[Digging Travel] Making Tteok and Straw Craft over 3 Days and 2 Nights... Sokcho Sangdomun Stone Wall Village

③ Sangdomun Stone Wall Village Living Tourism Program 'Sokcho Osil'
A 500-Year-Old Hanok Village, Gate-less Stone Wall Village
2 Nights 3 Days Rice Cake Making, Makgeolli Tasting, and Straw Craft Experience

As the purpose of travel has shifted from 'visiting places' to 'staying in places,' recent travel culture has seen a rise in popularity of food tourism and extended stays ranging from a week to a month.

A stone with a cat painting placed on the fence of a house in Sangdomun Stone Wall Village. Photo by Kim Heeyoon

The growing popularity of ‘lifestyle tourism,’ where visitors stay in various regions of Korea as if living there, is largely influenced by this trend change. Traveling that involves experiencing local culture, history, and cuisine alongside residents directly contributes to the local economy. The Korea Tourism Organization has designated 13 regions nationwide as ‘Living Experience Lifestyle Tourism’ areas, recruiting tourists and developing unique programs.

Sokcho’s Sangdomun Stone Wall Village was selected as a lifestyle tourism site last year and has been operating the ‘Sokcho Osil’ program for two years. Sokcho, which is emerging as a popular tourist destination with Seoraksan Mountain, the East Sea, Sokcho Beach, and the tourist seafood market, is accelerating efforts to strengthen lifestyle tourism that emphasizes culture beyond nature.

An official from Sokcho City explained, “Although Sokcho attracts 20 million tourists annually, expanding tourism solely through Seoraksan and the sea is limited. Creating exhibition spaces in Abai Village and operating a 2-night, 3-day lifestyle tourism program in Sangdomun Stone Wall Village are part of cultural tourism efforts aimed at broadening Sokcho’s tourism base.”

The village tour is a program where Kim Jong-geun, the village chief, personally guides visitors around the village alleys that remain in their original circular form, as well as Maegok's birthplace and Hakmujeong Pavilion, providing explanations. The photo shows the village chief giving an explanation in front of Hakmujeong Pavilion. Photo by Kim Hee-yoon

‘Sokcho Osil’ is a unique local tourism program whose name means “Please come to Sokcho.” Sangdomun Stone Wall Village is a traditional village with a 500-year history located at the foot of Seoraksan Mountain. Upon entering the village following the map, visitors find that all the alley walls are connected by smooth, rounded stone walls. These stone walls, built without gates, retain the appearance of old stone walls with little soil mixed in. Since neighbors have always known each other well, gates were never necessary. Historically, Sangdomun Village has been a clan village where the Gangneung Park, Haeju Oh, and Gimhae Kim families lived like one family.

On the tranquil stone walls, friendly paintings of swallows, sparrows, cats, and dogs can be seen throughout the village. Vines and flowers blooming brightly beneath the walls welcome visitors, creating a serene scene reminiscent of a fairy tale. Passing through the pine forest south of the village leads to Hakmujeong Pavilion, built in 1934 by late Joseon Dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Maegok Oh Yunhwan (1872?1946), a native of the village. The pavilion’s name comes from a metaphor describing the pine forest between two streams as a place where immortals and cranes might dwell. Behind the pavilion, a pine grove over 200 years old stretches along a trail, enhancing the pavilion’s charm.

The village’s central cultural space, ‘Doldam,’ which is the heart of the ‘Sokcho Osil’ program, is a renovated old rice mill building that also functions as a caf?. Visitors stop here upon their first visit to receive a brief introduction to the village and program guidance. The basic program (including accommodation for two, priced at 160,000 KRW) is popular as it includes a village story tour, Makgeolli tasting, Doldam rice cake making, and straw craft experiences.

The village central cultural space "Doldam," which is the core of the "Sokcho Osil" program, is a renovated old rice mill building that also functions as a cafe. Photo by Kim Heeyoon

The village tour, guided by the local headman, covers the stone wall alleys preserved in their original form, Maegok’s birthplace, and Hakmujeong Pavilion. The Doldam rice cake making takes place in an old mill, where prepared glutinous rice dough is stretched into long strips, coated with black sesame powder by rolling, then neatly stacked in a rectangular mold. After cooling, the rice cake is cut into bite-sized pieces, revealing a cross-section resembling the pattern of stacked stone walls. The straw craft experience involves twisting straw in the traditional way to make egg bundles.

‘Yukmojeong Store,’ a former village hole-in-the-wall shop remodeled by the owner’s son into a black-and-white self-photo studio, has become a hot spot especially popular among the MZ generation. Tourists visit the stone wall village specifically to experience this place. In the self-photo studio, visitors freely take photos by pressing the button themselves and select their favorite shots to be printed in black and white, preserving precious memories.

Additionally, visitors can choose to experience the brewing process at the local craft beer company ‘Mont Beer’ or visit the Sokcho Tourist Seafood Market. By applying for the Eum Taxi service (26,000 KRW), tourists can use it twice: from Sokcho Terminal to Sangdomun Village and from the village to two experience sites.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Sokcho City are promoting various projects aimed at revitalizing the local economy through lifestyle tourism.

In the past, Sokcho’s population was 82,474, and after peaking at 83,109 in 2013, it sharply declined but has been rebounding over the past two to three years. Nevertheless, Sokcho is still classified as a population extinction risk area. Lifestyle tourism programs aim to offset the decline in resident population by encouraging tourists to stay for more than two days. The ultimate goal of lifestyle tourism, led by the local community, is to ensure that the economic benefits generated are retained within the local society.

Installation view of the 'Sok Deep Village, Observing Steps' project exhibition currently underway at the 'Sokcho City Seafood Joint Processing Center,' recently transformed into an exhibition space. Photo by Kim Heeyoon

In Abai Village in downtown Sokcho, the ‘Sokcho City Seafood Joint Gutting Facility,’ recently transformed into an exhibition space, is becoming a popular attraction. The unique name literally refers to the place where local fishermen used to remove the guts of pollock and squid. Currently, the exhibition titled ‘Deep Village, Observing Steps’ is underway, showcasing installation art works that reinterpret the history of Abai Village and the difficult lives of residents who migrated from North Korea, as seen through the perspectives of 11 artists, displayed throughout the space.

From the rooftop of the gutting facility, which faces Seoraksan’s Ulsan Rock behind and the East Sea ahead, visitors can lie on benches installed around the rooftop at sunset and enjoy the view of the sun setting behind the mountain ridges accompanied by the sound of waves. In an era when development logic sweeps through cities, this place reflects Sokcho City’s efforts to preserve and revitalize spaces that hold memories and history through culture.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, as of July this year, the average length of stay in Sokcho is 1.43 days, which is 0.33 days shorter than the national average for basic local governments. Visitors who stay overnight in Sokcho account for 20.5% of total visitors, with 70% of them staying only one night. For Sokcho, securing various programs to encourage tourists to stay longer remains a challenge.

The ‘Sokcho Osil’ program, where visitors can experience the sea, mountains, leisure, and romance all at once, runs until the end of November. The 13 lifestyle tourism programs selected by the Korea Tourism Organization can be found on ‘Korea Tour’ (대한민국 구석구석).

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