Episode 11 of Welcome to Samdal-ri includes a glowing depiction of Light Pillars during a tender, romantic moment shared between Cho Sam-Dal and Cho Yong-Pil.
Sam-Dal has been chosen as 2023’s photographer of the year for the Jeju and Weather Exhibition.
At the same time, weather forecaster Cho Yong-Pil is reprimanded for unauthorized visits during working hours.
Consequently, he’s ordered to leave the forecasting division for a while and move to the Weather division. Sam-Dal can take any photos of the weather or nature in Jeju for the exhibition.
She needs more information about the weather, though she claims she knows the landscape well since she was born and raised here.
For that, the weather division pairs the photographer with someone from the region.
The local then drives around and shows the hidden spots to the photographer. In the case of Sam-Dal, that responsibility befalls Yong-Pil.
Yong-Pil & Sam-Dal under the pillars
At his usual work desk at the Forecasting division, he looks up the atmospheric phenomenon called Light Pillars and the appropriate weather conditions for it.
He then takes Sam-Dal to a spot from where they can look at the entire hometown lit up during the nighttime.
The clouds and weather become appropriate and as Yong-Pil confesses his romantic words to Sam-Dal and kisses her, majestic light pillars emerge in front of them, crowding the entire scenery.
What are Light Pillars?
Light Pillars are an optical illusion created by an atmospheric phenomenon.
They occur when ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere or present in high-altitude clouds reflect light coming from either a natural source or an artificial one.
Each snowflake acts as a mirror, and collectively, it reflects light in such a manner that it seems as if a column of light has formed directly above the light source.
Groups of crystals sharing different vertical planes in the atmosphere result in several light pillars.
Real-world sightings
Interestingly, light pillars were witnessed on the southern island of Jeju on October 26, 2022, which very well could have inspired their depiction in Welcome to Samdal-ri, which spends most of its runtime in Jeju Islands.
The resident meteorologists attributed the reason behind the formation of the light pillars to the reflection of light coming from the lamps of the fishing boats.
In Welcome to Samdal-ri, the light pillars are formed due to the same reason, and protagonist Cho Sam-Dal even mentions the fishing boats before the phenomenon occurs.
Sources
It can be erupting volcanoes, the sun, the moon, or even artificial sources such as street lamps and boat lamps, among others.
The light pillars aren’t actually directly above the light source but appear like they are.
It is because of the optical illusion created by the collective reflection of light from all the minuscule ice crystals to the observer.
Also Read: Cho Sam-Dal and Cho Yong-Pil’s breakup in Welcome to Samdal-ri explained