Journalist
Han Jun-gu한준구
jungu141298@ajupress.com
PhotographerGeopolitics, Culture, History, People & Photo Journalist
Photojournalist, AJU PRESS (AJP)
Covering Asia's defining stories — from pressing issues and politics to culture and society — through a distinctly Asian lens. "I point the camera at what's there. That's the job."
Covering Asia's defining stories — from pressing issues and politics to culture and society — through a distinctly Asian lens. "I point the camera at what's there. That's the job."
Latest by Han Jun-gu
-
Nation rallies as South Korea faces Mexico in 2026 World Cup SEOUL, June 19 (AJP) - South Korean football fans cheer while watching the Group A match between South Korea and Mexico at a public viewing event at Hangang Play Place in Ttukseom Hangang Park in Seoul on June 19, 2026, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 2026-06-19 16:18:39 -
Uzbek expats celebrate historic World Cup debut in Seoul SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - On the morning of June 18, the underground floors of S Tower in Seongsu-dong—Seoul’s renowned hipster district—were transformed into a cauldron of Central Asian football passion. Roughly about 200 Uzbekistan expatriates, international students, and workers living in South Korea gathered to witness a monumental milestone: the Uzbekistan national football team’s first-ever FIFA World Cup match against Colombia. Highlighting the importance of the day, Uzbekistan Ambassador to South Korea, Alisher Abdusalomov, personally joined his countrymen in Seoul to passionately support the national team. The ambassador stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the crowd, sharing in the collective pride and emotional weight of the historic debut. The watch party also served as a beautiful display of regional solidarity, with embassy representatives from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan attending to support their Central Asian neighbor. Although the match ended in a 3-1 victory for Colombia, the atmosphere in Seongsu was nothing short of a festival. Strangers became instant friends, united by the beautiful game. Every screen was packed with deeply focused fans, and a unique highlight of the morning was hearing the spontaneous, passionate reactions to goals and near-misses shouted in a lively mix of both Korean and Uzbek. For the fans in attendance, the result on the pitch was completely secondary to the overwhelming emotion of finally seeing their country on the world's biggest sporting stage. Here are the verbatim voices of the attendees who shared this unforgettable morning: Shokboz, a 27-year-old, explained that expats from all parts of South Korea have gathered in Seongsu to show support for their national team. "Today is a very historic, unforgettable, and special day for us. The reason is that the Uzbekistan national football team is playing its first match in the World Cup finals," he said, adding: "It is a great joy to spend such a meaningful day with our compatriots, cheering and enjoying the game. Moreover, this event goes beyond simply watching a match; it was organized so that people who love the same homeland can share a sense of community as one mind and one nation, and unite even more." Ulugbek, a 30-year-old university student who traveled from the southern city of Daegu, also shared his excitement. "I feel so great. I have been living in Daegu, attending university, and I came all the way to Seongsu just for the football match. There are Uzbek people in Daegu, too, but this is the first time people have gathered in a massive group like this. It's nice to gather with Uzbek people after a long time." 2026-06-18 16:43:50 -
Uzbek residents in South Korea cheer national team during World Cup match SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - Uzbekistani residents in South Korea cheer after their national team scores during a World Cup match at the basement of S Tower in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on June 18, 2026. 2026-06-18 16:32:41 -
Uzbek residents in South Korea cheer national team during World Cup match SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - Uzbekistani residents in South Korea cheer after their national team scores during a World Cup match at the basement of S Tower in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on June 18, 2026. 2026-06-18 16:31:39 -
Uzbek residents in South Korea cheer national team during World Cup match SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - Uzbekistan Ambassador Alisher Abdusalomov and Uzbekistani residents cheer for their country's World Cup match on a screen at the basement of S Tower in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on June 18, 2026. 2026-06-18 16:30:22 -
Uzbek residents in South Korea cheer national team during World Cup match SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - Uzbekistani residents in South Korea cheer after their national team scores during a World Cup match at the basement of S Tower in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on June 18, 2026. 2026-06-18 16:28:51 -
Uzbek residents in South Korea cheer national team during World Cup match SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - Uzbekistani residents in South Korea cheer after their national team scores during a World Cup match at the basement of S Tower in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on June 18, 2026. 2026-06-18 16:27:49 -
Uzbek residents in South Korea cheer national team during World Cup match SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - Uzbekistani residents in South Korea wave national flags at the basement of S Tower in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on June 18, 2026. 2026-06-18 16:26:28 -
Baekdu Mountain: many names, many maps SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - This year I climbed the West Slope on June 11 and the North Slope on June 12. On the 11th, the West Slope was buried in snow. Both the mountain and Cheonji, the Heaven Lake, were submerged in white, with only a dark blue gleam of water showing through. The next day, on the North Slope, the snow had thinned considerably, and the same lake looked like an entirely different place. The sky over Cheonji wouldn't hold still either. In less than a minute, the clouds would clear and then close back over, again and again. Some people who had been waiting far longer than I had still never got a proper look at the lake before giving up and turning back. Watching the snow pile up along the ridge on the West Slope, I naturally thought of the name "Baekdu." Baekdu-san literally means "white-headed mountain." The summit stays snow-covered for roughly eight months of the year, and even in the snowless months, pale pumice left over from past volcanic activity covers the peak, so it always looks white from a distance. The name "Baekdu-san" appeared in records sometime after the Balhae period in the seventh century, earlier than most of the famous mountains in the Korean Peninsula, such as Bulham-san. In China, the same mountain is called Changbai Shan, or "Ever-White Mountain," a name translated from the Manchu for "long white mountain" and in use since the Liao and Jin dynasties. Two different languages, looking at the same landscape, arrived at nearly the same name. For Koreans, Baekdu Mountain is more than just a peak. It's regarded as the starting point of the Baekdudaegan, the mountain range from which all of the Korean Peninsula's ridgelines are believed to branch, and it's revered as the sacred site where Hwanung is said to have founded Sinsi and where Dangun was born, going on to establish Gojoseon. That symbolic weight is why South Korea's national anthem includes the line "until the waters of the East Sea run dry and Mount Baekdu wears away." But the mountain doesn't belong to one country alone. The area around Baekdu Mountain forms the border between China and North Korea, and Cheonji, the caldera lake at the summit, is divided by that same border. (The one exception is Janggun Peak, the highest point ringing the lake, which sits entirely on the North Korean side rather than on the line itself.) In October 1962, China and North Korea secretly signed a border treaty placing Cheonji under the joint jurisdiction of both countries; the treaty's existence wasn't widely known outside the two countries until the 2000s. South Korea was not a party to it. For a long time after the peninsula's division, maps and textbooks made in South Korea drew the entire summit area, Cheonji included, as Korean territory, and some still do. In practice, though, the area is administered by North Korea and China, and more recent maps increasingly leave the border out or draw it differently. So when it comes to the same mountain and lake, the answer to "where exactly is the border" shifts slightly depending on which map, and which era, you happen to be looking at. In the moment on the West Slope when snow was falling onto Cheonji, none of these boundaries were visible at all. The lake wasn't cut in half, and it wasn't drawn differently from map to map. It was simply a body of water, utterly cold, sitting quietly atop a mountain peak. 2026-06-17 16:52:25 -
Visitors wash hair in calamus water ahead of Dano festival SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - Foreign tourists and children participated in a centuries-old Korean tradition of washing their hair in water infused with calamus root at the National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul on Wednesday, two days ahead of this year's Dano festival. The museum held the demonstration in the courtyard of Ochon-daek, a traditional house on its grounds, as part of its seasonal Dano program. Dano falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and has long been marked as a major folk holiday, with customs meant to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune. Washing hair in water boiled with calamus root is a custom, believed to keep hair from graying early and to repel bad luck. This year's Dano falls on June 19, when the museum plans additional events including fan-giving, bracelet-making and special performances. 2026-06-17 16:30:16