World's first toilet park flush with success in S. Korea
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Kindergarten children walk past an installation shaped like Auguste Rodin's The thinker sat on a toilet at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 22, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A visitor poses for a photo by his friend (not seen) at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 23, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A couple takes a break on chamber pots at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul on Nov 23, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Kindergarten children look at a statue of a Korean boy responding to the call of nature at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 22, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A tourist talks on his phone while looking at a statue of a Korean boy defecating at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 23, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A man walks past a mural as he uses his phone at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 22, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Kindergarten children walk past an installation shaped like Auguste Rodin's The thinker sat on a toilet at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 22, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A visitor poses for a photo by his friend (not seen) at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 23, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A couple takes a break on chamber pots at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul on Nov 23, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Kindergarten children look at a statue of a Korean boy responding to the call of nature at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 22, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A tourist talks on his phone while looking at a statue of a Korean boy defecating at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 23, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A man walks past a mural as he uses his phone at the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon, about 46km south of Seoul, on Nov 22, 2012. The park, which is the only one of its type in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
SUWON, South Korea (Reuters) - Rodin's Thinker is pondering even harder than usual as he sits astride a toilet at what has been dubbed the world's first theme park dedicated to the humble restroom - a monument to one South Korean man's vision.
The park, located about an hour outside of Seoul in the city of Suwon - otherwise known as the home of Samsung Electronics - centres around a toilet-shaped museum building that was once the home of Mr Sim Jae Duck, founder and first president of the World Toilet Association.
Legend has it that Mr Sim, a former Suwon mayor who made his fortune with a metal products business and was dubbed Mr Toilet, was born in his impoverished grandmother's outhouse.
"He is a man whose life literally began in a toilet and ended at a commode-shaped house," said Ms Lee Yeun Sook, manager of planning at the Mr Toilet Sim Jae Duck Foundation.
