World-renowned ice fishing festival kicks off in Hwacheon

 

HWACHEON, 12 January (BelTA - Yonhap) - A world-famous annual ice fishing festival kicked off in a remote mountain town in the northeastern province of Gangwon, offering weeks of ice fishing and seasonal activities.

The 2026 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival will run through Feb. 1 in Hwacheon, just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border and about 90 km northeast of Seoul.

"Sancheoneo" is a species of trout known to live only in very clean fresh water.

Visitors from all over the nation arrived at the 300,000-square-meter festival ground - roughly the size of around 40 football pitches - from early morning.

This year's festival is expected to attract more than 100,000 foreign visitors, turning Hwacheon, with a population of 22,370, into a global wintertime festival city.