Hot spring has been widely used in Korea since ancient times.
The Korean history book “Samguksagi” (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) compiled in 1145 records a number of facts on the use of hot spring, one of which says that brothers of King Sochon of the Koguryo Dynasty went to a spa to enjoy themselves under the pretext of illness. Koguryo is a feudal state that existed in the Korean history between 277 B.C. and A.D. 668 and King Sochon ruled it from 270 to 292. It proves that Korea used hot spring to cure illness from before the 4th century.
Later, more and more people liked to have hot-spring bath and the distributions of hot springs were surveyed on a nationwide scale amid the increasing social interest in hot spring after the 14th century. And curative effects of different hot springs were newly revealed and balneotherapies actively explored. Doctor and Associate Professor Kang Song Nam, Section Chief of the Folklore Institute under the Academy of Social Sciences, says: “Korea has many places named after ‘on’ and ‘chon’ such as Samchon County of South Hwanghae Province and Onjong-ri, Yangdok County of South Phyongan Province. They are all associated with hot spring.
The Korean people has long used hot spring, handing down oral legends concerning hot spring. A typical of them is the legend of Jongdal Hot Spring. According to the legend, in olden times a skylark with a broken leg alighted on a swampy hot-spring area before flying up again with the leg cured. So the villagers called the hot spring Jongdal(skylark) Hot Spring.”
As said above, the Korean nation has widely used hot spring in life since early times with a good understanding of its curative and pharmacological effects.
This year the Korean people enjoy themselves at the comprehensive, modern and peculiar Yangdok Hot Spring Resort.
