Choi Won-suk is a photojournalist at The Korea Times. Before joining the newspaper, he also worked as a photojournalist with AFP and St. Joseph News-Press in Missouri. He spent 13 years in the United States, graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism degree (Cum Laude) from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Master of Arts in Photography from Ohio University - Athens. Over the past 11 years, Choi covered various news events such as presidential elections, the 2019 North Korea-United States Hanoi Summit and 2022 Qatar World Cup. But above all, Choi believes in local journalism and finds a lot of joy telling life stories of ordinary citizens in small neighborhoods.
South Korea's ice fishing festival lures local and foreign tourists
South Korea's annual ice fishing festival drew massive crowds on Saturday (January 5) who braved below freezing temperatures to catch trout in a frozen lake.
About 141,500 people attended the first day of the festival, according to organisers, where they spent time on the frozen lake to catch fish through a small hole dug into thick ice. Some participants jumped into a pool of freezing water to catch the trouts with their bare hands.
In the end, participants have their catch cooked for them to eat.
The "Sancheoneo festival", scheduled to last until January 27, is named after a species of mountain trout native to Korea that lives in the surrounding lakes and creeks in Hwacheon, Gangwon province, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of the capital Seoul.
The governor of Hwacheon county Choi Moon-soon said about 1.7 million people visited the festival last year and 120,000 of them were foreign tourists. (Reuters)
A festival visitor celebrates after attending bare hand fishing in a frozen river during the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival at Hwacheon-gun in Gangwon province, South Korea, 05 January 2019. EPA
By Choi Won-suk
Festival visitors fish on a frozen river to fish during the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival at Hwacheon-gun in Gangwon province, South Korea, 05 January 2019. EPA
People cast lines through holes drilled in the surface of a frozen river during a trout catching contest in Hwacheon, South Korea, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. AP
Anglers throw lines on a river during a trout catching contest in Hwacheon, South Korea, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. AP