Chase Away Winter Blues at Hot Springs in Korea

In the middle of the winter when temperatures hover below zero, there's nothing more tempting than a relaxing soak at “oncheon”, or hot springs, a popular destination for those wanting to escape the cold.

Korea is known for its numerous hot springs, which are filled with various minerals and elements such as alkaline, radium, sulfur and sodium. The mineral-rich water is supposedly good for one's health by stimulating blood circulation, combating fatigue and helps cure various skin diseases like arthritis, anemia, neuralgia (painful nerve disorder), high blood pressure and certain gastrointestinal diseases.

I would like to introduce the most popular and conveniently accessible hot springs in Korea!

Dogo Hot Springs

Dogo is the most famous hot springs area in terms of scale and facilities in Asan, South Chuncheong Province, home to the oldest hot springs in the country. It has been famous since the ancient Shilla Dynasty for its medicinal water. Legend has it that a king of the Shilla Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC-668) visited Dogo Hot Springs, said to be the oldest in Korea, to bathe his battle wounds and was able to regain his health. Starting development 200 years ago, Dogo is known for natural sulfur hot springs considered as one of the best four in Asia. They are said to be effective in treating neuralgia, skin diseases, digestive ailment, arthritis, and rheumatism.

Paradise Spa Dogo in Asan, South Chungcheong Province

Seorak Waterpia: Sokcho, Gangwon Province

•  Hot Springs with Sunrise

This is the most popular travel destinations that thanks to good-quality hot spring, water and romantic winter beach on the East Sea and fresh seafood. The city is home to Korea's largest hot spring theme park, Seorak Waterpia, at the famous Mt. Seorak. It never runs out of hot spring water as 3,000 tons of alkaline sodium bicarbonate water is pumped out from 680 m underground at 49 degrees Celsius a day. It is also one of the places where people can see the sun rise faster than anywhere else in the country. 

Outdoor hot spring in Seorak Waterpia  

A small private bath in Seorak Waterpia

Toechon Spa Green Land

Toechon Spa Green Land in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province near Seoul has over 60 pools and is an ideal location for families. It also houses an herb garden and offers various events every day such as authentic Chinese circus and a magic concert. 

Foot bath in Toechon Spa Green Land

Just a few minutes spent in these hot springs would certainly relax you and make you “feel brand new.” 

Why not try to schedule a trip to one of Korea's many hot springs? =)

Source :http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/02/04/2011020400087.html

Posted by  XY

Flag of South Korean

Do all Kpop's fans or Korean'fans exactly know about what is the meaning of south Korean flag?
How does it build with behind meaning?

Here to show you guys and learn together about the south Korean flag

History of South Korean Flag

The flag was designed by King Gojong or Pak Young-hyo in 1882, and Taegeukgi was adopted as the national flag of Joseon Dynasty on March 6, 1883.During the colonial era, the flag was banned. The Taegeukgi was used as a symbol of resistance and independence during that time and ownership of it was punishable by execution.After independence, both North and South Korea initially adopted versions of the Taegeukgi, but North Korea later changed its national flag to a more Soviet-inspired design after three years (see article Flag of North Korea).The Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) has officially adopted the Taegeukgi as the national flag since July 12, 1948. After the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea, "The Rules for the flag of the Republic of Korea" was first enacted.

South Korean Flag Description:

The flag of South Korea consists of a white base. In the center of the flag is a blue and red circle, which is surrounded by four black trig-rams, one in each corner.Traditionally, the four trig rams are related to the Five Elements of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal.

	Kun	Heaven
	Yi	Fire
	Kam	Water
	Kon	Earth

South Korean Flag Meaning:

White is a traditional color of the Korean people. The emblem in the centre of the South Korean flag represents the dual forces of yin (blue) and yang (red). The yin and yang balance each other and maintain a harmonious existence by being complementary opposites, positive and negative, active and passive, male and female, night and day, good and evil and so on. Yin is the passive or static mode and yang the active or dynamic mode. The trigrams represent the elements of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal.The white color of background stands for the peace and the purity of the Korean people who have loved to wear white colored clothes. Therefore, the Korean people have been called the white-clad nation.

South Korean Flag History:

The current South Korean flag was adopted on January 25, 1950. The Republic of Korea was formed in August, 1948. The flag was designed in 1882 during the reign of King Gojong by the Korean ambassador to Japan. Gojong proclaimed the Taegeukgi to be the official flag of Korea on March 6, 1883.

Interesting South Korean Flag Facts:

In Korean the national flag is called 'Taegukki' ('Great Polarity'), taking its name from the central emblem on the flag, which is called a 'taegeuk circle.

May look and listen on small brief and clear about the description of South Korean Flag 

source: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/kr.html

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Korea

issued by S1nG

Myth of Korea: Tangun

Once upon a time, Heavenly God, Hwan-in, noticed that one of his sons, Hwan-woong, always had his heart set on the world of mortals below. God looked down upon it and found the Samwi-Taebaek mountain the most befitting place for human beings to live.

He gave his son three Cheon Bu-In(God-given seals of king) and let him go down to the earth to rule over the human beings. (Here, we can see the same name of "Cheon Bu-In" and "Cheon Bu Gyeong". So some scholars guess, the Cheon Bu-In of the myth might refer to Cheon Bu Gyeong in real history.)

Hwan-woong, with three thousand subordinates, took leave of his father and came down to the human world and held his ground under the Shindan-soo(sandalwood used to make an alter for God) on top of the Taebaek mountain. He named the place Shin-Si(divine city) and he had himself called Hwan-woong Cheon-wang (Divine king Hwan-woong). He gave people their first lessons in right living and ruled over them, taking care of human affairs of as many as three hundred sixty kinds, such as farming, death, disease, punishment and good and evil, with the three goods of Poong-baek(wind), Woo-sa(rain) and Woon-sa(cloud) under his command.

At this time it so happened that a bear and a tiger were living together in a cave. They always prayed to Divine king Hwan-woong that they be made human beings. Taking notice of their admirable wish, the divine king gave them a bundle of sacred mugworts and twenty cloves of garlic and said, "If you eat these and do not see sunlight for one hundred days you will become human beings."

The bear and the tiger immediately began to practice abstinence, living on the mugworts and garlics in cave. After twenty one days the bear became a woman, but the tiger, unable to endure the abstinence, violated the injunction of the divine king, and failed to become a human being.

Now the woman could not find any man to marry her, so she always prayed under the sandalwood to be given a child of her own. Hwan-woong tok notice of her prayer, transformed himself into a man temporarily and married her. She gave birth to a son, who was to be Tangun-Wanggeum(Kin Wanggeum of Sandalwood).

Wanggeum succeeded Hwan-woong as king. He selected Pyongyang as his capital and named the country to Asadal at the Baekak mountain and reigned over the country for a thousand and five hundred years. Thus he became the founding father of Korea.