Cheongpyeong is a small town about 1 hour east of
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, in
Gapyeong County
Gapyeong County is a county in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It was the scene of the Battle of Kapyong, a major battle of the Korean War.
Administrative Region and Language
Gapyeong County has one eup and five myeon, and its population i ...
,
Gyeonggi
Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...
Province. It has a population of approximately 20,000. It is serviced by 3 schools: an elementary, middle and high school.
It is a popular destination for Koreans, especially in summer, as it is on a beautiful lake with dramatic mountains immediately surrounding it, populated by resorts focusing particularly on water sports.
A retreat nearby taking the name of the town, Cheongpyeong is also the most well-known holy ground of
Sun Myung Moon's
Unification Church
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spi ...
in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. Many members of the Unification Church make journeys there on occasion, to attend workshops of spiritual healing and physical exertion at the 10,000 person capacity "Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center." The workshops are led by a medium who members believe channels the spirit of Moon's mother-in-law, Soon Ae Hong (who members know by the title ''
Dae Mo Nim
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or " Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Sp ...
'', which means "Exalted Mother"). The activities there - ''chanyang'' or "praise," ''ansu'' are very similar to many Christian groups in Korea with Shamanistic and Pentecostal influences. By the beginning of 1999 more than 250,000 people had participated in workshops in Cheongpyeong.
Korea Has Religious, Spiritual Pilgrimage Destinations
Korea Times
''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer ...
10-12-2008
See also
*Geography of South Korea
South Korea is located in East Asia, on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula located out from the far east of the Asian landmass. The only country with a land border to South Korea is North Korea, lying to the north with of the border ...
References
Towns and townships in Gyeonggi Province
Gapyeong County
{{SouthKorea-geo-stub