With trends changing all the time in Korea,... people here have grown nostalgic for a time when things were simpler and life moved at a slower pace.
Meeting the demand for a return to the traditional, but with a modern twist... is on full show at a big design festival taking place in Seoul.
Seo Eunkyung reports.

Traditional Korean pottery pieces turned into toys, and small dining tables from some decades ago. These and many more items are serving to transport visitors down memory lane.
Hundreds of products and artworks, original and reinvented, are exhibited at this design fair.
A sieve made with horse hair, originally used when brewing alcohol, comes together with an ancient piece of pottery from the Joseon Dynasty to be reborn as a coffee filter.

"It's really interesting to see products with this theme of futuristic-retro. I really like it."

A traditional interior accessory is reborn into a bookmark. And traditional Korean knot crafting is applied to make a bracelet and a flowerpot hanger.

"At design fairs and shops it's hard to find products that show Korea's tradition charm. So we decided to use traditional materials to make everyday kind of items... so more people can enjoy Korea's unique beauty."

"There are also pieces of art and products encouraging visitors to think about a unified Korea and the lives of people from the North."

A Korean designer conveys her wish of seeing a unified Korea one day, depicting people from both Koreas communicating, building up friendships and falling in love.

"I imagine Korea being unified,... and I create designs to connect young people living in both countries. Unification feels so real to me since I happen to have a friend from the North. I want to share my feelings with others through my work."

"Seeing these trains go all the way up and down the Peninsula, I can imagine myself traveling to Russia by land. I look forward to seeing a unified Korea."

The Seoul Design Festival marks its 17th installment this year, and has brought together more than 600 professional designers and their works under the theme of young retro, bringing Korea's traditional charm to modern daily life.
Seo Eun-kyung, Arirang News