Seoul is a city of contrasts. From ancient palaces with centuries of history to high-tech skyscraper of steel and glass, from ancient texts dating back millennia to the highest rate of broadband Internet access in the world, Seoul is a place where the old and new exist in harmony. With one foot in the past and another in the future, Seoul is a city that never ceases to amaze.
     Seoul is also the center of the so-called “Korean Wave” sweeping Asia. As Korean dramas, film and music reach a wider audience abroad, more and more visitors are coming to Seoul to experience first-hand the city’s rich culture and make use of its extensive cultural facilities.
     Due to the division of the nation and the proximity of the DMZ with North Korea just an hour’s drive away, some might think Seoul to be a somewhat risky place to visit. Foreign news reports aside, nothing could be further from the truth---Seoul is one of the safest places in the world for foreign travelers, with low levels of crime, a hospitable population, cutting-edge medical facilities and capable police and security authorities. Seoul’s security situation, in fact, has never been better.

http://english.seoul.go.kr/

     Seoul Arts Center (SAC) is Korea's first and foremost complex center exclusively dedicated to cultural and artistic themes. The Center is a showcase for the cultural sophistication of a Korean society that is proud of its brilliant cultural tradition. The complex, which consists of five buildings,  Opera House, Music Hall, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Calligraphy Art Museum and Arts Library(Design Museum) - is the first to be constructed all on one site, and now may indisputably be said to be the quintessential representation of Korea culture and art scene.
     Each of those five buildings was built to suit the unique characteristics of its respective genre. SAC designated four architecture companies through an international search, and after fair and rigid competition architect Kim Seokcheol was selected as the main architect to design the Center. After approximately nine years of construction, this cluster of structures finally unveiled itself as a hub of the nation's cultural and art circles and in no time emerged as a venue that can compare against the world's renowned art centers. Since the first proposal of its construction in 1982 and the first ground breaking in 1984, the Music Hall and the Seoul Calligraphy Art Museum were completed in 1988, followed by the Hangaram Art Museum and the Arts Library in 1990 and eventually by the Opera House in 1993 on 238,018m2 of land, costing a total of about 2 billion US dollars. Bringing nine years of strenuous construction to an end, the full complex was finally opened to the public.
     As of 1995, under the leadership of fourth president Lee Jongdeok and first artistic director Cho Seongjin, SAC could polish itself as a full-fledged art complex.
The Center has been noted for its faithful devotion to experimental initiatives and original performances & exhibitions, and is loved and applauded by a myriad of art lovers and culture maniacs who have visited the site. Designed and constructed to maximize the features of the exclusive subject of each building, SAC holds the traditional architectural beauty and is considered an optimal space, both artistically and technically, for various types of cultural and art events.

http://www.sac.or.kr/eng/

http://www.ncktpa.go.kr/eng.htm