🎧 Yul's Korea Audio Guide
Suwon Hwaseong Fortress
Narrated in English with Korean phrases by YUL of KVIBE IDOLS.
🎵 Background music: Letter on the Wind (바람의 편지) — KVIBE IDOLS · Listen to the full song →
Full transcript
Annyeong, yeoreobun! It's Yul, and this one is a real K-drama. Welcome to Suwon Hwaseong, a fortress built from a son's broken heart.
It starts with a tragedy. In 1762, Crown Prince Sado was locked inside a wooden rice chest by his own father, King Yeongjo, and he died there after eight days. His young son watched it all happen. That boy grew up to become King Jeongjo, one of the greatest kings of Joseon.
And what did King Jeongjo do? He moved his father's tomb to Suwon, and then he built this incredible fortress around a brand-new city. Construction began in 1794.
Now here's the genius part. Jeongjo worked with a brilliant young scholar named Jeong Yak-yong, who designed a lifting machine called the geojunggi. Using cranes and pulleys, they finished the whole fortress in about two years and nine months, much faster than planned. And the king paid the workers wages! Very modern.
The best twist? They wrote down everything: every stone, every tool, every worker, in a giant illustrated report called the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe. So when parts of the fortress were damaged during the Korean War, Korea rebuilt them exactly, using that book. Thanks to that, Hwaseong became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Yul's tip! Walk the wall, it's about five point seven kilometers, and go at sunset near Banghwasuryujeong pavilion. Then try the famous Suwon fried chicken street. Trust me.
Next stop, a secret gold mine that became a cave of wonders. Kaja!
