Kim Song-hyun, an officer at the National Institute of Forest Science, records the sounds of forest at Hongneung Forest in Seoul on March 27. Reporter Seo Sung-il

When you listen to the sounds of Hongneung Forest, recorded by Kim Song-hyun, an officer at the National Institute of Forest Science, on March 27, birdsong echoes through the space and leaves sway in the wind. It feels like walking in a forest together if you follow the sound of shoes stepping on a dirt road. Just listening to the sound with earphones on makes you feel like you have been to a quiet forest for a while.

In January this year, the sound of stepping on leaves in a quiet forest in the middle of winter was recorded. A cat walking along the path meows. When asked why, the cat answers, “meow meow.”

The scenery of Hongneung Forest has been broadcasted in sound every day for three years. Kim, the producer and engineer of “Hongneung Forest ASMR” broadcasts live forest sounds every Monday through Friday from 8 to 10 a.m. via X. It started on May 11, 2022, and has been broadcast 331 times (as of the end of March). Although there are only about 20 regular listeners to the live broadcast, the content has a fairly large fan base, considering the number of listeners who seek out the recordings of the broadcast.

It was raining on March 27, when the reporter visited Hongneung Forest in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. The live broadcast was canceled in the aftermath of massive wildfires, but the recording was carried out as usual. The theme of the day was a spring forest with birdsong. For her, Hongneung Forest is so familiar that she can draw a map with her eyes closed. She chooses a place for recording in consideration of the season and weather. She knows where to go to hear the birds at this time of year and which paths to take to hear pleasant sounds.

It usually takes her about 20 minutes to hike up a forest trail, find a spot, and set up her microphone. Equipment is simple. A good microphone, a smartphone, and headphones are all she needs. She naturally records the sounds of footsteps, coworkers’ greetings, and others. If she sees a freshly emerged sprout or hears an unfamiliar bird sound, she stops for a while to take a picture or record it.

“You might think I hear the same sounds all the time, but they change depending on the season and the weather,” Kim said, adding, “There are various birds, cats, raccoons, and weasels who settled in Hongneung Forest.”

The main audience is office workers who are fed up with their jobs and people. On X, the listeners often leave messages while commuting to work, such as “I soothe my anger with the sound of Hongneung Forest” and “I like the sound of the forest when you walk.”

“Hongneung Forest ASMR,” which has gone viral as a healing content, has also been serviced as the "Audio of the Day" on the music streaming app Genie Music since April 2023. It is currently on its 86th episode and has been listened to about 300,000 times.

The sounds of the forest also exert healing power. Since July last year, the recordings have been provided in mind care kits for victims of crime and disaster. The sounds can be also heard at the Chungcheong Trauma Center, the Chungbuk National Police Agency’s Sunflower Center, and the National Police Agency intranet.

Hongneung Forest was once a royal tomb and now serves as a “test bed” for forest science research. As a place to record the forest thoroughly, the feeling of climate change is different. Flowers bloom earlier than before. The forest has also been damaged over the past year, when climate change has been more prominent than any other year. On the day of visiting, we cannot go to a view point of beautiful plum trees due to the recent heavy snowfall, which caused many old trees to fall.

Kim recommended not only listening to the sounds, but also visiting a forest because if people are in a forest more often, their perception of climate change will change. "The happiest moment is when I heard from people who said that they visited a nearby mountain or park to feel a forest for themselves after listening to my broadcast,” Kim said.