They call them 까치 (kkachi) here, and upon further research, I found that some Korean cities and provinces have adopted it as their "official bird." If you see a bird with a distinctive long blue tail when you are visiting Korea or China, that's most likely the Oriental magpie!
It's cherry blossom season in Korea. These pretty flowers are stealing everyone's hearts right now. Just last Friday, I went to a cafe to study. By the time I finished, the cherry blossoms outside were in full bloom! I will feature them more in next week's field note for nature.
A state of emergency was declared a few days ago because of a blazing fire that erupted in Gangwon province. According to a news article I read, forest fires are quite common in spring, but they usually occur in unpopulated areas and are small enough to easily contain. This fire was reported to have originated from a transformer somewhere in Goseong, a mountainous county just below the North Korean border. I was so shocked and greatly saddened when I heard this news, as I was just there a few weeks ago. Remember my beach trip to Gangneung? Gangneung is in Gangwon province! As it happens, strong winds blowing southward intensified and spread the fire, making it difficult for firemen and the military to control. Thousands of people were evacuated as numerous houses and property were incinerated. Human casualties were reported to be one death and 11 injured.
Check out the affected victims' interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvvnrQLYWk8
