Ginkgo huggers

In a day of otherwise unremitting bad news, something to cheer y'all up.

Two apartment buildings in Seoul, the crowded capital, will be torn down to save an 840-year-old ginkgo, the newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported. The 82-foot tree is the oldest tree in Seoul and is venerated by residents in the Dobong district who bring fruit and other offerings once a year and pray for their safety. It also attracts pregnant women who believe it will help them have a boy. With approval from the residents, the district government will spend $4.3 million to demolish the apartment buildings, whose foundations are interfering with the tree’s roots, the newspaper said. A park will be built around the ginkgo.