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Great Korean Railway Journeys S01E04 Busan to Jeonju
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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
00:37capitalism and communism the sense of tension here is powerful
00:42I'll see how out of destruction and partition South Koreans have forged an
00:48impressive new identity
00:58I
01:16Today my real journey through South Korea continues in Busan
01:20the country's second city of over three million people on the glorious southeast coast
01:34From the demilitarized zone on the frontier with North Korea. I traveled to the vibrant capital of Seoul
01:40Via de John and historic young June. I arrived in the country's second city Busan
01:47crossing the peninsula
01:49I'll visit John Jew then Gwangju pivotal in South Korea's march towards democracy
01:56I'll finish on the volcanic island of Jiju
02:12This morning I am exploring along the seafront
02:16Starting on Hyundai Beach with a ride on the sky capsule monorail
02:2130 feet above ground level
02:25This popular tourist attraction with its retro four-person carriages runs through Hyundai's Blue Line Park along the route of
02:34the former Donghae Nambu coastal railway
02:41According to the website of the Busan Tourist Agency
02:46The system is built to emphasize the views of the coast rather than for speed or convenience
02:53Which I suppose is a good way of saying that it travels at four kilometres per hour
02:59They could simply have said it's the world's cutest railway
03:30Eight miles south along the coast and a
03:33At the mouth of the Nakdong River is Busan Harbour,
03:36and one of the city's best known landmarks.
03:53I have thoroughly enjoyed the food in Korea.
03:57The meals are always hearty and generally spicy,
04:00and food from the sea features a great deal.
04:04Naturally, lots of the species are unfamiliar,
04:07so I've come to Busan's awe-inspiring fish market
04:11to further my Pissain education.
04:18Busan is a major fishing hub, not just for import and export,
04:23but processing and distribution, supporting over 6,000 companies.
04:30Jagalchi fish market is one of the largest in South Korea.
04:34Dating back to the 1940s, it's open seven days a week
04:37from the early hours until 10 at night.
04:41I'm going to explore the indoor halls
04:43with local food blogger Dahi Kwak.
04:46Hello. I'm Michael. I'm Dahi. Nice to meet you.
04:50Let me see you. This is a fantastic fish market.
04:54You know, what surprises me, by comparison with what I'm used to,
04:57is how many of the fish and other creatures are alive in water.
05:02Yes, it's all alive.
05:04But here people want it to be really fresh.
05:06Yes. And we also eat the raw fish, just slices.
05:11Going back centuries, was Busan a place where people fished?
05:17Ah, yes. Busan was a long, long time ago.
05:20There's a small fishing village,
05:22and after war, it's making a big market.
05:27You enjoy fish yourself? Yes, of course.
05:30Do you come to the market to buy your fish?
05:33Ah, yes. When I go camping nearby here,
05:35I buy the raw sliced fish and clams, and I do barbecue.
05:41Wonderful. I mean, these ones, you know, I kind of know.
05:46What... Oh, what is that?
05:48This one is the sea squirt. Sea squirt?
05:51Yes. OK.
05:53Slice and raw, and we just dip into the red sauce,
05:57spicy sauce, and just eat. You eat that raw.
06:00Yeah. Beautiful.
06:05Oysters. Yes, oyster.
06:07And oyster is, in English, it's more expensive one.
06:11Yes. But in Korea, it's so reasonable price.
06:14Oh, really? Yes.
06:16How much is this oyster?
06:18This is 10,000 won.
06:23But for all of those?
06:24All of the 10,000 won.
06:2610,000 won.
06:2610,000 won would be about five pounds.
06:29Yes, yes, yes. And you get all of those.
06:30In my country, that would be more than a pound.
06:35Yes. In the market.
06:37At this market, whatever you buy can be immediately prepared
06:41and served in the restaurant upstairs.
06:44What shall we order? Ah!
06:47Small octopus. This also is raw.
06:50Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.
06:51Like that. Yes. Yeah.
06:53Let's have some of that.
06:54We can order the raw fish slices.
06:56We will try the flounder.
06:59And they make good sashimi?
07:01Yes.
07:02Excellent.
07:06Oh, that looks wonderful.
07:08Let me carry that for you.
07:13The fish will be accompanied by our seafood,
07:16plus an array of sauces and side dishes.
07:20OK.
07:21Excellent.
07:22Now, I'm going to try the sea squirt.
07:26Sea squirt.
07:27Which looks so strange.
07:28It looked more like a vegetable than a fish.
07:34Mmm.
07:36Tastes a bit like a sea urchin, I think.
07:38Yeah.
07:39It's nice.
07:40Mmm.
07:42So, I'm going to try some sashimi.
07:44Yes.
07:52Mmm.
07:55That's amazing.
07:57Um, I've been calling it sashimi.
08:00Do Koreans call it sashimi?
08:02Ah, no.
08:02Actually, sashimi is in Japanese naming.
08:06Yeah.
08:07And in Korea, we call it way.
08:09What?
08:10What?
08:10What?
08:12And I want to show you first lettuce.
08:16Yeah.
08:17And raw fish.
08:19Yeah.
08:20And a little bit as you want.
08:23Like...
08:23You make yourself a little roll.
08:26So, and this one is the washed kimchi.
08:30Oh, yeah, yeah.
08:31And then, wrap it up.
08:34Yes.
08:34And one bite.
08:36Okay.
08:36Okay.
08:40Neatly done.
08:55Wrap it up.
08:59And one bite.
09:06Oh, yeah.
09:08Oh, yeah.
09:11Oh, yeah.
09:12Oh, yeah.
09:13Oh, yeah.
09:21Busan's harbour is dominated by its port.
09:24Covering almost five square miles, it's the largest in South Korea.
09:30Since opening for international trade in 1876,
09:33it's played a vital role in the city's success.
09:47The Republic of Korea is one of the world's great exporters.
09:51And being by no means self-sufficient, it's a major importer too.
09:56None of those goods can be exported or imported by road across the only land border, which is the demilitarised
10:04zone.
10:04So the vast majority of the trade is seaborne.
10:08With the same commitment that Korea has shown in building big businesses and railways,
10:13it has hurled itself into the development of a major port at Busan.
10:18And the modernisation and the expansion show no signs of abating.
10:25New port is one of four that make up the port of Busan.
10:29Here there are seven different container terminal operators competing for business.
10:35BCT opened in 2022.
10:38Seungmi Lee is Chief Commercial Officer.
10:42New, what a pleasure to see you.
10:45Welcome to BCT, Busan Container Terminal.
10:47Thank you very much indeed.
10:49I am so impressed by this port.
10:52It stretches to the horizon as far as I can see.
10:56I suppose this must now be one of the major container ports in the world.
11:00Correct.
11:01You know, this is number two global transhuman port, just next to Singapore.
11:08In terms of the total volume handled by Busan port, we are number seven.
11:12Wow.
11:12This is container traffic coming from all over Korea, I suppose.
11:16Of course, it is.
11:17Let me put it this way.
11:19Busan port handles 77% of total ocean cargo handled by Korea.
11:25So Busan port is number one container port in Korean Peninsula.
11:29Have you been through decades of great change and expansion?
11:34So this port has long history.
11:36However, you know, Busan Newport, the area that you see here, started only from 2006.
11:43Before that, we only had Busan Old Port, closer to the city.
11:48Since 2006, Busan port has doubled in terms of the total volume.
11:52I've noticed when I've been in Korea that you have big national projects.
11:57Your railways, your big companies.
11:59Is Busan port one of these big national projects?
12:02It is.
12:03It's not just the port, but also the hinterland behind the terminal as well.
12:07So this whole project was one of the three national projects by Korean government.
12:12What about the natural features, the topography that make it a great port?
12:16Right, right.
12:17Old port.
12:18It was okay.
12:18However, they had some limit on the water depths.
12:21You see the container vessels are becoming larger, larger and larger.
12:25So our new port water depths is maximum 17, 18 meters.
12:30So this is, you know, a natural gift that we have.
12:34Everything you export here is in a box, so I can't see what it is.
12:39What is all this stuff?
12:40You see, this is Samsung mobile phone, which is exported everywhere, right?
12:45LG electronics, all this, you know, dishwashers.
12:48Sometimes we do the semiconductors and some steel.
12:52Also, we import a lot of, you know, our products from South America,
12:55like grapes, you know, and some cheese from Netherlands.
12:59Anything British?
13:00Of course, you know, whiskeys, the great whiskeys from Britain.
13:05Now, what about technological change?
13:07Right.
13:09Busan port has started as conventional, you know, terminal manual operation.
13:14Then we have automated our yard for safety and efficiency reasons.
13:19Tall cranes on the berth, all of them are operated, you know,
13:23from the remote control center in this building.
13:26Those cranes over there are operated remotely from this building?
13:30Exactly.
13:31This I have to see.
13:33The dockside cranes, some standing at over 170 feet tall,
13:39are worked from the remote control center by operators like Dong Jin Kim.
13:45Mr Kim, I catch you at a busy moment.
13:49Please, can you describe to me what you're doing?
13:51I'm working at a container in the boat.
13:55I'm working at a container in the boat.
13:55At the moment, I'm moving one container from the ship to the berth.
14:01Which crane number?
14:02I'm working at a crane number 7.
14:04Currently, I'm working at crane number 7.
14:07107 over there.
14:08Yeah, I've got it.
14:10How many containers can you handle in a day?
14:1424 hours a day, I usually work on 600 to 700 containers.
14:24And are you doing this by eye, or is it computer-guided?
14:33I depend totally on my own eye and the camera.
14:37I'm working on my own eye.
14:40I'm working on my own eye.
14:41Well, if you're doing it with your own eye, respect.
14:55This afternoon, my destination is Jeonju on the far side of the peninsula.
15:0170% of South Korea is mountainous,
15:04and the largest serbiac range runs for 220 miles down the centre of the interior
15:10before giving way to wide coastal plains.
15:14To traverse the country from Busan by rail,
15:17you must first head north, then west via the high-speed network.
15:27Jeonju, the capital of North Juella province, lies on the Honan plain,
15:32surrounded by fertile farmland, and is one of the oldest cities in the country.
15:41It was home to the Joseon royal dynasty,
15:45which ruled from the end of the 14th century for 500 years,
15:49and left a legacy of customs and attitudes still common today.
15:54It's a popular visitor destination for Koreans,
15:57some of whom like to don traditional costume.
16:01They head to the old heart of the city
16:03with its collection of over 800 classic wooden hannocks,
16:07the largest of its kind in the country.
16:11Beautiful traditional village houses have been conserved
16:15and are presented in this village,
16:17and today is a bank holiday Sunday,
16:21and the sun has got his hat on,
16:23and Koreans have come out to play in vast numbers.
16:29In amongst the historic homes and teahouses,
16:33artisans are still trading here, displaying traditional crafts.
16:39Brusanetia papyrifera is the paper mulberry,
16:43a deciduous tree which is indigenous in Asia,
16:46with a bark that produces long, strong, silky fibres,
16:51which have, by a highly complicated process,
16:55over many centuries been made into exquisite quality paper.
17:00And this ancient art is still practised today
17:04and still very much in demand.
17:09The paper known as hanji has been made here in Jonju
17:14for over a thousand years.
17:17Originally used for important documents,
17:19but later for books and even wall coverings,
17:23it was exported around the world.
17:25In his small workshop,
17:27Master Gap Seo Kang leads a team of four hanji artisans.
17:33Paper making is well and truly underway as I arrive.
17:36Ah! Mr Kang!
17:39How do you do?
17:41Great pleasure.
17:43I believe this paper making method is called hanji.
17:46And when did you begin to make it?
17:49How did you learn?
18:00Does it take a very long time to learn the process?
18:11Will you show me how you make it, please?
18:14To begin with, what's in this bath?
18:17It's a natural plant.
18:24And that is extraordinary.
18:30I can't believe that.
18:30A sheet of paper has indeed emerged on this tray.
18:35That's fantastic.
18:54This is an operation of some delicacy now
18:57to get the paper safely onto its mat.
19:14This is all hot.
19:17See the steam rising.
19:23Ah! Good.
19:25And a beautiful piece of paper emerges.
19:27That is delightful.
19:36Um, may I try that, please?
19:40Yes, you may well laugh.
19:44Okay.
19:45So, I saw you doing something like this.
19:51Yes, hapa.
19:53And shuko from side to side.
19:55The fibers from the mulberry are suspended in the water.
20:02And what we're doing here is we're trying to get a nice, neat, even layer of fibers to be on
20:09the little bamboo screen.
20:11Right.
20:12Right.
20:12So, we lift that up to get this bit of paper out.
20:21Ah, okay.
20:31Okay, that's looking good.
20:33And here's the pattern that's going to be left in the paper.
20:45Don't need much language at this point.
20:48Gestures will do.
20:50Ooh.
20:51Ha-ha!
20:52Good.
20:53Yeah!
20:53You speak English.
20:55Good.
20:56Thank you, Mr. Kang.
20:59Alongside the smaller pieces such as I've just made, the team also produces much larger sheets.
21:06These can be left in their natural state or colored and printed, giving them a wide range of uses.
21:12You're producing lots of paper here.
21:15Who is it that buys it nowadays?
21:18Hanji is writing, drawing, drawing, and drawing.
21:22The artists, the artists, the artists, drawing, and drawing.
21:27We're working in the world now.
21:29How many processes had you gone through before you arrived at the solution in that bath?
21:36Hanji is making one piece of 100 times.
21:41Extraordinary.
21:42After five minutes of drying, my sheet of Hanji is ready.
21:47It's lovely stuff.
21:49I mean, it's quite unlike paper that I'm used to from the West.
21:53There's a very pleasing texture to it.
21:58And seeing how it's made, it just is so satisfying.
22:03Really beautiful.
22:07Really?
22:08Do you love your work?
22:29This wonderful Hanji paper is not just used in calligraphy in the Eastern Hemisphere, as Mr. Kang says.
22:38it lasts a thousand years and so it's been used in the Western world for the
22:45restoration of ancient documents. A prayer written by Saint Francis in the
22:5113th century, the codex on the flight of birds by Leonardo da Vinci and a globe
22:59that was very much treasured by Pope John the 23rd.
23:17A short walk from the historic Hanuk village is a building type that looks more familiar to me.
23:24Built in 1914 with a mix of Romanesque and Byzantine architectural features,
23:31John Dong Cathedral is the most beautiful in South Korea. The Republic of Korea has a
23:37population of more than 50 million, about double that of North Korea although the
23:42birth rate has been falling in the South. Half the population professes no religion
23:48but in the half that do have faith Christians easily outnumber Buddhists and
23:54churches are to be seen everywhere. Of course that originated with the
24:00missionaries. But after the Second World War, Christianity was associated with modernisation and also with the middle classes since the
24:09churches sponsor elite universities and schools.
24:23Amongst its many attractions, Jeonju is a UNESCO city of gastronomy, renowned for its authentic Korean dishes.
24:32Food is an important part of the nation's culture and its distinctive cuisine is based on bold diverse flavours and
24:40the freshest ingredients.
24:42This is the place to try a favourite dish said to have originated in the city.
24:49food is an tribal sogenan plantation.
25:05Food is one of the few things!
25:06Thank you!
25:10One thing you have to get used to in Korea is side dishes. Eight have arrived on this occasion. worm
25:16to 20. Known as banchan, today's selection includes spinach with garlic and soy sauce,
25:23mixed noodles, acorn jelly, and staple Korean fermented cabbage dish, kimchi.
25:35I have ordered probably the most famous dish in Korea, a bibimbap. Bibimbap means mix,
25:43and bap means rice, so mixed rice. You're likely to have beef or pork. I've got beef today. The
25:53vegetables vary according to region and look to season. This is the province of Jolla,
25:59and it's reckoned to make the best bibimbap of all because the countryside produces such excellent
26:05vegetables all year round. What you can say for sure is that bibimbap contains a lot of Korean
26:15symbolism and it comes in fives. So there should be five colours in your food.
26:25And it should have five flavours. Salty, hot, sour, sweet,
26:31sweet and bitter. And I give it five out of five.
27:04My explorations have taken me to the east and west of the peninsula.
27:13In the port of Busan, seven different operators vie with each other, and it's felt that that
27:20rivalry drives up performance. In the fish market, I saw stallholders yelling out, contending with each
27:28other for business. Historically, hanji paper excelled in quality and was praised even by the Chinese.
27:37And today, it's used across the world in the most delicate restorations of documents.
27:43It seems that the Koreans are driven by competition. And I believe that that lies at the heart of their
27:51success.
27:56It's got this very spicy sauce. It's really lovely.
28:04These cannot be made of volcanic rock. It is carbonate. Yes. Very special. It is unique.
28:10Unique? Yes. Wow. A quick journey from the sea to the stomach.
28:18Unique?
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