As one of the must-visit places in Yeongju, Museom Village is known for its Confucian scholarly spirit. There are many traditional Korean houses still in use across the country, but few of them have their original architectural design intact with actual residents occupying them. Although it is known as the village of Confucian scholars, the village was ahead of time as aristocrats and commoners were allowed to learn together on equal footing.
Seen from a distance, the village looks like an island but is actually part of land. Naeseongcheon Stream, the biggest branch of Nakdong River, meanders around mountains and fields and curves in the shape of a horse’s hoof, where the village is located. Due to this unique location, the village looks like an island as it is separated from the rest of the land by the stream surrounding the village. The island-like village is connected to the rest of Yeongju by a single-log bridge that crosses Naeseongcheon Stream. They could have built a bridge to make it easier to cross the river. Nevertheless, people in Museom Village defy modern conveniences and instead still cross the river via the 350-year-old single-log bridge. Sudogyo Bridge made of cement was built in 1983, but people still choose to live at a slow pace and walk on the log. They enjoy watching the water flowing below their feet and hearing the sounds of the water. They seem to appreciate the sense of nostalgia that crossing the log bridge brings to them.

The single-log bridge is only 30cm wide. The bridge looks like a long, single log, but a closer look shows a string of logs cut in half serving as the deck of the bridge and supported by pairs of 60cm logs. The 150m-long log bridge curves along shallow parts of the stream. Since the bridge is so narrow, people often fall into the water. But you don’t have to worry because the water is only waist-deep. Every 20 meters, there is an additional space right next to the bridge where one can step aside and wait for the other person to pass by.
I was taking a break on one of the spaces when I saw an old man with a cane walking fast from the opposite direction. The 83-year-old man said he was born and raised in Museom Village.
“The log bridge we have now is like a highway compared to the old bridge we had when I was little. Back then, logs of this quality were rarely available. So young men in the village went to the mountain over there to cut trees and then put them together to make a bridge. When heavy rains fell, the bridge was washed away. So we had to make a new bridge every year.”
Today, there is only one bridge, but there used to be three. The bridge in the upper region of the stream was for grocery shopping, and children used the one in the middle to go to school. People used the bridge in the lower part of the stream when they drove cattle to their farms and fields. Suddenly, I realized that life was like walking on a single-log bridge and I was anxious and worried about where I was heading. Walking around in Museom Village—a simple, peaceful village that embraced reform and opened ahead of time—reminded me that I needed more peace and nostalgia in my life.