Baekdudaegan Conservation Society holds its 30th annual festival; Dutasan, Cheongoksan and Mureung Valley offer trekking, seed-balloon releases and secret planting spots

Bettle Rock in the Mureung Valley area of Dutasan along the Baekdudaegan is often called "Korea's Zhangjiajie."
Bettle Rock in the Mureung Valley area of Dutasan along the Baekdudaegan is often called "Korea's Zhangjiajie."
Participants release balloons carrying wild ginseng seeds over the Baekdudaegan mountain range.
Participants release balloons carrying wild ginseng seeds over the Baekdudaegan mountain range.

The cry of "Wild ginseng found!" still echoes across the Baekdudaegan — and there is good reason for it. The Baekdudaegan Conservation Society will hold its 30th annual Wild Ginseng Planting Festival along the Baekdudaegan, the mountain spine of the Korean Peninsula, on Saturday.

The festival unfolds across Dutasan and Cheongoksan — both ridges of the Baekdudaegan — and the Mureung Valley at the foot of Gojeokdae, making wild ginseng planting a centerpiece of the range's ecological restoration.

Now in its 30th year, the festival has been held each autumn at the height of the fall foliage season. It brings together Donghae residents, tourists and hikers alike, and has helped raise public awareness of the Baekdudaegan's ecological health and national significance.

The conservation society launched the event as part of a broader effort to restore wild ginseng populations in the Baekdudaegan — one of the plant's prime natural habitats — and to turn the range into a living classroom for ecological education.

Thousands of participants from across the country are expected to attend on Saturday, including Donghae residents, tourists and members of the younger generation who will carry on the Baekdudaegan's legacy.

The twin waterfalls of Dutasan, which served as a filming location for the K-drama series "Hwang Jini," among others.
The twin waterfalls of Dutasan, which served as a filming location for the K-drama series "Hwang Jini," among others.

Participants will take part in two hands-on experiences: releasing eco-friendly balloons filled with wild ginseng seeds into the sky, and planting a two-year-old ginseng seedling along with 20 ginseng seeds in a secret spot of their own choosing deep in the Baekdudaegan forest — a memory-making activity that invites them to return to Mureung Valley years later to check on the plants they left behind.

To support the event, the conservation society has prepared about 3,000 two-year-old ginseng seedlings and an additional supply of seeds this year.

The program is divided into three parts: a pre-ceremony segment featuring a mountain-spirit ritual and a percussion performance by Woori Sesang Nanta, a seven-member all-women group; an opening ceremony; and a main program that includes the ginseng seed balloon release, a Baekdudaegan trekking session and the ginseng planting itself.

"We hope everyone will enjoy the stunning autumn foliage of Mureung Valley alongside the ginseng experience at this peak season for fall colors," said Choe Jong-bok, chairman of the Baekdudaegan Conservation Society. "We also hope this festival gives both the current generation and future generations a chance to reflect again on the meaning of the Baekdudaegan."


abc@heraldcorp.com