The Korean name for a kite, yon is thought to have been derived from a Chinese character with the same sound meaning ‘bird of prey’ since a kite made of paper flies high in the sky just like a bird of prey. In our country, kite-flying used to continue from the beginning of winter to the end of cold weather the following year. The period from the lunar New Year’s Day to the lunar January 15 particularly buzzed with kite-flying.
The period was so animated that it was called children’s kite-flying holiday. The kites traditionally handed down in our country are of different shapes, largely divided into square and ray.
The popular kites are decorated with colored paper cut into different shapes like thin strips, skirt, half-moon, butterfly, etc.
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