Seoul Searching
Explore Seoul
'Seoul Searching' is a project that introduces you to South Korea's capital in a new way. Experience the city through the observations and impressions of three artists. Trace their strokes and explore their personal perspectives on the city, the country, and the culture.
Dive, too, into a range of Korea scholars' perspectives on the illustrations across several essays.
You can explore South Korea, Seoul, and the artists' illustrations in four different ways:
Artists
-
Jeon Nak-Joo 전낙주
Webtoon artist and illustrator based in South Korea.
Alle illustrationer -
Thit Bitsch
Artist and comic illustrator based in Viborg.
Alle illustrationer -
Rasmus Meisler
Illustrator and animator based in Copenhagen.
Alle illustrationer
Food & People in Seoul
Seoul is a city in constant flux, and a city with one of the world's best cuisines. In October 2025, Rasmus Meisler and Martin Petersen travelled there. Rasmus is an illustrator whose work includes food illustrations for Weekendavisen. Martin has been coming to Seoul since 1993. He is a senior researcher at the National Museum, specializing in Korean culture. The two set off for South Korea's capital to find out how people live there, and what their relationship is to the city, its history, the future, and, not least, the food.
On this page are five illustrated essays about food and people in Seoul. You'll meet:
… a North Korean refugee who believes that the reunification of South and North Korea will happen on the dining table, and who has therefore become a chef and restaurant owner, as well as a South Korean food scholar who tells Seoul's history through naengmyeon (cold noodles) from Pyongyang.
Read the essay
… a social reformer who, as a young man in 1986, spent a year in prison for trying to wake schoolchildren up to the state of their country. Now he teaches young people to grow their own vegetables at his Danish-inspired folk high school (højskole), taking us from risotto and red wine back to 1986: tear-gas-hangover instant noodles and fermented rice wine.
Read the essay
… a Danish-born university professor who straps on his bike helmet at the weekend to set off on a culinary journey through the countryside outside Seoul — and, in glimpses, rediscover the Korea that met him when he first set foot here in 1989. Roll along with him out to the Five-Color Market's steamed rice cakes and a village inn's nourishing eel soup.
Read the essay
… a mother, father, and their three sons who gather for Saturday lunch to come together in their Christian faith, hope, and love … and around a string of everyday Korean dishes. Here at the Kim family's table, the spread overflows with braised pork ribs, soybean soup, kimchi, persimmon, and much, much more.
Read the essay
… a young food scholar who keeps his childhood love of the countryside and rural cooking alive by seeking out the fresh produce that pours into the food market in Cheongnyangni. Here, in the city's pulsing heart, he invites us on a food-and-drink journey through the evening and into the night. We chase after him from bakery to pub, from street-food stall to café … and end up burning our tongues on spicy squid stir-fried with chili, garlic, and sesame oil.
All illustrations are by Rasmus Meisler. See more of Rasmus's work here.
Essays
Curious to know more about Korea?
Below you can read essays exploring various themes connected to Korea.
Written by Martin Petersen, Shimpei Ota, Lee MinJae, and Joo Young Ha.
Illustrated by Rasmus Meisler, Thit Bitsch, and Nak Joo.
Map
Seoul searching
On the map below, we've gathered illustrations of Seoul created by talented artists. Explore their observations and impressions, and experience the city in a new way.
Generously funded by the National Museum of Korea
