Korea has come a long way since the 17th-century Dutch explorer Hendrick Hamel first described it as a kingdom that was “very dangerous, and difficult for Strangers.” Shipwrecked on Jeju Island in 1653, Hamel was sent to see the king on the mainland and spent 13 years virtually trapped on the Korean Peninsula, forbidden to leave. He finally managed to escape in 1666.

Today, the country that was once so hostile to foreigners is trying hard to present itself as a tourist-friendly destination. Koreans are now eager to show outsiders their country. Take, for instance, a trip on which I was invited last summer to the town of Anseong.

Located about an hour drive outside of Seoul, Anseong is an unassuming farm town. There is nothing immediately remarkable about Anseong, located in Gyeonggi Province. It is not home to pre-historic burial sites. There are no ancient palaces there, nor the remnants of grand monuments.

But, as any traveler to Korea will find, a little thing like mundane surroundings never stopped a town from holding its own celebrations — no matter how humble. And so it is with Anseong.

“There’s an art festival,” says Lee Jung Oak, a young Korean woman who contacts me, by way of explanation as to why she is organizing an excursion to the little known town.

Legendary dancer and choreographer Sin Cha Hong (with microphone) leads a group of ambassadors and foreign dignitaries in an exercise at her Laughing Stone Dance Retreat Center.

A tour guide for Theme Tours Korea, Ms. Lee, or “Jenny,” as she instructs me to call her, is planning a day trip to Anseong. It sounds boring, except for the fact that it’s free and the group she is inviting includes ambassadors and other embassy officials living in Seoul. I’m not with the embassy, but I’m the guest of a photographer documenting the trip, so I get to go, too.

On a sunny morning in June, I arrive at the meeting point in front of the Korea National Tourism Organization building in downtown Seoul. It’s 8:30 in the morning, and I see a group of well-dressed men and women, mostly foreigners, milling around in front of two large, red tour buses with tinted windows. They definitely look like foreign dignitaries dressed in their suits and dresses despite the summer heat.

I find Jenny, who is passing out sheets of paper printed with the itinerary for the day. As is typical of a Korean tour, the day is packed with back-to-back activities. It’s as if Koreans want to show you as much as they can of their country and culture while they have your attention.

Embassy officials try getting in tune with nature and dance.

The day’s activities include a visit to the 10th Anseong Juksan International Art Festival, lunch, a dance exhibit, a visit to a Buddhist temple, dinner at a barbecue restaurant, followed by an outdoor performance of traditional Korean dance. It makes me tired just thinking of all the running around we’ll do, so I take a nap on the bus while people chatter around me.