Young People Flock, Turning It into a Spot for Casual Encounters... The Fall of the 'Ibiza of Korea'

The Only Coastal Area Among Six on the East Coast Experiencing a Decline in Tourists

Amid a double-digit increase in visitors to the East Coast beaches of Gangwon compared to last year, Yangyang, known as the 'surfing sanctuary' among the six East Coast cities and counties, was the only place to see a decline in visitors. Yangyang has been popular as the 'Ibiza of Korea.'

According to Gangwon Province on the 20th, the number of visitors to Gangwon's beaches from last month to mid-this month reached 6,131,977, a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.

On the night of the 18th, vacationers visiting Inguhai Beach in Hyeonnam-myeon, Yangyang-gun, Gangwon, are enjoying the final moments of their summer getaway.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Gangneung, the representative coastal tourist city on the East Coast, attracted 2,539,132 visitors this summer, the largest crowd among the six East Coast cities and counties. This is a 29% increase from last year (1,965,693). Goseong, the northernmost part of the East Coast, saw more than a 20% increase with 2,039,348 visitors.

Yangyang had 691,160 visitors. It was the only one among the six East Coast cities and counties to see a roughly 10% decrease compared to last year. With a population of 27,000, Yangyang has attracted surfers' attention since the early 2010s with its image of being quieter and cleaner than Gangneung and Sokcho, the representative beach cities of Gangwon, as well as Donghae and Samcheok. Tourist courses linked to Naksansa Temple and others also received attention.

Recently, Yangyang, which was even nicknamed 'Seoul Special City Yangyang-gu Population Movement' due to many young people visiting, has been said to have a different atmosphere at Jukdo Beach than before. As the perception of Yangyang as a ‘sanctuary for nightlife’ spread, negative views toward Yangyang, including Population Beach, naturally increased, which is pointed out to have had an impact.

[Photo by Yonhap News]

On online communities, posts such as ‘Reasons not to visit Yangyang,’ ‘Reviews of sending a friend of the opposite sex to Yangyang,’ and ‘Avoid Yangyang after visiting’ are consistently posted. It is said to have transformed into a place where people enjoy clubs or casual encounters rather than surfing. It is known that drinking parties continue until dawn on the coast or at party venues.

Yangyang County also seems to be aware of this. Yangyang County recently announced that it will make multifaceted efforts at the local government level to ensure surfing functions as a sustainable culture.

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