Gyeongbuk Province Hosts 2-Day, 1-Night 'Fam Tour' Inviting Foreign Press Club

Tour of Nutrient-rich Birch Forest, Andong Gunja Village, and Goryeong Jisandong Tumuli Cluster

Foreign journalists participating in the Gyeongbuk Province fam tour are seen meeting with Governor Lee Cheol-woo.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-ho] Gyeongbuk Province announced on the 30th that it held a fam tour inviting foreign press club members for two days from the 28th to 29th to promote major tourist attractions and cultural heritage. The itinerary included representative unique tourist spots in Gyeongbuk such as Yeongyang Birch Forest, Andong Gunja Village, and Goryeong Jisandong Tumuli, which attracted much popularity.

The first destination, Yeongyang Birch Forest, is located in Jukpa-ri, Subi-myeon, Yeongyang-gun, and was established in 1993 with an area equivalent to 42 soccer fields. This forest is a nationally designated premium forest, and from this year, surrounding infrastructure is being developed to allow many tourists to enjoy it comfortably.

Next, Gunja Village, located in Ocheon-ri, Waryong-myeon, Andong City, was formed when Kim Hyoro of the Gwangsan Kim clan settled there 600 years ago. Since the early Joseon Dynasty, it has continuously produced many scholars, and about 20 traditional houses are well preserved in their original form.

For the final schedule, the foreign press group visited the Goryeong Jisandong Tumuli, which is being promoted for registration as a World Cultural Heritage site. The "Gaya Tumuli" represent the tumulus clusters of each region of the Gaya Confederacy, coexisting with centralized ancient states such as Silla and Baekje, and serve as unique evidence demonstrating the Gaya civilization's distinctive political system as a confederation. In particular, it is evaluated as an important site showing one type of ancient East Asian civilization.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, said, "Gyeongbuk holds the most cultural heritage in South Korea and has the most beautiful natural scenery," adding, "I hope everyone attending today will become ambassadors promoting the beauty of Gyeongbuk, and especially take a special interest in the World Cultural Heritage registration of the Jisandong Tumuli."

Meanwhile, the foreign press fam tour included 16 participants from 14 media outlets across 7 countries, with Japan accounting for half of the participating media companies.

The participating media companies were APTV and Sky News (UK), Rex (USA), Itar-Tass (Russia), ABC News (Australia), Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai, Sankei Shimbun, Shogakukan, Tokyo Shimbun, Jiji Press, Sangyo Times (Japan), SCMP (South China Morning Post) (China), and Central News Agency (Taiwan).

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