South Korea’s world-renowned ice fishing festival kicks off

South Korea’s world-renowned annual ice fishing festival has kicked off after a three-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nearly 129,000 people braved below freezing temperatures for the 2023 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival on Saturday, turning out for a chance to catch trout with hooks or even bare hands on a frozen lake close to the inter-Korean border.

Gangwon Province’s county of Hwacheon has seen large crowds of visitors gathering to catch ‘sancheoneo’ mountain trout since the festival was launched 20 years ago.

Participants try to catch the trout through holes cut in the surface of the vast frozen river.

The event has become a favoured celebration for the abundance of trout that floods the northern province at this time of year.

Organisers said they plan to release 171 tonnes of sancheoneo into the frozen river covering 61,054 square meters during this year’s festival.

Nation’s best festival

Launched in 2003, the event was chosen as the nation’s best festival by the culture ministry in 2010 and has drawn in more than a million visitors annually from 2006 to 2019.

As well as taking part in fishing, guests also have an opportunity to taste grilled sancheoneo and try out ice football and sledding.

Organisers will also operate foreigner-only fishing areas, resting and cooking areas, and a prayer room for Muslims.

The festival will continue for 23 days through January 29 with medical teams on alert to ensure the safety of those involved.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The woman had applied to be kindergarten teacher and was rejected because of her headscarf.

The president admitted that during the demonstrations, protesters not only objected to the reform plan but also to their living standards and soaring prices.

Controversial bill that would eliminate "special protection" residency permits for migrants who don't qualify for asylum, but who face humanitarian risks back home, passes government.

5 cubic kilometres (1.2 cubic miles) of ice melted in the Alps, Copernicus says in its European State of the Climate Report 2022.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now on its 421st day.

Rail workers' union says it needs to step up pressure on employers as it seeks inflation-busting pay raise.

Resignation follows findings into eight formal complaints that the deputy leader and justice secretary had been abusive toward staff members during a previous stint in that office and while serving as Britain's foreign secretary and Brexit secretary.

Accidentally released from a Su-34 bomber of the Russian air force, the bomb left a 20-metre-wide crater in the middle of a boulevard flanked by apartments, injuring two.

In March, Pristina and Belgrade verbally agreed to implement a Western-backed plan to improve ties and defuse tensions in northern Kosovo by offering more autonomy to local Serbs.

International students from Syria and Ukraine also came under a barrage of insults by the German language teacher at a school in the Austrian capital.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now on its 422nd day.

Drop in precipitation has led to the steady retreat of the lake's water, which in some places has receded by up to three kilometers putting the species that depend on it and another nearby body of water at risk.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now on its 423rd day.

The report suggests the overall death tolls for the continent could be higher as it did not cover major industrial nations of Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

"Some want my legitimacy to be tested ... . Let's have a referendum," says Aleksandar Vucic.

Europe's biggest economy has seen some of the most disruptive strikes in decades this year as unions press for higher wages to offset the surging cost of living.

Tomorrows session in Moscow aims to help bring peace in region, says Turkish national defence minister

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now on its 426th day.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announces travel ban and assets freeze on four individuals and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "in its entirety".

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now in its 420th day.

With the adoption of new legislation, cocoa, coffee, palm oil and soya exporters must prove their products do not contribute to deforestation.

Church bells and sirens will sound in honour of those killed during the month-long revolt in 1943, which was the largest single act of Jewish resistance against the Germans during World War II.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now in its 419th day.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now on its 417th day.

The unions are demanding an increase in real wages this year after two years of consumer prices rising faster than nominal wages, citing healthy profits in Norwegian industries.