"I Think of the Mountain": History of Hiking in S. Korea

The CIA World Factbook describes [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ks.html]South Korea as “mostly hills and mountains.” 64 percent of the country’s land is forest, according to a 2014 report by Korea Forest Service. Given this geography, hiking naturally is a popular pastime in South Korea. Or is it so natural to assume so? The history of hiking — in its modern form as a popular leisure activity — is actually not that long. “You first have to define ‘hiking,’” s