A woman wearing a face mask to help protect against the spread of the new coronavirus crosses a stream in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 15, 2020. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

A woman wearing a traditional Hanbok dress visits the Gyeongbokgung Palace grounds in Seoul on October 23, 2023. A woldae terrace for public rituals and ceremonies in front of Gyeongbok Palace’s Gwanghwamun gate was restored and opened to the public earlier this month, after being removed in 1923, during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial period. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

Firefighters take part in the bodybuilding event during a firefighting skills contest at the National Fire Service Academy in Gongju, South Korea on June 13, 2023. (Phoot by Yonhap/EPA)

A woman walks past as South Korean soldiers participate in an anti-chemical and anti-terror exercise as part of the 2023 Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) at subway station on August 22, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. The 11-day exercise, which features drills including the handling of chemical and biological attacks, is a regular joint exercise between U.S. and South Korean troops. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Visitors take photos of Fu Bao, a giant panda, at Everland amusement park in Yongin, south of Seoul, South Korea, 25 February 2024. The panda will be displayed to the public until 03 March, before returning to China in early April. The female panda, which was born to giant panda Ai Bao and her partner, Le Bao, at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, south of Seoul, in 2020, will be returned to China under an international agreement. (Photo by Yonhap/EPA)

A sales assistant poses for photographs with a mealworm cookie in Seoul, South Korea, August 8, 2016. Insect-eating, or entomophagy, has long been common in much of the world, including South Korea, where boiled silky worm pupae, or beondegi, are a popular snack. Now, South Korea is looking to expand its insect industry as a source of agricultural income. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

Passengers from the ferry sinking off South Korea's southern coast are rescued by the South Korean Coast guard in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, south of Seoul, on April 16, 2014. Almost 300 people were missing after a ferry sank off South Korea on Wednesday, the coastguard said, in what could be the country's biggest peacetime disaster in nearly 20 years. (Photo by AP Photo)

A South Korean diver wearing a little mermaid costume performs in a tank ahead of the “Chuseok” national holiday, at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, 26 August 2022. Chuseok is the autumn harvest celebration of the Lunar Calendar and is one of Korea's biggest traditional holiday, which falls on 10 Setpember this year. (Photo by Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA/EFE)