 Authorities and residents of North Jeolla Province have high expectations for the Saemangeum Seawall, a 33.9-kilometer barrage in the West Sea, in transforming the underdeveloped area into a major tourism hub in the coming years. / Courtesy of SGFEZ Authority |
33km Saemangeum Seawall to Fuel North Jeolla’s Tourism Growth
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
After almost 20 years of construction, the Saemangeum Seawall, a 33.9-kilometer barrage in the West Sea, will finally open for transportation and tourism services on April 27. It is the centerpiece of the monumental Saemangeum reclamation project, the world's biggest landfill located in North Jeolla Province, which is currently being developed as a tourism and industrial complex by 2020.
The local press has been calling it the "Great Wall on the Sea," ahead of its eagerly anticipated opening to tourists. It will be recorded in the Guinness Book of Records this month as the world's longest seawall.
North Jeolla Province expects the Saemangeum Seawall to transform the nation's West Coast region into a tourism hub.
The number of foreign tourists has been on the rise lately, according to regional authorities. Tourists from the United States, New Zealand and China have been flooding to the region ahead of the opening.
"Following the seawall inauguration, we expect around 5 million visitors annually," a regional official said. In 2009, around 3 million people came to see the seawall.
The barrage connects Gunsan, 270 kilometers southwest of Seoul, with the other major North Jeolla cities of Gimje, Buan and Iksan.
The area is home to some of the most scenic vacation spots in the country, such as the Gogunsan Bay area. Resorts and theme parks will be added to Saemangeum in the coming years.
The completion of the seawall is expected to accelerate various development projects.
First initiated in 1991, the landfill project will ultimately give Korea an additional 401 square kilometers of land, which is equal to two-thirds of Seoul's total area. At first, the government had designated most of the area as an additional farming space, but has since turned its focus to industrial and tourism purposes.
The Saemangeum project is the result of the region's long aspiration for securing new growth engines other than farming.
The reclaimed area and port city of Gunsan will jointly house an international business complex called the Saemangeum-Gunsan Free Economic Zone (SGFEZ) by 2020.
There are lingering issues, however, that continue to hinder the full development of the area.
The absence of an international airport in North Jeolla Province is casting dark clouds over the prospects for foreign investment in the SGFEZ, according to the latest news reports.
Often considered one of Korea's most underdeveloped regions, North Jeolla is the only province in the country without an international airport.
Rather than building a new one, regional authorities have been trying to expand runways at Gunsan Airport to allow international flights, but objections from the resident U.S. Air Force has hampered the province's plans.
Under a 1992 agreement between the two countries, the U.S. Air Force exercises ownership over the Gunsan Airport runways. The agreement limits the number of commercial domestic flights to 10 per day."
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