Cork Oak of Sillim-dong, Seoul

The cork oak is distributed across Japan, China and Korea, and is characterised by the cork that develops on its trunk. It grows well even in dry, south-facing sites or stony ground, and is especially abundant in Gangwon State and Gyeongsangbuk-do. Its bark is used as cork, and its fruit ripens in October of the following year, to be eaten, used medicinally, or fed to livestock. The cork oak of Sillim-dong, Seoul, is said to be about 1,000 years old, but its actual age is estimated to have been about 250 years at the time of designation. The tree stands 16m tall, with a girth at breast height of 3.6m. According to tradition, General Gang Gam-chan planted his walking stick here as he passed through, and it grew into today's cork oak, though it is thought that the original tree has since died and that a successor tree has grown in its place down to the present day. In the past, the village is said to have held an annual rite here on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, praying for the peace of the village. Having lived for a long time under the care and attention of our ancestors, the cork oak of Sillim-dong, Seoul, is of high value as both folkloric and biological material, and is therefore designated and protected as a natural monument.

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Where it is

Region

Gwanak-gu, Seoul

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물