Gangneung, Gangwon Province, South Korea

History | Geography | Sunrise | Gyeongpodae Area | Beach | Jungdongjin | Heritage

🇰🇷 Gangneung is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. Gangneung is the economic centre of the Yeongdong region of Gangwon-do. Gangneung has many tourist attractions, such as Jeongdongjin, a very popular area for watching the sun rise, and Gyeongpo Beach. There is an ROKAF airbase south of downtown Gangneung that formerly doubled as a civil airport.

History Gangneung was the home of the Yemaek people in ancient times and became the land of Wiman Joseon in 129 BC. In 128 BC, Nam Ryeo, the army officer of Yaekam, punished Wujang of Wiman Korea and became the territory of the Han dynasty. In the 14th year of Goguryeo Muchheon (313), it entered Goguryeo territory.

In 639, Silla occupied this place and ruled it as a 'Sogyeong' (소경). In 658, King Moo-yeong abolished the Sogyeong and made an arsenal to send the todok, because it was adjacent to Malgal. In 757, it was renamed Sungju and restored it in 776.

It was renamed Myungju again during the Goryeo period, and it was under the jurisdiction the north of Chuncheon in the 14th year of Sungjong (995). It separated the Hamgyeong-do from the Gangeung and called it Gangneung-do, but it has always been the centre of administration and military. At the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty, it called to Hwadangdo and Wonchundo and rename Gangneung by the name of Gangwon Province in the 5th year of King Sejong (1423).

Some areas have been incorporated into Yangyang since 1945, and Gangneung City was established in 1995 as the areas of Gangneung and Myeongju merged.

Geography Gangneung is located to the east of the Taebaek Mountains, which is the considered the 'waist' of the Korean peninsula. To the East is the Sea of Japan, and to the west are the inner side of Hongcheon County, the Pyeongchang County's Jinbu-myeon and the Daegwallyeong-myeon respectively. The southern side is connected to Donghae City and the Jeongseon County's critical side. The north side is adjacent to Yangyang County Hyunbuk-myeon and Hyunnam-myeon.

The total area of Gangneung City is about 1,040.4 km² (401.7 sq mi) as of the end of 2015, which accounts for 6.2% of Gangwon Province's 16,873 km² (6,515 sq mi). 80.4% of the area of Gangneung, 837.36 km² (323.31 sq mi), is forestland.

Sunrise Sunrises, especially the first in the New Year, are important in traditional Korean culture. The Jeongdongjin and Gyeongpo beaches in Gangneung are popular places to enjoy a sunrise.

Gyeongpodae Area Gangneung is considered special due to its access to both a lake and the sea. Gyeongpodae is a pavilion overlooking a Gyeongpo lake. It is said that one can see the moon five times when at Gyeongpodae. One sees the moon once in the sky, once reflected in the lake, once reflected in the sea, once reflected in the drinking glass, and once more in the eyes of a lover. The site of Gyeongpodae is known for its location east of the centre of the city.

Inside the Gyeongpodae pavilion, built with 28 pillars, is the Gyeongpodaebu, a poem by Yul Gok. Gyeongpodaebu describes the movement of the heavens and the moon. The best view of the moon is on the 15th of the lunar month.

The nearby Gyeongpo Beach has a sandy beach and a line of fresh seafood restaurants, with its proximity to Seoul making it a popular summer destination.

Beach In addition to the Jungdongjin beach where Sandglass, a TV series was taken, there are 18 beaches such as Anmok beach, Gyeongpo beach, Gangmun beach.

Jungdongjin Jeongdongjin Beach is about 250 meters long and is famous for its beautiful sunrise scenery. In particular, the sunrise seen from the top of Goseong Mountain is known to be the most beautiful.

Heritage There are a total of 128 cultural properties in Gangneung. Among them, there are 34 State-designated heritage and 58 Province-designated heritage.

National Treasure No. 51, a gate to an official inn, is in Gangneung. This gate is the front gate of the Gangneung official inn built in the Goryeo Dynasty. It is the oldest gate in the Goryeo Dynasty and is the only cultural property designated as a national treasure among the buildings in Gangwon-do.

Ojukheon is the birthplace of Shin Saimdang and Yulgok Lee. It was designated as Treasure No. 165 by being recognised as one of the oldest architecture in the Korea and being a rare example of preserving the shape of the house of the Joseon Dynasty.

Gangneung Guseongsa site, which was founded by Burma in the 13th year of King Munsung of Silla(851), has been designated as Korea's Historic Site No.448. Inside the temple, treasures are designated as Treasures No. 85, Treasures No. 86, There is a stone Buddhist image designated as No. 38.

Asia/Seoul/Gangwon-do 
<b>Asia/Seoul/Gangwon-do</b>
Image: Photo by KIBOCK DO on Unsplash

Gangneung has a population of over 213,658 people. Gangneung also forms one of the centres of the wider Gangwon Province which has a population of over 1,564,615 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Gangneung see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Gangneung is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Gastronomy see: https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Gangneung has links with:

🇪🇸 Algemesí, Spain 🇺🇸 Chattanooga, USA 🇯🇵 Chichibu, Japan 🇵🇭 Indang, Philippines 🇷🇺 Irkutsk, Russia 🇨🇳 Jiaxing, China 🇨🇳 Mangshi, China 🇰🇿 Oskemen, Kazakhstan
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

North of: 37.755

🇺🇸 Owensboro 37.758

🇹🇷 Isparta 37.765

🇪🇸 Jaén 37.767

🇹🇷 Denizli 37.767

🇺🇸 San Ramon 37.767

🇹🇷 Kâhta 37.767

🇯🇵 Sōma 37.783

🇰🇷 Yangju 37.785

🇺🇸 Manteca 37.796

🇮🇹 Marsala 37.797

East of: 128.896

🇰🇵 Tanchon 128.902

🇰🇷 Yeongcheon 128.919

🇰🇷 Buk 128.99

🇨🇳 Helong 129

🇰🇷 Seo 129.02

🇰🇷 Yangsan 129.033

🇰🇷 Jung 129.033

🇰🇷 Yeongdo 129.05

🇰🇷 Busanjin 129.05

🇰🇷 Dong 129.057

West of: 128.896

🇰🇷 Gimhae 128.867

🇨🇳 Yichun 128.841

🇰🇷 Miryang 128.75

🇰🇷 Milyang 128.75

🇰🇷 Andong 128.728

🇰🇷 Jinhae-gu 128.667

🇰🇷 Changwon 128.65

🇰🇷 Suseong 128.63

🇰🇷 Yeongju 128.62

🇰🇷 Daegu 128.602

Antipodal to Gangneung is: -51.104,-37.755

Locations Near: Gangneung 128.896,37.7552

🇰🇷 Donghae 129.114,37.525 d: 32  

🇰🇷 Samcheok 129.161,37.444 d: 41.7  

🇰🇷 Sokcho 128.583,38.2 d: 56.6  

🇰🇷 Jecheon 128.191,37.133 d: 93.1  

🇰🇷 Yeongju 128.62,36.827 d: 106.1  

🇰🇷 Wonju 127.949,37.345 d: 95.1  

🇰🇷 Chuncheon 127.736,37.859 d: 102.6  

🇰🇷 Andong 128.728,36.565 d: 133.2  

🇰🇷 Chungju 127.934,36.972 d: 121.7  

🇰🇷 Yeoju 127.643,37.287 d: 122.1  

Antipodal to: Gangneung -51.104,-37.755

🇺🇾 Maldonado -54.95,-34.9 d: 19546.7  

🇧🇷 Rio Grande -52.099,-32.041 d: 19373.3  

🇺🇾 Montevideo -56.198,-34.907 d: 19459.7  

🇺🇾 Canelones -56.284,-34.538 d: 19428.4  

🇧🇷 Pelotas -52.341,-31.763 d: 19339.3  

🇦🇷 Mar del Plata -57.55,-38 d: 19448.8  

🇺🇾 Durazno -56.517,-33.367 d: 19324.1  

🇧🇷 Bagé -54.107,-31.328 d: 19249.5  

🇦🇷 Berisso -57.886,-34.873 d: 19328.4  

🇦🇷 La Plata -57.954,-34.921 d: 19325.6  

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