Editorial & Sources policy

Updated October 11, 2026

Seoul Palette explains everyday life in Seoul and Korea, and what to do about it. Every fact in an article has a numbered source, and every photo is a real photo with its license shown. This page explains how we work, and how to tell us when we get something wrong.

How we research

Where our facts come from

We look for facts in this order:

1. The operator or the public body in charge — the rail company for a fare, the airport for a terminal rule, the government agency for a regulation.
2. Official tourism organizations, such as Visit Seoul and the Korea Tourism Organization’s VISITKOREA site.
3. Everything else — other websites, news stories, traveler posts. We use these only as leads that point us to an official source. We don’t copy prices or times from them.

Each fact in an article carries a number in brackets, like [1]. The number matches the Sources list at the end of the article, which gives each source’s title, publisher, link, and the date we opened it.

Prices, times, and rules

Fares, opening hours, and apps change often. For this kind of information, we open the official page again on the day we write. The date goes with the fact: we write “as of September 2026” right next to the fare or time in the article, and the date we opened the page in Sources.

Our steps before publishing

1. Research. We collect facts from the sources above and record each one.
2. Draft. We write the article in plain American English, following our written style guide.
3. Policy check. We check sources, photo licenses, and paid-link labels against a written checklist.
4. Style check. We check the draft against our style rules and against the question the article promises to answer.
5. Editor review and approval. Our editor reads every article in full and approves it before it goes live.

The line under each article’s title shows when it was last updated, how many sources it was checked against, and that it was fact-checked against official sources and reviewed by an editor.

How we use AI

We use AI tools to help with research and drafting; our editor reads and approves every article.

Our articles are credited to Seoul Palette. We don’t give them an AI byline or an invented author. We don’t use AI-generated images; see the next section.

Photos

• Real photos only. No AI-generated or AI-altered images, anywhere a photo goes — thumbnails included. Maps and charts are drawn from data.
• Free public photos first. Our first choice is photos released for public reuse: mainly photos from Korean public bodies under the Korea Open Government License Type 1 (KOGL Type 1), then Wikimedia Commons photos that are in the public domain or under CC0, CC BY, or CC BY-SA. We use licensed stock photos only when none of these fit.
• Every photo is credited. Each credit names the photographer or owner and the license, with a link to the original. When a license asks for the credit in Korean, we keep the Korean words and add English next to them.
• A credit is not an endorsement. Crediting a public body’s photo does not mean that body sponsors or endorses Seoul Palette.
• Light edits only. We may crop, adjust brightness, or straighten a photo. We don’t change what it shows.
• Privacy. We avoid photos in which people’s faces can be identified.

Stories we retell

We write as “we,” the editorial team. We don’t make up stories. Sometimes we retell what other people have experienced — a scene that comes up again and again in traveler reviews, for example. When we do:

• The story rests on real accounts, such as reviews, interviews, or articles, and we list them in Sources.
• We signal it with phrases like “Some visitors say…” or “It is not unusual for…”.
• We quote real people only in their exact words.
• We never retell facts. Prices, hours, dates, places, and numbers are checked values only.
• We say “we” did something only when we actually did it, such as comparing fares on official websites.
• A retold story is never a reason to book something through a paid link. See How we’re funded.

Updates

We change an article’s Updated date only when its content changes. When we re-check a fact and find it unchanged, we update the “as of” date on that fact and the access date in Sources, and leave the Updated date as it is.

How we recommend

• When we recommend an option, we say why, based on what we checked, and we name the alternative. If the official seller is cheaper or a free option does the job, we list it first.
• If a link earns us money, the article says so at the top and next to the link. See How we’re funded.
• In articles on law, health, visas, or taxes, we point to official information only and carry no paid links.

October 2026: our booking guides now say which option we recommend and why. Paid links stay out of articles on law, health, visas, and taxes.

What we don’t cover

We don’t give legal, medical, visa, or tax advice. When an article touches those topics, we point you to the official source. We don’t take sides on politics or disputed history; when background is needed, we cite sources without judging.

Corrections

If you find a mistake — a wrong fare, a broken link, a wrong photo credit, or a paid link without a label — please tell us through our Contact page. Include the link to the page and, if you can, a source that shows the correct information.

Here is what happens next:

1. We check your report against the official source.
2. If the article was wrong when we published it, we fix it and leave a dated note saying what we changed.
3. If a fact changed after we published it, such as a fare increase, we update the article and its Updated date.

We read every report, but we can’t promise a set response time.

If you own a photo and believe we have used it without the right license, contact us the same way. We will review it and take the photo down if we can’t show a valid license.

Using our content

Seoul Palette’s articles, and any photos we take ourselves, are protected by copyright. Being able to crawl or read our pages does not give permission to republish them. Photos from other owners stay under their own licenses, listed in each article’s photo credits.