[News Today] MOUNTAIN VILLAGES PREP FOR WINTER

[LEAD]
Early winter has arrived in the mountainous villages of Gangwon-do Province. Daegwallyeong sees fish drying racks set up, and ski resorts bustling with making artificial snow, all ready for the snowy winter season.

[REPORT]
White snowflakes are scattered around.

In no time, slopes at the ski resort turn into a winter wonderland.

The resort is busy making artificial snow ahead of its opening later this month.

With morning temperatures in Daegwallyeong dropping to negative 6.1 degrees Celsius, it really begins to look and feel like the winter season.

Choi Mi-seon / Incheon resident
We came to ride the cable car and enjoy fall, but it's already winter. It's like seeing the first snowfall.

Workers at a Hanwoo cattle test site located 800m above sea level are also busy these days.

This two-month-old calf is bundled up in thick clothing to keep it warm.

Heat lamps are turned on, and fresh sawdust is spread on the floor to help the animals maintain their body temperature.

The facility has also prepared enough straw hay and corn to feed some 800 Hanwoo cows through next spring.

Jin Sil / Nat'l Inst. of Animal Science
We turn on heat lamps and keep the floor in cattle sheds dry to help calves maintain their body temperature.

Wooden frames for drying pollack until next spring have also been installed here and there.

Pollack will likely be hung up here to dry next month when temperatures go down more.

Mountainous villages in Gangwon-do Province are the first to see the arrival of winter in Korea. With the first cold spell that started unexpectedly, locals have their hands full preparing for the cold season.