Easier Access to Gwandong Eight Scenic Wonders

MLTM builds roads and bridges so that tourists can easier access to scenic areas

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) said recently that it has started to work on the construction of the Gangneung City section of the Gwandong Eight Scenic Wonders Tourist Road jointly with seven cities and counties in Gangwon Province and North Gyeongsang Province, with the entire road targeted for completion by the end of this year.
The project is part of the Coastal Area Development Project model, starting with parts of Gosong and Daejin, Gangwon Province, and following the coastline south to Wolsongjong in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, along with the rest of the Gwandong Eight Scenic Wonders, stretching for 330 km. The government set aside 28 billion won from the national treasury for the project, which is slated for completion in 2014 and includes 16 bridges and extensive walking paths.
The Gwandong Eight Scenic Wonders include Samilpo Bay and Chongsokjong in North Korea, and Chongkanjong, Uisangdae, Gyeongpodae, Choksokru, Mangyangjong, and Wolsongjong, along South Korea's East Coast.
With the start of construction in Gangneung City, all cities in the same East Coast region including Sokcho, Samchok, Uljin and others have started to work on the project. The section of the project in Gosong and Daejin, Gangwon Province, was completed by the end of October as scheduled.
The Gwandong Eight Great Sceneries Tourist Road Project is not just a project to build a road, but is part of the government policy to spur cooperation among the super wide-area municipalities in building roads to connect them.
The project involves building roads so that tourists can appreciate the wonderful sceneries of the east coast where many historical figures visited often including Hwarang soldiers during the ancient Silla Kingdom, poet Chung Chol of the Joseon Dynasty, and other poets and calligraphers of the past. The project is to build bridges and roads to make accessible those scenic wonders to tourists.
All the roads and bridges are for pedestrians, not for vehicles, so that tourists can really enjoy walking along the scenic areas by lakes, through pine forests, and along beaches and spend nights at small villages nearby. The motive is to invigorate tourism on the east coast.
The ministry published a guide map showing the new roads and bridges built and yet to be built along the great sceneries of the east coast so that tourists can find their way through detour roads. The guide maps are accessible on the ministry's website (www.mltm.go.kr) and also on the homepage of the East-West Coastal and Inland Areas Development Project Team (www.cola.go.kr) and will be updated as soon as the new roads and bridges are completed. nw

A view of Hwallengjeong Pavilion at the Seongyojang, a traditional Korean culture experience site in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, one of the Gwandong Eight Great Scenic Wonders in Korea.
Photo on courtesy of MLTM