In September 2025, Seoul’s COEX once again staged scenes befitting the “capital of Asian art.” KIAF SEOUL, organized by the Galleries Association of Korea, and Frieze Seoul, organized by Frieze, ran side by side and delivered meaningful results despite the global art market downturn.

Visitor numbers, sales, and the citywide expansion Seoul showcased collectively signaled market stability. At the same time, however, the two fairs’ clear hierarchy—and the unresolved challenge of overcoming market polarization—were laid bare.
 


Footsteps toward Seoul, and the temperature on the ground

According to《Maeil Business Newspaper》, KIAF drew 82,000 visitors over five days, while Frieze welcomed 70,000. Although the figures were similar to last year’s, the noticeable rise in Asian collectors and visitors in their 20s and 30s is meaningful. The Galleries Association of Korea emphasized that a “new cohort of collectors” is taking shape.

Even so, the atmosphere felt less like a raucous festival and more like a calm, deliberate market.《Observer》noted that “stable, blue-chip–led transactions” continued despite the slowdown.《Business of Fashion》went further, interpreting the moment as Seoul entering “a phase focused on long-term relationship-building rather than blockbuster spectacle.”


 
Frieze Seoul 2025 : The power of blue-chip art and record-setting deals

The headline event at Frieze Seoul was the sale of Mark Bradford’s triptych Okay, then I apologize. As reported by《Artnet》and《Observer》, Hauser & Wirth sold the work for $4.5 million (approx. ₩6.26 billion), setting a new record price for a single transaction at Frieze Seoul.

Beyond Bradford, works by Georg Baselitz and George Condo also sold.《Artsy》reported that Korean artist Im Youngzoo received the Artist Prize, signaling that Seoul is not only a sales floor but also a credible stage for global top-tier galleries and artists.


 
Presence of Korean artists

Among Korean artists, the standout result was Kim Whanki’s 1962 oil painting Clouds and Moon (often rendered as Unwol), sold by Hakgojae for ₩2 billion. That a canonical modern Korean work sold at a high price at Frieze Seoul shows how Korean art’s historical significance and marketability can operate in tandem within an international context.

KIAF: Vitality in the mid-market, and its limitations

KIAF, by contrast, demonstrated strength in mid-priced transactions. According to Maeil Business Newspaper, Gallery J-One sold a Barbara Kruger work in the ₩500 million range, while Kukje Gallery sold Park Seo-Bo’s Ecriture (Myobop) in the ₩400 million range. These sales lower the entry barrier for new collectors and indicate a widening base for the market.

At the same time, a pronounced price-based split emerged: Korean galleries placed high-priced works at Frieze and mid-priced works at KIAF. This risks weakening KIAF’s relative standing and, over time, could exacerbate imbalance between the two fairs.
 

 
An art week expanded across the city

Seoul’s “Art Week” extended far beyond COEX. The Gallery Night events in Euljiro, Hannam, Cheongdam, and Samcheong reportedly drew roughly twice the crowds of last year. At Gallery Hyundai in Samcheong, Mansin Kim Hye-kyung led a Daedong-gut shamanic performance, producing a compelling urban spectacle where tradition and contemporary art intersected.

The key tasks that still lie before us
 
 
First, the deepening of market polarization.

Comparing the sales structures of Frieze Seoul and KIAF Seoul, there is a clear tendency for high-value blue-chip works to cluster at Frieze, while mid-priced and emerging artists gravitate to KIAF. As《Maeil Business Newspaper》highlighted, Bradford’s ₩6.26 billion sale occurred at Frieze, whereas KIAF’s headline figures hovered in the ₩400–500 million range. This is more than a price gap; it hints at stratification of brand and status between the fairs. If prolonged, KIAF risks being perceived not as an autonomous, internationally positioned platform but as Frieze’s auxiliary stage.
 

Second, structural imbalances within the Korean art market.

Frieze Seoul’s success was largely powered by global galleries and overseas blue-chip artists. Korean galleries and artists did make sales, but the results were limited in scope. Kim Whanki’s ₩2 billion sale is important, yet he is a historically established modern master whose international marketability is already proven. It remains rare for contemporary Korean artists to trade on equal footing with global blue-chip peers. For Seoul to function as a true world hub, there must be systematic support for mid-career and emerging Korean artists’ international market entry—with long-term strategies that go beyond short-term sales.
 

Third, the growing pains of the post-bubble phase.

《Business of Fashion》characterized this edition as a shift away from blockbuster theatrics toward relationship-driven maturity. While positive, this also signals that the “bubble-era” collectors who once heated up the Korean market have not been fully replaced. New collectors are indeed arriving, but whether their activity will sustain over time is unclear. Korea is in a post-bubble stabilization period; whether that stabilization will evolve into maturity or calcify into stagnation will depend on strategies implemented over the next two to three years.
 

Fourth, the work of institutions and infrastructure.

Seoul cannot rely on fair-driven momentum alone. Museums, residencies, biennials, and art education must scale in tandem. Korea still needs better archival systems, transaction transparency, and legal/tax incentives. Even if Frieze Seoul occurs annually, without robust domestic institutional foundations, the outcomes risk remaining one-off festival peaks.
 


Conclusion

“Kiafrieze 2025” reaffirmed two keywords amid a global downturn: stability and maturity. It also exposed the structural challenges of hierarchy between the fairs and market polarization. Seoul has unmistakably positioned itself as a key hub in the Asian art landscape. For that hub to function as a healthy ecosystem, however, the city must go beyond blue-chip stability to elevate KIAF’s standing while fostering balanced growth in the mid-market.
 
With 2026 set to be the final year of the current co-hosting arrangement, attention should focus on whether ‘Seoul Art Week’ can move from a successful annual spectacle to a sustainable, year-round ecosystem.