‘Hidden Earth,’ explores 3 billion-year history of Korean Peninsula

Marking its 50th anniversary, public broadcaster KBS has produced a wildlife documentary titled “Hidden Earth,” presenting geoheritage sites in Korea.

“Even though Korea is a very small country compared to the US or China, the land is filled with mountains and rocks that are worth studying to find out about the history of Earth. I am certain that ‘Hidden Earth’ will offer an opportunity for the public to learn that this small country (Korea) in the East is such a precious land,” the show’s presenter and geologist Woo Kyung-sik said in a press conference held at CGV Yongsan in central Seoul on Wednesday.

Helmed by 28-year veteran documentary director Lee Kwang-rok, the five-part series begins by imagining what the ocean near the Korean Peninsula may have looked like 1 billion years ago. Examining the rocks and mountains in Baengnyeongdo, Daecheongdo and Socheongdo, South Korea’s three northernmost islands in the West Sea, the documentary seeks to trace the Korean Peninsula's past.

Following the traces of geological heritage and the country’s natural environment through the eyes of geologists, the documentary comes to an end in South Korea’s most populous city, Seoul.

“Many people imagine the Grand Canyon or the Niagara Falls when they think about overwhelming geoheritage sites. But South Korea offers just as visually stunning scenes. I hope the viewers will love our country more after watching ‘Hidden Earth,’” the director said.

For Lee, the hard part of his two-year project was not the research, exploration, travel and filming. It was delivering the images and knowledge in an exciting manner that he found challenging.

“Geology can be a tiring, heavy theme to talk about. Most of our scenes feature mountains and rocks which do not show a lot of movement, so we spent a lot of time and money in creating entertaining computer graphics, which will also help the viewers understand the episodes more easily,” Lee told The Korea Herald.

Mountain climbing couple Choi Suk-mun and Lee Myoung-hee, who also co-star in the series as presenters, said “Hidden Earth” was a go-to documentary series for all nature lovers and hikers.

“I really loved the director’s working title for the series, which was ‘feel the history of Korean Peninsula with your fingertips and toes.’ It was basically what I was doing,” Choi said.

“As a climber, I am always concerned about rocks' texture and looks. We got to learn the significance of crevices that we latch onto every day. ‘Hidden Earth’ certainly made me see nature around us in a different angle."

“Hidden Earth” is scheduled to premiere the first two parts at 10 p.m. on March 2 and March 3, respectively, on KBS1. Following that, three episodes each will be released over the next three Thursdays.