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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.
00:13Amidst towering skyscrapers in gleaming megacities.
00:18An architectural statement.
00:21I'll ride the wave of Korean culture sweeping the West.
00:25It's got this very spicy sauce.
00:27And encounter ancient civilizations and traditions.
00:32On a peninsula divided by war.
00:35Along a border between capitalism and communism.
00:39The sense of tension here is powerful.
00:42I'll see how out of destruction and partition.
00:46South Koreans have forged an impressive new identity.
01:14This morning from Seoul's main station, I'm leaving the capital and heading south.
01:21I've been looking forward to this stage of the journey on board the high-speed Korea Train Express or KTX.
01:29It's first such service ran in 2004.
01:34And these trains are capable of up to 330 kilometers per hour, more than 200 MPH.
01:41I'm keen to experience that velocity and to discover what contribution its trains have made to Korea's economic miracle.
01:52Starting at the demilitarized zone on the North Korean frontier, I traveled to the teeming metropolis of Seoul.
01:59My route would take me southeast via Daejeon to the ancient capital of Gyeongju and onto the international port of
02:07Busan.
02:07In the west, I'll visit Gyeongju, emblem of the fight for democracy, before ending my travels on Jeju, the largest
02:16of 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.
02:46And at the station, people joined a long line to get into the carriage door.
02:52This reminds me of the politeness of Britain 50 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.
03:27As I came through the station, it was very noticeable that lots of people were carrying the same bag from
03:35this bakery,
03:36Sung Sim Dang.
03:38Their signature pastry is known as Tuiseau.
03:43Number six, please.
03:52The 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, at the end of the Korean War, came here to Daejeon.
04:19And as a charity, a local church gave him two bags of flour.
04:24And 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 Gyum 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
05:18that 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
05:32to stock up with facial products.
05:36Ginseng, therefore, can be a good living for farmers.
05:39And I've come to an institution which conducts research to improve the crop.
05:46Gyum San has been the centre of the country's ginseng trade
05:49for 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.
06:00The institute was established in 1995 to support local growers.
06:06Yong Yun Lee is one of the researchers.
06:09Yong Yun.
06:10Hi, Michael.
06:11Great to see you.
06:12Yeah, nice to meet you.
06:13So, this is ginseng.
06:16You grow it under shade?
06:17Ginseng is like the strong sunshine,
06:21so they need the under the shade cultivation.
06:25Why is this a good area to grow ginseng?
06:28We have many mountains,
06:31almost 3,000 mountains here and high.
06:34So, daily temperature difference is very large.
06:38It makes the ginseng grow well.
06:41This government-funded research centre
06:43develops new cultivation techniques
06:45and novel varieties to help to support the industry.
06:51How long does ginseng grow?
06:53How old is this plant, for example?
06:55It'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.
07:05I will show you.
07:08Ginseng nutrition were beneficial ingredients in the root.
07:13Right.
07:15How many different species are you trying out here?
07:18We have almost 400 species.
07:22If you want better crops,
07:24you have to choice the good species.
07:27Yeah.
07:28We have to research about the response
07:32to the climate change,
07:33improve the soil fertility or soil water content.
07:37And is there competition
07:39between China and Korea for ginseng?
07:43In Korea's quality,
07:45China's quantity is different.
07:49This laboratory investigates the best ways
07:51to process the ginseng root.
07:55Hello, Mikyion.
07:56Hello, Michael.
07:57Nice to meet you.
07:58Great pleasure.
08:01Mikyion Won is the institute's director.
08:04Do we know why ginseng is good for us?
08:09Ginseng can help
08:11for boosting the immune system
08:14and 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 product.
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
08:45why it's good for us.
08:47Yes.
08:48So, yeah, we can analyze,
08:50we can check which compound is the best
08:55for our body, our health.
08:59During your lifetime,
09:01have you taken ginseng?
09:03Yes, sure.
09:06So that is why I keep younger face
09:11and health body.
09:13Exactly, exactly.
09:15When I was a child
09:17and when I had a cold,
09:21my mother gave me ginseng with honey
09:26and I became better.
09:29The team is currently evaluating
09:32the different ways to extract
09:33the beneficial ginsenicides
09:35from the ginseng root.
09:38Powder is better
09:40or sliced ginseng better,
09:42we test.
09:43Traditionally, we use sliced ginseng
09:47but these days,
09:48we can make ginseng powder easily.
09:53Yes.
09:53So I think it's better.
09:56The powder?
09:57Yes, with a new technology.
09:59The discoveries made here
10:01are used to develop an array of products
10:03from snacks and tea
10:05to 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?
10:13Yes, Korean people like this snack,
10:17ginseng and honey.
10:20Mmm.
10:21Yeah, that's very easy to eat.
10:24Yes.
10:25I can tell there's an underlying bitterness
10:27but the honey
10:28has made it very, very palatable.
10:31Buzzing with ginsengicides,
10:33I continue my journey.
10:44Beautiful.
10:49Beautiful.
10:51Beautiful.
10:54Yikes.
10:56Beautiful.
11:03This theater
11:06Back 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 Gyeongbu line connected Seoul to Busan.
11:25In 2004, Korea opened its first high-speed line to connect the two cities.
11:32To find out more about the history of railing Korea,
11:35I'm joining Ho Lee, Head of Railway Research at the Korea Transport Institute.
11:40Hello, Ho.
11:41Hello.
11:42I'm Michael.
11:43Good to see you, Mike.
11:45Good to see you.
11:48We're travelling on this excellent high-speed line between Seoul and Busan.
11:54When was this built?
11:55The construction of a high-speed railway started in 1992.
12:03First page connecting Seoul to Daegu opened in 2004.
12:08Second page connecting Daegu to Busan is opened in 2010.
12:15Is 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 and increasing the train were transferred from France.
12:31It looks as though you need more capacity now because the trains are very full.
12:36From the 1980s, most people owned an automobile.
12:43Yes.
12:44So at the time, people prepared the automobile rather than public transportation.
12:51The railway service is not good at the time.
12:54But right now, high-speed train is so popular in Korea.
12:59The number of passengers every year dramatically increases 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 the K-Tex changes the way people live making 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, this is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the
14:04country.
14:10It was once the capital of one of Korea's great royal kingdoms.
14:14And beneath the mounds is a series of tombs.
14:18The Royal Shilla Dynasty lasted for about 1,000 years, occupying roughly the first millennium AD.
14:26And at the height of its powers, between the 7th and the 10th centuries, it occupied almost all of the
14:33Korean peninsula.
14:33Its upper classes had a love of gold, as has become apparent from the excavation of burial mounds, which are
14:42yielding a large number of artefacts and a mass of information about Korea's history.
14:52In what is now Great Chiumulai Park, in the centre of the city, the first treasures were found in the
14:591920s, but many were not documented.
15:01Around 200 tombs have since been discovered, and a team from the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage has
15:10spent the last 18 years recording their findings.
15:14Ji Hyun Kwon is one of the team's research curators.
15:18Hi, I'm Ji Hyun. Nice to meet you.
15:21It's great to see you.
15:22Now, these are 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 and some armours and lots of portraits
15:44that 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. They produced a lot of golden ornaments, golden crowns and earrings and things
16:02like that. So these are beautiful.
16:04The mounds appear to be big.
16:07Yes.
16:07How were they constructed?
16:09They placed the wooden coffin structure and then tons of stones. After that, they cover the whole thing with the
16:18earth.
16:20The burial mounds on this part of the site were once levelled to build houses. When the excavations are complete,
16:28they'll be restored to their original form.
16:31Great to see you. Hello.
16:34I'm joining archaeologist Intae Chung, who's working on one of the smaller graves.
16:40Thank you very much.
17:02So we begin with this small implement, just to take away some of the earth around this pot.
17:25Very nice idea.
17:30Very nice idea.
17:35Let's take a look.
17:37Let's take a look.
17:38Let's take a look.
17:39Let's take a look.
17:40Let's take a look.
17:41This 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?
18:41Do you feel that you have learnt a lot about this civilization?
18:46Yes.
18:49There are so many history records of the temple, so I can't find a great burial which is a great
18:59gift for me.
19:00I think that the temple has been used to be used to be used to the temple.
19:07Once unearthed, the artifacts are catalogued and analysed.
19:13what very beautiful things he's a superb so pottery jewelry
19:31it's extraordinary to touch an object that is 1,500 years old
19:45very very slender sheaths of gold
19:55yes so even their animals had to look beautiful
19:58very skillful people this has been a wonderful introduction
20:04to deep Korean history
20:33my final destination today
20:36is the city of Busan at the southeastern tip of the peninsula
20:48during the Korean War Seoul fell to communist forces and was then recaptured on two separate
20:55occasions vast numbers of refugees fled to the south in particular to the port city of Busan
21:02when it filled up they moved to the adjacent hills and cut down the forests and built shanty towns
21:10over time the houses in Ganchong were made sturdy and permanent and today it is officially recognized
21:18as a culture village
21:24with spectacular mountain peaks and long sandy beaches
21:29Busan is the country's second city and home to three and a half million people
21:46overlooking the korea strait that links the sea of japan or east sea and the east china sea it's an
21:53important
21:54strategic location with a port that is now the sixth busiest in the world and i'm excited to explore the
22:01city
22:12i'm turning towards the hills for my first stop the strikingly colorful village of Gamcheon
22:19built over a series of terraces and connected by a maze of alleyways this extraordinary art field
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
22:47has affected most people in most places and here yesterday's hovels are today's chic
22:56to explore the village's history i'm meeting chang ho lee who's lived here for over 50 years
23:03hello mr lee i'm michael how do you do uh you've studied the history of gamcheon please tell me
23:09about the arrival of the refugees in the 1950s war refugees fled south and came down to busan
23:18the city faced the challenge of finding places for the refugees to live
23:24back then there was no transportation 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 by 1951 700
23:41000
23:42people had fled here to escape the fighting and it became the temporary capital of the south
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
24:27backed an extraordinary initiative bringing together local artists and residents to try to revive the
24:33community the community the 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 after their photos were shared
24:55and tourists began to visit with all the changes that you've seen how do you feel about this transformation
25:06without that change i think this village might have fallen into ruin tourists brought new energy to the village
25:16from the open air gallery of gamchion village to the many cultural spaces across the city the art scene in
25:23busan is thriving
25:25i'm making a stop at the modern and contemporary history museum to take in an exhibition inspired by the city's
25:32heritage
25:32as a wartime refugee capital jaywon kim is one of nine artists taking part
25:41a great pleasure nice to meet you you've contributed to this exhibition do you have a personal
25:48connection to the refugees yeah actually my grandmother came to south korea from north korea
25:55during the korean war and then my father's brothers were so refugees did you hear much about their
26:02experiences did they have a very difficult time
26:04yes 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
26:25this 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
26:44to send korean rice to japan
26:47what interested me was while gamani once symbolized exploitation under japanese rule
26:53the refugees during the korean war it became a tool to create even the smallest space of their own
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 and then in more recent
27:33centuries it has been violated by its neighbors the 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 but so too did the partition of germany and those north of the ceasefire
28:05line
28:06share the same language and culture and heritage with the south and the making of history never ends
28:15next time what should we order ah small octopus this also in the road yes yes yeah let's have some
28:24of that
28:26i am so impressed by this port it 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
28:43the sun has come out
29:08Transcription by CastingWords
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