Hwacheon mayor invites all the ambassadors to enjoy mountain trouts, other rare features

By Publisher Lee Kyung-sik, VCs Joy Cho, Choe Nam-suk, Feature Editors Kim Hyung-dae, Taylor Hong

Korea has one of the most interesting winter festivals. It is the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival hosted by the Hwacheon County of the Gangwon Province in the northeastern sector of the Republic of Korea.

This is the Festival begins in January and ambassadors and their spouses are invited to attend the Opening Ceremony on January 6th.

Among the most prominent countries of the world attending the Festival is the Russian Federation, Ambassador Konstantin V. Vunokov of the Russian Federation in Seoul in particular. Ambassador Vnukov takes personal interest in the promotion of relations, cooperation and friendship between his country and the Republic of Korea.

Russian is very highly revered among the leaders and people of the Hwacheon County of the Gangwon Province for the successive Ambassadors' participation in the Mountain Trout Festival enthusiastically hosted by the County.

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Again, in the New Year, the date of the tour for the ambassadors is Friday January the 6th,

For three frigid weeks every January, the frozen river of the mountain town Hwacheon in Korea’s Gangwon Province changes into a glittering ice playground for the magical Hwacheon Mountain Trout and Ice Festival. At this festival, tourists and locals alike join together to catch the rare mountain trout (sancheoneo) found only in the clean waters of the river by traditional ice fishing.

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is worth visiting because you get to experience a traditional Korean winter festival on a day trip from Seoul. There are also lots of other interesting ice-based games, cultural activities, and opportunities for sightseeing around this fish-focused town. This winter festival creates such a lively atmosphere it’s no wonder that it attracts over one million visitors every year.

In this article you can find out what there is to see and do at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, including the various ice-based activities and attractions, how to get there by tour or public transport, and information about other ice fishing festivals in Korea. If you’re thinking of visiting this fun winter festival, and want to know why it’s one of CNN’s “7 Wonders of Winter.”

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival runs from January 6th until January 23rd, 2024, right during the coldest part of winter in Korea when the river freezes over and there is ice over 40cm thick. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe to walk on, or even slide and sled on, even with all those holes drilled in it for you to catch fish through.

The Hwacheon Moutain Trout Festival provides a whole day of fun for people of all ages with lots of activities available for everyone. The main draw is the ice fishing, which is one of the first things you see, but as your eyes stretch out over the icy river, you’ll notice a whole town alive with things to explore.

Mayor Choi introduces the Hwancheon County as follows:

The Hwacheon county has many high mountains such as Daeseong San mountain, Hwaak San mountain, Baekam San mountain, and Jeokgeun san mountain. All of them have so beautiful valleys which is filled with the cleanest and coldest stream in our country. The valley water meanders into Paro Lake and Hwacheon Lake all year round.

In addition to that, we hold ‘Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival’ in winter that is held in every January when our county is surrounded in the beautiful snowy scenery. In summer,

‘Hwacheon Jjokbae water festival’ is held in every July when the summer romance in clear water and on green fields is wide- spread in visitors heart. And we open ‘Hwacheon Hwaaksan Tomato Festival’ which is very famous for its best –themed family tour in the nation.

Hwacheon boasts the cleanest environment in the nation where the nature and town people coexist in harmony.

I invite you to visit us and enjoy our beautiful natural scenery and the innocent and warm hospitality.

We, the residents of Hwacheon will treat all of you and you will be welcomed anytime like our family.

According to “In My Korea 2023” by Ms. Kim Na-young, a world-renowned annual ice fishing festival kicked off in the Gangwon Province county of Hwacheon in 2023 after a two-year pause due to COVID-19. Here are excerpts from her article:

The 2023 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival will continue for 23 days through Jan. 29 in the remote mountain town close to the inter-Korean border and about 90 kilometers northeast of Seoul, its organizers said.

It is the first event to be held normally after three years. The 2020 festival did not take place due to unseasonably warm weather, while the 2021 and 2022 editions were canceled due to the pandemic.

In the festival, participants try to catch "sancheoneo," a species of mountain trout, through holes cut in the surface of a vast frozen river, as well as take part in barehanded fishing, sledding, ice football and other events.

Organizers said they plan to release 171 tons of sancheoneo into the frozen river covering 61,054 square meters during this year's festival. Sancheoneo is a species of trout known to live only in very clean fresh water.

The tourists will also be given chances to taste grilled sancheoneo at a nearby cooking zone.

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

In particular, they will make all-out efforts to ensure the safety of Korean and foreign visitors against COVID-19. Divers will also check the condition of the frozen river, such as the thickness of the ice, every day to determine the appropriate number of festival participants.

Launched in 2003, the event was chosen as the nation's best festival by the culture ministry in 2010 and drew more than 1 million visitors annually from 2006 to 2019.

Here is our article with a lot of pictures showing the tour organized by The Korea Post media for the Ambassadors, Madams and all the members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps:

Some 60 ambassadors, senior diplomats and their spouses visited the 2014 Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival and Ice Fantasia on Jan. 17, 2014, including Ambassadors Konstantin Vnukov of the Russian Federation, Ngovi Kitau of Kenya, Mohamed Salim Alharvy of Oman, Kaman Singh Lama of Nepal, Petar Andonov of Bulgaira, Rohana Ramli of Malasia (lady ambassador), Ramzi Teymurov of Azerbaijanm (charge d’affaires) and Branko Marjanac of Serbia (charge d’affaires), most of them accompanied by their spouses.

They rode an icebreaker steel boat (nay, a 'water breaker' because the Paroho Lake didn't freeze on that particular day) to the Peace Dam, saw a video at the K-Water Museum on top of the Dam concerning the history of the Dam, tolled the Peace Bell of the World and shook hands with the Nobel Peace Prize laureates (portrait paintings with real-size molded hands), who included former President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Russian Federation, the late former President Kim Dae-jung and Independence Fighter Madam Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar.

Due to the unusually mild temperatures in the region where in other years the mercury hit somewhere around minus 17 to over 20 degrees centigrade, the Paroho Lake did not freeze in spite of the fact that the coldest month of the year, January, was well past its middle point.

The icebreaker had no ice to break and so it just broke the water and carried the passengers (members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps) to the shore near the Peace Dam.

It was no summer but the ambassadors and the senior diplomats refused to stay in the warm cabin of the boat but mostly stayed outside on the decks of the boat enjoying the winter scenery of the shores of the island inside the lake as well as the landscapes surrounding it.

It presented an entirely different view of the shores and island from that to which one is accustomed to in the summer, spring and autumn seasons.

Almost everyone kept shooting the lakeside landscape scenes with their mobile phone cameras.

At the K-Water Museum, the guests were invited to view videos telling the history and role of the Peace Dam. It showed when the construction started by former President Chun Doo-hwan (for political expediency), how the construction was stopped by the liberal governments after Chun, then how, ironically, the Dam was further reinforced by the liberal successors, namely Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. (See further details at the end of this Article.)

Earlier at the welcome ceremony that was followed by a luncheon, Mayor Chung Gap-cheol said, “The Hwacheon County is a place where a total of over 100,000 young people from all sides died at the Paroho Lake in the fiercest battle of the Korean War for the sole reason that they had ideologies that were different from one another.”

“That is why,” he said, “we are planning to build a World Peace Memorial Tower and a Memorial Peace Park here to console the souls of the fallen youths of both sides from various different countries of the world.” (See full details toward the end of this Article.)

In response, Ambassador Konstantin Vnukov of the Russian Federation, dean of the visiting members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps, said, “For us, diplomats, the Hwacheon County, which more than 60 years ago was the fiercest battle ground of the Korean War, nowadays is becoming a Center of Peace and Cooperation. Peace Bell of the World proves it.

“Another outstanding feature of the leaders and people of Hwacheon is your famous hospitality which always warms us despite the cold weather. Many thanks!” (See further details of the return speech toward the end of this Article.)
Following the briefing session of the Peace Dam, the ambassadors and other senior diplomats were invited to toll the Peace Bell of the World with prayers for their own good health and good luck as well as for the peace in Korea and the world.

Some of the visitors also shook hands with the world-famous personalities, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, who included former Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev of the Russian Federation and Kim Dae-jung of Korea and Independence Movement Leader Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar.

The visiting diplomats were then invited to try their skills in catching mountain trouts through small holes made on the surface of the frozen river.

Some had luck to catch some such as Charge d’Affaires and Mrs. Ramzi Teymurov of Azerbaijan, Defense Attache Brig. Gen. and Mrs. Angel Gonzalez Castillo of Mexico, Defense Attache Col. Emmanuel Fernandez of Spain, Miss Ramli (daughter of the ambassador of Malaysia), Seoul Bureau Chief Wang Gang of the Legal Daily of China and Managing Editor Chang Ik-kyung of WOW TV (TV arm of the leading Korean-language business daily, Hankuk Kyungje). Others left the fishing ground empty-handed. However, they were all treated to roast mountain trouts on barbeque grills inside a transparent make-shift hut.

The trouts, in fact, had been fully cooked in advance and were brought to the grill site for additional heating. The arrangement substantially saved time for the guests; otherwise, they would have had to wait quite for some time before they were adequately cooked.

Toward the end of the tour, the visiting diplomats were asked if they would wish to see the ‘Transparent World of Ice” (or an Ice Palace) as it was well past evening. They said OK and the tour to the ‘Transparent World’ took place.

If they had left without seeing the ‘Transparent World,’ however, they would have greatly regretted it because the place, after all, turned out to be one of the top attractions of the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival.

The Transparent World had the Seven Wonders of the World and many more famed architectural structures built solely with ice blocks. There were some extra ‘Wonders of the World’ such as the Namdaemun (South) Gate in Seoul. Anyone visiting the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival missing to see this Ice Palace is missing really something.

The architectural splendors of the world in ice included the Mounted Pyotr (Peter) the Great of Russia who established the Saint Petersburg, the Cathedral of Basil the Blessed on the Red Square of Moscow of the Russian Federation, the Temple of Heaven of China in Beijing constructed in 15th century, the Colosseum of Italy built in 70AD by Emperor Vespasianus, the Seokkulam Grotto of the Silla Kingdom (National Treasure 24 of Korea), the Golden Temple of India of the 16th century built by Guru Nanak and the Cuenca of Spain of the 12th century.

Excerpts from the welcome speech by Mayor Chung Gap-cheol:
His Excellency Ambassador Konstantin Vnukov of the Russian Federation, Excellencies and Madams, Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post, Chairman Lee Tae-Ho of the Hwacheon County Council, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Hwacheon County adjoining the Demilitarized Zone on the north was the fiercest battle ground of the Korean War symbolizing the trauma, the division of the country and the confrontation between the two sides. However, we have been developing the region into the center of peace and cooperation not only for Korea but also for the peace of the world.

On the top of the Peace Dam which Your Excellencies and Madams will visit this afternoon stands the Peace Bell of the World cast with 37.5 tons of expended bullets and shells donated by a total of over 30 countries of the world, which have suffered from conflicts like Korea.

Tolling the Bell of the World Peace, you may pray for the peace of the world and also for the happiness of your family.

The Hwacheon County is a place where a total of over 100,000 young people were victimized during the Korean War for the reason that they had ideologies that were different from one another.

That is why we are planning to build a World Peace Memorial Tower and a Memorial Peace Park here to console the souls of the fallen youths of all sides. When they are dedicated, I would like to invite Your Excellencies and Madams again to share the lofty ideas.

The Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival which Your Excellencies and Madams are attending here today was initiated in 2003 to revitalize the local economy and to advertise the Hwacheon Country as the cleanest region of the Republic of Korea. Beginning with 2006, the visiting Korean and international tourists totaled one million, which has made the Festival one of the Four Top Winter Festivals of the World.

In particular, CNN introduced the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival as one of the Seven Winter Wonders of the World in 2011, which made the Festival rank among the top winter festivals of the world.

Furthermore, in September last year, the International Festival and Events Association at its meeting in Pittsburg in the United States selected the Hwacheon County as one of the World Winter Festival Cities and the Central Government of the Republic of Korea recently selected the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival as the Representative Festival of the Republic of Korea for 2014.

The Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival has a total of over 60 different interesting programs, which include Mountain Trout Ice Fishing, Ice Fun Park, Snow Fun Park, Transparent Plaza, 3-Dimensional Plaza, Michelangelo Exhibition Hall, Seondeung (Angels Lamp) Street, and Russian Ice Dancing. Thus, the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival is not only a winter festival but a general cultural festival of the winter season.

Due to the limited time, I am unable to ask Your Excellencies and Madams to take part in all the programs of the Festival. However, I wish that you will all have a memorable experience at the Festival and enjoy the warm hospitality of the people of the Hwacheon County.

I wish the best of health and luck to all the guests and their families and wish you all a very Happy New Year. Thank you!

Return speech by Ambassador Konstantin Vnukov of Russia:
I have been to Hancheon many times in all four seasons of the year, but hundreds of thousands of people from Korea and abroad can agree that the best timing for visiting Hwacheon is undoubtedly winter because of the world-famous Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival.

The leadership and the people of the County have all the reasons to be proud and happy as due to your creativity and efforts over 60 different interesting programs within the framework of the Festival of attracting every year more than one million of visitors of different ages and nations.

For us, diplomats the Hwacheon County which more than 60 years ago was the fiercest battle ground of the Korean War, nowadays is becoming a center of Peace and cooperation. Peace Bell of the World proves it.

Another outstanding feature of the leaders and people of Hwacheon is your famous hospitality which always warms us despite the cold weather. Many thanks!

In a few days our Korean friends and all of us will celebrate the Lunar New Year the year of the Horse. There is a saying in the Eastern countries in this year--Let the Horse bring all of us full success in all the endeavors.

Irony of the history of the Peace Dam: Construction of the Peace Dam started in October 1986 when the general-turned dictatorial former President Chun Doo-Hwan was in power. Chun told the nation, “North Korea is building the Kumgang-san Dam as a means of ‘Flood Offensive’ with a water storage capacity of 20 billion tons which would be enough flood one third of the entire city of Seoul.”

The media drummed up Chun’s announcement and warned, “The 63 Building on Yeoui-do Islet in Seoul would be under the water up to its waist and the National Assembly building would have only its roof above water with the rest submerged in the North Korea-released water. The Chun government widely advertised the ‘urgent need for building the dam’ and raised a total of 66.1 billion won. Construction proceeded at a super-high speed and the Dam was dedicated within one year after the constructed started.

At this juncture, the North Korean regime suddenly stopped building the Kumgang-san Dam rendering Chun’s construction of the Peace Dam ill-justified. Then the public opinion in South Korea turned against Chun and the opposition camp charged Chun with a fraudulent maneuver to thwart the people’s attention from their criticism against the maladministration of the Chun government.

In the summer of 1999, however, there was a heavy rain fall of 700 to 800 millimeters which threatened the safety of Hwacheon Hydraulic Power-generating Dam. The Hwacheon Dam, however, was saved from collapse thanks to the flood controlling role played by the Peace Dam. If there had been no Peace Dam, the flood would have swept away the Hwacheon Dam and all other dams along the Northern Han River downstream would have been washed away.

Even without North Korea’s ‘Flood Offensive’ from its Kumgang-san Dam, the flood could have turned the entire city of Seoul into a large pool of muddy water. Such a situation also developed earlier in 1996, but nobody dared to praise the successful containment role played by the Peace Dam because it was originally built by the unpopular dictatorial government of President Chun.

Then North Korea resumed building its Kumgang-san Dam in the early part of 2002 and releasd muddy water down the river of the Hwacheon County at the rate of 206 tons per second. North Korea sent a total of 350 million tons of water for 19 days in a row, which even made the Peace Dam dangerous. This was during the rule of the liberal government of President Kim Dae-jung (DJ) who was lenient and sympathetic toward North Korea. The DJ government asked the North Korean regime to control the release of water from its Kumgang-san Dam, but the North Korean regime completely ignored DJ’s request. President Kim DJ called a National Security Conference, and decided to reinforce the Peace Dam.

The DJ government started reinforcing the Peace Dam in a hush hush lest it should ‘irritate’ the North Korean regime. The expansion construction of extra 125 meters of the Peace Dam was completed during the rule of another liberal and more progressive President Roh Moo-hyun who succeeded Kim DJ.

When the expansion construction of the Peace Dam was over, President Roh Moo-hyun did not attend the dedication ceremony and even the prime minister, who had been scheduled to attend, did not actually show up at the ceremony. Instead, the dedication ceremony was attended by the president of the K-Water and the director of the Wonju City National Land Management Institute.

Neither President Kim Dae-jung nor President Roh Moo-hyun had ever visited the Peace Dam.

The dictatorial President Chun Doo-hwan, after retirement, visited the Peace Dam in 2009 many years with an entourage of his military and conservative followers. There was no record of his role in the construction of the Peace Dam. Chun was quoted by the media at the time as saying, “Well, my construction of the Peace Dam has not been fully justified--after all.”

All the same, many people question, even today, the veracity of Chun’s estimation of 20-billion-ton water storage capacity of the North Korean Kumgang-san Dam.