The crisp cool breeze of fall brings out the colors of nature.

(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)

Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, is famous for the demilitarized zone that bisects the Korean Peninsula, and heavy snow in the winter, but at a slightly warmer time of the year, beds of cosmos fill the tension-filled border lands.

Through joint effort of Cheorwon County and its residents, the Cheorwon Cosmos 10-ri Road was born three years ago, on a strip of land that used to serve as an old military camp. “Ri” is a traditional Korean unit of distance and 10 ri is about 4 kilometers.

(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)

A group of scarecrows greet visitors with open arms amid beds of cosmos, as if embodying Cheorwon residents’ hopes to turn their once war-ravaged hometown into a more peaceful community.

(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)

About 50 kilometers southwest of Cheorwon, the Globe Amaranth Festival in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, lures families and friends to take a dive in a sea of purple amaranth flowers. The unique flower is most commonly associated with everlasting or unchanging love.

(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)

A number of photo zones are installed, helping tourists further enjoy their time.

(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
(Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)

For those who missed out on witnessing the beauty of lavender flowers in the summer, a glance at a field full of the globe amaranth will provide a similar ethereal experience.

For busy Seoulites who can’t carve out time to leave the city, canola flowers have bloomed in a virgin white at the tiny island of Seoraeseom near Banpo Hangang Park, allowing for a walk along the Han River with scent of canola flowers in the air.

By Jung Min-kyung ()


mkjung@heraldcorp.com