Participants prepare kimchi, a traditional Korean dish of spicy fermented cabbage and radish, during a kimchi making festival at the Jogyesa Buddhist temple in Seoul on December 2, 2021, before it is distributed among the less privileged from the local neighbourhood. (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)

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)

North Korean women soldiers take part in a military parade Saturday, April 15, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

South Korean youths dance to electronic music during the Ultra Music Festival Korea at Olympic Stadium on June 10, 2016 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Jean Chung/Getty Images)

A man pulls a cart with collapsed cardboard boxes past boutiques in the Sinchon district in Seoul, May 5, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Students wearing masks rest amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Seoul, South Korea, August 25, 2020. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)