K Auction's October sale in Seoul offered 85 works valued at about KRW 11.2 billion (US$7.8 million) on 28 October 2026, and bidding held firmer than the reduced catalogue might have suggested. According to a report published on 30 October by the Korean capital-markets outlet The Bell, the sell-through rate rebounded slightly even though fewer works were offered, with a painting by Park Seo-bo that graced the catalogue cover achieving the sale's highest price.

The sale leaned heavily on Korean modern masters, including 16 works by seven artists featured in the RM x SFMOMA exhibition in San Francisco: Park Soo-keun, Yoon Hyong-keun, Chung Sang-hwa, Lee Seung-jo, Kim Chang-yeul, Lee Dae-won and Kim Jong-hak. The highest estimate in the room belonged to Park Soo-keun's 1964 painting On the Way Home, guided at KRW 680 million to 1.8 billion. Three works by Yayoi Kusama also went under the hammer, led by her 1981 Butterfly, estimated at KRW 650 million to 1.4 billion.

The Bell's report notes that a work by Chung Kang-ja attracted competitive bidding, bringing energy to the saleroom. The sale took place at K Auction's headquarters in the Sinsa neighbourhood of Gangnam, and previews had run from 17 October.

The firmer result arrives against a cautious backdrop. Despite hopes earlier in the year for a market rebound, collectors have kept buying selectively through the second half of 2026. Figures from the Korea Art Appraisal Research Center showed total sales at Korea's seven major auction houses falling 10.8 percent year on year in the third quarter, to KRW 27.97 billion, with the success rate slipping to 50.4 percent. Against that trend, a slightly improved sell-through rate at K Auction's October sale counts as a modest sign of resilience rather than a turnaround.