Gimhae City Promotes Two Sites of Natural Monument Ippangnamu as Tourist Attractions

Natural Monument No. 307, Ipap Tree in Cheongok-ri, Juchon-myeon, Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam. [Image source=Gimhae-si]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Among the eight locations in South Korea designated as natural monuments for the Ipop tree (including clusters), Gimhae City in Gyeongnam Province is the only city that has two such locations. On the 26th, the city announced that it is promoting these areas as tourist attractions, focusing on Sincheon-ri in Hallim-myeon and Cheongok-ri in Juchon-myeon, where the trees are located.

The Ipop tree in Sincheon-ri is Natural Monument No. 185, standing 30 meters tall and estimated to be 650 years old, making it the oldest existing Ipop tree.

The city is investing 280 million KRW to protect the oldest Ipop tree in the country and improve citizen accessibility by purchasing houses behind the tree and creating a 936㎡ park by the end of this year.

The Ipop tree in Cheongok-ri is Natural Monument No. 307, approximately 17 meters tall with a trunk circumference of 7 meters, and estimated to be around 500 years old. It has grown with two branches splitting at about 1 meter above the ground.

The city is applying a fine dust blocking forest project to establish Juchon-myeon as a well-known Ipop tree region. Recently, Ipop trees have been planted intensively in the Juchon Seoncheon District, where urban development has been completed, and additional planting is underway along the section from Dongseo-daero to Hallim Hospital Intersection.

After planting a total of 1,000 trees by the first half of this year, the city plans to plant more next year.

Mayor Heo Seong-gon said, “The Ipop tree flowers, which have been part of our city’s history, provide a small comfort to citizens going through difficult times due to COVID-19. Since Gimhae City is the only place with two natural monument Ipop tree sites, we will do our best to protect these old trees and develop them as tourist attractions.”

Meanwhile, the Ipop tree, belonging to the ash family, is known as a tree that predicts a good harvest for the year. It has been believed that a year with many white flowers indicates a bountiful harvest, while a year with few flowers signals a poor harvest.

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