Hiking: the national obsession, and how to join in

Korea is overwhelmingly mountainous, and no matter where you are there is a peak within reach. Twenty-two national parks cover the best of them, and entry is either free or a token amount.

Trails are well signposted, well maintained and busy. This is not wilderness hiking — expect stairs, handrails on steep sections, and other people. What you get in exchange is that a solo hiker on a marked trail is never far from help.

Distances look short and are not. Korean mountains are steep, and a five-kilometre trail can involve a punishing amount of vertical.

Korean hikers dress seriously. Full technical outfits, poles and proper boots are normal even on a modest afternoon walk, and you will feel conspicuously underdressed in trainers and jeans.

You do not need any of it for a maintained trail in good weather. Bring proper footwear, water and a layer, and you will be fine.

Do take the weather seriously above the treeline. Mountain conditions turn quickly, and in winter crampons are genuinely necessary on icy upper sections rather than an affectation.

Greeting people you pass is normal. A nod or a brief 안녕하세요 is the standard exchange and the silence of some Western trail cultures reads as unfriendly here.

Older hikers frequently offer food to strangers at summit rest points. Accepting is polite; refusing repeatedly is mildly rude.

Carry your rubbish out. Bins are deliberately absent from most trails.

Autumn is peak season and peak colour, and popular trails on an October weekend can be genuinely crowded. A weekday in the same fortnight is a completely different experience.

Parks enforce entry cut-off times, particularly for longer routes, and rangers do turn people back. Check the last permitted entry time for your trail rather than assuming you can start late.

Sections close periodically for fire risk in dry spring and autumn windows, and for restoration. A closure is not negotiable.