Bukcheonsu Pine Grove, Pohang

In Buksong-ri, Heunghae-eup, on the northern edge of Pohang, a pine forest runs for almost 2.5 km along the embankment of the Gokgangcheon stream, known in the past as the Bukcheon. Bukcheonsu was planted on a flood dyke in the late Joseon period and is said to be the third-longest surviving forest of its kind in Korea. Today it is a shady local walking route, popular for barefoot walking, and a sacred grove where villagers still hold rites every year.

The su (藪) in the name means a thicket or grove. Pohang has many village forests planted to hold back sea winds and floodwater, and Bukcheonsu is one of the best examples, serving both as a flood barrier and as a windbreak.

A forest planted to protect a dyke

According to the royal court diary Ilseongnok, Yi Deuk-gang, who became magistrate of Heunghae in 1802 under King Sunjo, saw the Bukcheon flood every rainy season, had the villagers build a dyke and planted a belt of forest about four ri long. Another record dates it to the reign of King Cheoljong, so sources differ on the timing. The grove already appears on an old map of Heunghae County held at the Kyujanggak archive and in a 1938 survey of village forests, so it has long been well known.

Shortly before Korea's liberation in 1945 many of the old pines were felled, and logging and land clearance shrank the forest further over the following decades. It was restored under a traditional village forest programme in 2005 and designated a Natural Monument in 2006. The trees are red pines and black pines, ranging from about 50 to over 200 years old.

What to look for

• The pine path: a dirt track runs between the dyke and the trees, so you can walk in shade for a long way even in midsummer. The mix of soil and small stones makes it a favourite for barefoot walkers, and there is a foot-washing station near the entrance.
• Young pines: in several fenced plots, seedlings are left to grow from fallen pine cones. If the old trunks are the forest's past, these young pines are its future.
• Red pine or black pine? Reddish bark means red pine, dark bark means black pine. You can also tell them apart by the new shoots: reddish-brown on red pines, greyish-white on black pines.

Village customs

On the first full moon of the lunar year, villagers hold a rite at the shrine in the grove and then, at 3 pm, a mountain rite on the hill in front of the village. A bottle of brine buried the year before is dug up, and its condition is read to predict the fortunes of the coming year. Local accounts also say that the village name Buksong-ri, given when several hamlets merged in 1914, comes from this forest.

Tripto tips

• Access: it is a village forest, open at all times and free. The address is around 63 Buksong-gil, Heunghae-eup, Buk-gu, Pohang.
• Time needed: 30 minutes for a short stroll, about 1.5 hours to walk to one end and back.
• Getting there: driving from central Pohang north to Heunghae-eup is easiest. By bus, take a route towards Heunghae and check the nearest stop in a map app.
• Best time: summer, when the shade is deepest; around the first full moon of the lunar year you may catch the village rites.
• Good to know: people live and work around the grove, so no cooking or littering.