Goseong-gun to run facility directly until operator is selected
Trial run held in late May through early June; systems reviewed
Wheelchair-accessible, cashless venue opens to tourists
Goseong-gun on the east coast of Gangwon Province now has its own path cutting across the sea.
The Songjiho Sea-Sky Trail stretches along the shore of Oho-ri in Jukwang-myeon, beside Korea Lagoon Songjiho, the product of years of painstaking planning and construction.
After being selected for a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries grant program in 2018, the project took eight years of careful design and construction, followed by months of safety verification, before a roughly two-week trial run began in late May. The total project cost came to about 48.4 billion won ($35.2 million), covering the installation of specialized tourism facilities both on land and at sea.
The trail runs 631 meters across the water to Daeseum (Jukdo), an uninhabited island. Key facilities include the Songjiho Sea-Sky Center — a three-story, multi-activity leisure complex with a total floor area of 3,171 square meters — a 270-meter-long, 2-to-3-meter-wide walking path on Daeseum (Jukdo), an 80-meter universal access corridor, the 631-meter-long, 6-meter-wide Sea-Sky Trail itself, and a 151-meter maritime skywalk ranging from 3 to 6 meters in width.
Goseong-gun expects it will take roughly two to three months to select a management operator and establish an operating framework for the trail. To minimize any gap in service and support the local economy, the county will run the facility directly from Friday through Oct. 31.
The decision by Goseong-gun County Chief Ham Myung-jun to operate the trail directly on a temporary basis also carries a symbolic message — to demonstrate what responsible management looks like to the private operator that will eventually take over.
The direct operation covers the main Sea-Sky Trail facilities; the Songjiho Sea-Sky Center is excluded. The trail will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last entry at 5 p.m. It will be closed every Monday.
Goseong-gun plans to deploy 10 staff members to ensure smooth operations and visitor safety — two for ticketing and ticket inspection, four for safety management and four for parking. They will be stationed at key points along the trail and at observation decks to enhance visitor safety and convenience. The county also plans to maintain round-the-clock safety monitoring using CCTV cameras installed throughout the facility.
Preparations to improve visitor convenience are also proceeding on schedule. The county will install signage at the ticket booth and prepare informational leaflets, set up kiosks and a ticketing and inspection system, and link the system to card payment networks to ensure smooth ticket issuance.
Wheelchairs will also be available on site, and a beverage storage rack near the entrance and informational signs outlining visitor guidelines will be installed to improve convenience.
Given the facility's coastal location, Goseong-gun will pay particular attention to weather-related safety management. If a weather advisory is issued — covering strong winds, rough seas, heavy rain, heavy snow or typhoons — or if there is a risk of a safety incident, the county will restrict access or close the trail entirely, with visitor safety as the top priority.
Admission tickets cannot be purchased with cash; card payment is the only accepted method.
abc@heraldcorp.com
