A Riverside and Her Poet

Article and photo by Mark Liebenthal

If you drive for approximately one hour north of Gwangju, you will find yourself in the beautiful Korean countryside.

There is a place of easy hiking and quiet landscape that is unknown to most foreigners. It is called Seomjingang River.

The Seomjingang riverside is renowned in Korea for its clear water, beautiful landscape and unique river rock formations. There are no other rock formations like this in Korea. Because of its unique formations, the riverside is replete with myths.

One story is about having a son. By sitting on Yongang Bawi, the most famous of the river stones, a woman can ensure that she will have a baby boy.

Yongang Bawi is a high, wide river stone that projects from the surrounding rocks. It is estimated to be two meters high and three meters wide, and weighs nearly fifteen tons. This stone is the most unique because it is hollow inside. The opening is large enough for an adult to climb inside. Another local story is about villagers hiding inside Yongang Bawi during the Korean War, and surviving.

To add to the colorful stories, the stone was once stolen from the riverside. The estimated value of the stone is placed at billions of won. Not too long after its theft the stone was recovered and returned to its original location.

No beautiful location in Korea is complete without having its own poet. The poet of this area is Kim Yongtaek, the “Seomjingang Poet”.

Kim worked as a primary educator for many years and still lives in the area. Some of his most famous verses are from his poem, “Seomjinang River”.

“Walk along and watch the rainless Seomjingang River
Streams like capillary vessels of Cheolla-do
Gather together and flow continuously.

If the sun sets on the dusky riverside,
White rice like clover flowers,
Charcoal fire like Jaunyeong flowers being laid on the head,
Pull and kill darkness
On the nameless wild plants
At the nameless riverside village,
And hang flower lights
On the forehead
Illuminating brightly the sunburnt forehead.”

Despite its mythical and poetic status, the mysterious rock formations, as well as several local villages, are threatened by a dam project upriver. Should the dam begin operations, this beautiful landscape will exist only in Kim’s poems.