Bangkok: South Korea's world-renowned ice fishing festival has begun. The world-renowned annual ice fishing festival began on Saturday in the remote mountain town of Gangwon Province in northeastern South Korea, with weeks of ice fishing and seasonal activities to follow. According to Thai News Agency, the 2026 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival will run until February 1st in Hwacheon, a city located just 25 kilometers south of the Korean border and about 90 kilometers northeast of Seoul. The term "Sancheoneo" refers to a species of mountain trout known for its ability to live only in very clean freshwater environments. Tourists from all over the country began arriving at the 300,000 square meter event area-enough to cover 40 football fields-since early morning. This year's festival is expected to attract more than 100,000 international tourists, transforming Hwacheon, a city with a population of only 22,370, into a world-class winter festival destination. This event was first held in 2003 and was selected b y the South Korean Ministry of Culture as the country's best festival in 2010. It has attracted over 1 million visitors consecutively for 13 years, from 2006 to 2019. Last year, the event attracted over 1.86 million participants, breaking the previous record of 1.84 million in 2019. Of this number, 122,000 were international tourists, significantly higher than the 85,000 recorded the previous year.