Gyeongju City Ponders Opening Daereungwon Historic Site... "Acts as a Barrier to Commercial Traffic Flow"

Citizen Survey: 57% Support vs 44% Oppose

Panoramic view of Daereungwon in Gyeongju (left section).

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] Gyeongju City has begun gathering public opinions on the plan to open Daereungwon, a representative cultural heritage site encompassing major burial mounds from the Silla period.

Daereungwon, where large burial mounds such as Cheonmachong, Michu-wang Tomb, and Hwangnam Daechong are clustered, has been criticized by local small business owners for obstructing the tourist flow connecting the Eastern Historic Site and the central shopping district, thereby limiting Gyeongju's tourism infrastructure. This survey is intended to gauge public sentiment on the matter.

According to a recent survey conducted by Gyeongju City, 57% of citizens expressed support for opening Daereungwon.

From December 9 to 16 last year, an eight-day 'Public Opinion Survey on Opening Daereungwon' was conducted through the official city hall website, where 56.9% of respondents supported the opening.

Among the 2,357 participants, 913 were 'strongly in favor' and 429 were 'in favor.' Conversely, 43.1% opposed the opening, with 184 against and 831 strongly against.

The reasons for supporting the opening included ▲increased usage by tourists and citizens due to improved accessibility (35.1%) and ▲expectations for revitalizing the commercial district through increased tourist inflow to the central shopping area (32.9%).

On the other hand, reasons for opposing the opening included ▲concerns over safety accidents and damage to the historic site (51.3%), ▲deterioration of visitor behavior due to free admission (22.3%), and ▲reduction in Gyeongju City's revenue (12.5%).

The current admission fee for Daereungwon is 3,000 KRW. While Gyeongju citizens enter for free, tourists from other regions must pay the admission fee as well as separate parking fees near Daereungwon.

A Gyeongju City official stated, "We did not conduct this survey with a predetermined policy on whether to open Daereungwon," adding, "Since public opinion is divided, we plan to take time to gather sufficient feedback."

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