The Goseokjeong flower field in Cheorwon — billed as more beautiful and more richly programmed than Hokkaido's celebrated Furano gardens — opens its autumn season Friday.
Cheorwon-gun is launching the autumn season at the Goseokjeong flower field Friday.
The site draws more than 150,000 blooms every year and has become Cheorwon's signature tourist destination, widely credited with transforming the county from an agriculture-focused community into a tourism city.
The field embodies Cheorwon's identity as a city of peace: the roughly 150,000-square-meter (15-hectare) garden was carved out of a former artillery training ground, much as cannons were once melted down to cast rice bowls and peace bells.
Land once prepared for war is now filled with flowers across all four seasons, the quiet footsteps of visitors and the rhythms of nature.
The garden blends floral displays with sculptural installations, drawing attention as a distinctive landscape where cultural heritage and tourism coexist.
Cheorwon offers autumn visitors a full stay-and-explore experience built around its wealth of natural attractions — the Hantangang columnar joint trail, the Milky Way Bridge and Goseokjeong — combining flower-field strolls, nature walks and evening illuminations.
This autumn the field will operate daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., giving visitors the chance to enjoy the blooms by day and a different atmosphere as the lighting takes over in the evening.
The garden features a range of photo spots — a Little Prince observation deck, perimeter walking paths and dedicated photo zones — while a small train operated by the Jangheung 4-ri village community adds a lighthearted touch that has proved particularly popular with families.
Hands-on programming is also plentiful. Experience booths and participatory activities run by local residents throughout the garden help close the distance between visitors and the community. The autumn season will also feature a series of events tied to Cheorwon-gun's autumn festivals, letting visitors enjoy the local festival atmosphere alongside the flower field.
To help flower-field visitors connect with local businesses, the county is strengthening a tourism promotion policy that offers partial cash-back when visitors exchange for Cheorwon Love gift certificates.
Last year the cash-back program returned about 1.07 billion won ($773,000) to visitors; this year the budget expands to 1.3 billion won, including 800 million won in a supplementary allocation. The expansion aims to reinforce the link between flower-field visits and broader local spending and commercial activity.
"The Goseokjeong flower field is more than just a garden — it is a space that grows Cheorwon's tourism image and local economy together," Cheorwon County chief Kim Dong-il said. "Combining a visit to the autumn flower field with nearby attractions such as the Milky Way Bridge and the Hantangang columnar joint trail will let you experience the full depth of what Cheorwon has to offer." The autumn season runs until the flowers fade in late October; details are available through Cheorwon-gun's tourism and festival information channels.
Meanwhile, Japan has in some cases felled birch trees that had grown for decades and restricted tourist access to sections of the Furano flower fields, citing private land ownership. The Goseokjeong flower field, by contrast, was cultivated directly by Cheorwon-gun and is open for anyone to enjoy freely.
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