No Tourist Information Signs for 'Mudeungsan' Certified by UNESCO

Assemblyman Jo O-seop "Additional Installation Should Be Considered"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been confirmed that tourism guide signs for Gwangju Mudeungsan National Park, one of the four UNESCO Global Geoparks in South Korea, are missing.

According to Assemblyman Jo O-seop (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Gap) on the 12th, the Korea Expressway Corporation omitted UNESCO Global Geoparks, which are only four in the country, while reorganizing signs to expand the range of tourist attractions that can be guided on highways.

In accordance with the revision of the "Road Sign Production, Installation, and Management Guidelines" (hereinafter referred to as the Road Sign Management Guidelines), the Korea Expressway Corporation installed 19 pilot tourism guide signs for nine facilities including five tourist complexes, two religious facilities, and two national parks within the jurisdiction of the Gangwon Headquarters Yeongdong Line Wonju and Daegwallyeong branches in 2019.

Subsequently, this year, a total of 3.152 billion KRW was invested to reinstall 99 signs for 62 facilities including tourist guide facilities under the jurisdiction of all regional headquarters: Gwangju·Jeonnam (23), Gangwon (21), Daejeon·Chungnam (17), Jeonbuk (9), Chungbuk (9), Daegu·Gyeongbuk (8), the metropolitan area (7), and Busan·Gyeongnam (5).

The newly reinstalled road signs are differentiated from existing signs by using pictograms and multiple place names, and the range was expanded from 500 meters before the interchange to 1.5 kilometers before the interchange.

The Road Sign Management Guidelines allow UNESCO World Heritage sites to be guided on expressways, and national designated cultural properties and UNESCO World Heritage sites, which have been used as existing guide names, can continue to be used as guide names if the road management authority deems it necessary considering induced traffic volume and recognition.

However, in the case of Gwangju·Jeonnam, there were signs for Boseong (5), Suncheon (9), Gurye (4), and Hampyeong (5), but none for Gwangju.

Despite Gwangju having Mudeungsan National Park, which was certified as the 137th UNESCO Global Geopark worldwide and the third in Korea after Jeju Island and Cheongsong County, it was excluded from the tourism sign reinstallation.

Mudeungsan National Park requires the installation of tourism guide signs on the Honam Expressway entering Gwangju (Gwangju direction), Donggwangju IC (Hwasun direction), Hakun IC (Jungsimsa direction), the Honam Expressway entering from Daegu (Goseo Junction), and the Honam Expressway entering from Daejeon (Yuseong IC direction).

Assemblyman Jo O-seop said, "If consultations had been held with local governments rather than only at the level of regional headquarters and branches during the reinstallation of tourism guide signs, this would not have happened," and added, "Although this project is almost complete this year due to comprehensive maintenance, additional installations should be considered next year in areas where it is absolutely necessary."

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