Xinmin Weekly News, South Korea's first world natural heritage and South Korea's highest altitude Halla Mountain, is about to disappear due to the new custom of Koreans to "eat instant noodles on the mountain"?
Netizens posted photos of eating instant noodles on the mountain
According to a report citing the CNN website, South Korea's highest peak is facing an unexpected source of environmental damage - instant noodles. According to a press release, the Hallasan National Park Management Office has launched a campaign to encourage climbers not to pour instant noodle soup on mountains or streams to protect a "clean environment," according to the report.
As soon as the report came out, it immediately sparked heated discussions at home and abroad, and related topics were even on Weibo hot search today (June 30), and even triggered a fierce scolding war between Japanese and South Korean netizens: the Japanese ridiculed from the air, and the Koreans were not convinced on the spot......
01
South Korea is a mountainous country, and Koreans also love to climb mountains, whether they are young couples, families of three, or elderly people traveling together, they often use their rest time to climb mountains to relieve stress.
Located in the popular resort area of Jeju Island, Hallasan Mountain is naturally the first choice for many mountaineering enthusiasts. According to South Korean government statistics, more than 920,000 people climbed Hallasan Mountain in 2023.
According to public information, Hallasan Mountain is the highest mountain in South Korea at 1,947 meters above sea level. There are more than 1,800 species of plants and more than 4,000 species of animals distributed on the mountain, which has high academic value. In 1970, Mt. Halla was designated as a national park. In 2007, Hallasan Mountain, along with Jeju Volcanic Island and lava caves, was designated Korea's first World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Recently, however, Hallasan has been rumored to have a large area of plants withering, which has attracted attention.
It turns out that in South Korea, it is fashionable for climbers to carry ramen (a type of instant noodles in disposable boxes) while climbing the mountain and eating it. Posting a photo of "eating instant noodles on the top of the mountain" on social media has become a proof that young Koreans have climbed Hallasan. In particular, it is a resting spot at an altitude of 1,740 meters on Mt. Halla, where many climbers choose to eat noodles.
In order to dispose of the garbage generated by people's meals, the management of Hallasan National Park has placed two waste bins for discarding food and five water tanks with a capacity of 60 liters, which are used to dispose of solid food scraps and pour soup water. At the same time, the soup of cup noodles can also be wrapped directly in paper cups and transported by the staff to the bottom of the mountain for unified processing.
However, as "mountain ramen" became more and more popular, more and more people went to Hallasan to climb the mountain to eat instant noodles, and there was a lot more garbage every day. According to the office of Hallasan National Park Management Office, every food dumpster on the mountain is filled with instant noodles thrown by tourists. And the amount of garbage is becoming more and more difficult to control, and a lot of instant noodle soup is dumped into the toilet or even directly on the floor.
In a social media post, the National Park Management said, "Instant noodle soup is so high in salt that pouring it into the river valley can make it impossible for aquatic insects to survive. "Not only water, but also soils can be salinized, affecting the ecology and especially damaging plants. Crows, badgers and weasels attracted by the smell of instant noodles are likely to consume contaminated food, causing damage to the ecosystem.
Today, banners are hung all over Hallasan that read, "Protect the clean Hallasan and pass it on to future generations," urging climbers to "half soup + half water," which means that they want to add only half of the water to make noodles.
As a result, former local residents have repeatedly complained about the behavior of tourists on the island, and the Jeju Island police also launched a short-term crackdown on June 25, the report said.
Smoking in the mountains, throwing away food and garbage, entering the mountains without permission, and drinking alcohol can all face fines of up to 2 million won (about 10,000 yuan). Tourists who dump instant noodle soup at will will be fined 200,000 won (about 1,000 yuan) after being discovered.
According to the Jeju Island Police, a total of nine foreign tourists were fined on the first day of the new regulations, mainly for jaywalking.
However, the problem of Hallasan has not been completely solved, and the trend of eating instant noodles on the top of the mountain has spread overseas. According to South Korean media reports, ramen noodles are already being sold on the summit of the Matterhorn in Switzerland.
02
What's even more surprising is that netizens in Japan and South Korea actually got into a fight because of this incident.
A few days ago, the Japanese media mentioned this phenomenon in a report. According to the report, South Korea's natural heritage is in crisis, and the cause of the crisis turned out to be ramen soup. In addition to the garbage as far as the eye can see, the destruction of vegetation and water pollution in Hallasan Mountain are also shocking.
In fact, the South Korean media has not paid attention to this problem. As early as April, the Korean media reported on the chaos of Hallasan ramen, but it did not attract the attention of public opinion.
It's just that Korean netizens have two different attitudes towards the "family ugliness" caused by instant noodles this time. Some people think that the problem is already in front of them, and it is not so important who points it out.
However, some people think, "Our Korean media could have reported on it a few more times, but if you come to Japan to cover the news, it will be a mess."
Some Korean netizens even directly turned on the ridicule mode: "Laughing to death, it's not the turn of the person who poured nuclear sewage into the sea to BB." ”
Of course, Japanese netizens obviously can't just stand and be scolded, and make a strong counterattack on the spot-
"I was traveling domestically the other day and was about to check out when I was noisy by a tourist in the lobby. As soon as I heard it, I knew that it was from neighbor Korea. Obviously, the hotel lobby is not a cafeteria, and the family is still there to eat instant noodles by themselves. I guess it's the noodles that are soaked in hot water at the coffee machine in the lobby. From this incident, it can be seen that it is useless for you to tell Koreans who are accustomed to nature that they are not allowed to do this and that they should follow the local customs. ”
"This is already a matter of consciousness and common sense, and I personally think that it is difficult to change this long-formed consciousness. Generally speaking, people try not to throw out garbage in such natural occasions, and Koreans are really aware of this. Hallasan is not listed in terms of culture, but in terms of nature, and if this behavior of tourists is not improved and the natural environment continues to be destroyed, it is estimated that Hallasan Mountain will be removed from the World Heritage List as soon as possible. ”
"There is a good saying that when you go out, apart from photos, you can only leave footprints, is there no similar thing in Korea?"
At the end of the day, the destruction of the natural environment by tourists is not advisable anywhere. One of the purposes of mountain climbing is to enjoy the natural beauty and relax in nature. If it is just for a bowl of instant noodles and destroys the ecological environment, it will outweigh the losses after all.
Original title: Japan and South Korea pinched each other, the cause was a bowl of instant noodles?