(Text updated on Oct 24, 2024)
In the early 2000s, the number of Asian moon bears living in the wild in South Korea had dwindled to an estimated 5 animals. With the bears being critically endangered by poaching and habitat destruction, the Korean Ministry of Environment and the Korea National Park Service (KNPS) launched an ambitious restoration program in Jirisan National Park to bring population numbers back up.
As the moon bear restoration program celebrates its 20th anniversary, this exhibition features images taken by Korean photographer Jun Michael Park (박준수). Accompanying KNPS employees day and night over the last three years, Park has documented the hard work and ceaseless dedication of everyone involved in this program—from rangers climbing Jirisan’s often difficult terrain to track bears to medical staff conducting pioneering research into artificial insemination.
As Park photographed these images, he kept coming back to the same questions: How can we, living in this highly industrialized and urbanized country, coexist with its wildlife? And how can we restore our relationship not only with Korea’s moon bears, but with all of its nature, so that this restoration program can truly be successful?
This project was partially supported by a grant from National Geographic Society. Additional storytelling and curatorial support by Marlies Gabriele Prinzl.
Jun Michael Park is a documentary photographer and filmmaker from Seoul, South Korea. His work focuses on issues related to social injustice, migration, and, more recently, also human-environment interactions. In 2022, he became the first South Korean photographer to be named a National Geographic Explorer for his long-term project on Korea National Park Service’s Asian moon bear restoration program.
Show More
(Originally posted on April 3, 2022)
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been awarded a 2022 National Geographic Society Grant for my project on South Korea’s Asian moon bear restoration program. @InsideNatGeo.
In 2004, an estimated 5 moon bears remained in Korea’s natural environment, with their extinction in the wild seeming all but inevitable. Hoping to avoid this fate, the Ministry of Environment and the Korea National Park Service embarked on an impossible project to restore the bear population.
Now more than 74 moon bears roam Jirisan Mountain, the country’s oldest and largest national park. However, with this success, a new challenge has arisen as the bears are increasingly crossing paths with human interests. Can South Korea, a highly industrialized and urbanized nation, learn to coexist with these wild animals?
I originally pitched this project to and had it approved by @natgeo last year. I cannot thank my photo editor @alexandramoreo enough for her support and trust. Special thanks also to @maurafriedman for informing me about the grant opportunity.
Last but not least, @marliesgabrieleprinzl deserves full credit and recognition for meticulously copyediting and proofreading both the original pitch and the grant application, asking many hard questions and providing emotional support.
As far as I know I’m the first South Korean photographer to become a National Geographic Explorer. I’m excited to bring a story from my country that is close to my heart and identity to a wider, international audience.