π§ Yul's Korea Audio Guide Β· Korea Travel
Namhansanseong Fortress: UNESCO Mountain Fortress near Seoul
Narrated in English with Korean phrases by YUL of KVIBE IDOLS. Also on Spotify and YouTube.
π΅ Background music: Red Roof (λΉ¨κ° μ§λΆ) β KVIBE IDOLS Β· Listen to the full song β
Full transcript
Annyeong, yeoreobun! It's Yul from KVIBE IDOLS. Today's story is about a king who hid in the mountains. Welcome to Namhansanseong, a mountain fortress just southeast of Seoul.
The fortress walls run along the mountain ridges for kilometers. It was built as an emergency capital. If the enemy came to Seoul, the king could escape here.
And that really happened. In the winter of 1636, the Qing army invaded. King Injo ran to this fortress with his officials and soldiers. They held out for forty seven days in the snow. But food ran low, and in the end the king had to go down and surrender. It's one of the saddest moments in Joseon history.
There's a Korean movie about it, called The Fortress. Watch it before you go!
Today Namhansanseong is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and a peaceful place to hike. You can walk along the walls, see the old gates, and visit Haenggung, the temporary palace where the king stayed.
After the hike, many people eat chicken stew or rice dishes in the village inside the fortress.
Yul's tip! Go in autumn for red and yellow leaves on the walls. Bus from Namhansanseong Station on Line Eight. Have a nice hike!
