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| A hackberry tree sits atop Dongbu Village in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, which is witnessing a large number of visitors after it was recently featured in the series "Extraordinary Attorney Woo." The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) decided to review whether to designate it as a natural monument. Courtesy of CHA |
By Kim Rahn
A small farming village in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, is seeing a sharp increase in the number of visitors after a large hackberry tree there appeared recently in the hit series, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo."
The 500-year-old tree was featured in episodes 7 and 8 last week, where a fictional village called Sodeok-dong faces damage due to a road construction plan that bisects the hamlet and requires the tree to be cut down.
Located atop a small hill at the center of the village, the so-called "guardian tree" symbolizes the value of the village in the ENA drama. A government review initiated to designate the tree as a natural monument halts the construction plan and saves the village.
In real life, the hackberry tree is located in Dongbu Village in Bukbu-ri, Changwon. Measuring 16 meters in height and 6.8 meters in circumference, the tree was designated for protection by the local government in 2015.
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| A scene from the ENA series, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," where the characters sit under the hackberry tree / Captured from Park Eun-bin's Instagram |
After the episodes aired, the sleepy village of around 70 residents suddenly saw a jump in the number of visitors, with photos of the visits being posted on many blogs and social networks.
While the villagers put up a sign of the tree at the entrance of the village, Changwon municipal government jumped on the bandwagon to promote the new landmark. It said on its official blog that the hill offers a full view of Dongbu Village as well as part of the Nakdong River beyond it.
Due to the newfound attention, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) has decided to examine whether the tree is worthy of being designated as a natural monument and added that plans were made to do that last year even before "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" began airing.
"We think the tree has value as a cultural heritage considering its shape, age and conditions of growth," the CHA said in a release, Monday. "We'll soon start an on-site inspection with experts, local government officials and residents and decide whether to designate it as a natural monument."
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