"East Sea Mukho Rises"‥? Old Downtown, Renovated with 'Emotion & Experience'

'Dojjaebigol' Sky Valley and (Tentative Name) Oceanfront, Development of Specialized Tourist Destinations

Nongoldam-gil Wind Hill, Donghae-si, Gangwon-do [Provided by Donghae-si]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Youngcheol] The Mukho area in Gangwon Province is shedding its image as a neglected old downtown and emerging as a new growth engine for Donghae City.

On the 4th, Donghae City announced, "We will develop the Mukho area, including Mukho Port and Nongoldam-gil, into a stay-type tourist destination that integrates nature, culture, emotion, and experience by linking and creating a belt."

The plan is to transform the area, which relied on the sea for livelihood, into a tourist attraction by infusing emotion, experience, and healing throughout Mukho.

Following the renovation of nine murals on Nongol 1-gil and Deungdae Oreum-gil last year, the city plans to continue maintaining the beautiful mural streets this year by restoring about ten faded and damaged murals and sections.

The Myeongtae Deokjang Village, located behind Mukho Port, once the foremost fishing base on the East Coast, is also being developed as a tourism resource, with various experiential events scheduled to begin this year.

The Deokjang Village tourism resource development project, which cost over 1.8 billion won including national and provincial funds, has reached 75% completion, including the construction of the 'Culture Factory Deokjang' experience center, and is expected to open in the second half of the year as an experiential cultural space linked to Mukho's traditional industries.

In particular, Donghae City’s new growth engine projects, 'Dojjaebigol' Sky Valley and the tentatively named Oceanfront, are currently in final construction stages and are set to open this month.

Additionally, projects such as creating a heavenly garden around Nongoldam-gil, improving seafood distribution facilities at Mukho Port, the Saetteul Village project in the Mukho area, and the Eodal Port Fishing Village New Deal 300 project are also underway.

Meanwhile, the number of tourists visiting Nongoldam-gil and Mukho Lighthouse last year was 387,883, showing a slight increase compared to 361,250 in 2019.

Since 2010, murals have gradually been painted on the once old and dark alleys, transforming Mukho into a beautiful mural street. Last year, it was included as a small-scale potential tourist destination and a non-face-to-face tourist site selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization.

In the past, Mukho, a representative port city on the East Coast, saw many residents leave and became an old downtown that once enjoyed prosperity due to the decline of fisheries caused by depletion of fishery resources.

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