Korea: Newspaper Reports on People's Enthusiastic Participation in Learning Falun Gong in Seoul

Reporter Bai Zhongguo from Sport Seoul, a Korean newspaper, wrote an article entitled, "Falun Gong 'Whirlwind' in Gangnam-gu" and reported on citizens' enthusiastic participation in learning the Falun Gong exercises in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Below is a translation of the report:

At about 9 pm on October 4th, 2004, under a bridge in Gangnam-gu, more than 50 people, young or old, men and women were raising their arms high and holding a posture as if they were embracing a wheel above their heads. This posture that looked like setting-up exercises was one of the postures in one set of Falun Gong exercises called "Falun standing stance". These people who practise Falun Gong all looked very serene and sincere. Recently, an increasing enthusiasm is found among people in Gangnam-gu to practise Falun Gong. Ms Lee, who has taught the exercises every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening since April said, "Sometimes, more than 100 people have come to practise the exercises. Over the past few months, several thousand people have visited here."

Ms Lee added, "In their leisure time in the evening, people come here to practise the exercises. Now, more and more people come. There are also quite a few people practising the exercises at home after they learned them. There are also practice sites in several parks. In Gangnam-gu, not only housewives but also elderly gentlemen and youngsters join in the practice.

Falun Gong is warmly received in Gangnam-gu. The five sets of exercises are easy to learn. In addition, the instruction is free of charge. What is more important is that this practice has a remarkable effect in improving one's appearance, losing weight and keeping fit and healthy. Hence it is widely praised.

Ms Huang whom I met at the practice site said, "Since I started practising Falun Gong, I have fewer and fewer wrinkles and I now look younger. Now, except for very basic makeup such as lipstick, I don't need to use other cosmetics". Miss Lee who started practising Falun Gong at the end of June sighed with emotion, "My mind is much clearer. When I take a shower, I often find my skin become more delicate." In fact, many of the Falun Gong practitioners I've met all have delicate rosy skin and they look much younger than their real age.

Through practising Falun Gong, quite some people successfully lost their extra weight. Mr Cao who had tried jogging, swimming and body-building for 30 years said, "I lost six kilograms in six weeks after I started practising Falun Gong. After that, I recommended Falun Gong to my family members." Ms Kung proudly said, "The extra weight on my arms that I had tried to lose for 7 years is gone in four months after I practiced Falun Gong."

Among the practitioners, a great number of people have their arthritis, back problems, insomnia and gastric diseases healed through the practice of Falun Gong without any other medical treatment. Mr Lee, who had suffered later-period kidney cancer, completely recovered through practising Falun Gong. He said, "Five years ago, my kidney cancer cells spread to my bladder. Even my doctors gave up treatment on me. After I practised Falun Gong, I'm completely recovered. During the process, I did not take a single bit of medicine." Perhaps it is because of Falun Gong's remarkable healing effect that quite a lot of practitioners are western or Chinese medical doctors.

However, Professor Lee from Gynaecology and obstetrics department, who teaches Falun Gong exercises at another park said, "Healing illnesses is only a subsidiary benefit brought by Falun Gong. People do not only learn Falun Gong for healing and fitness, but through the cultivation of Falun Gong, they come to understand the principles of the universe and the criteria to distinguish good from bad. They've learned something at higher levels."