Samcheok's Beautiful but Unusual Haesindang Park

Drying seaweed for sale, a staple of Sinnam's local economy

Beautiful coastline of Gangwon Province, ROK

A group of adventurous Passion Crew volunteers from U.K., USA, Russia, Korea and 

Brazil met at the inter-city bus terminal for coffee and pastries. We then set off for an 

early morning adventure to Gangwon Province and Samcheok to tour Haesindang Park. 

We were quite surprised by the large number of phallic sculptures lining elevated trails

and gardens of Haesindang and couldn't resist jokes and posing for photos. 

From Fabiola Monteiro, National Geographic Traveller India

"...A little village named Sinnam near Samcheok, a town on the east coast of South Korea, 

hit a roadblock in its fishing industry at some point in history. According to legend (and South 

Korea’s official tourism website) this is because a young maid was caught in a storm while 

harvesting seaweed and drowned. The village folk believed that the only way to get the fish 

back in their nets would be to appease the maid’s spirit with male genitalia." 

Somewhat shocking at first to see so many phallic symbols, but the
natural setting is breathtaking

We warmed ourselves on the coast, happy to be free from the ice and snow of PyeongChang

Lore says that villagers pee in the sea each year to satisfy the spirit of a drowned maiden
and insure a successful fish harvest

"Other versions of the tale say that the locals figured out the connection between the need for phallic offerings and an abundance of fish when one of the fishermen relieved himself in the sea and the fish returned. To rid the town of this curse, giant penis sculptures were 
erected; some believe to help satiate the virgin’s inability to consummate her marriage..."

"Regardless of the details though, Haesindang 
Park stands on a hill in Samcheok and is popular 
with tourists. The emotive penises, some stone, 
some wooden, appear everywhere: as wind 
chimes, totem poles, hollowed out benches 
and little armrests. Some of the sculptures have 
faces and limbs. While there isn’t an exact date to pinpoint when the park came into being, locals 
continue to uphold the legend with rituals 
conducted to keep the curse at bay."

The temple erected to honor the maiden lost in a storm. Villagers bring tributes of food, drink,
money and carved phalluses

Je Joon, a Korean volunteer was embarrassed by the sculptures and his Western
travelers' enjoyment of the park sculptures. He soon joined in the fun and made sure
we didn't lose our way during transfers from inter-city to intra-city buses.

Not a surprise that the lighthouse is phallic shaped!