By: Henry Wei

Rock climbing is becoming popular in South Korea with over 600 climbing areas and 500,000 climbers. Its popularity started in 1990 when it started to be popular from culture and experience. There are also more rock climbing gyms and challenges.

One reason for rock climbing’s rising popularity is because of movie. The 2019 Korean movie “Exit” has rock climbing in a scene. The movie made people want to try out rock climbing because you can feel like your in the movie. This example has helped a lot in making it popular.

Another reason the sport is popular is because of the climbing challenges. One climb has hard paths without ropes, called bouldering. Speed climbing, is a race to beat a set time. Lead climbing needs longer routes, where climbers clip onto fixed points and swing around. Endeavor needs strength and agility. These challenges make the game more fun.

The experiences of climbers also helps with popularity. Twelve year old Shin Hyeon gyu said that after watching rock climbing in some games, thought it was more interesting that taekwando. Kim Ji eun, also twelve,said that she liked climbing.

Overall, rock climbing’s popularity in South Korea is because of its challenges culture and fun. As more people do rock climbing, the game will become more fun from more challenges

Image Credit by Allan Mas