The treatment is designed to discover the balance of body and soul through color, scent, touch and light. The energy color test, using gemstones, will help guests find the energy and color they lack, and the color will be replenished and restored through appropriate spa perfumes, lighting and massage method.

The customized treatment is 90 minutes, including the gemstone energy test, a back massage and gemstone facial therapy. It will be offered through the end of June for 220,000 won. For more information, call 02-2022-0450.

Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel

Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel presents a spring package through May 31.

Besides a one-night stay in a deluxe room, guests can enjoy a picnic at a nearby park or along the Han River by renting bicycles and helmets from the hotel. A picnic lunchbox for two featuring gimbap (seaweed roll with rice and assorted vegetable), panini, fruit, crackers and juice is available along with the rental.

Free access to the swimming pool and fitness center is included. The package is priced at 250,000 won. For more information, call 02-2211-2100.

Renaissance Seoul Hotel

At Trevi Lounge in the Renaissance Seoul Hotel, guests can get groovy during the Jazz & Disco Evening every Wednesday and Friday.

With the new band Keepers, the lounge offers live music performances along with snacks. On Wednesdays from 8 p.m., rhythmical soul and jazz music will be performed as a backdrop to enjoy the Caesar salad, spicy herb shrimps, grilled beef ribs and tomato quesadilla, while catchy 1970s and ‘80s disco is presented on Fridays along with beef sliders, fried prawns, sweet potato chips, California rolls and lobster cocktails.

The price of the snack menu starts from 29,000 won. Wine or beer is also offered at reasonable prices. For more information, call 02-2222-8627.

Hyatt Regency Jeju

Flavorful spring greens and fresh fish from Jeju Island are presented at the Hyatt Regency Jeju’s Terrace Cafe.

The six-course Korean Spring Greens menu features Jeju canola salad with “halabong” tangerines; seasoned spring “namul” with seafood and soba; assorted namul bibimbap with bean paste; broiled mero fish and yam mugwort; clam bean paste soup; and strawberry and Japanese apricot.

The menu is available for 45,000 won until April 30. For more information, call 064-733-1234.

The Plaza

Chef Qin Shuangshuang from Macao Venetian has been invited by the Plaza’s Chinese restaurant Taoyuen to offer the opportunity to experience handmade dim sum and other various Guangdong-style dishes through April 30.

The chef will prepare Jeju beef with sugar snap and spicy black bean sauce; live lobster and stir-fried fresh asparagus; and three kinds of Guangdong dim sum. Diners who order a bottle of Zhuge Niang, a Chinese liquor, will get a complimentary mini-sized bottle.

Lunch is priced at 130,000 won and dinner 145,000 won. For more information, call 02-310-7300.

The 30-year-old celebrity had an interview with the country’s renowned emcee Baek Ji-yeon on the same day at CJ E&M’s head office in Sangam-dong. CJ officials confirmed that the taping of “Baek Ji-yeon’s People Inside,” took place on Monday afternoon, but did not reveal when the show will air.

Korean emcee Baek, known to be a friend of Alba’s, requested the interview with the American celebrity on a visit to her hotel in Gangnam. The celebrity okayed her request without hesitation, according to reports.

A CJ official said Alba and the CJ vice chairwoman know each other and that Alba attended the party at the invitation of the chairwoman.

“We have no idea how they became friends,” the official added.

Alba, who is currently in Korea on holiday with her family, surprised her fans here by visiting a club and a bar with her husband Cash Warren in southern Seoul over the weekend.

The Hollywood star’s surprise visit to Seoul was exposed online shortly after on Twitter along with pictures taken by people at the club in Nonhyeon-dong and the Apgujeong-dong bar.

The trickle has now turned into a flood of Chinese packing Joo’s JK Plastic Surgery Centre one of the country’s largest — and many other clinics, lured by the looks of South Korean entertainers who have taken Asia by storm.

A Hallyu (Korean wave) of pop culture over the past decade has won a devoted fan base in China, Southeast Asia and Japan. The South’s TV dramas dominate prime-time airwaves and K-pop bands sell out concerts and top the charts.

Legendary TV hits like “Winter Sonata” and “Autumn Fairy Tale” help draw tens of thousands of foreign fans to filming locations in South Korea every year, boosting the tourism industry.

Now skilled plastic surgeons in the looks-obsessed South who often helped beautify Korean stars in the first place are enjoying an unexpected boom as they do the same for their foreign fans.

According to government data, overall medical spending by foreign visitors hit a record $116 million last year. Fourteen percent sought plastic surgery or skin treatments such as botox.

Almost a half of all foreigners seeking a nose job, a facelift, a jawbone reduction or a tummy tuck were from China. Their number nearly tripled from 1,657 in 2009 to 4,400 in 2010.

“The Hallyu boom has definitely played a key role in drawing new patients from abroad,” said Hong Jeong-Geun, spokesman for the Korea Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.

Hong said many star-struck foreigners visit clinics with photos of celebrities like Kim Hee-Sun, a popular actress in Asia, and ask surgeons to emulate her nose angle or eyes.

“They understand that some stars, rather than born beautiful, were made beautiful with a little bit of help from plastic surgeons,” Hong told AFP.

Cut-throat competition among the country’s growing number of plastic surgeons who now number some 1,700 — made them even more aggressive in trying to lure new clients, he said.

“They somehow found a way to the clinic… and nearly all of them said they want the face of Lee Young-Ae,” Joo said, referring to a top South Korean actress who starred in the pan-Asian hit drama “Jewel in the Palace”.

The trickle has now turned into a flood of Chinese packing Joo’s JK Plastic Surgery Centre — one of the country’s largest — and many other clinics, lured by the looks of South Korean entertainers who have taken Asia by storm.

A Hallyu (Korean wave) of pop culture over the past decade has won a devoted fan base in China, Southeast Asia and Japan. The South’s TV dramas dominate prime-time airwaves and K-pop bands sell out concerts and top the charts.

Legendary TV hits like “Winter Sonata” and “Autumn Fairy Tale” help draw tens of thousands of foreign fans to filming locations in South Korea every year, boosting the tourism industry.

Now skilled plastic surgeons in the looks-obsessed South — who often helped beautify Korean stars in the first place — are enjoying an unexpected boom as they do the same for their foreign fans.

According to government data, overall medical spending by foreign visitors hit a record $116 million last year. Fourteen percent sought plastic surgery or skin treatments such as botox.

Almost a half of all foreigners seeking a nose job, a facelift, a jawbone reduction or a tummy tuck were from China. Their number nearly tripled from 1,657 in 2009 to 4,400 in 2010.

“The Hallyu boom has definitely played a key role in drawing new patients from abroad,” said Hong Jeong-Geun, spokesman for the Korea Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.

Hong said many star-struck foreigners visit clinics with photos of celebrities like Kim Hee-Sun, a popular actress in Asia, and ask surgeons to emulate her nose angle or eyes.

“They understand that some stars, rather than born beautiful, were made beautiful with a little bit of help from plastic surgeons,” Hong told AFP.

“From 19,000 seats per week for each country, the entitlements have been increased by 50 percent to 28,500 seats per week,” he said.

He said the air talks were held because of demand from airlines from both countries.

He noted that 925,000 tourists from Korea visited the Philippines last year.

“We expect the number of Korean visitors to hit one million or more this year,” he said.

He also said that the additional seats per week is sufficient to cover the increase in visitors for the next few years.

The additional entitlements, he said, would be allocated depending on the expansion plans of carriers.

Asked why unlimited air rights were not granted to carriers from South Korea, he said that their counterparts wanted unlimited air rights to Manila.

“We can’t do that (give unlimited rights) since we want to encourage airlines in airports outside of Manila,” he said.

Air talks are being conducted by the country in line with the open skies policy.

Executive Order 29 which was signed by President Benigno Aquino III in March of last year authorized government negotiators to grant access to foreign airlines to the country’s airports other than the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The policy was intended to support tourism growth and encourage foreign airlines to operate at secondary gateways.

Last year, the country concluded air talks with Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Arcilla said the country is looking to conduct second round of negotiations with Indonesia this year.

“Our group will meet next week to firm up the schedule for talks with Indonesia,” he said.

The issue has taken the media by storm, with one call van driver reported has having charged Japanese tourists 330,000 won ($293) for a 2 kilometer ride that should have cost roughly 4,500 won.

As of Feb. 10 there were 329 posts on Yahoo Japan’s site, complaining about overcharging for fares, food and other items.

“Last year, it cost us 45,000 won from Dongdaemun to Myeong-dong. It was a black taxi that had a meter and looked like a deluxe taxi. Only after we told him we would ‘call 112’ did he accept 5,000 won,” said one post by a Japanese tourist.

With such issues seeming to be a commonplace among foreigners visiting the capital, officials are worried that the incidents could affect tourism ahead of the peak season in April and May.

Seoul officials have now placed 48 officials at four popular locations frequented by Asian tourists in downtown Seoul, which are Myeong-dong, Jongno, Dongdaemun and Euljiro. Since February, city officials have caught 22 call vans illegally operating.

Call vans are legally banned from having “taxi” stickers, “taxi” roof signs or meters, and are not allowed to carry only passengers. Call vans may be used to carry both passengers and cargo of at least 20 kilograms.

The general manager introduced Ritz-Carlton’s new worldwide marketing platform: “Let Us Stay With You.”

“Ritz-Carlton says once you stay in our hotel, let us stay with you, let us stay with you after you leave, let us be in your memory, let us create something you can’t forget, so next time you think about a hotel when you come to Seoul, it becomes automatic that you’ll stay at the Ritz-Carlton Seoul. This is my focus as a general manager, reinvigorating our service and reenergizing our staff through our training tools to improve our service.”

Clark, who has worked with Ritz-Carlton since 1997, is well aware of the merit of an international brand and is strict in keeping its value.

“I have a long history of working at the Ritz-Carlton, so I understand Ritz-Carlton service. And I know what my guests’ expectations are when they come to the Ritz-Carlton. A lot of guests trust the brand name and service when they come to Seoul even though they have never heard about this hotel. So once you get the guests coming, we build our new reputation in the market and I think the awards will come, but first we have to focus on service and products we have to offer.”

Before coming to Korea, the American native worked in branches mainly in Asia, helping new Ritz-Carlton hotels open. Compared to the new hotels, Clark said the Seoul one, established in 1995, has much strength.

“The employees in this hotel, because many of them here have served for up to 17 years, understand our standards, our quality of service at the Ritz-Carlton. Consistency is easier here than I found in other countries I worked in because they have been working for a long time for our brand,” he said.

The Presidential Council on Nation Building had a booth outside the IMC where it set up traditional folding screens called “byeongpung” installed with digital screens inside them. Intended to show viewers the origins of “hallyu” (Korean wave), the digital screen was decorated with a traditional look. The digital screen, which oddly mixed with the traditional background, showed videos of such hallyu stars as Song Hye-kyo, LeeByung-hun and Bae Yong-jun and clips of Korean TV dramas.

The motif of the exhibition, which was to convey the past and the present of Korean culture, could easily be understood.

At a booth promoting Korean culture and tourism, a few feet away, visitors could watch 20 of Korea’s relics on a video screen set up by the National Museum of Korea. Viewers could experience the cultural properties in 3D as if they were inside a museum.

Next to the relic booth was a “hanbok” station where visitors could try on the traditional Korean clothes. Foreign journalists, curious about the costumes, took photos wearing them.

Ruperto P. Majuca, NEDA assistant director-general, pointed to agriculture, road and transportation, telecommunications, tourism, and manpower as areas where trade ties could be strengthened.

For her part, Public Works Undersecretary Maria Catalina E. Cabral invited Korean investors to look into projects focused on upgrading existing national roads and bridges.

Agriculture Undersecretary Berna Romulo-Puyat, meanwhile, discussed “possible areas of cooperation” in food security in the form of investments in post-harvest facilities, research and development, biotechnology, climate change-related technology, and renewable energy.

Trade Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio was also at the forum and he discussed incentives that are available to preferred activities through the Investment Priorities Plan.

“At the Board of Investments, our investment opportunities include 13 preferred activities or industry selection. If you invest in these activities, you will get incentives in these industries whether you will supply the domestic or foreign demand, or both,” Mr. Panlilio was quoted as saying at the event in a separate release yesterday by the Trade department.

“We also would like to invite you to the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)… We would like to develop them [ARMM constituents] by encouraging investors in the region,” he added.

ARMM groups the provinces of Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Korean officials, meanwhile, expressed confidence in the domestic talent pool which they considered a competitive advantage of the Philippines.

“Filipino workers appeal to Koreans because Filipinos and Koreans have shared family values, respect for elders, and are good-hearted, peace-loving people,” former Ministry of Knowledge Economy Secretary Joong-Kyung Choi said at the event.

ADB chief economist Chang-Yong Rhee also said at the forum that South Korea could raise investments in the Philippines to maximize the potential of the young Filipino work force and “reap a demographic dividend in the years ahead.”

The Philippines, however, must ensure that its human resources are equipped with the skills and disciplines necessary to serve the needs of these incoming investments, Mr. Rhee noted.

“Spring of Korea” will feature four-course Western meals both for the dinner on March 26 and the luncheon on March 27 at the COEX Convention Center, where the summit meetings take place.

A farewell dinner hosted by President Lee Myung-bak and First Lady Kim Yoon-ok will be held at The Hotel Shilla in Jangchung-dong, central Seoul, on March 27.

“We developed and carefully chose menu variations in consultation with culinary experts to best serve all state leaders and their spouses,” a committee official said.

“It will offer us a chance to present our culinary diplomacy by serving our unique cuisine.”

For the welcome dinner on Monday, leaders will have a four-course meal including choices of organic avocado-tomato salad, asparagus soup and Korean beef tenderloin, the organizing committee said.

“We prepared a Western course with light food ingredients for the welcome dinner as most of the leaders will have taken long flights,” an official at the committee said.

Red and sparkling wine from 10 countries including Chile, France, Italia, Spain and Germany will be offered.

Wines from the United States, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina will also be offered on the tables of the distinguished guests, as a way to show Korea’s efforts in promoting free trade agreements.

Korean traditional liquor made from indigenous berries will also be introduced, officials said.

Locally made sparkling wine pressed from omija ? a red Korean berry also known as the “five-flavor berry” ? will be served along with rice wine at the welcome and farewell dinners on Monday and Tuesday.

The farewell dinner at The Hotel Shilla on Tuesday evening will be the culinary highlight of the summit period.

“Considering the importance of the event, we will use the best ingredients directly delivered from all over the country,” said Seo Sang-ho, head chef of The Hotel Shilla.

The chef who also works as a culinary consultant for the organizing committee said his team traveled around the country to bring the best ingredients to the tables of the world’s leading figures.

The list of ingredients includes such regional delicacies as king prawn from the West Sea, fresh citron from Goheung, South Jeolla Province, crab from Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province, and rip persimmon from Chungdo, South Gyeongsang Province.

Seo’s team will present steamed tofu filled with crab, Korean-style barbecue, omija tea and bibimbap ? a steamed rice dish mixed with assorted vegetables and meat.

For the spouses of the leaders, the organizing committee has prepared a separate dinner and luncheon at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, central Seoul, and the presidential Blue House, respectively.

Spouses of world leaders will be served with Agnolotti with crab bisque and tile fish delivered from Jeju Island at the welcome dinner.

For the Blue House luncheon, spouses will sample Korean traditional cuisines including kimchijeon or pancake, japchae or noodles stir fried in sesame oil with a variety of vegetables and royal cuisine.