboration with Studio Artech, a creative studio expanding its activities in Korea and internationally.

Studio Artech transformed the artist's original paintings into immersive digital content featuring three-dimensional space and movement. At Seoul's large-scale outdoor media façades, the team used anamorphic techniques to extend the forms and spatial qualities of the original artwork, creating an experience designed specifically for the scale and architecture of the city.

The artwork will appear at three major media locations in Seoul from October 1:

• Shinsegae Duty Free Myeongdong, Iconic Zone (10F): through November 30
• LUUX at Dong-A Media Center in Gwanghwamun: through October 31. Spanning approximately 3,000 square meters, LUUX is one of Korea's largest digital signage installations.
• Artium exterior media in Samseong-dong: through October 14, in Seoul's Gangnam Eyes, Korea's first designated Free Outdoor Advertising Zone.

Together, the installations turn everyday urban spaces into unexpected places to encounter Korean art and language.

Making Hangul Accessible to a Global Audience

Recognizing that international visitors may encounter Hangul without being familiar with the Korean language, Shinsegae Duty Free is also introducing a multilingual digital guide in collaboration with culture-tech company DOSN.

Visitors can scan a QR code to access nodnod.io, an AI-powered exhibition guide that requires no separate app installation. The service provides information about the artwork, artist and project in multiple languages and allows visitors to ask questions about the work in real time.

From October 9, Hangul Day, through October 31, visitors can also use a QR code to take photographs with the artistic interpretation of Annyeong as a backdrop—creating a personal souvenir while experiencing Hangul as a visual form of Korean culture.

Shinsegae Duty Free's K-Reflection Project

Annyeong on Hanji is part of K-Reflection, Shinsegae Duty Free's ongoing cultural arts initiative that reinterprets Korean culture and art through a contemporary lens.

Earlier this year, Shinsegae Duty Free collaborated with Yeongin Literary Museum to present Eureka!, a digital media artwork inspired by the writings of the late Korean cultural scholar and author Lee O-young. In September, the company presented Tiger, Roar! at the media façade of its Myeongdong store as part of K-Culture Day, a program Shinsegae Duty Free has developed with the National Museum of Korea since 2022.

Through K-Reflection, Shinsegae Duty Free aims to create new opportunities for visitors to discover Korean culture—not only through shopping, but also through art, storytelling and contemporary cultural experiences.

"Through the Korean word Annyeong, we wanted to share a warm sentiment of wishing others peace and happiness, while giving both Seoul residents and international visitors an opportunity to experience the beauty of Hangul in a completely new way," said a Shinsegae Duty Free spokesperson. "We will continue to reinterpret Korean culture and art through new formats and develop public cultural projects that share these experiences with a wider audience."

About Hong In-sook

Hong In-sook is a Korean artist whose work explores the visual structure and linguistic meaning of Hangul through contemporary visual language. Her works have been exhibited at leading cultural institutions in Korea, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art and Seoul Arts Center.

Exhibition Information

Title:Annyeong on Hanji
Artist: Hong In-sook
Presented by: Shinsegae Duty Free
Part of: K-Reflection
Digital Media: Studio Artech
Multilingual AI Guide: DOSN / nodnod.io

Shinsegae Duty Free Myeongdong, Iconic Zone (10F)
October 1 – November 30, 2026

LUUX, Dong-A Media Center, Gwanghwamun
October 1 – October 31, 2026

Artium Exterior Media, Samseong-dong
October 1 – October 14, 2026

About Shinsegae Duty Free

Shinsegae Duty Free is a leading travel retailer in South Korea, offering a curated selection of global luxury, beauty, fashion, Korean brands and lifestyle products to travelers from around the world. With flagship operations in Myeongdong, Seoul, and at Incheon International Airport, as well as a global online duty-free store, Shinsegae Duty Free connects international travelers with Korea's latest beauty, fashion and cultural trends.

The company continues to expand beyond traditional duty-free retail by introducing exclusive brands, emerging Korean labels and new shopping experiences that reflect the evolving interests of global travelers.

Online:Shinsegae Duty Free Online Store
Instagram:@shinsegaedutyfree : @shinsegaedutyfree_en

SOURCE Shinsegae Duty Free