Yeosu in South Jeollanam-do Province is the key marine tourism city of Korea. In the 10 years since hosting the World Expo in 2012, Yeosu has grown from a small town to a tourist city with 10 million visitors a year. Ease of access from Seoul via KTX and tourist attractions such as romantic scenery and cable car led the city to gain great popularity, making it a famous tourist destination nationwide. The city of Yeosu plans to enhance its competitiveness with various tourism content making use of islands and the sea.
Yeosu Expo
Yeosu held an exposition event in 2012 under the theme of “The Living Ocean and Coast.” The event attracted over 7 million visitors, one of the most successful global expos in Korea. The event offered various rides, maritime shows, and the aquarium, the second biggest dome aquarium in the world at the time. Even though a decade has passed after the event, most of the facilities and sites are preserved in the vicinity of Yeosu Expo Station.
Nangman Pocha
The famous Nangman Pocha street is located under the Geobukseon Bridge. There are 18 different restaurants providing various foods and beautiful nightscapes of Yeosu. It is one of the most popular nighttime tourist attractions in the city. The restaurants and bars on the street specialize in seafood, in accordance with the feature of the city, the marine city.
Yi Sun-shin Square
To commemorate Admiral Yi Sun-shin, the most respected naval officer in Korean history, the city erected a statue of him. The statue is located in a square where tourists can enjoy the view of the ocean and take a stroll. Yi Sun-shin Square is where the majority of iconic food in Yeosu is concentrated. Strawberry mochi, a rice cake filled with strawberry, Yi Sun-shin Burger, and the famous mugwort ice cream can all be found near the square.
Odongdo Island
Odongdo Island is located about 10 minutes from the center of Yeosu, and it is accessible by walking along the ocean for about 15 minutes from the parking lot at the entrance of Odongdo Island. The view from the road is beautiful enough to have been selected as one of the 100 most beautiful roads in Korea. Odongdo Island is also home to the most beautiful camelia flowers in Korea. The 3,000 camellia trees covering the entire island start to bloom in January and are in full bloom in March. Jasan Park is built on the hill overlooking Odongdo Island.
In the middle of Odongdo Island is a cave named Yonggul (Dragon cave, in English). It is a sea cave with a legend. The story goes, “When it rains, the dragon living in Odongdo uses the underground passage to go to Yonggul and drink rainwater. When the nearby villagers blocked off Yonggul, the dragon moved from the cave to a spring, and the splitting sea water echoed in the night sky.” As a result of the wind that blows from inside the cave, Yonggul is also the coolest place in Odongdo.
Yeosu Seo Market
Yeosu Seo Market, which literally means “west market” in Korean, is a typical traditional market where numerous merchants sell seafood and clothes. It is the largest traditional market in Yeosu and has a long history of more than 100 years. Seo Market is located close to the Yeosu Coastal Passenger Terminal and the Yeosu Fisheries Market, and fresh and diverse marine products are traded there. Seo Market is visited by many foreign tourists looking for fresh fish and sashimi. Tourists can also expect generous hospitality in food alleys selling Traditional Korean food such as hotpot, pork head meat, and pork feet. For more information, visit Seo Market’s official Instagram page @yeosu_seomarket.
Seo Market is also known for the famous gat kimchi (mustard-green kimchi), the iconic food of Yeosu. Tourists can find shops selling their own recipe gat kimchi. The other place that offers gat kimchi experience is Dolsan-eup, which is accessible via the Yeosu Marine Cable Car.
Yeosu Marine Cable Car
The landmarks above are gathered around Yeosu Expo. However, another part of Yeosu, Dolsan, also has abundant landmarks and is easily accessible via Yeosu Cable Car. The cable car is an aerial lift connecting the northern and southern parts of Yeosu across the bay. All sides of the cable cars, including the bottom, are transparent, which allows riders to enjoy the view of the whole bay area.
When you get off the marine cable car, you are right at Dolsan Park. There is a viewing platform for sunset, from which you can see Dolsan Bridge, Janggundo Island, Yi Sun-shin Square, and Geobukseon Bridge all at once. One of the most beautiful views occurs at sunset, Dolsan Bridge, which lights up and creates a wonderful view with the water passing under it.
This is the other part of Yeosu, Dolsan-eup, which provides a much more rustic view compared to areas mentioned above but has splendid views you might have never seen before.
Hyangiram Hermitage
Another breath-taking view is at Hyangiram Hermitage. Although it is located quite far from downtown Yeosu, it is worthwhile visiting. Meaning “a hermitage toward the sun,” Hyangiram Hermitage offers the chance to see one of the best sunrises. However, visiting requires quite a bit of climbing since it is located almost at the top of Mt. Geumo. You have two choices, one with stairs for about 10 minutes and the other with an uphill road for about 15 minutes. If you take the stair route, you will encounter three Buddhist attendant figures on the way up, each covering either their eyes, ears, or mouth. This comes from Buddhist “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” These three figures are regarded as mascots of the temple, and are quite adorable to look at when going up stairs to the hermitage.
When you see a narrow path that seems like a cliff, you are almost there. It is called the “door of nirvana.” It makes sense with Buddhist doctrine, since you could meet Buddha when you get to the phase of nirvana. When you pass the narrow path, you can see the main temple. As you get closer, you can see golden leaves on which letters are written. They are wishes left by visitors to the temple. A lot of people wish for their family members’ health, promising future for their children, and so on.
When you are done looking at the main temple and the wishes, it is time to take in one of the most breath-taking views in Yeosu. On the opposite side of the main temple, you can see the endless ocean and sunlight scattered across the waves. It is said that you see the whole ocean in Dolsan-eup since you can clearly see the horizon.
As you have seen, Yeosu is a city with abundant joys and excitements. You can see beautiful views created by mountains and the ocean while enjoying the infrastructure of a well-developed city. For those who want to enjoy both city and rustic scenery and visit a coastal city that is not too cold, The UOS Times highly recommends Yeosu.
Kim Ye-il
lavieenrose0705@uos.ac.kr
Kim Da-eun
daeunkim749@uos.ac.kr