Mariel Sandra Korbe

마리엘 Estonia 🇪🇪

Hiking creator

The Estonian hiker sharing Korea's mountains

Book forTV & RadioYouTube & ContentInfluencersTalks & LecturesModeling

Mariel is an Estonian TV personality and hiking and nature creator. She climbs Korea's mountains, from Seoul's neighborhood hills to Seoraksan and Jirisan, picking up trash as she goes, and shares the nature, temples, people and animals she meets along the way on YouTube and Instagram.

She started learning Korean back in Estonia and moved to Seoul in 2019 for graduate school, earning a master's in media and communication at Yonsei University. She works in Korean, English and Estonian.

She hosted MBC's Hot World (2022) and has appeared on Korean Foreigners and Arirang TV's See What I See. She fronted the K-mountain adventure series for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Koreanet (2024), was an ambassador for Hwaeomsa Temple (2023) and won the top excellence award in the 2024 “My Jirisan Story” contest.

Mariel also appears in government and city promotional videos and works as a model, for Seoul's Arisu tap water campaign, the Visit Korea Year video, Kaja Beauty and Memebox, among others. A graduate of the Wipers (지구닦는사람들) citizen activist program, she keeps environmental action at the heart of her content.

Host, Hot World (MBC, 2022)
Hwaeomsa Temple ambassador (2023)
Top excellence award, “My Jirisan Story” contest (2024)
K-mountain adventure series for Koreanet, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (2024)

Work with Mariel

Photos

Talks

What Someone from a Land of Forests Learned in Korea's Mountains

From Seoul's neighborhood hills to Seoraksan and Jirisan: the temples and warm-hearted people she met on Korea's trails, how the mountains change with every season, and the rest and personal pace she found in nature.

There Are Wild Boars on the Hill: Seoul's Wild Neighbors

Wild boars, moles, red squirrels and birds on Seoul's hills. Through stories of urban wildlife and birdwatching, Mariel shows how environmental action can start with noticing the life around us.

e-Estonia vs. Korea: Life in Two Digital Powerhouses

Estonia is known for online voting and e-government, and Korea is a digital powerhouse too. Drawing on life in both countries, Mariel looks at what the two societies share and where they differ.

Fifteen, and Learning Korean Alone

How she taught herself Korean in a small Estonian town with no Korean language school, and how that journey led to a speech contest and graduate study in Seoul.

Video

Autumn hike with Mariel: Geumganggul Cave, Seoraksan (K-Class, 2024)

How Mariel from mysterious Estonia sees Korea (Fabien, 2024)

e-Estonia on KBS Radio 1's The World Today (2025)

A mountain hike with like-minded friends (2025)

Selected work

Education

Master's in Media and Communication, Graduate School, Yonsei University

TV & YouTube: appearances and hosting

2026 Live Today (SBS): “Up and Down” segment
2026 Video Album: Mountain (KBS)
2026 Culture Crunch (Arirang TV)
2026 Seoul Metropolitan Government global YouTube
2025 Video Album: Mountain (KBS), Yeongchwisan in Yeosu
2025 The World Today (KBS Radio 1): guest on the “e-Estonia” global issues segment
2024 K-mountain adventure series, Koreanet (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)
2023 A Morning Worth Trying (KBS)
2023 KOREAZ YouTube, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2022 Hot World (MBC), host
2022 Byeoldari Universe (MBC)
2021–2022 Korean Foreigners (MBC every1)
2021 See What I See Season 3 (Arirang TV)
YouTube guest: Fabien (2024), K-Class (2023, 2024), Trash Kingdom (2025), Lena TV (2026)

Talks & events

2025 Earth and People Foundation conference

Ambassador roles & awards

2024 Top excellence award, “My Jirisan Story” contest
2023 Hwaeomsa Temple ambassador

Tourism & local government creator

2024 Jinju tourism familiarization tour
2023 Jongno video creator
2023 Visit Iksan Year
2023 Gangneung Cultural Heritage Festival
2023 High1 Resort, Jeongseon
2022 Gochang Dolmen Festival
2021 Suwon Cultural Festival
2021 Tourtainer
2020 Seoul video creator

Modeling

2026 Memebox, beauty brand model
2024 Arisu (Seoul tap water) campaign
2024 Visit Korea Year promotional video
2023 Kaja Beauty
2022–2023 EPIK (SNOW) TikTok
2022 National Hangeul Museum exhibition video
2022 Samsung Members

Environmental work

Completed the Wipers (지구닦는사람들) citizen activist training: education, beach clean-ups, planning and running activities
Environmental content: picking up trash while hiking, eco-friendly events, volunteering at a wildlife rescue center
Planned and led local stream clean-ups
Biodiversity Foundation's “Nuisance Wildlife Diplomats”: changing how people see animals officially labeled as pests

Want to work with Mariel?

TV & radio, YouTube, brand collaborations, talks — tell us what you have in mind, in English, French or Korean. Our Seoul team usually replies within 2 working days.