Went to the lovely East Sea town of Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do this weekend for a story I’m working on for SEOUL magazine. I’m saving most of the photos for the magazine piece, but I’ll share a couple with you below, along with a couple of short videos.
Film set of SBS drama “Into the Storm.” A beautiful Japanese-style house (built for the drama) on a cliff overlooking the East Sea.
Small fishing port of Jukbyeon-myeon. If you like crabs, this is the place to come, especially in the morning, when the crab market opens.
Fishing boats in Jukbyeon-myeon. I’m curious as to the branch stuck on the mast of the boat at the right.
Notice the mountains of the Baekdudaegan (Korea’s mountainous spine) in the background. Quite beautiful.
Don’t worry—I’m sure they sell only the ones the fishermen found already dead in their nets.
East Sea from the Wolseong-jeong Pavilion, Pyeonghae-myeon
East Sea beach, near Pyeonghae-myeon
I’d been to Uljin several times when I was living in Gyeongsangbuk-do, but Sunday was the first time I’d been to the town in about seven years. It didn’t take long for me to remember why I loved the town—and the province as a whole—so much. It’s a great place that, like much of that part of the country, has a distinct regional charm that’s very refreshing if you live in Seoul. And there’s nothing I love more than visiting the East Sea in winter—it’s a perfect place to contemplate life, and the small fishing villages that dot the coast always remind this Long Islander of home.
14 Comments
perhaps my favorite place in korea.
Just when I think I’ve gotten over my ‘homesickness’ for Asia, you post a photo gallery that makes me long to return. Getting paid to travel around Korea beats translating for the Chosun Ilbo, doesn’t it?
Marmot,
The Japanese put a tree branch on their front doors, boats etc, for the New Year. They typically remove it after the 7th of January. Since learning on your blog that the Japanese could be a lost tribe of Israel, one can not refute anything? Great shots, I need to get down there sometime!
Brings back memories of stopping in Uljin for an hour or so a few years back, while driving from Pohang to Sokcho. Around the same time of year too. That stretch of road, in particular the area around Uljin, is the most scenic drive in Korea.
Uljin is my favorite part of Korea. I go there for the Deokgu Spa. I found the farms around there look a lot cleaner and healthier than the rest of Korea.
I was told that the branches on the boats are a Shamanistic thing.
The Deoksu Spa is great. Nice location, too, for an outdoor spa.
Yeah it is — deep in there, wilderness all around. Not-so-well-known is that Korea’s largest Okhwang-sangje [Jade Emperor of Heaven, top Daoist deity] shrine is located in that same valley…
Uljin is surely a wonderful place to hang around, in any season — scenic beauty and rural charm — it would be great to spend a whole year there… Tho so isolated.
Lovely photos, again, Robert! But forgive me if i get technical on your caption for the third one — that is not “the mountains of the Baekdudaegan (Korea’s mountainous spine) in the background” — the Baekdu-daegan Line turns sharply west some 40 km west from there (Jukbyeon) — even the main ridge of the southern tail of the Taebaek-sanmaek Range (aka the Nakdong-jeongmaek Branch) runs way inland at that point — those in your shot are just a coastal sub-range of the Taebaek. Indeed “quite beautiful”, anyway. Info on where the Baekdu-daegan Line runs is here.
Per Sanshinseon’s site:
Yes, this is one of the unique cultural beliefs I’ve noted in the Korean psyche and it is not a bad idea at all but I’ve noted some attempts by pro-NK elements to use this to promote their own brand of Korean nationalism and politics, which leads to a more sinister application of this idea (”dark side of the force”), unfortunately.
I really like this page from your site “sanshinseon”, its quite informative.
Thanks. Your “noted some attempts by pro-NK elements to use this [Baekdu-daegan] to promote their own brand of Korean nationalism and politics” is interesting to me — are there any examples you could describe or link to…?
Loitering in Busan for a couple of days at the end of December, I realized how photogenic it actually is compared to Seoul; seems it’s mostly due to the hills and the sea, especially the ports. And the sea is blue thanks to the so often cloudless sky…
By the way, here’s a photography report by a Korean blogger about Japanese-style houses and buildings in Yongsan.
Antti—The link you provided is back to this post. Could you resend that link, as I’d be really keen to see the blog post.
Not this one, by any chance:
http://nardoldol.egloos.com/2951991
That post exactly. (Sorry about my silly mistake.) How did you find it? I’ve linked to that blogger’s posts every now and then, and his blog is a good place to visit for those interested in urban space (and nostalgic about old and disappearing places).
I just ran a Google search after you mentioned it. Thanks a lot for that heads-up!