Popular Hwacheon ice fishing festival opens in Gangwon Province

Guests get pleasure from ice fishing on the 2025 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Competition in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, Jan. 11. Yonhap

The 2025 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Competition, certainly one of Korea’s hottest winter occasions, kicked off Saturday within the northeastern county of Hwacheon, providing practically a month of ice fishing and seasonal actions.

The competition, set to run by means of Feb. 2, opened within the distant mountain city in Gangwon Province, positioned simply 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border and about 90 km northeast of Seoul.

Within the competition, members attempt to catch „sancheoneo,“ a species of mountain trout, by means of holes lower within the floor of an enormous frozen river, in addition to participate in barehanded fishing, sledding and different occasions.

As early as 8:30 a.m., the frozen Hwacheon stream was crowded with a whole lot of tourists clad in thick winter jumpers who gathered to catch the sancheoneo.

The guests rigorously lowered their rods into the ice holes, with a few of them quickly erupting in cheers as they reeled within the rod with freshly caught trout.

„I got here early within the morning from Seoul to have a good time my child’s birthday,“ a participant, recognized solely by his final identify Kim, mentioned. „I come yearly however this yr I plan to benefit from the Sancheoneo Ice Competition in addition to a nighttime live performance at Seon Deung Road.“

Outside grilling areas had been arrange close by for vacationers to barbecue the fish.

The Hwacheon competition has attracted greater than 1 million guests nearly yearly since its launch in 2003, making headlines worldwide with 1000’s of vacationers additionally collaborating in different occasions on the competition reminiscent of barehanded fishing and sledding.

The competition turned Hwacheon, with a inhabitants of simply 23,000, into a worldwide wintertime competition metropolis of Korea.

In 2011, a number one international information group launched the competition as one of many world’s seven wonders of winter.

Final January, the New York Occasions named the occasion certainly one of 5 „must-see festivals in Asia“ in winter that yr.

The competition attracts round 100,000 foreigners yearly. (Yonhap)