The Seoul Olympics Hodori

On September 30, 1981 South Korea learned that its proposal to host the 1988 Olympics had been accepted. South Koreans went wild! And thus they began planning a very impressive opening to the games with precision to detail, and of course symbolism.

As in all Asian and Olympic games, a mascot is chosen and South Korea chose the hodori, their mascot from the 1986 Asian games, to be their on-going mascot in the 1988 Olympics. I've heard references to the mascot of the 1986 Asian games as actually being the hosuni, the female version of the hodori, but have been unable to prove or even disprove this. In any regard, hodori derives from the "ho", the Chinese character for tiger or horangi in full, and "dori" as a masculine diminutive; "suni" would therefore be the feminine diminutive.

Kim Hyun, then 35, was the designer of the hodori mascot for the '88 Olympics. And in the intervening 40 years, it has remained his most significant and internationally recognized design, although he has contributed many other designs that are also rather iconic within South Korea like those of "HiSeoul" and "T-money".

In designing the "hodori" tiger, the representative animal chosen, he was imagining the Amur tiger and thought to portray it as friendly and hospitable as tigers have often been portrayed in Korean legends and folk tales as well as being stylized in art with a quirky humorous demeanor. Tigers are extinct in Korea but less than a hundred years ago they were a real threat to citizens, and yet, Koreans have always had a kind of love-hate relationship with the tiger, which figures heavily in their folk stories and art, and the striped beast was both feared and respected, and so commonly tigers were verbalized as being humorous, brave and noble.

Symbols also present in Kim Hyun's tiger caricature are the five Olympic rings around his neck and the sangmo, the hat worn in pungmul which is traditional music that incorporates singing, dancing, drumming and even acrobatics. The sangmo hat had a long ribbon attached as it was whirled as the wearer performed. Therefore, Kim Hyun stylized the friendly tiger wearing a traditional hat with the ribbon curled into a "S" as a symbol of Seoul the host capital. In much of the Olympic hodori art the ribbon does not always curl in the S-shape as the hodori is characterized as participating in all of the sports at some point, but pay attention to the curl of the ribbon as it may represent the initial letter of the sport the hodori is characterizing.

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In choosing the tiger as the representative mascot of South Korea, 4,344 entries were reviewed until the selection was narrowed to four  -- a rabbit, a squirrel, a pair of mandarin ducks (also very symbolic in Korea) and a tiger before ultimately choosing the striped fellow. The selection of name for the stylized-tiger-to-be generated 2,295 suggestions from the public before finalizing the name "hodori".

Eventually the 1988 Seoul Olympics would last 16 days, starting on the 17th of September in 1988 and lasting through the 2nd of October. During those days 8,391 athletes from 159 countries would compete in 237 matches of 23 events. Not only did South Korea host the Olympics and "put Korea on the map" but they also ate up the home turf and ranked 4th in the Olympics overall! This was a major success for a country that had been forced open only one century before, colonized by another country for 35 years, struggled with a civil war after colonization and then struggled with extreme poverty and a ravaged agricultural society for another two decades. South Korea had become industrialized, earned money, increased trade, exported more than it imported and had earned the right to hold their heads high and host the most famous of international games.

Yoon Tae-woong, the hoop boy
of the 1988 Seoul Olympics 

International visitors and people watching television were incredibly impressed by the grand opening ceremony of the games. But perhaps the most impressive scene to Koreans, I hear this over and over and this is three decades later!, is when the boy rolled a hoop across the stadium field. The boy is also called the hodori of the Seoul Olympics.

In July 1988 the Seoul Olympic organizing committee announced that they were looking for a boy to roll a hoop in the opening ceremony. The boy had to be cute for public broadcasting and had to have been born on the 30th of September 1981, the day that Seoul had been selected as the Olympic-hosting city in Badenbaden, Germany. One boy, Yoon Tae-woong, was selected among 24,000 kids as the hodori and he became the symbol of Korea rising from poverty to roll a hoop toward a better future. Yoon Tae-woong currently is pursuing a career in acting, but it seems that he will never achieve the interest of the nation as he did when he was "hoop boy". To see Tae-woong as "hoop boy" in the Olympics, watch The 24th 88 Seoul Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and refer to 1:20.5 to see his tiny moments of fame.

"Soohorang", a white tiger caricature, will be the mascot in the upcoming 2018 Olympics hosted by South Korea. The white tiger is the most famous, according to the Chinese zodiac, among all of the tigers. I'm sure he was chosen as a very augurous character.

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Concerns Regarding Upcoming Olympics at Pyeongchang

The following article "Pyeongchang Legacy May Be Huge Piles of Debt" was taken from Korean JoongAng Daily, Novermber 9, 2017. Already the government is worrying about the unexpectedly low number of tickets to the Olympic games being sold to help pay for the venue and construction are still unreserved. 

According to another article I read about a month ago, the government is said to have expected 1 million people to pay for tickets to the Olympics, with 750,000 of those being Koreans who live in country. However, those projected numbers are far from being achieved! 

France is boycotting the Olympics, North Korea at the time still didn't hadn't had their qualification games so their attendance was uncertain, and then the international community had issues with attending. South and North Korea are heavily featured in the news and the political situation between the two countries is unstable, making visitors to South Korea very nervous. International communities also held campaigns against coming to S Korea also because South Koreans eat dog; petitions circulated with international people signing to boycott the Olympics because of, not really the practice of eating dog, but because of how dogs were killed in order to achieve maximum flavor in the vigor-embewing dog meat. Other petitions also circulated boycotting the South Korean winter Olympics because South Korea destroyed a 500+ year old sacred forest where the king's meat was once procured in order to build a ski-jump for the Olympic competitors. There were other sites in S Korea where the ski jump could have been built, slightly below optimum elevation but still acceptable to meet Olympic regulations, but S Korea opted to destroy a sacred forest that the government had designated as sacred less than 10 years previous. International communities were outraged, particularly on the grounds that the host countries of the Olympics must comply with environmental standards in order to (1) be hosts of the Olympics, and (2) get compensatory funds by an Olympic foundation. Obviously South Korea broke the rules and this was loudly aired online via outraged international communities.

This information is just background for readers to understand a bit more some of the dynamics affecting the low number of tickets sold thus far to people to watch the games first-hand. From this article, it's apparent that there are post-Olympic financial consequences of hosting the Olympics also.

As the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics rapidly approach, experts are increasingly voicing concerns that the legacy of the games may not be the passion and unity that the organizing committees are promising, but instead the costly, unused facilities that are likely to dot the northeast of the country.  

Four Olympic venues are yet to come up with post-Olympic plans, raising concerns that the Winter Olympics will join a growing list of international events that have ultimately gone on to cost Korea huge amounts of money.  

When the Asian Games was hosted in Incheon in 2014, about 1.72 trillion won ($1.54 billion) was spent on building 16 new venues. The majority of that is still left as debt, and Incheon has to pay between 10 billion and 150 billion won every year from 2015 to 2029.  

Not only that, the Korean Grand Prix, hosted for the first time in 2010, had to stop in 2013 as the accumulated deficit stacked up to 190 billion won.  

Excluding the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremony will be held, there are a total of 12 venues for the Olympics. Of those, six of them are newly constructed and the remaining six were repaired, with the total bill racking up to about a trillion won. Including the newly-built Jeongseon Alpine Centre, which cost 203.4 billion won, Gangneung Ice Arena, costing 134 billion won, and Gangneung Oval, costing 126.4 billion won, five of the venues cost more than 100 billion won each.  

But three venues - Jeongseon Alpine Centre, Gangneung Hockey Centre and Gangneung Oval - are yet to announce a post-Olympics plan. Originally, the Gangneung Oval was expected to be broken down after the Olympics, but last year, Gangwon and the organizing committee agreed to maintain the facility.  

Daemyung Group, owner of the Daemyung Killer Whales Ice Hockey team, was originally going to take charge of the Gangneung Hockey Centre, but the company dropped out once it was revealed that the facility had a five-year operating cost of 10 billion won.  

At the Jeongseon Alpine Centre, 55 percent of the facility is expected to be restored back to its natural state. Since it’ll no longer be able to be used as a ski resort, it’s more difficult to come up with a post-Olympics plan.  

According to the Korea Industrial Strategy Institute Foundation, the annual maintenance cost of the main venues is expected to be 31.3 billion won. The foundation projects the facilities will be able to earn about 17.1 billion won a year, leaving a 14.2 billion won deficit.  

The PyeongChang Olympic Stadium is going to be the biggest problem. It cost a total of 63.5 billion won to build the stadium but it will be broken down after only four days of use throughout the Olympics and the Paralympics next year. This means that the stadium cost 15.8 billion won per day.  

Upon completion of the event, only 5,000 seats of 35,000 seats and three of seven floors will be kept. Though there hasn’t been a set plan for post-Olympic usage, the stadium is expected to be transformed into a concert hall or memorial park.  

Since Gangwon hasn’t come up with post-Olympics plans, they are asking the central government to manage the venues. To do so, they are pushing for a revision in the National Sports Promotion Act.  

“There’s a high possibility that the government will once again have to deal with the negative effects from the local government hosting such a big event,” said Lee Dae-taek, professor of physical education at Kookmin University. “Gangwon needs to be more responsible.”  

Chung Hee-joon, a sports sociology professor at Dong-A University, also pointed out that, “Hoenggye, where the Olympic Plaza is located, is a small town with only a population of 4,000. It’s difficult to make a post-Olympics plan.”  

To fix this, the organizing committee may have to study the success of low cost and high-efficiency events like the Gwangju Universiade and 6th CISM World Games Military Games, Korea.  

The 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju was by far the most successful event in Korea financially, as they only constructed three of the 69 facilities and used existing venues for the remaining events.  

The podiums were provided by the Incheon Asian Games organizing committee at no cost and the seats at the stadiums were folding chairs. Rather than flower bouquets, winners were awarded the event’s mascot dolls and tents were used as waiting rooms for players.  

This allowed savings of 199.9 billion won in operating and equipment expenses.  

The 6th CISM World Games Military Games in Mungyeong installed 350 caravans as athletes’ accommodation. Throughout the tournament, the total budget was 165.3 billion won with equipment expenses of 18.7 billion won. 

BY SONG JI-HOON, PARK RIN [kang.yoorim@joongang. co.kr]

Gamcheon "Painted" Culture Village, Busan

Gamcheon Culture Village is a town originally formed by the Taegukdo followers. Cho Cholje (1895-1958) and founder of the new religion had moved in the vicinity in 1948 just before the war. In 1950 when the Korean War pushed people from all over the Korean peninsula behind the tiny 230-kilometer line known as the Korean Perimeter, the only area not taken by the North Korean People's Army in the war, refugees crowded into Busan, many into the Jagalchi Market area which quickly became over-crowded. So many pushed to the steep hills of Gamcheon, a few kilometers away and in a safe but steep space. Overnight the area was transformed into a shantytown of 800 wooden shacks, clinging to the hillside. The shacks were made of corrugated iron roofs piled with stones to keep them from flying away in the wind; walls were of makeshift material. The village smacked of war, poverty, and hardship.

Cho Chojie, founder of the new Taegukdo religion which had been suppressed during Japanese occupation, by this time had 3,000 members in the area, and he promised the refugees toothbrushes, candy and rice if they would believe in Taegukdo. Soon almost 90% of Gamcheon residents practiced Taegukdo, and in 1955 Cho moved his headquarters to Gamcheon, which became known as Taegukdo village.

With Cho's move to Gamcheon, the village started to develop its economy and people started to earn money. They bought bricks and built up the wooden village of the '70s to two-storey brick constructions of the '80s and '90s. With the increase in people but not of land, it only made sense to build taller. Still, the hardships of war and poverty were imprinted on the village, and in actuality, it was much like a slum.

In 2009 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a program to renovate Gamcheon, naming the program "Dreaming of Busan Machu Picchu". The plan was to remodel the village into a creative community run by residents, artists and the local administrative office. The government therefore hired artists to paint murals and add 10 pieces of street art to the neighborhood. 

Phase 2 of the project known as Miro Miro soon followed with six houses and six alleys transformed into mini galleries and/or colorful paths. Experiential artists targeting tourism were set up -- pottery making, clothes dyeing, hanji craft, jewelry making, wood carving, puzzle painting, caricatures, metal crafts, and more. Arrows were painted for tourists to find their ways through the maze of alley ways. 

Many shops were opened by artisans, and cutesy jewelry, paper craft and handbags are frequently themes in booths attracting tourists. Several hanji shops were opened as well, as one particular one with a little craft room in the back of the shop snagged my attention. The elderly lady really had a talent for making exquisite hanji lamps and displaying theme elegrantly, not in a mishmash of bedlam like many of the other shops focusing more on quantity of item rather than quality of product. 

Local residents initially resisted the invasion of their privacy and balked at others seeing their less than modest homes, but gradually they have embraced the chance to earn a bit of money otherwise elusive to their neighborhood. 

Domestic media picked up on the change and have further stimulated tourism to the unique village charm via Korean movies and TV dramas filmed with Taeguk Village as a backdrop: "Hero", "Geu-nyo-ay-gae", "Superstar Kam Sa-young", and "Camelia". 

The village has also been dubbed as a Lego Village due to its perceived symmetric rows of colorful blockhouses perched on the hillside, and even tourist maps sentimentally label it as Santorini of Busan or Busan's Machu Picchu. In any regard, the former refugee shantytown has been transformed into quite the tourist spot, and is thought to be a model village for developing tourism in other Korean villages.

According to recent tourism figures, about 1.4 million tourists visit Gamcheon Village every year. Not quite sure how this number is generated, but I will say, during the Chuseok holiday when my friend and I were here, it was quite the hangout for young people -- groups of friends, dates, and families with young children. The town doesn't seem to attract the middle-aged or older people, but then most of tourism in Korea is aimed at the youth these days.

I don't quite get the importance of the photo zones .... but that seriously is the rage around Korea these days. There were several photo zone areas, the swimming whale below was pretty popular but the longest line was for young kids to take selfies with the Little Prince who was sitting on a wall over-looking a rather colorful area of Gamcheon Village.

Popular photo zone ... Wouldn't be any fun in this village without a selfie stick! LOL!

This couple found a space with a view but without a long line to take one of their couple-shots.
Quite cute actually.

One of the several painted stairways in the village.
With the theme of books, I actually found this one quite clever!

Appreciation goes to Yonhap News for writing a history of Gamcheon Village: "Street Art Rejuvenates Busan Ghetto" (Feb 1, 2012). 

Templestay in Gangjin, Jeollabukdo

Hendrik Hamel (1630 - 1692)

Gangjin has a bit of unusual cultural history — in the 17th century it was the town where Hendrick Hamel, the Dutchman who famously became shipwrecked, spent years of his life before being transferred to Hanyang (present-day Seoul). In 1653 Hamel and 35 fellow shipmates were shipwrecked and stranded in Korea. And as the story goes, two years after being shipwrecked a Manchu envoy came to Seoul whereupon a senior navigator and a sailor from Hamel's crew members approached the Manchu envoy about returning to the Netherlands via China. However, their escape attempt was quickly discovered resulting in them being imprisoned and the remaining 33 Dutch sailors being spirited away to Gangjin, where they lived for seven years. Eleven of them died during this period. In three consecutive years (1660, 1661 and 1662) famine stuck the Gangjin area and due to the inability to feed the men, the dwindling crew were divided into three groups and sent to Saesong (12 men), Suncheon (5 men) and Namwon (5 men). Finally after 13 years of being detained in Korea, Hamel and seven other crew members were finally able to make their escape.

Gangjin Celadon Festival

Gangjin is also famous for the Gangjin Celadon Festival, listed by many as one of the top festivals of South Korea. According to the website Festival Walker:

"Pottery has been one of the famous industries of the old Korea that has continued to amaze not only the local citizens but people from other countries as well. Because of this, Gangjin, still retains over 200 traditional kilns which are still functional. The town produces celadon earthenware which has top quality; thus they are considered masterpieces. During the festival, visitors can observe how high quality pottery is made. An exhibit on of celadon relics which were brought up from the bottom of the sea is open to the public. This festival is celebrated from late July to early August in the city of Gangjin, Jeolla-do."

Templestay at Baekryun-sa, near Dasan Chodang

Gangjin is also where Dongguk University Seon Center arranged for participants to have a templestay and detoxify from city life in the remote beauty of Baekryun-sa.

The temple is next to a camellia forest with meandering trails that ultimately lead to the famous Dasan Chodang, the tea hermitage of Jeong Yak Yong, more commonly known by his pen name Dasan, meaning "mountain of tea".

Dongam, also called Songpungnu, was the house where Dasan received guests and kept his private library of the 2000-odd books he needed as references for writing his works. Dasan spent most of his time in exile at Dasan-chodang immersed in writing. It was here he completed Admonition on Governing the People (Mongmin simseo), the most famous of all his writings. Time work his house down, so this house was rebuilt in 1976 along with Seoam.

Dasan was a great intellect of the Joseon Dynasty and lived for many years in exile here on Mandeoksan (mountain) surrounded by camellias. He taught many students at the hermitage where, in the seclusion from court life, he did his most profound scholarly work. It was on the trails overhung by camellias that he would meet with Hyejang of Baekryunsa to discuss Confucianism, Buddhism, have discussions of the world, and drink tea. The area nearby is still known for its tea cultivation.

Playing in a green tea field about 20 min drive from Baekryun-sa.
The head monk (pictured) showed us this hidden beautiful jewel.
The field had just been clipped! What fun!

[An aside on the camellias — Although there is no medicinal value for camellias, they have their traditional purpose in society. During the Joseon Dynasty the groom (limited to this region as the trees grow only in the south in the Namhae-do region) would carry a branch of a camellia tree in front of the bride as she was being transported to his house. Camellia trees as prodigious fruit-bearing trees were used a propitious symbol for fertility. Camellias were and still are used in hair treatments. Can't remember if they are believed to darken or soften the hair, but people want hair treatments with camellia listed on the packaging!)]

The first name of Beakryun-sa was Mandeok-sa (Many Virtues Temple) and its name was taken from the mountain on which it was situated. The temple is said to have been built by Master Mu Yeom in 839 during the Unified Silla Dynasty. Ven Mu Yeom was a high monk who opened famous the Sungju Meditation center in Boryung, Chooncheongnam-do, one of the first 9 Seon (Zen) centers in old Korea.

Time flowed, and the original temple buildings crumbled with only one site remaining. The temple was rebuilt by Ven Yo Se in Goryeo Dynasty and became a large temple complex when a group of practicing Buddhist monks and lay people gathered to make a Buddhist reform movement, the historical Baekryunsa (association) Movement which is compared to the Samadi-Wisdom Practice Movement (called Suseonsa) at Songgwang-sa, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do. Since the reform movement was very successful and drew many monks and practitioners from across the country, the temple came to produce 8 national masters in the Goryeo Dynasty.

As for the Baekryun reform movement, it was more focused on repentance in one's life and belief in rebirth into Buddhist Pure Land through mantra recitation practice. The religious reforms were more popular among low-educated people rather than middle- and high-class people.

Baekryun-sa was damaged and destroyed by invading Japanese pirates in the late Goryeo Dynasty. Ven Hang Ho with the royal assistance from the third brother of King Sejong in 15 century started to the reconstruction of the temple. In 1760 it was demolished in a big fire, but afterwards rebuilt into its present shape.

Baekryunsa is quite well-known:

• opened by National Master Mu Yeom in the 9th century during Unified Silla Dynasty
• birthplace of Baekryun Pureland Movement led by National Master Won Myo in 13th century in Goryeo Dynasty
• produced 8 national masters in Goryeo Dynasty and 8 highest monks in the Joseon Dynasty 
• famous nationwide for tea plantation, camellia flowers, and a good view of the sea
• main Buddha hall, 3 wooden Buddha statues, and a temple chronology epitaph recognized as important artwork

The Paintings of the Main Hall at Baekryunsa

• 21 dragons are painted inside the Main Hall!

• Why so many? People dream of nirvana and when they die they believe a boat will come to transport them to the Pure Land and because dragons protect from air, land and sea, the dragons are seen as protectors. The boat is called something like banyayongseon and comes from Sanscrit.

• 21 dragons. Two of them have their heads outside (the left one is always white, the right is always blue). The two dragons bodies penetrate the walls of temple and their scales are painted on the beams spanning the airy space above — this symbolizes the dragons wrapping their bodies around the building and therefore the people within, which symbolizes a promise of protection.

• Buddha sits on a maeru (name of a mountain) and when Buddha preached, flowers in the ceiling fell from heaven. Meanwhile, music is played and since angels play music, the idea of support from the heaven is portrayed. Cloud motif is heavily used in temples and is particular apparent in this temple; the clouds are representative of the heavens.

• Lotus are throughout all temples in Korea, and again, obviously so in this temple. The lotus plant has many seeds — the tops are blooms and as the plant matures it gives a pod, and the cycle of life repeats.

• Painted on the wall beams also is a pair of frogs, a very unlikely depiction to be found in almost all other temples, but the symbolism again is clear: from have many eggs and so frogs symbolize fertility.

• Lions, the imagery originally brought from India, are also found — saja, the word for lion, is a play on word for a Buddhist term, thus the creatures presence in Buddhist temples. 

• The phoenix, also a motif for kings, has winged its way into the paintings. This phoenix has the celestial wings, but also features like a deer, and the head of a chicken — the combination of which is for bringing good fortune, thus, the reason for kings also using the imagery.

• Fish with an axe-head in its mouth ... a visionary reminder of what Buddha said, to be careful of one's words because they can cut and damage.

• 18 arahans (like small buddhas, Sanscrit) — their presence means that Buddha told them not to go to heaven but to stay in the mundane life and teach practitioners the truth; they study, recite, meditate, pray ...

This building, far from Seoul and the more developed regions, is surprisingly well funded as is obvious by its great paintings and well-kept roofs and outer buildings. Probably because of the 8 Grand Masters and 8 high monks who are famed in Korean Buddhism, this building gets funding from the Jogye Order countrywide administration. They certainly need funding to commission the woodwork and paintings and maintain the compound and roof especially. Every 30 years the whole ceiling (and all the artwork and scroll-cut wood) needs to be removed and totally redone, which takes about 40 billion won!

This temple has been carefully maintained and is in its original form since ???? (many many) years, except for the roof that needs continual repair and for 2 large very valuable paintings that were stolen in 1994 when the Jogye Order had a major fracturing and turnover caused by the head of the order (very powerful) trying to extend his term of leadership into a fourth term when by religious decision, a monk could only serve up to a maximum of three terms.

In designing Baekryunsa, the Bophwakyeong lotus sutra or Dharma flower sutra was themed in all of the paintings.

Having tea with the head monk.
The view from behind him is absolutely breath-taking

--> — a panoramic view of water liberally speckled with islands. An amusing fact shared by the monk: Hundreds of islands dot the waterways below the temple, many of them quite small and without water sources. In fact, of the 2,000 or so islands in South Korea, only about 400 of them are populated. 

Enjoying Buddhist fare (vegan food and without the 5 foods that excite the body:
garlic, onion, leek, chive and a related cousin). Lots of vegetables, oh yes, my kind of food!

Meditating in the main temple hall -- this is where the artwork inside is so unusual, and with 21 dragons!

Communal hall where the community can gather, relax, hear Dharma talks and Buddhist teachings, and have activities. At present, a display of fish (symbol of Buddhism as fish never close their eyes and sleep - spirituality never sleeps either) made by children in a temple program are on display. At night the fish-shaped paper lanterns are a delight to see!

Muwisa Temple, known for its beautiful paintings

We stopped by the very famous Muwisa Temple for a couple of hours and for our Buddhist fare lunch. This temple, unlike Baekryunsa, is packed with people and has a food hall for visitors who are lined up, quickly passed a bowl of rice and veggies, encouraged to hurry so that more visitors can fill the seats. The visitor's lunch hall was very large and there were many people cycling through. Near the exit of the visitor's dining hall is a large area to wash one's bowl and eating utensils. This is standard in almost all temples, but much more strictly organized here. Assembly line dining.

The temple was lovely ... and very old. Many treasures are located on its grounds, but some quick simple notes are:

• temple was founded by Great Master Wonhyo in 617 of the Silla Dynasty
• Keuknak Jeon (Hall of Utmost Bliss) built in 1430 houses 3 Amitabha Buddhas (national treasures)
• 29 paintings in Keuknak Jeon—known as the oldest and most creative Buddhist wall paintings in South Korea