Thanks To Extraordinary Attorney Woo, This 500-year-old Tree Is Considered A National Monument

Tree in drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo (Photo: Yonhap)

JAKARTA - Drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo featured a 500-year-old hackberry tree in one of its episodes. The Extraordinary Attorney Woo series revolves around a lawyer named Woo Young-woo, who is brilliant and has an extraordinary memory but lacks social skills and empathy due to his autism spectrum.

As a rookie lawyer at a law firm, Woo strives to win cases. In one episode, Woo wins the case by fighting the developers and protecting the hackberry tree in Sodeok-dong to be designated a natural monument. Residents agreed to make it a living monument, so it should not be cut down.

South Korea's cultural heritage authority said Monday, July 25, it would consider whether to grant national monument status to the 500-year-old hackberry tree featured in the Netflix series "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" (EAW).

"Sodeok-dong hackberry tree", which is located in a small village near the city of Changwon or about 398 kilometers in the southern part of Seoul.

The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) of Korea said they plan to conduct an investigation at the tree's location to review its cultural value based on shape and age. Previously, the tree had been designated as a protected tree in 2015.

"We will conduct a review of the tree's cultural value, including its history and growth status, and consider whether it will be designated a natural monument," a CHA official who asked not to be named told Yonhap, quoted Tuesday.

According to the agency, a decision will be made within the next two to three months at the earliest. The hackberry tree is estimated to be around 500 years old with a height of 16 meters, a depth of 6.8 meters and a crown width of 27 meters.

Currently, there are two hackberry trees designated as natural monuments in South Korea, namely the Hwangmokgeun hackberry tree in Yecheon and the Sudong-ri hackberry tree in Gochang.