Throughout the past year, The Korea Travel Log has introduced listeners to 51 beautiful travel destinations in Korea that are less known to the public. Today, the six producers of the program wanted to share the places that truly stood out to them during their visits throughout the year.

Throughout the past year, The Korea Travel Log has introduced listeners to 51 beautiful travel destinations in Korea that are less known to the public. <br><br>Today, the six producers of the program wanted to share the places that truly stood out to them during their visits throughout the year.

#52. Highlights from <The Korea Travel Log>

The area around Songcheon in Daegwallyeong, PyeongChang County is hosting the 26th Daegwallyeong Snow Festival. The celebration of ice and snow features various snow sculptures as well as fun activities such as ice sledding, ice slides, and traditional games. Visitors will also be treated to local specialty dishes that will warm up their stomachs.

#51. Daegwallyeong Snow Festival

Sokcho in Gangwon-do Province is a charming city. It is surrounded by the majestic Seoraksan Mountain and is home to Lake Yeongnang and Lake Cheongcho. Its port that vibrates with energy since early morning and the blazing sunrise beyond the horizon make Sokcho even more attractive as a travel destination. Let's embark on a winter trip to Sokcho on this week's The Korea Travel Log!

#50. Sokcho, the city of lake and port

There is a very special village in Sokcho, located on the east coast of Gangwon-do Province. It's Abai Village, where North Koreans who had fled the Korean War from Hamgyeong-do Province at the northeastern end of the Korean Peninsula settled down. The North Koreans built their community on the barren beach where nobody had lived before the Korean War. Let's set off on a little different trip today to Abai Village.

#49. Sokcho, second home to North Korean war refugees

Jeongseon, Gangwon-do Province, one of the three origins of Arirang. Jeongseon is a small town located deep in the mountains, where only a patch of sky is visible through the tall peaks. Let's set off on a winter trip to Jeongseon, a town closest to the sky where an Arirang of its namesake was born.

#48. Jeongseon in Gangwon-do Province, the home of Arirang

Ski resorts in Korea are packed with colorfully-clad skiers and snowboarders swooshing down the slopes. Interests in winter sports have spiked in the run up to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, further driving up the number of people, including foreign tourists, visiting the ski resorts in Gangwon-do Province. Let's visit one of the most popular ski resorts, Hongcheon Vivaldi Park Ski World, to enjoy the excitement of winter sports and experience the Olympic atmosphere.

#47. Enjoy the ultimate winter sports in Hongcheon!

If you happen to visit Hwacheon in Gangwon-do Province this winter, be sure to look around one of Korea's most iconic wintertime festival. Since its start in 2003, the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival has become the most well-known winter event in Korea, drawing more than one million visitors from home and abroad. The festival offers a variety of fun activities, such as ice fishing, sledding, ice soccer, and skating, as well as great food.

#46. Sancheoneo Ice Festival in Hwacheon, Gangwon-do Province

Coal mines and miners at one time were the powerful engine that drove Korea's phenomenal economic growth. Sadly, the once-busy industrial site, which opened in 1964 and had flourished until its shutdown in 2001, stands empty and silent today. A few years ago, however, the old, abandoned mine was resurrected as a cultural and artistic venue named Samtan Art Mine, where the mine's dynamic yet heart-breaking history inspires unforgettably poignant works of art.

#45. Samtan Art Mine in Jeongseon, Gangwon-do Province

The Woljeongsa temple stay program, popular among Koreans as well as foreigners, provides a special chance to experience a day at the Buddhist temple. This week's episode highlights the temple stay program at the millennium-old Woljeongsa Temple located in PyeongChang ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

#44. Woljeongsa Temple Stay Program

Seonjaegil hiking course stretches from the fir tree forest in front of Woljeongsa Temple in Odaesan Mountain to Sangwonsa Temple. Walking on the millennium-old forest road gives hikers a chance to enjoy the dense evergreen forest and a sparkling clean mountain spring and look back on year 2017. Visit this beautiful trekking course in the Odaesan National Park near PyeongChang, Gangwon-do Province ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

#43. Seonjaegil hiking course in Odaesan Mountain

A friendly guide to some of Korea's hidden tourist destinations.

The Korea Travel Log

One of the hottest tour programs for foreign visitors to Seoul is make-your-own-perfume program. Tourists create their own perfumes so that whenever they wear those scents they're reminded of their trips to Seoul. KBS producer Lee Beom-seok goes to a perfumery located in the Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul and makes one-of-a-kind perfume, together with travelers from all corners of the globe.

#13. Perfume-making Workshop in the Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul

The DMZ Peace Train program is available only in Korea, the only divided country in the world. The train travels to the demilitarized zone near Cheorwon, Gangwon-do Province, where passengers can see the Baekma Hill, a strategic site where the bloodiest battle of the Korean War took place, climb up to the observatory to view the northern limit line, look around the bullet-riddled North Korean Workers' Party headquarters and the rusted train at Woljeong-ri Station. This tour program inspires reflection on this painful chapter in Korean history and appreciation for the peaceful state we live in.

#14. DMZ Peace Train

Anyone would be surprised to learn that coffee is grown in Korea of all places, since coffee plants are known to grow in tropical regions like South America or Africa. Nonetheless, Goheung-gun County in southern Korea is home to roughly 20 coffee farms. This week's trip includes a visit to a coffee farm in Goheung and a sampling of locally produced coffee at the farm's coffee shop, as well as a barista-for-a-day program where visitors learn how to roast and hand-drip coffee.

#15. Santiago Coffee Farm in Goheung-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province

The crowning achievement in early modern fortress construction, realization of powerful royal authority, a well-thought-out urban development plan, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These are just some of the descriptions given to Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon to illustrate its significance. Walk around the fortress wall on an autumn day to enjoy the highlight of Joseon-era architecture.

#33. Suwon Hwaseong Fortress

In marking the UNESCO-designated World Book and Copyright Day on April 23rd, we visit Samrye Culture and Arts Village in Wanju, Jeollabuk-do Province and introduce a book-binding shop and interactive programs at a book museum in this lesser-known tourist destination.

#12. Samrye Culture and Arts Village

The Wonju Hanji Theme Park located in the city of Wonju in Gangwon-do Province is where visitors can learn about the origin and history of Korean traditional paper "hanji," famous for its silky texture and superb durability. The park provides interactive programs in which visitors can try their hands at making hanji the old-fashioned way and their own hanji souvenirs.

#41. Wonju Hanji Theme Park

Gapyeong in Gyeonggi-do Province is known for its majestic mountains and sparkling rivers, but the region is most famous for its pine nuts produced from its many pine forests. Let's embark on a therapeutic trip to the Jat'hyanggi Purunsup Forest, the country's largest pine forest filled with more than 80-year-old trees.

#39. Jat'hyanggi Purunsup Forest in Gapyeong

Paju Book City is a place where books are born. The huge neighborhood is home to a number of publishing houses, printers, book planners, booksellers, and book cafes. But the most well-known landmark in Paju Book City is a multi-functional space for books and cultural performances called the Forest of Wisdom. Having won an architectural award for its distinctive use of space, the Forest of Wisdom houses a 24-hour book cafe, a bookstore, and Jijihyang guesthouse. Let's travel to Paju, the city of books, to enjoy a relaxing time with books and coffee.

#38. The Forest of Wisdom in Paju 

Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, Namhansanseong Fortress is a tragic reminder of the 1636 Chinese invasion of Joseon. Let's rediscover the autumn and history of Korea as we walk around the mountain fort blanketed by splendid fall foliage.

#37. A walk around Namhansanseong Fortress, following the scent of autumn and vestiges of history

Siheung Mine was dug halfway up Gahaksan Mountain in Gyeonggi-do Province in 1912 to provide Japan with mineral resources. Since the mine was closed down in 1972, it was used to store shrimp sauce and has been practically abandoned since then. Then the mine was reborn as the Gwangmyeong Cave Theme Park in 2011. Let's descend into the depth of Gwangmyeong Cave, which draws more than 1.5 million tourists annually.

#36. Gwangmyeong Cave, the only cave theme park in the Seoul metropolitan area

Since long ago, markets were not just places to buy and sell stuff, but have served as the venues of human interactions and celebrations of life with lots of interesting things to see and eat. In Seoul the Bamdokkaebi Night Market pops up out of nowhere to entice visitors with food trucks that sell delicious specialties, handmade items, diverse cultural performances, and a magical night scenery of the Hanggang River. Enjoy the vibrant and tasty night life at the Seoul Bamdokkaebi Night Market.

#35. Food tour at the Seoul Bamdokkaebi Night Market

This week's episode takes listeners to the Daereungwon Royal Tomb Complex, where ancient Silla tombs from 1,500 years ago stand intact to create a unique and harmonious blending of past and present, of life and death. The itinerary also includes the Jjoksaem area where visitors can see an actual excavation site. This episode introduces the best way to appreciate Gyeongju's past and its resonance to the present time.

#32. Gyeongju, the city of tombs

A nighttime tour program called "Millennium Night Trip" takes visitors to the ancient historical sites of Gyeongju and lets them enjoy the city's colorful night scenery under the quiet, shimmering moonlight. Starting at the site of the Silla era royal palace Wolseong, visitors find out about the origin of Chuseok or Hangawi, one of Korea's greatest traditional holidays, and tour through the Woljeong Bridge leading into the old Silla palace, the royal palace Wolseong, which means the Moon Fortress, and Donggung and Wolji Pond cited as the most popular nighttime destinations in Gyeongju.

#31, Gyeongju, the city of the moon

Busan's treasure Yeongdo still retains bits and pieces of the city's past and stories of then-residents. Nostalgic attractions and specialty in Yeongdo include the Yeongdo Bridge, the first drawbridge in Korea; Huinyeoul Culture Village where North Korean refugees settled down when they fled from the Korean War; and milmyeon,  North Korean refugees' soul food. Let's travel to Yeongdo to glimpse into the heartbreaking lives of the refugees who had to leave their homes and loved ones behind.

#29. Yeongdo, Busan's Treasure Island

What makes day and night in Busan so special? During the day fly over the sea on a cable car, walk on the sea by strolling on the Skywalk glass-bottomed walkway, and admire the magnificent coastal line from the Bole-gil trail. And a night tour in Busan that includes amazing little-known spots like the Diorama of History observatory, Yeongdo Cheonghak Waterside Park, and Igidae Observatory. Here's how you can spend a special day and night in Busan.

#28. Special day and night of Busan, the largest port city in Korea

Measuring up to its nickname of "international city" or "futuristic city," Songdo in Incheon features only wide open motorways and clusters of glass and steel skyscrapers. But hidden among the cold exterior are romantic spots worthy of visiting. Go up to the observatory deck in G Tower with a sweeping view of the city, ride a canoe at Songdo Central Park, the nation's first seawater park, take a break at a coffee shop where a smash hit TV drama was filmed, and wrap up the day at another observatory admiring a fantastic sunset. You and your romantic partner are sure to enjoy this romantic date course at Songdo.

#27. Romantic Road at Incheon Songdo International City 

Gunsan, an advance base for the Japanese occupational regime's pillaging of Korea. As Korea celebrates its 72nd anniversary of its independence, the streets of Gunsan still retaining the traces of those days have been transformed into the background of many movies and creative spaces of young artists. Let's travel to Gunsan, a city that underwent a great makeover from a painful reminder of the past into an artistic and cultural hub.

#24. Gunsan, a city that lives in the present with the past  in the background

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