Ryu Sung-Yong: professional traveler

Traveling is described in countless ways by many people. Some people call it an adventure; some people call it an escape from the tiring reality. Most people think that traveling is when you have plenty of leisure time and enough finance. They often think that you cannot travel for a living. There is Ryu Sung-Yong, a professional traveler and travel writer whose life you can truly call a traveler’s. So far, he published several books based on his journey, and he also directed numbers of traveling programs.

The book “Professional Traveler” is where Ryu got the nickname and since then has gained quite some popularity among people who want to travel. “Professional Traveler” consists of two chapters with similar topics but different contents. One chapter covers a story of a man who couldn’t settle down so traveling has become his daily life. It’s actually about his own story of traveling after he had lost people around him. It is gloomy on one hand after all since he did not have much choice but to travel around. Another chapter is ‘The World’s Loneliest Travel Story.’ This is about the writer traveling around countries from China, Tibet, Nepal to Pakistan. This became a lighthouse for those who travel often and an inspiration for those who could not travel freely.

Ryu was born in 1971 and graduated from Yonsei University. He was a columnist in the Hankyoreh newspaper. After finishing school, he entangled himself into several events such as joining crab fishing. He spent three years as a Korean subject teacher in high school. When he was 29, he went to southern part of Jiri Mountain, and spent 4 years doing nothing but selling teas and writing. This was when he published the book “Love of Things that are Nothing.” Then he started traveling around Asian countries from India to Pakistan for one and a half year, and published the “Professional Traveler.” Later, he directed several traveling television programs such as EBS’ ‘World Theme Tour’ where he introduced countries like Mexico, Peru, Iran and many more.

Ryu inspired many people with his stories and ideas. Writer Bob Chang who watched Ryu taking part in EBS’ ‘World Theme Tour’ was inspired by how he can easily blend in with the locals and new environment, no matter which country he visits. On the interview in the Kyunghyang newspaper, he made some important criticisms about traveling. He said, “People take their traveling experience to show off to others. People try to travel on their own will and their own choice only.” He also gave some suggestions such as “Traveling is a great opportunity to be somebody else. It is difficult to not be ourselves in daily lives. Also, we learn the importance of will and decision but we do not have enough opportunities to learn that there are views and places we cannot reach with just will and decision. We need some space to walk around with our presence reduced, letting few things go as we walk along.”

Perhaps, the true meaning of traveling is not in our ideals of good traveling we see on TV. Just like Ryu has found his own style of traveling and gained the nickname of “professional traveler,” we should keep his advice in mind and try to blend in rather than shining alone and seek for our true meaning of traveling.

shimhg5@naver.com

 

BY Shim Hyun-Gyun

Bangi Middle school

Hallyu attracting tourists, but are we ready for them?

K-Drama, K-pop, traditional products, and food like Kimchi are all attracting tourists from around the world. The number of tourists visiting Korea increases every year. Yet, there have been several issues that have kept tourists from having a satisfying trip. Problems arise, such as lack of communication and guides who speak English, and some of these problems keep away tourists from visiting Korea.

Plastic surgery tourism, is it safe and worth the trip?

Chinese tourists are some of the most common tourists who visit Korea. In 2013, the number of Chinese tourists that visited Korea for cosmetic surgery went up to 20,000 (Joseilbo). According to New York Times, Korean government is spending more than 4 million dollars to promote medical tourism. Since Korean dramas are successful in China, Dr. Ro Young-woo who is a founding partner of a South Korean franchise chain of clinics called Oracle Clinic said that many Chinese come to Korea for plastic surgery. And when they come they bring a photo of a Korean celebrity because they want to look like them. This medical tourism is surely a lucrative business but still, there are some dark sides.

In China, as there are many positive responses to plastic surgery, there are lots of concerns and criticisms for plastic surgery as well. One aspect of this is safety issue. There have been many cases of failed plastic surgery that are posted online, especially in China. For example, on Chinese portal site ‘baidu’, there are over 1,000 cases where plastic surgery proved dangerous to the patient. And if the plastic surgery fails, then the patient has to pay extra money to recover. Another problem of medical tourism that Chinese tourists face is dissatisfaction. Even though Korean celebrities are popular among Chinese, there are still cultural differences and standards of beauty. For instance, if Koreans prefer an appearance that naturally makes one look younger, Chinese would prefer bright and fancy looks. Thus, plastic surgery in Korea may not be successful for Chinese in that factor.

Hallyu Tourism, what are the problems and possible solutions?

It is a well known fact that Hallyu attracts many tourists. However, there are matters that are bothering the tourists from enjoying Korea. According to Herald Economy, there are mainly 3 problems that need to be dealt with for the brighter future of Hallyu tourism. One is lack of ‘killer contents’, or in other words, lack of events that can represent Seoul and Korea. The other two problems are lack of guidance and problems with communication. When tourists visit Korea to see concerts or go to certain places, they have trouble doing that because there are not many information centers and communication is hard as well.

As the tourism market is growing, several proposals are being promoted. An application called ‘Seoul Pass’ allows foreign tourists to be able to search hotels, find popular tour spots and even buy a ticket for places like museums. This application is popular among tourists from China, Singapore and Hong Kong. In fact, 65% of these app users are from China, Singapore and Hong Kong. As for the lack of events that represent Seoul or Korea, there are several research projects going on to create events such as fireworks or integrating art and technology.

Tourism in Korea is certainly successful but it still has a long way to go until we can talk about the true ‘success’ of Hallyu tourism. Hopefully, several projects can help improve the weakness of the tourism so that tourists will love their Korean experience and leave with unforgettable memories. Maybe they will even want to come again!

shimhg5@naver.com

 

BY Shim Hyun-Gyun

Bangi Middle school