🎧 Yul's Korea Audio Guide
Nami Island
Narrated in English with Korean phrases by YUL of KVIBE IDOLS.
🎵 Background music: Still in That Spring (그 봄에 머물러) — KVIBE IDOLS · Listen to the full song →
Full transcript
Annyeong, yeoreobun! Yul here. Close your eyes. Snow is falling. Two people walk under tall trees, and the piano music starts. If you know that scene, you know Winter Sonata! Welcome to Nami Island.
But here's the first twist: this island didn't exist a hundred years ago! In 1944, the Cheongpyeong Dam was built on the Bukhan River. The water rose, flooded the low land around this hill, and suddenly, a half-moon-shaped island was born.
Its name comes from General Nami, a young Joseon general who rose very high, very fast, and then was falsely accused of treason and executed in his twenties, under King Yejong. His name was cleared centuries later. Legend says his grave is on this island. Nobody ever found it, but a pile of stones was believed to mark the spot, and people said taking a stone would bring bad luck.
Then, in 2002, the KBS drama Winter Sonata filmed here, and the tree-lined Metasequoia path became famous all over Asia. It was one of the early sparks of the Korean Wave!
And the island loves to play: in 2006, it declared itself the Naminara Republic, a cultural "country" with its own flag and its own passport. Daebak!
Yul's tip! Take the short ferry ride from the Gapyeong side, or, if you're brave, the zip line, which flies about 940 meters over the water. Autumn leaves and winter snow are the most beautiful seasons, but also the busiest, so arrive early.
Next, let's climb one of Korea's most dramatic mountains on the east coast. Kaja!
