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For the past six years, my husband and I have been living in New York City, where I'm an editor at Condé Nast Traveler and Henry runs a travel-focused YouTube channel called @Resilentos. We got married in Henry's native Peru, and when it came to planning our honeymoon, we quickly decided on two weeks split between South Korea and Japan. Both were countries we had long talked about visiting, thanks to their alluring blend of ancient charm and the hypermodern, but we kept waiting for “the right time.” Japan is already a popular honeymoon destination for Americans right now—after a few nights of unwinding at a ryokan together, I can see why—but my take? Everyone should go to South Korea, where we spent three nights in Seoul, two in Busan, and two on Jeju Island. Rather than have quiet conversations over candlelit dinners, we laughed over sizzling tabletop barbecue and clinked soju cups with strangers. Historic palaces and hanok villages were our quiet retreats, and we channeled that splurgy honeymoon mentality into K-fashion shopping days and Olive Young skin-care runs. Like a good banchan spread, of which we enjoyed many, it offered a little bit of everything. Here are my tips for a lively week across South Korea.
