Explosive Increase in Visitors Seeking 'Gyeonggi Yetgil'... Number of Completers Grows 5.5 Times

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The number of completers of 'Gyeonggi Old Road,' a representative historical and cultural exploration trail in Gyeonggi Province, has increased more than fivefold compared to last year.

According to Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation (Gyeonggi Old Road Center) on the 22nd, as of the 20th of this year, the number of Gyeonggi Old Road completers reached 2,334, about 5.5 times higher than the total of 422 completers last year.

In particular, despite the long distance of 89.2 km on the newly opened Gyeongheung-gil last month, 121 completers were recorded within just one month.

A Gyeonggi Old Road completer refers to a person who chooses one of the trails among ▲ Samnam-gil (99.6 km) ▲ Uiju-gil (56.4 km) ▲ Yeongnam-gil (116 km) ▲ Pyeonghae-gil (125 km) ▲ Gyeongheung-gil (89.2 km), walks all sections of the selected trail, and applies for a completion certificate.

Dr. A, an active physician and the first completer of Gyeongheung-gil, said, "I walked continuously for 22 hours from 5 a.m. on the opening day until 3 a.m. the next day, completing 89.2 km," and shared, "Walking outdoors in the open air is a great way to strengthen the mind and body during the COVID-19 era."

Gyeonggi Old Road, created based on the Six Major Roads (Yukdaero) from the Joseon Dynasty historical geography book Dorogo (道路考), is scheduled to complete the last of the six major roads, Ganghwa-gil (Gimpo, 46 km), in 2022.

An official from the province explained, "Once the construction of Ganghwa-gil is completed next year, a large-scale historical and cultural exploration trail spanning 532.2 km across 19 cities and counties in the province will be completed," adding, "We hope many people will walk along Gyeonggi Old Road, enjoying its beautiful scenery and local cultural heritage, and recover their spirits exhausted by COVID-19."

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