Frendly Korea

Every country has their own bathing culture such as the sauna from Finland, hammams from Morocco and a Turkish bath from Turkey. Traditionally, Koreans like bathing in a public bath and washing themselves by scrubbing their skin with a wet towel called Italy Towel. Even though taking shower is more popular in Korea nowadays, many parents still love to go to a public bath with their children. The present writer also has precious memories with my parents, and I hope to do that with my kids in the future.

One of the most interesting Korean bathing cultures is "Italy Towel" It is a rough fabric to scrub our skin while bathing. Its concept is very similar to a bath brush. Past Kim Il-Gon invented Italy Towel in 1962. One day he found that wet clothing is very useful for scrubbing a body. Then he designed Italy Towel and got a patent. Mr. Kim named this clothing Italy Towel because he wanted that his product seemed to be luxurious. In 1966, Italy Towel was produced and introduced to people first time. It made a great hit as soon as it was on sale. Italy Towel is still one of the most popular brands in Korea. It earns about $10 million annually even though the price is only about $ 0.1. Moreover many female Japanese tourists purchase it as a souvenir believing that using it is good for skin and beauty.

Another interesting bathing culture is Jjimjilbang. Jjimjilbang is a kind of a public bath complex where you can enjoy bathing as well as resting. Traditional public baths are getting unpopular due to the fact that now most people can take a hot shower in their own house. So existing public baths were changed into small resorts. People can enjoy bathing, sauna, massage, watching movie, having a nap in this place. Of course, they must wear T-shirts and short pants in other places except in a public bath. Especially women love Jjimjilbang. They are relaxing and getting rid of stress by chatting, eating some finger food with friends or families in this resort.

By Sung-Joon Hwang, VANK Columnist
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