Visitors walk around the Songhak-dong Tumuli in Goseong, South Gyeongsang Province. The ancient burial sites of the Gaya Confederacy were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2023. (Korea Times)
To me this is not surprising because not only does Korea have beautiful mountain scenery, but the trail infrastructure is really outstanding:
Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young, left, hikes a trail on Mount Bukhan in Seoul, Sunday, alongside famed mountaineer Um Hong-gil, right, and members of France’s trekking organization Fédération Française de la Randonnée. Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Overseas visitors to Korea are increasingly choosing mountain peaks over historic palaces.
On Sunday, the trend was highlighted when 11 members of France’s Fédération Française de la Randonnée hiked in Bukhansan National Park with Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young and renowned climber Um Hong-gil.
The visit is part of a larger group of about 40 association members currently touring Korea in three separate 11-day trips, hiking not just Mount Bukhan, but also Hahoe Folk Village in Andong, Mount Nam in Gyeongju, Mount Geumjeong in Busan, Suncheon Bay and a temple stay at Hwaeom Temple near Mount Jiri. The Korea Tourism Organization arranged the trip as part of its marketing push for Korean walking tourism.
The timing lines up with a campaign the tourism agency launched in July with the Korea National Park Service, aiming to draw a combined 3 million visitors to national parks by 2028.
Under the initiative, foreign visitors can borrow hiking boots and trekking poles for free and receive a keychain souvenir at participating parks, lowering the barrier for tourists who arrive in Korea without gear or a plan.
That barrier has already been falling on its own. Foreigners accounted for roughly 2.05 million of the visits to Korea’s national parks last year, according to the Korea National Park Service, with Mount Halla on Jeju Island drawing the largest share at more than 270,000, followed by Mount Seorak and Mount Bukhan.
In Seoul specifically, foot traffic data from the Seoul AI Foundation showed foreign visitation climbing fastest not at palaces or shopping streets but at hiking spots, up 11.8 percent at Mount Acha and 10 percent at Mount Gwanak year-on-year.
You can read more at the link.
Here is what could be discussed at a possible Trump-Kim summit according to a former Trump official:
President Donald Trump could put on the table the “tacit” acceptance of North Korea’s nuclear program, a peace treaty and an end to South Korea-U.S. military exercises should a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un take place, a former U.S. official has said.
Anthony Ruggiero, who served as the National Security Council’s (NSC) director for North Korea during the first Trump administration,” made the comment in an opinion piece published by The Hill, a U.S. media outlet, on Thursday as Trump recently expressed his intention to meet Kim later this year.
Speculation has continued that Trump could seek a meeting with Kim during his next trip to Asia, likely to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November, as The Wall Street Journal recently reported.
“Negotiations with Kim will likely include at least a tacit acknowledgement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program,” he said.
Ruggiero went on to say, “In addition to Washington’s acceptance of North Korea’s nuclear program, Trump could offer a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War, a better political and economic relationship, and a permanent end to military exercises with South Korea.”
You can read more at the link, but this guy is basically advocating for the end of the U.S.-ROK alliance. How do you have an alliance that does not do military exercises together?
Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
When I first saw the videos of these deadly flash floods in Nepal, it looked like it was AI-generated, but it wasn’t. The wall of water caused by the glacial collapse created an incredible wall of water that led to mass destruction:
President Lee Jae Myung called for using all available means in response to deadly flooding in Nepal that left nine Koreans missing, leading a government-wide effort during an emergency meeting, Thursday.
He also underscored cooperation with the Nepali government, urging the authorities to activate every diplomatic channel.
“We have convened this unscheduled emergency meeting because the lives and safety of our citizens are at grave risk,” Lee said as he presided over the gathering at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in central Seoul, a day after the disaster struck Nepal.
The nine missing Koreans are three employees of Korea South-East Power Co. and six from Doosan Enerbility, all of whom were working on the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Rasuwa region. They are among the more than 820 people missing. So far, the death toll has surpassed 270.
Another 10 Doosan Enerbility employees had been stranded in the affected area alongside about 200 Nepali and other foreign workers.
Nine of them were evacuated to safety by a Nepali military helicopter later Thursday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The remaining employee, a site manager, reportedly chose to stay behind with two Korean Embassy officials until all local workers were rescued.
You can read more at the link.
I can’t believe I find myself agreeing with Chung Dong-young, but he is right:
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday North Korea’s nuclear capabilities have grown 100,000 times over the past 30 years, insisting that pursuing North Korea’s complete denuclearization is no longer sustainable.
Chung made the remarks at a forum, as Pyongyang has continued to advance its nuclear capabilities and claimed its nuclear status is “irreversible,” while ruling out denuclearization talks.
“It is evidently the harsh truth that the approach of pushing for the complete denuclearization (of North Korea) pursued in the past is no longer sustainable,” Chung said in his opening speech at the annual Global Korea Forum.
You can read more at the link.
I wonder what is causing a rise in crime on Jeju? 🤔
The concentration of cases, and the local police’s failures surrounding some of them, has unsettled residents and visitors alike.
“Many people come to Jeju to stay for several months at a time. I’ve heard that some tenants are canceling their leases following the recent incidents.” a Jeju resident surnamed Cho, who runs a short-term rental business, wrote on Instagram. (…….)
Tourism businesses in Jeju are particularly on edge as the island is already grappling with a decline in domestic visitors.
According to the Jeju Tourism Organization, 963,401 domestic travelers visited the island in July, down 12.4 percent, or 136,620, from 1,100,021 a year earlier. It marked the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020 that Jeju’s monthly domestic visitor count fell below 1 million.
The downward trend continued into August. From Aug. 1-23, Jeju received an average of 35,295 domestic visitors per day, about 300 fewer than the 35,575 recorded during the same period last year.
According to data from the Korean National Police Agency, the island recorded the country’s highest crime rate in 2024, at 4,539.6 crimes per 100,000 people. The rate is calculated based on Jeju’s resident population of around 663,000, while the island receives millions of visitors each year.
You can read more at the link.
