Construction of cable cars at Mt. Seorak Participants, including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (7th from R), clap during a groundbreaking ceremony for cable cars at Mount Seorak’s Osaek area in Yangyang, some 215 kilometers east of Seoul, on Nov. 20, 2023. (Yonhap)
It looks like the cable car from Osaek to near the summit of Mt. Sorak is now going to be come a reality:
Picture of Seorak Mountain’s summit with the lodge in the foreground.
A government arbitration commission on Thursday ruled in favor of a county in Gangwon province that has been planning to set up a cable car on a popular mountain range near the nation’s eastern coast.
In the ruling, the Central Administration Appeal Commission under the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission called for the Cultural Heritage Administration to allow Yangyang County to build a cable car system on Mount Seorak.
The project calls for a 3.5-kilometer-long cable car system to be built in the southern region of Mount Seorak in Yangyang, some 215 kilometers east of Seoul, providing a means of convenient transportation all the way up to the peak of the Osaek area hiking course.
The cable car project has been a controversial issue among environmentalists here, who have argued that the mountain’s natural environment must be preserved. [Yonhap]
I have not supportive of this cable car because of how the summit of the mountain is already over crowded with tourists leaving trash every where. There are so many hikers already accessing the mountain that a lodge has been constructed to house them in near the summit. Now there is going to be a cable car station to bring more tourists up the mountain which means that restaurants and shops will need to be constructed to service them as well. The summit of the mountain is basically going to turn into the craziness that is Sorak-dong at the base of the mountain.
This plan to build a cable car from Osaek to the summit of Seorak Mountain would just be a disaster. For people who don’t have the mobility to hike there is already a cable car built at the National Park entrance that provides fantastic views of the park. Installing a cable car at Osaek seems unnecessary to me. I have hiked up to the summit of Seorak Mountain from Osaek before and saw how many people already hike up this mountain. In fact there are so many hikers there is a lodge near the summit to house them. A cable car would just bring that many more hordes of tourists to the top of mountain spreading trash everywhere and generally ruining what is a great hike to the summit Seoraksan:
Picture of Seorak Mountain’s summit with the lodge in the foreground.
A government panel on Wednesday rejected a proposal to set up a cable car on a popular mountain range near the country’s eastern coast, a plan that has been criticized for its potential harm to the regional environment, government officials said.
The project calls for a 3.5-kilometer-long cable car system to be built in the southern region of Mount Seorak in Yangyang County, some 215 kilometers east of Seoul, providing a means of convenient transportation all the way up to the peak of the Osaek area hiking course.
According to the officials, the panel under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has assessed that the project is feared to do harm to cultural assets and the habitat of the region.
The panel will review the plan again if the county proposes a revised version.
The cable car project has been a controversial issue among environmentalists here, who have argued that the mountain’s natural environment must be preserved.
The county government had submitted its cable car construction plans in 2012 and in 2013, but was rejected both times due to issues that the structure’s design could pose a threat to the habitat of some of the wildlife in the area.
Advocates, on the other hand, say that the cable car will help to boost tourism and thereby add to the economic development of the region, especially ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, located just south of the county. [Yonhap]
