Jang Mi-ran takes students on a stroll up Mount Bukak

Second Vice Minister of Sports Jang Mi-ran hiked Mount Bukak in central Seoul on Tuesday with mountaineer Um Hong-gil, French actor Fabien Yoon, international students and reporters to promote the course and the Blue House as tourist attractions

Second Vice Minister of Sports Jang Mi-ran, front right, hikes Mount Bukak in central Seoul on Tuesday alongside mountaineer Um Hong-gil, front left, actor Fabien Yoon and university students. [NEWS1]

Second Vice Minister of Sports Jang Mi-ran hiked Mount Bukak in central Seoul on Tuesday with mountaineer Um Hong-gil, French actor Fabien Yoon, international students and reporters to promote the hiking course and the Blue House as tourist attractions.

Mount Bukak is a mountain located behind the Blue House, which has been open to the public since last year when President Yoon Suk Yeol relocated the presidential office to Yongsan District, central Seoul.

The opening of the Blue House last year also opened the Mount Bukak hiking trail for the first time in 54 years. The route, now popular with Seoul's hikers, was closed due to its proximity to the former presidential office, with North Korean spies even attempting to use it in 1968 to assassinate then-South Korean President Park Chung-hee.

“I think our people need to know the charm of our country in order for foreigners to find it really attractive,” Jang said before the hike. “Starting with climbing, I will work hard to make a lot of people like the country in many ways so they can visit our country and love it more.”

Jang, a former Olympic gold medalist weightlifter, was one of two Korean sporting giants on Mount Bukak on Tuesday, alongside Um.

A leading figure in Korean mountaineering, Um has scaled all 14 8,000-meter peaks in the world and was the first person ever to reach the 16 highest points on the planet.

“Not just K-pop, Korean culture or Korean food, but I hope climbing in Korea also becomes more popular starting from this Blue House area, so that tourists and our people can visit the Blue House and hike Mount Bukak,” Um said.

Korean university students and international students in Korea also hiked with Jang, Um and Yoon, whose real name is Fabien Corbineau.

On the way up the mountain, the hikers visited the Blue House Observatory, where they could see all of central Seoul.

The view of Seoul from Blue House Observatory at Mount Bukak in central Seoul [PAIK JI-HWAN]

The one-and-a-half-hour hike ended when the group reached Chungundae at an elevation of 293 meters (961 feet) above sea level.

“I wanted to do climbing for a while, and also this mountain is pretty unique and I wanted to try,” Valeria Strungaru from Moldova, who studies tourism management at Gachon University, said after the hike. “I thought it was gonna be more harder, but it was fine, coming here at the end of it. The view of the whole of Seoul and especially you can see all of it, so I think that was the highlight for sure.”

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]