London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

The Sancheong World Traditional Medicine Anti-Aging Expo: reaching beyond Korea to heal the world.

The 2023 Sancheong World Traditional Medicine and Anti-Aging Expo (“Sancheong Expo”) will be held in Donguibogam Village, Sancheong County, from 15 September to 19 October 2023. The theme of this healing expo is “Promise of the Future, Traditional Medicine in the World”. Visitors can enjoy health and healing through the experience of traditional medicine from … [Read More]

2014 Travel Diary day 3: 사십구재

The 49th-day ceremony (사십구재) for Sena Lee, who died in Seoul on 22 April 2014, held at Anjeoksa, Sancheon-gun, at which family and friends said farewell to her. According to dharma master Tim Lerch,  Traditionally, the period of 49 days after someone dies is seen as a time for that person to check their consciousness and digest their … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #27: Last day at the Expo

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 13 September, 7am. There’s still a long list of things I have to do before leaving. We have to pay a courtesy call on the mayor to say farewell, plus I want to pay a last visit to the Festival. And of course I need to gather everything together, trying to … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #26: The first round of farewells

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Thursday 12 September, 12 noon. After a refreshing herbal tea, it was time for lunch: Sancheong Beef bulgogi with Mr Byeon, Min Hyang-sik and Min Young-ki. Not only barbecued beef, but in increasing order of difficulty, raw beef fillet, raw beef liver, and raw beef lung. I really struggled with the last … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #25: The Hallyu 4.0 Experience

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Thursday 12 September, 9am. At the main entrance to the Expo there is a long parade of information booths and gift stalls. One of the booths was there to promote Hallyu 4.0. Hallyu 1.0 and Hallyu 2.0 are the first and second waves of Korean pop culture spreading through Asia. First came … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #24: Yin, Yang and Ginseng

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 5:30pm. Refreshed by our nap on the fragrant pillow, we move on from the Traditional Medicine Experience Pavilion to the Theme Hall, outside which stand the statues of the two best known figures in Korean Traditional Medicine, who have now made it into popular culture courtesy of TV dramas: … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #22: Tiger, Bear and herb: the traditional Korean medicine experience

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 4pm. In Korean mythology, it seems that it’s not the bear that has the sore head. It’s the tiger. In the Korean Medicine Theme Park, which forms part of the Donguibogam Village, the exhibits focus on the different parts of the human body, but throughout there is the recurring … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #21: Return to Sancheong

Unjusa, Hwasun-gun, Wednesday 11 September, 10am. It’s not yet mid-morning, but the temperature is already uncomfortable despite the lack of sun. Once again, it’s pleasant to get inside the air-conditioned car to head back to Sancheong. As we drive back, I give Sena a call to arrange to see her later that afternoon. As LKL’s … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #5: The official duties

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 6 September, 2pm. After lunch, I realise that I now have to perform my ambassadorial duties. My sense of gloom is at odds with the enthusiastic spiel that I have to present to the camera. We proceed to the Donguibogam Museum where we meet up with a few people in an … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #4: Honouring the spirits, feeling the gi

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 6 September, 9am. In the daylight, I am beginning to get my bearings. The Sancheong World Traditional Medicine Expo is set in a 109 hectare (269 acre) site dominated by the dramatic peaks of Pilbongsan (pencil-peak mountain) and Wangsan (the King’s mountain). The natural slopes of these mountains establish the geography … [Read More]

2013 Travel Diary #3: Preparing for the Expo

Donguibogam Village, Sancheong-gun, Friday 6 September, 7am. Four hundred years ago, a ground-breaking medical encyclopaedia was published. The Donguibogam, literally the Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine, was compiled and edited by Heo Jun, a Korean royal doctor, with the support of a team of medical scholars and academics. The work had been commissioned by … [Read More]