By Elias Molina and Yoon Sojung
The Washington Post has taken a closer look at the annual Space Out Competition held in Seogwipo, Jeju Island.
The U.S. daily on May 30 covered the "do nothing" contest in its article titled "In South Korea's 'healing forest,' the pandemic-stressed compete for the ultimate chill."
The Post reporter also took part in the May 26 competition held in Seogwipo Forest of Healing and interviewed the event's organizer Woopsyang and three competitors who live on the island.
The event's name in Korean (Meong ttaerigi) refers to "a condition of doing nothing without any thought."
The winner of the contest is the one who literally does nothing and maintains the most stable heartbeat for 90 minutes. Among the 28 people who competed this year including a restaurateur, a retailer and a university student, the champion was a hairdresser and Jeju resident.
Mentioning "work-from-home parents" and "remote-learning students" as among the "pandemic-battered competitors," the reporter wrote, "So what could be better than a 'healing forest' on the southern island of Jeju? The woodlands are known as a site for other therapeutic programs."
Yang Eunyoung, a public officer at Seogwipo National Recreation Forest Management Office, said, "Because of the need for genuine rest and a break to survive the pandemic era, the Space Out Competition will keep being held every year within the clean nature of Seogwipo."
"We will carefully prepare programs to allow true rest and recovery in our lives and play a leading role as a mecca for forest wellness tourism."
Organized by the artist Woopsyang, the competition in 2014 held its inaugural edition on the grass field in front of Seoul City Hall. Many media outlets covered this unusual contest, which has also spread to Hong Kong and the Netherlands.