Travel/Culture List

Wonju Airport is located in Hoengseong-eup of Gangwon-do. It began as a military airfield in 1975. In January 1993, in an effort to promote the opening of the Civil Aviation, official construction began in November 1995. In February of 1997, it opened its door with Korean Air Co. Ltd. flying in and out of the city. The maximum number of aircraft movements that the airport can accommodate per year is about 115,000, numbering more than 450,000 passengers. The hangar can fit one B737 aircraft. There are about 90 parking spaces available in the parking lot. ​

Yeosu Airport is the gateway to Yeosu city and the eastern part of Jeollanam-do Province. The airport opened in 1972 when Korean Air (KAL) launched a new air route between Seoul and Yeosu, and the route between Yeosu and Jeju was added in 1977. The travel time for the Seoul-Yeosu route is 1 hour and the Jeju-Yeosu route takes 45 minutes. The airport renovated its runway in 2004 and opened a new passenger building in 2005. As Yeosu is the host city of the 2012 World Expo, the city has plans to continue expanding facilities to provide the most convenient service.  

Taebaek Station was originally called Hwangji Station when the rail first opened its route between Cheolam and Hwangji on December 10, 1962. An additional route from Gohan to Taebaek opened on October 6, 1974 and then the Taebaek Line eventually ran from Jecheon to Taebaek. Taebaek Station was mainly used by industrial trains and officially changed its name to Taebaek Station on December 1, 1984 in accordance with the name change of Hwangji-eup to Taebaek-si. When the Taebaek Line was initially opened, it was the only transportation method for residents of the Yeongdong area. It carried anthracite nation-wide as an industrial train, but it stopped this practice due to a policy change regarding coal. Located in the heart of Taebaek-si, a former coal town, Taebaek Station became a popular vacation spot. Tourists mainly from Seoul, Chungcheon-do and Jeolla-do areas visit the area by train. It offers clean, comfortable places and kind services to all visitors.

Gaesil Village (개실마을), located in Goryeong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, faces Jeopmubong Peak, which is shaped like a fluttering butterfly. Many legends about etiquette and filial piety have come from this village. One legend concerns a family in which the children had been devoted to their parents for over 5 generations. When the mother got sick, a pheasant flew into the kitchen. In winter, carp jumped out of a nearby pond. Based on this legend, this village has also been called, ‘Ingeobaemi Village’ (잉어배미 마을). Unlike other villages, the descendents in Gaesil Village have maintained their traditions, and the village’s traditions of etiquette and filial piety can be experienced during a farm stay in this village.

The star observatory is situated near Hantigogae Pass on Chilgapsan Mountain. The observatory has a celestial projection room, video and lecture room, exhibition room, an observatory platform, main observation room, and a subsidiary observation room. The main observation room is equipped with six telescopes, including a 400mm reflecting telescope and one 304mm refracting telescope, the largest in the nation. At the celestial projection room, visitors can view a virtual night sky and stars on a dome screen 10 meters wide regardless of weather conditions. The room offers 5-D cubic movies related to space science on a full HD screen and 4-D chairs with environmental effects of water, wind, and lightning.

Seoksumun is a floodgate on the Dongnakcheon Stream, which flows through the town of Ganghwa-eup. The floodgate was built in 1711 (37th year of King Sukjong’s reign during the Joseon Period) and it is connected to the inner walls of the Ganghwasanseong Fortress. It is an arched structure with a design of three rainbows coming together. Made of granite, the floodgate measures 18.2 meters in length and 2.7 meters in x_height, while the arches are 1.7 meters tall, and 3 meters wide.

Yukrimgogae was the street that connected Yurim Theater (now closed) and Chuncheon Jungang Market in the past, becoming an unofficial downtown during 1980s to the 1990s. After the new city project, the stores relocated to the new downtown, leaving the area empty. In 2015, the street was rejuvenated with Makgeolli Street and Youth Mall. The street is full of restaurants and stores that was renovated providing an analog-feel combined with a trendy style.

Sibiseonnyeotang Valley (Valley of the Twelve Angels’ Bath) is located at the base Seoraksan Mountain. It is also referred to as Tangsugol or Tangsudong Valley. The valley got its name from a myth that angels once came down to bathe in its flowing rivers. However, there are only eight baths.Due to fluvial erosion, there is a steep hole in this valley, and many baths and waterfalls of various shapes are stretched over an 8 km distance. Pass Ungbong Waterfall and the first bath and Dok-tang appear. Then walk past Buk-tang, Rainbow-tang, Peach-tang, and the path will end with the last bath, Yong-tang.Of these baths, the 7th bath is called Peach-tang, named after the traditional shape of the bath. The deeply delved rock behind the back of the waterfall is more beautiful than the bath under the waterfall. Past the Peach-tang is another clean, steep bath. From there, a 5-minute walk to the right will lead you to another waterfall and a pool. The water from Daeseungryeong and Mt.Ansan is connected to Namgyo-ri, Buk-myeon. This is an 8-km valley, which takes approximately two hours from the baths to Namgyo-ri. There are iron bridges over the baths for visitors to cross.

Jangsudae (장수대) is a traditional Korean house surrounded by a pine tree forest. It was built where the waterfall stream meets the Hangyecheon Stream, and Jayangjeon was originally built here. General Oh Deuk-Jun proposed to establish this site to pray for the souls of the soldiers who died in the Korean War. The south Korean soldiers built this traditional villa and named it Jangsudae. Lee Eun-Sang (1903-1982) wrote poems of the sorrow that the war had brought while he was at this place. Across the villa is the Jangsudae ticket booth, and this is the starting point of the mountain hiking of Daeseung Falls and Daeseungryeong. Nearby Jangsudae is Daesueng Falls and Oknyeotang, which is named after the story that an angel was relaxing at the waterfall and was chased by a large centipede and had to run away to this bath. This site is a popular tourist site for the Gama-tang, Hangyesanseong Fortress, and Haneulbyeok where tourists come to relax. This villa has a capacity of 100 people, which is large for a villa in the mountains. The high peak you see over Hangyecheon Stream from Jangsudae is Mt. Garisan. It forms the mountaintop with Jugeokbong Peak and Three brother-bong peaks.