UNESCO Ritual

[Anchor Lead]

The ancestral ritual Jongmyo Jerye is marking its tenth year on Uneco’s World Cultural Heritage list. The event carries on the history and spirit of the Joseon Dynasty, which lasted for five centuries. Here's a look at the ritual, which is held every year on the first Sunday in May.

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Bright and colorful flags lead the procession of the royal carriage. The king, queen and court officials head towards Jongmyo, the royal ancestral shrine. The rite begins with solemn music. Jongmyo Jerye commemorated the ancestors of the Joseon Dynasty and was Joseon's biggest and most important ceremony done by the king himself. Sixty-four boy dancers line up on eight rows, eight each in a row. They perform the moderate and beautiful palilmu dance. Female dancers were replaced with boys to have the ceremony mimic the original as much as possible.

[Soundbite] "It's a good chance to think about our roots."

Jongmyo Jerye was designated a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage ten years ago. The comprehensive ritual comprises religious rites and beautiful dancing and music rarely found in other parts of the world.

[Soundbite]Koichiro Matsuura (Special Envoy, UNESCO)

Jongmyo Jerye is a historical treasure reflecting Korea's cultural identity that is now more known throughout the world.

2. Butterfly Fest

[Anchor Lead]

The Hampyeong Butterfly Festival has kicked off, drawing scores of visitors. Let’s take a look at some of the many exhibitions and activities offered at the festival.

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Colorful butterflies flutter above flowers. This Asian Comma Butterfly sitting on a yellow flower has distinct light brown patterns. Children seem excited to see the butterflies.

[Soundbite] "My baby really loves butterflies."

This exhibition hall shows how a butterfly larva turns into a caterpillar and later into a pupa. The two-thousand square meter exhibition hall showcases different kinds of butterflies, which are hard to find not only in big cities but in rural areas. Visitors can see 100-thousand butterflies of 40 species at the festival. Exhibitions showing the habitats of aquatic insects and wild flowers have been drawing scores of visitors.

[Soundbite] "I looked forward to coming here. I like the colors. I want to take them all with me."

The Hampyeong Butterfly Festival presents visitors with a rare chance to enjoy beautiful butterflies.

3. Yellow Dust

[Anchor Lead]

Experts advise not doing outdoor activities or even going out at all when the air is thick with yellow dust, as it is today. Exposure to the toxic sand causes inflammations in the body and increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

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Many people go outside due to the warm spring weather despite yellow dust.

[Soundbite] "I put on a mask, a scarf and a hat before I came out."

[Soundbite] "It's not fresh inside the house. I came out with my body completely covered."

But the heavy protective outfits are not enough to prevent damage from sandy yellow dust. Minute particles of yellow dust enter the body to cause tearing, runny nose, sneezing and itchy skin. They even exacerbate asthma and skin disease. The risk of death on a yellow dust day increases 1.7 percent in all age groups and 2.2 percent among those age 65 or over.

[Soundbite]Dr. Min Dae-hong (Family Medicine): "Yellow dust is absorbed in your lungs. It increases the risk of heart disease and strokes among the elderly."

Doctors advise drinking lots of water when yellow dust is heavy to help discharge impurities from the body. Not going out and running a humidifier indoors are also advised. A yellow dust mask does not completely protect against minute particles. So people should wash their hands and feet and brush their teeth after returning home.

4. Bipolar Disorder

[Anchor Lead]

Bipolar disorder, which causes severe mood swings, mostly affects people in their 30s and 40s. And the disorder tends to get worse in the spring.

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The famous musician Mozart is known to have had bipolar disorder. The bipolar disorder causes severe mood swings, ranging from over-excitement to severe depression. It's thought to be more serious than depression because changes in patients' mood and behavior are unpredictable.

[Soundbite]Bipolar Disorder Patient (Voice Modified): "My mood swings from 100 to minus 100. How can I live like that?"

A survey shows that last year some 23-thousand people in their 30s and 40s sought medical help because of bipolar disorder. They account for 42 percent of 54-thousand patients in the nation. The percentage of bipolar disorder patients in their 30s and 40s is relatively large compared to depression, which mostly affects people in their 50s and 60s.

[Soundbite]Prof. Lee Byeong-cheol (Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital): "People in that age group have a lot of pressure including their marriage and job. Younger people also tend to have severe mood swings compared to the elderly."

Many bipolar disorder patients seek medical help from February to April, and again from May to July. Experts say that the patients need help from people around them because they are known to suffer more when they suddenly feel depressed than when they show extreme behaviors.

5. Pansori Contest

[Anchor Lead]

Pansori is a traditional Korean one-person lyrical opera accompanied by a percussionist. A competition has been held for pansori percussionists in the genre's birthplace of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.

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A tragic segment from the pansori work "Simcheong-ga" is sung. A percussionist responds to the singer's performance as if the two are holding a dialogue. Each percussionist uses a unique way to communicate with the singer.

[Soundbite] "They all have different techniques. It's interesting to see each percussionist’s different style."

A national competition has been held to find good pansori percussionists and promote traditional Korean music. Some 70 percussionists from around the nation have competed in seven divisions, including professional, high school and women.

[Soundbite]Kim Min-su (Participant): "I need to learn more. Learning is endless. I need to try harder."

The percussionist plays an important role in pansori. One saying goes that a pansori singer can display his or her maximum talent only with the right percussionist.

[Soundbite]Kim Hak-gon (Korean Traditional Music Association): "The harmony between a percussionist and a singer is crucial. They're like a needle and thread."

The pansori percussionist competition is helping to revive interest in traditional Korean music.

6. Taekwondo

[Anchor Lead]

The 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships began on May 1st in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, for a six-day run. Athletes and journalists from 150 countries around the world were captivated by a wide variety of shows and performances that promote Gyeongju as the origin of the traditional Korean martial art.

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The movements are refrained but powerful. Players' shouts fill the stadium and they crush wooden boards nicely. The WTF World Taekwondo Championships opened with a performance showing that taekwondo was invented by the Shilla Kingdom's elite young military organization called Hwarang.

[Soundbite]Choe Byeong-jun (Vice Chairman, Organizing Committee): "It was a contest for picking a champion, but this 20th event is aimed at promoting Gyeongju as the origin of taekwondo."

Three thousand players from 150 countries around the world practiced hard ahead of the opening.

[Soundbite]Charlotte Craig (U.S. Taekwondo Team)

Preliminaries were held on the first day of the competition. Foreign players displayed highly improved skills, proving taekwondo has become a world sport.

[Soundbite] "The foreign athletes are highly skillful. It's been a while since I watched a fight; it's really exciting."

The international taekwondo competition will end on May sixth. 127 games will be held every day with 8 weight classes for men and women respectively.

7. Fishing Boom

[Anchor Lead]

More young people are moving to fishing villages and starting new careers as fishermen. More than 500 young people have left cities and resettled in fishing villages over the past five years.

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An estimated 15-hundred ear shells are in a net. Five of the 15 people working at this abalone farm are young people.

[Soundbite] "(Seong-su, how is everything going?) They’re small this year."

This young woman seems good at handling ear shells.

[Soundbite]Han Jeong-suk (New Settler): "Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province is a farm village; it’s a fishing village here. It used to be really tough because things are very different."

Sixty-two people in their 30s and 40s have moved to Bogil Ilsand over the past five years. They've had difficulty getting accustomed to their new environment. Many of them gave up within the first two and a half years after failing to see a return on their investment. Getting government subsidies is also not easy.

[Soundbite]Kim Su-il (New Settler): "We need to plan everything ahead. We have to actively get involved in financial activities and save a lot."

But the young settlers are breathing new life into the fishing village despite their difficulties.

8. Cleaning Project

[Anchor Lead]

Strikes staged by college maintenance workers since early this year have shown how harsh their working conditions are. To mark Labor Day, college students have put together an event aimed at better understanding such workers.

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Cleaners at a college campus staged their first strike in January at Hongik University in Seoul. The strike later spread to Yonsei and Ewha Womans' University, letting the public know about the scanty salaries of the workers that fall short of the minimum wage and inhumane treatment that workers receive in their workplaces.

A group of students shows up at a library early in the morning holding brooms in their hands. Though it's a mid-term period, they sweep the floor, staircases and guardrails. They applied for the cleaning project because it seemed simple; however, less than an hour later their arms and legs begin to ache.

[Soundbite]Kim Jeong-seop (Dongguk University): "I realized how hard their work is and that we must greet them whenever we see them."

Office cleaners are grateful to the students for their efforts to help them and recognize their value.

[Soundbite]Jo Yeong-ja (Commercial Cleaner): "We're very sorry for taking away their time. We're sorry to receive their help."

A nail-art event organized by the students help the workers relax after a day of hard work.

[Soundbite]Lee Sang-hyeon (Commercial Cleaner): "It's the first time I received in 68 years. It's all thanks to these students. I can’t be happier."

Some 400-thousand workers are employed at educational and public facilities nationwide. The majority of them still receive wages that are below the minimum wage of four dollars an hour.

9. Lady Power

[Anchor Lead]

On today’s closeup, we’re going to introduce you to some exceptional women. Let’s go meet them.

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We came to this traditional market in Daegu to find the best arm wrestler in the country.

[Soundbite] "After having a arm wrestling match with her, someone went to the hospital."

She is Jo Ok-seon, nicknamed the Jang Mi-ran of the arm wrestling world after the national weightlifting hero. She has no trouble with heavy bags.

[Soundbite] "Come here and help me with this!"

She's a superstar at the market. For any heavy lifting, the locals know who to call. She has an easy time with a 40 kilogram rice bag.

[Soundbite]Jo Ok-seon (Arm Wrestler): "My work constantly involves lifting heavy objects. I can lift things as heavy as 80kg."

Jo won the grand prize at a national arm wrestling competition. This is the certificate proving that she's the country’s arm wrestling queen.

[Soundbite] "Cheers! Cheers!"

An arm wrestling contest has begun amid loud cheering. But the challenger is helpless before the reigning queen. Here comes another challenger. The match begins. The challenger struggles but the queen is relaxed. She has no match.

[Soundbite] "How can a guy lose to a woman? It's unacceptable."

This man is up for the challenge. The match starts out neck and neck. But the queen triumphs once again. The man leaves embarrassed.

[Soundbite] "I'm known for my strength myself but she is amazing."

[Soundbite]Jo Ok-seon (Arm Wrestler): "I can't give away the arm wrestling title to anyone, so I need to keep working."

At this park in Seoul, this woman is doing her morning exercise. She has her own special way of going about it.

[Soundbite] "(Isn't it tough?) Not at all. If it was, I won't be doing it."

You’d think she was in her 20s, but she’s actually in her 80s. She is 82, but she can still stand on her head. She can even change her position. And all with only two fingers on the ground.

[Soundbite] "(She is 82 years old.) 82? Wow, she's amazing."

This young man has been watching her. He gives it a try but it isn't as easy as it looks.

[Soundbite] "She's great. I don’t think I can do headstand even though I’m still young."

Let’s find out her secret.

[Soundbite]Yun Geum-seon (Exercise Enthusiast): "Physical health alone doesn't last. Your body and mind should both be healthy to maintain a healthy body."

These tough ladies push the boundaries and are a source of inspiration.