Looking Back On Korea – Penis Park

  One of the contrasts of Korea that I don’t think I will ever get used to, is what is usually a very rigid conservative culture and the sometimes brazen display of sexuality.  In that regard I am not talking about finding a late night tv program where they blur out a cigarette or a knife with blood in one scene, while showing full frontal nudity in the next.  Or the young adult’s women’s clothing style of wearing some of the shortest miniskirts you have ever seen, even in the dead of winter (You will see women in think fur coats, winter gloves and hats while wearing nylons and a mini skirt.)  Think Nanook’s wife with a G-String, or ordering 2 double cheese burgers and a diet coke. 

  I am talking about the sexuality that seems to be embedded in Korea’s past, wrapped up in the very folk lore that explains the existence of cities.  Near Samcheok, a place called Haesadang Park, colloquially known as “Penis Park” is a perfect example. 

   I am not sure what aspect of “Penis Park” is the most strange, the collection of carved phallic statues, or the legend and myth surrounding the statues.  The story, set in the remote fishing village of Samcheok, says that a young woman who was just married was down by the shore and was swept out to sea by big wave. 

  Following her death the local fisherman were not able to catch any more fish.  That is until they gathered on a cliff and urinated into the sea, then the catch rate in the village returned to normal.

  This prompted the fishermen to (SORRY!) erect these penis statues to honor the young bride, so that her sprit could rest, and they could catch fish to feed their families.

Welcome to Penis Park!

  The ocean scenery from Haesadang Park cannot be beat!

There is also a diving, and marine museum next to the park,  You can also hike further down into the actual fishing village that still exists, and see how the locals harvest and dry out seaweed, which gets sold as gimbap (Kim-Bop) wrappers.

Interesting that they decided to put boobs on these photo divers (The diver to my right is definitely a man. With MOOBS.

  Awaiting the bus to take us back to our hotel in Donghae, I came across this closed school, which the story Mi Jung told about it was almost as interesting as the young virgins death that enticed a bunch of fishermen to whip it out and pee in the sea.  Mi Jung said that in allot of these rural villages, once the children grow up and move away, only the older parents are left and there is no longer a need to keep the schools open.  I had fun walking around taking video of the complex.  It looks like the buildings are still being maintained as a disaster shelter.  I walked around, imagining the students who spent a good deal of their childhood here learning.  Hearing their laughter in my head, while thinking of Bob Dylan’s Forever Young.

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How to get here:

From the Dong Seoul bus terminal buy ticket to Samcheok bus terminal then take bus # 24 to Haesadang. 
The bus runs from 5:30am – 7:20pm, and runs 11 times a day.

I always get confused in the Korean bus terminals, because it seems that each ticket window sells tickets to different destinations.  Arrive early, get a print out of the hangul spelling of your destination, be patient and ask a school kid for help is the best advice.