From Next Month, Check the 'Congestion Traffic Light' When Visiting Haeundae and Gyeongpodae Beaches

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Prepares Supplementary Measures to Disperse Beach Visitors

Pre-Reservation System Introduced at Beaches in Jeonnam

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] A beach congestion traffic light system and a pre-reservation system will be piloted. This is intended to prevent visitors from crowding into specific beaches to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 18th that it has prepared such "supplementary measures to disperse visitors."

First, to allow visitors to check the density of beach crowds in advance and refrain from visiting crowded beaches, a "beach congestion traffic light" service will be provided in real time. The beach congestion traffic light will display green for congestion up to 100% of the appropriate capacity, yellow for congestion exceeding 100% up to 200%, and red for congestion exceeding 200%. To this end, the ministry plans to utilize big data information technology owned by KT to count the number of beach visitors every 30 minutes and reflect it in the traffic light system.

The beach congestion traffic light will be accessible on the Sea Travel website and, in the future, on major portal sites. This service will initially be implemented from the 1st of next month at 10 large beaches including Haeundae, Gwangalli, Songdo, Songjeong, Dadaepo in Busan; Daecheon in Chungnam; Gyeongpodae in Gangneung; Naksan in Yangyang; Sokcho; and Samcheok. The ministry plans to expand this to 50 major beaches by mid-July.

A pre-reservation system will be piloted at beaches in Jeollanam-do. From the 1st of next month, visitors to Jeollanam-do beaches where the pre-reservation system is applied must make a reservation in advance through the Sea Travel website or the reservation systems on each city and county website.

Additionally, at large beaches with annual visitors exceeding 300,000, such as Haeundae and Gyeongpodae, designated areas and parasols with social distancing of at least 2 meters will be assigned on-site. Users of parasols and similar facilities will be required to record their personal information to quickly identify contacts in case of confirmed cases. This reflects the difficulty of controlling large crowds and frequent movement typical of beach environments.

Along with this, opening ceremonies and nighttime festivals that could increase visitor density at beaches will be prohibited, and local governments will be advised to refrain from nighttime openings, with these guidelines incorporated into operational directives. Local governments managing beaches have been instructed to establish and implement their own quarantine management measures, such as online ticket purchases for Haeundae Beach in Busan and universal temperature checks at Daecheon Beach in Boryeong.

Oh Woon-yeol, Director of the Marine Policy Office at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "These supplementary measures focus on allowing visitors to check congestion and make reservations in advance to disperse visitors at large beaches and create a new beach usage model. We ask that people avoid crowded beaches as much as possible and strictly follow social distancing guidelines even at the beach."

Beach Congestion Signal Light Display (Example)

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