Cheongju: the world's oldest printed book

Site of the printing of the world's oldest book using movable metal type, Cheongju predates Gutenberg by over seventy years.

The center, where the world's oldest book with movable metal type was printed, is visited comfortably by taxi or local bus.

The Ancient Printing Museum of Cheongju celebrates the Jikji, a Buddhist text printed here in 1377, the oldest known book with movable metal type in the world.

Just steps away, the Sangdangsanseong Fortress, a mountain rampart dating back to the era of the Three Kingdoms, offers a panoramic overlook of the city.

Continuing inland, one visits the Chongju Hot Springs, known for their naturally radioactive waters used for therapeutic purposes.

As evening approaches, Cheongju's local markets animate the trade in ginseng, a medicinal root cultivated in the surrounding region.

The Jikji, printed in Cheongju in 1377, precedes the Gutenberg Bible by over seventy years, making it the oldest known book printed with movable metal type, today a UNESCO Memory of the World and a matter of Korean national pride.

The original Jikji, brought to France by a diplomat in the nineteenth century, remains preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, subject to repatriation requests from Korea that remain unresolved today.