#137 "The Strength of Kangwon-do” -- 강원도의 힘

[스티븐스 대사]

Before I wrap up this blog, I want to write one more time about the province of Kangwon-do, which I have visited numerous times over the past three years.  There’s a movie I saw a few years ago called “”강원도의 힘,” or Kangwon-do’s Strength.”  Although the movie was more about the people than the place, the title stuck with me, and I thought of it  as I traveled through Gangwon-do.

For those of you Seoulites who consider Gangwon-do to be far away, transportation infrastructure has improved so much that you can get there in no time at all. 

First, my most recent trip.

In late August, I finally made it to the Great Mountain Music Festival in Pyeongchang.  Every year I’ve been here I intended to go, but work always got in the way.  This year, the eighth annual festival – and my last August in Korea – I decided I had to go.  Knowing that Pyeongchang would be hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics was added motivation, and in Pyeongchang I saw that preparations are well underway and the Olympic spirit is already very much alive.

But, on this trip, it was the music festival that I won’t soon forget.

The Great Mountain Music Festival is getting bigger every year, and this year it attracted an extensive and impressive slate of performers from throughout the world, including many from the U.S.  Some of the musicians told me the Great Mountain Festival has become a fixture on their annual calendars – along with other summer music festivals such as Tanglewood, the famous music venue in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts.  One such musician and a veteran of the Great Mountain Festival was the director of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world.  I enjoyed his perspective – very positive – on the burgeoning Korean musical scene. 

The Festival was living proof of the ever-deepening artistic and cultural ties between the U.S. and Korea.  Thousands of Koreans are studying music at American schools like Curtis, Julliard, Oberlin, and many others.  Top American performers come to Korea to play to sold-out concert halls and knowledgeable, enthusiastic audiences.  American musicians often  tell me they especially appreciate that Korean audiences for classical music tend to include more young people than is often the case in the U.S.

The Great Mountain Music Festival also benefits from the leadership of members of the first Korean classical music group I – and many other Americans – ever listened to:  The Chung Trio.  The Chung Trio was the first Korean group to “make it” abroad – in fact, many Americans still think of the Chung Trio when they think about Korean classical music.   As a young woman in Korea, I bought their record, and I can still picture the album cover: Chung Kyung-wha, her sister Chung Myung-wha, and their brother Chung Myung-whun.  These musicians were pioneers in building artistic and cultural bridges between the U.S. and Korea, and it’s been a pleasure to get to know them in Korea, where they still play leading roles as performers and nurturing young talent.

Chung Myung-wha and Chung Kyung-wha were joint artistic directors of the Great Mountain Festival, and I was lucky enough to be in the audience for a spectacular performance by Chung Kyung-wha on the violin, playing among other things a piano and violin sonata by Belgian-French composer César Franck.  The pianist was American artist Kevin Kenner.  The audience responded to the performance with a standing ovation, and when Chung Kyung-wha returned for an encore, she explained in a quiet voice that in memory of her late mother, she would play the classic American song by Stephen Foster, “I Dream of Jeanie.”  I was touched; it’s a favorite of my mother’s too.

Hearing Chung Kyung-wha play in person, as I had at previous concerts in Seoul heard both her siblings, was quite a thrill so many years after listening to the Chung Trio on my record player.  But the Great Mountain Festival – and the Chung family – do not dwell on the past; they are committed to nurturing rising young musicians, and we saw lots of them at the Festival.

After a night spent in the excellent accommodation in Pyeongchang, The following day, I travelled with embassy colleagues to Youngwol (which I associate with another Korean movie, “Radio Star”) to see the 10th Donggang International Photo Festival at the Donggang Museum of Photography.  In addition to great Korean photographs, I was impressed with the “American Perspectives” exhibition, which celebrated the works of some of America’s most famous photographers, including Ansel Adams and Walker Evans.  

Admiring a photograph of Baik Nam Joon at the Donggang Museum of Photography

The Great Mountain Music Festival is a cultural milestone for Korea, and the Donggang Museum is another example of how the people of Gangwon-do are embracing global culture.

But Kangwon-do is famous perhaps above all for its scenery, and that meant I had to bring my bicycle.  We had two great rides:  The first following the winding Donggang River from Auraji to Jeongseon.  The water was crystal-clear and the mountains were stunning – it was a perfect biking course.   

The next day we went mountain biking on an old road formerly used by coal miners. 
As you can see from these photos, the scenery was spectacular.

In the winter, these same mountains make for terrific skiing. 
Last winter I tried my luck in Pyeongchang which was great, even for a novice skier like me.  

Here I am on the bunny slope; there are more challenging courses for the real skiers!

On other trips to Kangwon-do, I’ve seen in Chuncheon, a joint antibody research program between Scripps Research Institute in the United States – the largest non-profit biomedical research institute in the world – and Kangwon National University, and I’ve explored the battlefields of the Korean War in places like Cheorwon County and seen the continuing security challenge of this divided province along the DMZ. 

I bicycled through Cheorwon County on a very cold winter day to see the Baekmagoji
and other Korean War battle sites; County Governor Jeong Ho-jo graciously greeted me
and told me about the history and the continuing security challenges.

Summer or winter, hiking or history or high-tech – 강원도의 힘 is more than a movie title.  It’s what I’ve discovered every time I’ve visited.  I wish the citizens of Kangwon-do all the best as they continue to diversify their economy, protect their environment, and prepare for the 2018 Winter Olympics.