Spring Flower Spot Gurye Seomjingang Cherry Blossom Viewing... "Please Come Next Year"

Banners Urging Visitors to Refrain

Gurye 5-Day Market Temporarily Closed for 2 Weeks

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yuk Mi-seok] On the 25th, Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that it has implemented stringent quarantine measures, including closing parking lots and some access roads, as the cherry blossoms along the Seomjin River began to bloom.

To minimize the influx of spring visitors, the county is closing the cherry blossom cluster parking lot (Jukyeon Parking Lot). Roads entering from the Suncheon direction will be blocked to operate a one-way traffic section, and parking and stopping along the cherry blossom road will be prohibited to reduce the duration of stays. Cherry blossom points and deck paths adjacent to villages will be closed.

Vehicle fever screening stations will be installed along roads leading into Gurye. Banners requesting visitors to refrain from visiting have also been hung at major intersections.

Thermal imaging cameras will be installed in parking lots located on the outskirts of the cherry blossom road, and quarantine posts will be operated. Using amplifier facilities installed in the parking lots, they plan to encourage participation in social distancing campaigns and mask-wearing.

To prevent contact between spring visitors and local residents, agricultural and specialty product sales points along the cherry blossom road will be closed, and street vendors, peddlers, and night market activities will be strictly controlled. The nationally famous Gurye 5-day Market has been temporarily closed for two weeks.

Facilities where crowds may gather, including restrooms, will be disinfected and sanitized more than three times a day.

Every spring, about 59 km of cherry blossom roads stretch from Seomjin River in Gurye to Seosi Stream. In particular, the Gurye Seomjin River Cherry Blossom Road, which extends from Donghae Village in Muncheok-myeon, around Namdo Bridge in Ganjeon-myeon, to Toji-myeon, was selected as one of the ‘100 Most Beautiful Roads in Korea.’ The Gurye Seomjin River Cherry Blossom Festival has been held at the Osan Saseongam entrance event site near Donghae Village in Muncheok-myeon. This year’s festival has been canceled.

Consideration was also given to the fact that A (60, female) from Gyeongju and some of her party visited Gurye Sansuyu Village on the 18th, three days before testing positive, which triggered an emergency in quarantine efforts.

Seventeen people, including restaurant staff and Saseongam officials who were classified as having contact with A and her party at the time, all tested negative. Quarantine authorities believe that A contracted the virus after contact with a confirmed case in Gyeongju, and her party was infected after spending a long time together in A’s private car.

Kim Soon-ho, the governor of Gurye-gun, said, “We are taking all possible measures to keep Gurye a clean area free from COVID-19,” and urged, “We ask for your active participation in social distancing by refraining from travel and outings until April 5.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.