Traditional Korean Lifestyle Harmonized With Nature

By Cha Joon-yup Constributing Writer

Jirye Artist Town. a 45-minute drive mostly on an unpaved road east of Andong City in Kyongsang-pukto, is nestled in the midst of rich mountainous flora and pristine forests.

Overlooking the meandering Naktong River, the town is deemed as one of the very few ecological habitats in the southern half of the Korean peninsula.

Visitors to the town, located exactly opposite the much-publicized "Hahoe Maul", can get a genuine taste of traditional Korean living culture in harmony with untainted nature.

The birth of the town traces back to 1990, when a cluster of traditional Korean houses fo the "Kim" clan, originating from Uisong in Kyonsang-pukto, was threatened to become submerged due to the construction of a huge dam. Built in 1663, the traditional Korean houses were then located 200 meters below the town.

Their move to the present location was the fruit of lonely but strenuous struggles fo five years by Kim Won-gil, who gave up his faculty seat at Andong University to save them for posterity as well as to use them as a creative ground for artists. He also intended to help foreign tourists get in touch with the genuine aspects of traditional Korean culture.

The culturally rich houses were relocated to the town shortly before the dam's completion in 1990.

Traditional Korean houses called "Hanok" can be easily assembled and dissembled.

Besides local visitors, foreign tourists, mostly cultural and anthropological scholars, occasionally visit the town to appreciate the history of the Land of the Morning Calm and take a look into the nature-friendly traditional Korean living style.

Most of all, they are impressed by ancestral family rites conducted over 10 nights a year. They are also allowed to taste and take with them food offered to ancestors after the rites.

The town will offer a camp for teenagers, both local and foreign, on Aug. 1~5, to give them a chance to experience traditional Korean living.

For further info on Jirye Artist Town, visit the homepage(www.jirye.com) of send an e-mail to (webmaster@jirye.com) of call (016-502-2590)