한국국제교류재단

Sometimes people ask me, "What was the happiest moment in your life?" As soon as I hear this question I go over the pages in my memory, one by one. Happy moments, big and small. I find it hard to choose one among them. Because some moments, so fleeting that they are scarcely remembered, have the power to shake up your soul.

So I like to ask in return, "What was the saddest moment in your life?" But the sad moments that people talk about come across as happiness to me. Likewise, of all the sadnesses in life I can't say which is the sad- dest. So I like to respond: "When the sun doesn't rise in the morning." It's not something I have ever expe- rienced, but for everyone surely this would be the saddest thing that could happen. Life and death, mystery and beauty, spirit and fate. In the time between the rising and setting of the sun, human beings write their memories.

Guyongpo, an estuary remed after a legend of nine dragons rising heavenward from the spot, seen from the air.

When I travel to the East Sea there is a place that I always stop by, like a ritual. It's the rock carvings at Chilpo-ri in the city of Pahang. Lying by the side of a quiet country road on the way to the East Sea, off National Highway No. 7, they were etched in the Bronze Age some 3,000 years ago. When I first saw them, my mind seemed to fill with light. It was as if some special stars were shining in the Milky Way. They reflect- ed the dreams dreamt by prehistoric people as they looked up at the night sky.

I took a few turns around the rock. And when I looked at the carvings again I saw a big vase. It was full of flowers. Three thousand years ago someone had carved a vase and flowers on this rock. To me the carvings seemed to be that person's picture of the universe and the song of praise he offered to it. At that moment, the sun emerged from behind the clouds. Thesun's rays quietly stroked the rock surface. I nodded. I put my hands together before the rock and bowed.In Eastern India, there is a marvelous monu- ment called the Konark Sun Temple. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the temple is built in the shape of a colossal chariot dedicated to the Sun God. It is mounted on 24 chariot wheels, each three meters in diameter, symbolizing the cycle of the seasons and the months. I visited the Sun Temple on January 1, 2010. The relief carvings of deities and kings on the chariot, originally 50 meters high, were enigmatic and beautiful. The temple was crowded with pilgrims from all over India and the orange saris that they wore dazzled in the sun. The temple swarming with thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of orange-clad pilgrims, looked like one huge roll- ing sun. Walking among the crowds, I felt the energy of the sun rising within me.

Later that year, I headed back to the Sun Temple during the rainy season. When I reached Puri, the city was flooded and the roadto Konark was cut off. All the drivers shook their heads. Then, one man in an orange sari came up to me. "Why do you want to go to Konark?" "I want to see the Sun Temple." "The road is flooded, and even if you could get there the temple would be closed." "I'd look at it from the outside." I don't know why I was being so obstinate. The man was a rickshaw driver. In a ramshackle three-wheeled auto rickshaw we drove over the flooded roads. On the way, the rain stopped. Storm water began to drain from the roads and when we reached the Sun Temple three hours later, the sun had begun to shine. That day I found the hap- piness of walking around the temple with a small number of other pilgrims. When my mind becomes clouded, I think of that day. If anyone were to ask me about the best thing I've done in my life, would talk about that day.

My pilgrimage to the Chilpo-ri rock carvings over, I headed for Homigot.

Large crowds converge at Sunrise Plaza in Hormigot to greet the first sunrise of the New Year. On the left is the National Lighthouse Museum, where the history of Korea's navigation aid technology can be explored

The name Homigot means "a cape in the shape of a tiger's tail." In the early 20th century, the modern writer and intellectualChoe Nam-seon compared the shape of the Korean peninsula to a tiger, with its front paws embracing Manchuria. The tiny point of land forming the tiger's tail is Homigot in Pohang, North Gyeong- sang Province. This is where the sun rises first in Korea. When their country was forcibly annexed by Japan in 1910, many Kore- ans would come here and pray for the country's liberation as they watched the sun rise above the horizon. For Koreans, the sunrise on Homigot is not just any sunrise. Choe Nam-seon considered it to be the best of the ten most beautiful sights of Korea.

The rock carvings at Chilpo-ri in the city of Pahang are dated to the Bronze Age, same 3,000 years ago.

If you are a foreign visitor traveling in Korea in winter, watching the sunrise at Homigot will be a special experience. Even better it the sunrise you see is the first of the New Year. On that day, warm rice cake soup, a traditional dish eaten on New Year's Day, is hand- ed out free to all visitors. All the people gathered here at the sea- side on the year's first morning can enjoy breakfast together as they watch the sun come up. A tide of goodwill washes over everyone as they gaze the blazing sun rise over the water. May the world be a better place! May everyone be healthy and love and care for eachother! As I watch the people put their hands together to pray in the glow of the rising sun, I also say my own prayers. May the warm and beautiful hours of uni- fication come in our lifetime!

In Homigot there is a pair of large bronze sculptures of cupped hands, named "The Hands of Harmony." One hand rises from the sea and the other emerges from the ground. The two hands face each other. It seems people's hearts are in greater sympathy with the hand in the sea. They sense a greater vitality from the hand that shoots above the ocean waves. There comes a moment when the sun rests upon that hand, and everyone is busy clicking away on their cameras. They seek to capture the energy of the sun in their own lives. Following the quiet road beside the wharf to its end, there appears a stone monument engraved with the poem "Green Grapes" Cheongpodo] by Lee Yuk-sa.

In my hometown
July is when the green grapes ripen.
The village legends bloom in clusters
And the dreamy sky faraway descends on the grapes,
Under the sky the blue sea bares its bosom
And when the white-sailed boat comes in
My long-awaited guest will come
With weary body wrapped in green.
Then I will pick these grapes for him
Happy to get my hands soaked.
Come here child, prepare the table
With a white cloth on the silver tray

Arrested several times during the Japanese colonial period for his resistance activities, Lee died in pris- lin on in January 1944. It was less than a year since he had been imprisoned, so the tortures that he suffered can easily be imagined. A year after Lee's death, another young Korean poet died in a Japanese prison, the 28-year-old Yun Dong-ju. The death of these two poets, whose lives and writings epitomized this age of suf- fering, was a tragic loss for Korean literature.

Kênh Pohang, một dòng nướcdo con người tạo nên, chảygiữa Songdo-dong và Jukdodong,là một nơi thu hút nhiềukhách du lich vì cuộc đuathuyền lãng mạn, kéo dài suốt1.3km chiều dài của nó

People call the roadway that wraps around Homigot the "Homi Cape Trail." Along this road are a handful of seaside villages redolent with the essence of Korean people's everyday lives. Guryongpo is an estuary in the shape of nine dragons soaring skyward, which is the meaning of its name. The waves crash high against the seawall. The brilliant spray d by the sunbeams break through the waves. They could have been seen as the nine legendary dragons, perhaps? Just ambling along the snowy wharf, the image of a long lost dragon etched in your mind, is enough to make a visit to this place worthwhile. Visitors to Guryongo always seek out the local delicacy, a dried fish called gwamegi. Mackerel pike caught in the East Sea are dried in the sea wind, and then repeatedly frozen and thawed until the oil is extracted. The flesh becomes tender but retains the deep flavor of the sea. The sight of fishermen sitting by the wharf grilling the dried fish and drink- ing soju is homely and enchanting at the same time. More so, considering that they have endured a lifetime, with the spirit of the legendary dragons living inside them. "Where are you from?" "Have a drink." Laughing jovially, these dragons push a shot glass in front of me.

Mackerel pike caught in the Eant Sea are hung up and dried in the open, lashed by wintry wind from the sea. After repeated freezing and thawing, the half-dried fish are transformed into gwamegi, a local delicacy of Guryongpo

Seen from the Homi Cape Trail at night, the lights of the POSCO plant are truly spectacular. The steel- works sitting in the middle of Yeongil Bay, POSCO Pohang Works is the second-largest steel plant in the world. Here, steel sheets for automotives, shipbuilding, home appliances, and other products are made. POSCO steel sheets played a vital role in Korea's growth to the 11th largest economy in the world. No won- der the Pohang locals take great pride in the steelworks.

Beyond the lights of the POSCO complex, there is another pride of the locals. Pohang Canal, completed in January 2014, is a 1.3-kilometer canal winding its way through the city of Pohang. The manmade water- course runs through an area that had long been filled with squalid housing units and the foul odor of factory wastewater. Now it's a pleasure to stroll along the canal banks and visit the galleries, cafes, and playgrounds that have replaced the slums. For tourists visiting Pohang in autumn, a festival will bring back memories of their childhood. The highlight of the festival is the bangti race. Bangti is the local word for a large tub.1 Mackerel pike caught in the Eant Sea are hung up anddried in the open, lashed by wintry wind from the sea After repeated freezing and thowing, the hall-driedgwameg a local delicacy ofMarket, which has same 2,500 stalls selling fresh and dried seafood, and 200 restaurants serving rawfish dishes. It is the largest fish market on the east coast.

One person sits in a tub, not quite a meter across, and maneuvers it along the canal by hand toward the finish line. This canal race through the city is full of nostalgia and the romance of yesteryear.

One of the greatest pleasures for tourists might be the Jukdo Market at the end of the canal. The biggest fish market on the east coast, it includes more than 2,500 stalls selling fresh and dried fish, and some 200 restaurants that specialize in fresh raw seafood. As you walk among the stalls brimming with fish of all colors, as well as shellfish, octopus, and prawns, the clamor and the briny smell of the fish market will permeate your body. This has to be the greatest cure for travel fatigue. For a moment, memories of old fish markets of the past come to mind.

Where Pohang Canal reaches the sea lies Jukdo Market, which has same 2,500 stalls selling fresh and dried seafood, and 200 restaurants serving rawfish dishes. It is the largest fish market on the east coast.

I once traveled to Puna on the Island of Hawaii when I was com- missioned to write a story about the city. With the help of the local tourist office, I boarded a mini-submarine and explored the under- sea waters. I saw fish and corals in a multitude of colors. Watchingthe fish swim through the sea vegetation, I thought it wouldn't be bad to be born a fish in the next life and live in this ocean. According to my itinerary, the next day I went to the fish market at the crack of dawn. Fresh fish were laid out on the stalls and the voices of the fish sellers were loud and cacophonous. For the first time I found the dynamism and vitality of the fish market uncomfortable. It was because of the fish I had seen in their habitat the day before.

I once went to a fish market in Russia, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when I was on my way to visit a Korean student and his family. It was the middle of winter and king crabs and cod fish were piled high in mounds. I had been wondering what to buy for a gift and decided on the crabs and cod. I bought enough for four people but it only cost me ten dollars. The temperature was minus 20 degrees. There was no heating in the apartment, but as we cooked and ate the seafood for dinner it didn't fool cold.

As I walk by the Pohang seaside, little by little I grow more alive. The never failing sunrise seems to embrace the meager stories of my life and give them warmth.com