HWACHEON, Gangwon Province ― Every morning in January, a pilgrimage of cars and tourist buses traces the winding routes through the snowy mountains of Gangwon Province. An early morning start is the only way to secure a good spot at what is quickly becoming one of Korea’s premiere wintertime events ― Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Fishing Festival. A 2 1/2 hour coach ride from Seoul, Hwacheon has the appearance of a sleepy town inexplicably inundated with people. The faint hum of music is the only hint

Although the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival runs for 23 days in January, preparations are made virtually all year round, with nearby fish farms raising nearly 130 tons of sancheoneo fish. “There have been complaints about other ice fishing festivals not having enough fish. But we plan ahead and prepare enough fish for visitors,” Oh Se-bin, the festival planning director, told The Korea Herald.  Sancheoneo fishOrganizers make sure visitors get a bountiful catch by releasing 1 to 2 tons of fish

New chief of Korea Creative Content Agency stresses market-based approach to further Korean Wave

More ancient Korean documents will be revealed to the public as part of a project of the Academy of Korean Studies to highlight Korea’s rich history and tradition, said Lee Bae-yong, president of the AKS, at a news conference on Tuesday in Seoul. “The Academy has an extensive archive of valuable ancient materials, but we haven’t been active in sharing the ancient treasures with the public. We plan to bring the valuable resources to people and let their important lessons be told in contemporary s

CAIRO (AFP) ― The damage caused by a botched repair of the mask of Tutankhamun that left dried glue on the priceless relic may be undone with careful treatment, a German conservator said Saturday.The golden funerary mask, one of the main tourist attractions at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, bears the sticky aftermath of what appears to have been overzealous use of glue to fix its beard in place.The beard had fallen off accidently when the mask was removed from its case last year to repair the lig

Novelist Jeon Kyung-ae talks about her encounter with the memories of the Korean War

MADRID (AP) ― Forensic experts began excavating graves and examining bones Saturday in a tiny chapel in Madrid, hoping to solve the centuries-old mystery of exactly where the great Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes was laid to rest.The author of “Don Quixote” was buried in 1616 at the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians in Madrid’s historic Barrio de las Letras, or Literary Quarter, but the exact whereabouts of his grave within the convent chapel are unknown. A team of archaeologists and anthr

A children’s book that delves into the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery was published in English, the publisher said last week. “Touch-Me-Nots” was published on Jan. 9 by the House of Sharing, a shelter in Gyeonggi Province for the few surviving victims, who are euphemistically called comfort women, and its adjacent museum, the Museum of Sexual Slavery by the Japanese Military.The book is an English translation of a Korean-language book written in 2008 by Yoon Jung-mo, the author of many

About 70 percent of South Korea is covered in mountains. Gushing out of these mountains are spectacular waterfalls of all shapes and sizes, a boon to sweaty hikers in the summer and a godsend to athletic ice climbers in the winter. Ice climbing has been enjoyed in Korea since the 1970s. Local climbers often start through climbing schools or alpine clubs. The increasing popularity has motivated many districts to create “ice climbing parks” ― artificial icefalls made by pumping water over cliffs.

For Kim Sun-bok, a member of a local hiking club, the coldest among 10 years of Sunday excursions was a trip to Mount Hallasan on the southern island of Jeju. “At the beginning of the hike it was not too cold, but as we got closer to the top the wind picked up,” she said. “The wind was blowing so hard I was almost knocked over and my legs were shaking from the cold.”Though for most of the year hiking in Korea is a casual pursuit, in wintertime thorough trip preparation and appropriate gear may h

Sunbathing on a warm summer beach sounds tempting in this season of freezing wind and heavy snow. That’s why warm, exotic resort destinations always top Koreans’ lists of dream vacation spots. But increasingly, Korea’s winter beaches are being warmly greeted by surfers seeking thrills and fun in the billowing winter waves. The hard-core surfers paddle out in the cold water to catch biggest waves of the year. Surfing is not a popular sport in Korea although the three sides of the peninsula are su