Palgongsan Designated as the 23rd National Park... First in 7 Years Since Taebaeksan

Pal-gongsan, located in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, has been upgraded to a national park. This is the first upgrade in seven years since Taebaeksan Provincial Park became the 22nd national park in August 2016.

On the 23rd, the Ministry of Environment announced that Pal-gongsan was confirmed as a national park after deliberation by the National Park Committee.

Pal-gongsan was designated as the 23rd national park in South Korea after 43 years since its designation as a provincial park in May 1980. Pal-gongsan has an elevation of 1,192 meters and spans Daegu Dong-gu, Gyeongsan-si, Yeongcheon-si, Gunwi-gun, and Chilgok-gun in Gyeongbuk.

Pal-gongsan currently holds national representative historical, cultural, ecological, and scenic values, possessing 2 national treasures, 25 treasures, and 92 cultural assets. It also has top-level cultural and natural resources and landscapes nationwide, including 15 endangered wild species, 5,296 species of wildlife, and 77 natural scenic spots.

Vacationers Cooling Off from the Heat in the Valley
(Daegu=Yonhap News) Photo by Kim Hyuntae = On the afternoon of the 4th, vacationers are cooling off by playing in the water at the Donghwasa Valley in Palgongsan, Dong-gu, Daegu. On this day, a heatwave warning was issued for Daegu, where the daytime high temperature exceeded 33 degrees Celsius. 2020.8.4
mtkht@yna.co.kr
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With Pal-gongsan's upgrade to a national park, the government expects the annual number of visitors to increase by 28%, from 3.58 million to 4.58 million. Infrastructure development such as ecological exploration centers, sky observatories, forest experience facilities, and barrier-free trails, which had been difficult to implement due to financial reasons, is expected to promote local tourism revitalization and significantly improve accessibility for transportation-disadvantaged groups.

With its designation as a national park, the management authority of Pal-gongsan will be unified under the Ministry of Environment, instead of Daegu City and Gyeongbuk Province. Among the existing 22 national parks, 21 are managed by the Korea National Park Service, except for Hallasan National Park, which is managed by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

The Ministry of Environment stated, "If the Korea National Park Service, a professional organization managing parks, takes charge of Pal-gongsan, systematic conservation will be possible through natural resource monitoring, restoration of damaged areas, purchase of private lands in core areas, and maintenance of cultural heritage zones."

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