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Great Korean Railway Journeys S01E03 Daejeon to Busan
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00:01South Korea by rail
00:04These trains are capable of more than 200 mpH
00:08The opportunity to explore one of the world's most successful countries
00:14amidst towering skyscrapers in gleaming mega cities
00:18architectural statement
00:21I'll ride the wave of Korean culture sweeping the West. It's got this very spicy sauce
00:27And encounter ancient civilizations and traditions
00:33On a peninsula divided by war along a border between capitalism and communism
00:39The sense of tension here is powerful
00:42I'll see how out of destruction and partition South Koreans have forged an impressive new identity
01:14This morning from Seoul's main station. I'm leaving the capital and heading south
01:20I've been looking forward to this state of the journey on board the high-speed Korea train Express or KTX
01:29Its first such service ran in
01:332004 and these trains are capable of up to
01:37330 kilometers per hour more than 200 mpH
01:41I'm keen to experience that velocity and to discover what contribution is trains have made to Korea's economic
01:49Miracle
01:52Starting at the demilitarized zone on the North Korean frontier
01:56I traveled to the teeming metropolis of Seoul
01:59My route would take me southeast via Daejeon to the ancient capital of Gyeongju
02:04And on to the international port of Busan
02:08In the West I'll visit Gwangju
02:10Emblem of the fight for democracy before ending my travels on Jeju
02:15The largest of over 3,000 islands
02:22Today this high-speed service will take me almost 260 miles
02:31Seoul's vast metropolitan area eventually gives way to open countryside and rice fields
02:39One difference I notice is that people on the train are very silent
02:43No one is yelling into a mobile phone and at the station people joined a long line to get into
02:51the carriage door
02:52This reminds me of the politeness of Britain
02:5550 years ago
03:00My first destination is Daejeon, a city of 1.6 million people
03:08Located in the middle of the country in the Gyeong river valley
03:11It's a center of research and education with more than 20 universities and colleges
03:21Many of my fellow passengers appear to have been shopping
03:28As I came to the station it was very noticeable that lots of people were carrying the same bag
03:34From this bakery, Sung Sim Dang
03:38Their signature pastry is known as Tuiseau
03:43Number six, please
03:50Thank you
03:53The first of the bakery's branches opened here in the station in 1956
03:59This is a fried bread with a streusel top, a crunchy top
04:07And it tastes like a doughnut with crunch
04:11It's really good
04:12The story is that a refugee from North Korea
04:15At the end of the Korean War came here to Daejeon
04:19And as a charity a local church gave him two bags of flour
04:23And from that he was able to make some steamed buns
04:26And he went on to make these brilliant tasty products
04:30Now, it's never been franchised outside this city
04:34And so, if you want this, you have to come here to buy it
04:51Twenty miles south of Daejeon is the mountainous region of Gyeong San
04:57It was the first area to cultivate what has become Korea's most prized plant
05:05Ginseng has been known to the Chinese and Koreans for many centuries
05:10And has been used as a herbal medicine
05:14With a whole variety of claimed health benefits that have made it a very popular remedy
05:21More recently, it's also been used in skin care products
05:25And that has become a major industry in Korea
05:29Foreign visitors flock to the specialist shops to stock up with facial products
05:36Ginseng, therefore, can be a good living for farmers
05:40And I've come to an institution which conducts research to improve the crop
05:46Gyeong San has been the centre of the country's ginseng trade for over 1,500 years
05:53Today, Korea's market is worth around 900 million pounds
05:57And it's the world's second biggest producer after China
06:01The Institute was established in 1995 to support local growers
06:05Yong Yun Lee is one of the researchers
06:08Yong Yun
06:10Hi, Michael
06:11Great to see you
06:12Nice to meet you
06:13So, this is ginseng
06:16You grow it under shade?
06:17Ginseng is like the strong sunshine
06:20So, they need the under the shade cultivation
06:25Why is this a good area to grow ginseng?
06:29We have many mountains
06:30Almost 3,000 mountains here
06:33And high
06:34So, daily temperature difference is very large
06:38It makes the ginseng grow well
06:40This government-funded research centre develops new cultivation techniques
06:45And novel varieties to help to support the industry
06:51How long does ginseng grow? How old is this plant, for example?
06:56It's different, but this plant is five years old
06:58With ginseng, you're interested in the root
07:02The leaf is not very useful, is it?
07:04Yeah, not useful
07:04I will show you
07:08Ginseng nutrition or beneficial ingredients in the root
07:13Right
07:15How many different species are you trying out here?
07:18We have almost 400 species
07:21If you want better crops, you have to choice the good species
07:27Yeah
07:28We have to research about the response to the climate change
07:33Improved soil fertility or soil water content
07:37And is there competition between China and Korea for ginseng?
07:43In Korea's quality, China's quantity
07:47Different
07:49This laboratory investigates the best ways to process the ginseng root
07:55Hello, Miki Yong
07:56Hello, Michael, nice to meet you
07:58Great pleasure
08:01Miki Yong Won is the institute's director
08:04Do we know why ginseng is good for us?
08:09Ginseng can help for boosting the immune system
08:14Yes
08:15And improving overall energy
08:18The main chemical is ginseng oxide
08:22We can analyze 22 kinds of ginseng oxide
08:27At the same time with this machine
08:30So we can produce more useful processed products
08:35It's interesting to me
08:36For centuries people have been using ginseng
08:39And they feel it's been doing them good
08:41But only now can we begin to explain scientifically why it's good for us
08:46Yes, so we can analyze
08:50We can check which compound is the best for our body, our health
08:58Yes
08:59During your lifetime
09:00Have you taken ginseng?
09:04Yes, sure
09:05Yes
09:05So that is why I keep younger face and health body
09:13Exactly, exactly
09:14When I was a child and when I had a cold
09:21Yes
09:22My mother gave me ginseng with honey
09:26And I became better
09:29The team is currently evaluating the different ways to extract the beneficial ginsenicides from the ginseng root
09:38Powder is better or sliced ginseng better
09:42We test
09:44Traditionally we use sliced ginseng
09:47But these days we can make ginseng powder easily
09:52Yes
09:53So I think it's better
09:55The powder?
09:57Yes, with new technology
09:59The discoveries made here are used to develop an array of products from snacks and tea to face cream
10:07Would you try this?
10:08I would love to
10:10This one obviously looks like the root
10:12Shall I try this one?
10:13Korean people, yeah, like this snack
10:17Ginseng and honey
10:20Yeah, that's very easy to eat
10:24I can tell there's an underlying bitterness but the honey has made it very, very palatable
10:32Buzzing with ginsenicides, I continue my journey
11:05To the historic city of Gyeongju
11:07Back in Daejeon, the next stage takes me east to the historic city of Gyeongju
11:15Korea opened its first railway in 1899
11:20Six years later, the Gyeongju line connected Seoul to Busan
11:26In 2004, Korea opened its first high speed line to connect the two cities
11:32To find out more about the history of rail in Korea
11:35I'm joining Ho Lee, head of railway research at the Korea Transport Institute
11:40Hello Ho
11:41Hello Ho
11:42Hello, hello
11:43I'm Michael
11:43Good to see you, Mike
11:44Good to see you
11:48We're travelling on this excellent high speed line between Seoul and Busan
11:53When was this built?
11:55The construction of high speed railway started in 1992
12:02First page connecting Seoul to Daegu opened in 2004
12:08Second page connecting Daegu to Busan is opened in 2010
12:14Is it right that this train is based on the French train Grand Vitesse?
12:19Yeah, right
12:20This train and the technology of the high speed railway
12:25And increasing the train were transferred from France
12:30It looks as though you need more capacity now
12:34Right, right
12:35Because the trains are very full
12:36From 1980s, most people owned an automobile
12:43Yes
12:44So, at the times, people prepared the automobile rather than public transportation
12:51The railway services is not good at the times
12:54But right now, high speed train is so popular in Korea
12:59The number of passengers every year is dramatically increasing right now
13:05Do you think Korea will build more high speed railway lines?
13:09Yeah, yeah, yeah
13:11Currently, we have the three dedicated high speed rail lines
13:14We are planning to build more high speed railway
13:19Because in the K-Tex changes the way people live
13:23Making long trips shorter, more convenient, more reliable
13:40After a two-hour journey, we arrive in Gyeongju
13:57With an impressive collection of historic temples and palaces
14:01This is one of the best preserved ancient cities in the country
14:09It was once the capital of one of Korea's great royal kingdoms
14:13And beneath the mounds is a series of tombs
14:18The Royal Shilla dynasty lasted for about a thousand years
14:23Occupying roughly the first millennium AD
14:27And at the height of its powers between the 7th and the 10th centuries
14:30It occupied almost all of the Korean peninsula
14:33Its upper classes had a love of gold
14:37As has become apparent from the excavation of burial mounds
14:41Which are yielding a large number of artefacts
14:45And a mass of information about Korea's history
14:52In what is now Great Chumulai Park
14:55In the centre of the city, the first treasures were found in the 1920s
15:00But many were not documented
15:01Around 200 tombs have since been discovered
15:05And a team from the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage
15:09Has spent the last 18 years recording their findings
15:14Ji Hyun Kwon is one of the team's research curators
15:18Hi, I'm Ji An, nice to meet you
15:20It's great to see you
15:22Now, these remarkable burial mounds that you have in this area
15:26I believe they're from the Shilla dynasty
15:29How do we know that these were royalty and that these were aristocrats?
15:34The objects excavated from the site are like some sort of golden earrings
15:41And some armours and lots of pottery that many ordinary people couldn't have at that time
15:47Were these people quite artistic? Were they very good at craft?
15:52Yeah, Shilla was famous for its gold
15:54They produced a lot of golden ornaments, golden crowns and earrings and things like that
16:02So these are beautiful
16:03The mounds appear to be big
16:06Yes
16:07How were they constructed?
16:09They placed the wooden coffin structure and then tons of stones
16:15After that, they cover the whole thing with the earth
16:20The burial mounds on this part of the site were once levelled to build houses
16:25When the excavations are complete, they'll be restored to their original form
16:31Great to see you, hello
16:33Hi
16:34I'm joining archaeologist In Tae Chung, who's working on one of the smaller graves
16:40Thank you very much
16:42Here's the Shilla people, the hair is on the other side
16:47Okay
16:48So let's go to the hair side
16:51So let's go to the hair side
16:55Let's go to the hair side
16:56We'll wash the surface of the brush
16:57Yes
16:59Let's go to the hair side
17:01So let's go to the hair side
17:03So we'll begin with this small implement
17:04Just to take away some of the earth around this pot
17:09So here, when we look at the hair side
17:12We see the small pieces of the hair side
17:16Here's the small pieces of the hair side
17:21so I put food in the world when I went to the world.
17:27A very nice idea.
17:29Then let's move on to the head of the person's head.
17:35This is a knife.
17:38It's a big knife.
17:40This is the handle here.
17:43You've found objects like this in other graves as well.
17:53That sword has become much clearer just in a moment.
17:57What are the most beautiful objects that you've found?
18:14Very exciting.
18:27Do we know what sort of ritual?
18:42Do you feel that you have learnt a lot about the civilization?
18:46Do you feel that you have learnt a lot about the civilization?
18:46Yes.
18:50I think that the history of the civilization is not so much.
18:54I think that the history of the civilization is a great joy.
19:00I think that the history of the civilization is very proud.
19:07Once unearthed, the artifacts are catalogued and analysed.
19:13What very beautiful things.
19:16These are superb.
19:17So pottery, jewellery.
19:31It's extraordinary to touch an object that is 1,500 years old.
19:36As you said, it's a crown.
19:39As you said, it's a crown.
19:42It's a crown.
19:43It's a crown.
19:45It's a crown.
19:46Very, very slender sheaths of gold.
19:55Yes, so even their animals had to look beautiful.
19:59Very skillful people.
20:00This has been a wonderful introduction to deep Korean history.
20:33My final destination today is the city of Oshir.
20:37of Busan at the southeastern tip of the peninsula during the Korean War Seoul fell to communist
20:52forces and was then recaptured on two separate occasions vast numbers of refugees fled to the
20:59south in particular to the port city of Busan when it filled up they moved to the adjacent hills
21:07and cut down the forests and built shanty towns over time the houses in Gamcheon were made sturdy and
21:15permanent and today it is officially recognized as a culture village with spectacular mountain
21:26peaks and long sandy beaches Busan is the country's second city and home to three and a half million
21:46people
21:46overlooking the korea strait that links the sea of japan or east sea and the east china sea it's
21:53an important strategic location with a port that is now the sixth busiest in the world
21:59and i'm excited to explore the city
22:12i'm turning towards the hills for my first stop the strikingly colorful village of Gamcheon
22:20built over a series of terraces and connected by a maze of alleyways this extraordinary art-filled
22:27habitation has become a popular tourist destination for both korean and international visitors
22:40they say that a high tide lifts all boats the tremendous economic growth in korea has affected
22:48most people in most places and here yesterday's hovels are today's chic
22:56the village to explore the village's history i'm meeting chang ho lee who's lived here for over 50 years
23:02hello mr lee i'm michael how do you do uh you've studied the history of gamcheon
23:08please tell me about the arrival of the refugees in the 1950s war refugees fled south and came down to
23:17busan the city faced the challenge of finding places for the refugees to live back then there was no
23:25transportation and this area was relatively close to the city center
23:32during the korean war busan was the only major city not to be occupied by north korea
23:38by 1951 700 000 people had fled here to escape the fighting and it became the temporary capital of the
23:47south
23:48before the refugees arrived what would this area have looked like this whole area was just hillside
23:55farmland at the time there were only about 10 thatched roof houses what was the village like when
24:03you first came here in the 1970s what did it look like then back then this area was a shanty
24:10town
24:13despite government investment to improve housing in the 1980s over the following decades the village's
24:20population fell dramatically leaving homes and shops abandoned in 2009 the ministry of culture backed an
24:28extraordinary initiative bringing together local artists and residents to try to revive the community
24:34the results are spectacular 10 artworks were selected through a national arts program
24:42the artists searched all over busan and decided to install the artworks here
24:49photographers from across the country came to capture the installations
24:53after their photos were shared tourists began to visit with all the changes that you've seen
25:02how do you feel about this transformation without that change i think this village might have fallen into
25:10ruin tourists brought new energy to the village yes from the open-air gallery of gamcheon village to the
25:20many cultural spaces across the city the art scene in busan is thriving i'm making a stop at the modern
25:27and
25:27contemporary history museum to take in an exhibition inspired by the city's heritage as a wartime refugee
25:34capital jaywon kim is one of nine artists taking part jaywon great pleasure nice to meet you you've
25:45contributed to this exhibition do you have a personal connection to the refugees yeah actually my
25:52grandmother came to south korea from north korea during the korean war and then my father's brothers
25:58were so refugees did you hear much about their experiences did they have a very difficult time
26:07yes my grandmother used to tell me stories about her experience as a refugee
26:13so i started thinking about how to connect refugee stories to busan's history through my work
26:19what is the link between these pieces and the refugees this work uses the technique of gamani weaving
26:29they hung gamani woven straw sacks from the ceiling to create temporary walls and make private spaces
26:38and that weaving method was originally brought in during the japanese colonial era to send korean rice
26:45to japan what interested me was while gamani once symbolized exploitation under japanese rule for refugees
26:54during the korean war it became a tool to create even the smallest space of their own
26:59and that being called for military which is my land to the united states uh
27:02your connection your personal connection and your explanation makes it really very very emotional
27:25For hundreds of years, the Korean peninsula was united under the Shilla dynasty.
27:32And then in more recent centuries, it has been violated by its neighbours.
27:36The Korean War, which brought so many refugees to Busan,
27:40played out a global conflict between communists and capitalists.
27:45And each half of the peninsula today is a shop window for its political system.
27:51One of the world's poorest countries and one of its economic miracles.
27:55The division of Korea seems permanent.
27:59But so too did the partition of Germany.
28:02And those north of the ceasefire line share the same language and culture and heritage with the south.
28:11And the making of history never ends.
28:16Next time, what shall we order?
28:18Ah!
28:19Small octopus.
28:20He's also in the road.
28:22Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.
28:23Yes.
28:23Let's have some of that.
28:26I am so impressed by this port.
28:29It stretches to the horizon as far as I can see.
28:35Today is a bank holiday Sunday and the sun has got his hat on and Koreans have come out to
28:41play in vast numbers.
28:44The End
28:45The End
28:45The End
28:59The End
29:03The End
29:08The End
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