What Will Happen to the Donghae Nambu Line Abandoned Railway? Gijang-gun Begins Review of 'Theme Trekking Railroad'

O Gyuseok, Mayor of Gijang County, "Transforming Rusty Railway into 'Land of Children's Songs' with Minimal Budget"

Busan Gijang County Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The abandoned site of the Donghae Nambu Line in Gijang-gun, Busan, is expected to be transformed into a 'Tracking Rail Road.'

In 2018, Gijang-gun conducted a study on the 'Tourism Resource Development Plan for the Abandoned Donghae Nambu Line Site,' which estimated the project cost to exceed 30 billion KRW, posing a major obstacle to project implementation. However, the county has now begun reconsidering ways to utilize the site with minimal budget investment.

Oh Gyu-seok, the mayor of Gijang-gun, recently stated, "The previous plan for utilizing the abandoned Donghae Line site involved many facilities requiring enormous budgets, which was a wrong direction. We should reconsider the utilization plan by seeking projects that can enhance efficiency and economic feasibility with minimal costs."

With the extension of the Donghae Line scheduled to open in September this year, Gijang-gun plans to actively review the creation of a themed tracking rail road on the abandoned section and intends to purchase the land.

Mayor Oh said, "To prevent waste of taxpayers' money, we will consider creating a 'themed tracking rail road' by utilizing the currently rusted railway tracks as they are."

The themed tracking rail road will be based on lyrics from children's songs and popular songs about railways. For example, the children's song "Omak-sal-i Next to the Railroad" will inspire the Omak-sal-i rest area and cornfield path; the popular song "Hometown Station" will inspire a cosmos flower path; and the song "Train and Pine Tree" will inspire a pine forest trail.

Additionally, there are plans to convert decommissioned train cars into a book caf? and install lighting to create a 24-hour moonlight-themed path.

Gijang-gun is also pursuing the acquisition of Jwacheon Station. The plan is to register Jwacheon Station as a national registered cultural heritage site and transform it into a memorial museum recalling the memories of residents who relied on the Donghae Nambu Line for their livelihoods from the 1930s until the line was abandoned.

A Gijang-gun official said, "Our goal is to renovate the abandoned site, including the painful history of transporting refugees during the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, as well as its role as a supply route for Japanese economic exploitation."

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