"A king who rules over the people should pull out all the heart."

It is a famous saying of King Sejong the King, whom Koreans love and respect most.

King Sejong is the king who is said to be the greatest king of Korea and has made great achievements in many fields such as politics, military, culture, science and art.

(Hunminjeongeum)

The greatest achievement is the creation of Hangul!

King Sejong made a phonetic symbol through inventing Hangul for people's rich use of language.

Koreans are exploring the achievements of King Sejong through various contents such as dramas, movies, and comics, as well as biography.

(From the left, Tree with 1446, deep root, Shinkijeon related to King Sejong's achievements)

Song Jung-ki plays young sejong in the drama 'Tree with deep root', the 'Shinkijeon' is about the story of the weapon called Shinkijeon, and the musical '1446' containing the biography of King Sejong!

We are constantly meeting King Sejong with such various contents.

Another way to meet King Sejong in 2017, The statue of Sejong in Gwanghwamun!

(Statue of Sejong in Gwanghwamun, Seoul)

Another way to meet King Sejong in 2017! It is a statue of King Sejong in Gwanghwamun.

If you go to Gwanghwamun Square, which is the center of Seoul, you can see the statue of Sejong that always keeps the spot.

After meeting the statue of King Sejong, find a Korea national souvenir center located 10 minutes walk from Gwanghwamun Square. In a straight line from where King Sejong statute is located.

You can find a variety of products including handkerchiefs, key chains and Korean silk neckties with Hunminjeongeum!

(A Hunminjeongeum handkerchief with beautiful printing detail)

From the statue of King Sejong to the traditional souvenirs decorated in Korean!   

How about going out to Gwanghwamun-Insadong?

“I wish had a lot of money doing nothing”

Have you ever thought about it?

There is a bowl that keeps growing things when you put anything!

It is a folktale called ‘widow’s cruse’ which descends for several hundred years.

(And i wonder what it looks like)

A poor bachelor who lived at the beach went down to the village to sell the tree and then find a live snapper sold by a merchant. When he saw the snapper, panting its breath, the bachelor used his money to release the snapper on the beach. One day a beautiful woman who came to the bachelor said that she was a snapper. She recommended him to go to the dragon king and bring a bowl look like soybean.

That’s the widow’s cruse, a mysterious bowl that keeps all kinds of things and does not diminished!

You can find it in Korea souvenir center!

< Widow’s cruse in the Korea souvenir center at insa dong >

It looks like soybean, as the snapper expresses. Widow’s cruse does not have a sleek and polished design, but it has lumpy and rustic style!

The reason why the bachelor in the folktale is given widow’s cruse is because he does good work of releasing the snapper.

If you have widow’s cruse, What do you want to put in?

Come to the Korea souvenir center! 

Of course, if you put something in the widows’ cruse, it is mine XD ~

Hello guys! It’s Korea souvenir center.

What image do you come up with when thinking Korea?

(The icon representing Korea culture : Kimchi and K-POP)

There are various images representing Korea such as healthy and delicious Korean food, K-POP that is enthusiastic all over the world and ‘Taeguek’ mark that engraved in the Korean flag!

(you will recall Korea with this taegeuk mark)

Did you know what taegeuk mark means? 

Taekuek mark is a pattern that located at the center of Korean flag. Red and blue color is intertwined. Red means the energy of ‘yang’ and ‘sky’. Blue means the energy of ‘yin’ and ‘land’.

Taekuek mark contains the truth of nature that the universe grows in harmony of yin and yang.

3 Taekuek! Not just sky and land. There are always human beings in nature.

3 taekuek is a variation of the taekuek mark meaning a statue that becoming one with sky, land and human being. It is a pattern meaning the origin of universe which containing sky, earth, human being in the ancient china’s philosophy.

Is it amazing that there is a huge universe truth in simple pattern :D ?

I’ll be back soon with the posting informing you of Korea souvenir center!