NO less than Gov. Choi Moon-soon personally invited Filipinos last month to visit his province of Gangwon-do in east South Korea when he graced the recent Korea Winter Travel Fair 2017: Let’s go to Gangwon!
Addressing questions from the BusinessMirror on their efforts to attract tourists despite the constant threats from North Korea, Choi and Korea Tourism Office (KTO)-Manila Director Park In-shik assured everyone that there is nothing to worry about.
“Actually, just this morning [September 15], there was a missile test… but don’t you worry about that,” Park said, referring to the latest missile test conducted by their neighbor-state to the north earlier that day.
“It’s business as usual,” the KTO director assured, emphasizing that their government and the United States are closely monitoring the matter.
For his part, Choi said the escalating tension is not a problem, noting that he has been living in the province for many decades now and that Gangwon-do is “[a] beautiful [place]”.
In a sit-down interview with Gov. Choi shortly after the news conference, he gladly detailed to the BusinessMirror their preparations for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang next year, being the host province.
“We have prepared around 100 million tickets for the Winter Olympics, but we are expecting over 200 million visitors during the entirety of the event,” he said of the activity that will be held on February 9 to 25, 2018.
Security measures, he added, are in place to ensure peace and order, and even traffic management, as the event unfolds.
“We don’t have any problems with security and safety [as] we have 200,000 policemen and security force to handle [untoward] issues. So, [there is] nothing to worry about,” he reiterated.
He also disclosed that there would be new infrastructure for guests, including a high-speed rail transit nearing its completion, just in time for the Winter Olympics.
“We will open new hotels around the area. A new railway will…start operating probably by end of December to accommodate people staying in Seoul and transport them if they cannot stay in Gangwon-do,” he added.
The train is said to connect Incheon International Airport (all the way from the western coast) and Seoul that will traverse the entire east and west coasts of the country, reducing travel time from the capital to the remote coastal city in 90 minutes, compared to the current 130 minutes.
Geographically elongated from north to south, Gangwon-do, with a population of 1.55 million, is in the Korean peninsula’s central-eastern region. About 82 percent of the land is mountainous. The eastern region runs along the coast, while the western region lies face to face with Seoul; the southern part is connected to another inland region.
The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) divides the northern part of Gangwon-do. The variegated beauty of Gangwon-do’s four seasons radiates even more against the rich natural environment there.
An excellent assortment of leisure activities is very well developed for each season. In the winter, Gangwon-do’s mountains transform into a skiing paradise and make all winter sports enthusiasts excited.
Dubbed as “Asia’s Greatest Land of Snow”, it becomes a fantasyland of ice during winter, while green forests are covered in dazzling-white snow. Valleys and mountains also transform into beautiful ski slopes.
Choi also takes pride that most popular Korean dramas’ filming locations were located in Gangwon-do, such as Goblin, Descendants of the Sun, Uncontrollably Fond and Saimdang.
The province and KTO also came up with the “K-drama filming locations tour in Gangwon-do”, where fanatics can feel an air of nostalgia from the shows.
As its 37th governor, Choi said it is not only the Winter Games that Filipinos can look forward to if they plan to go to Gangwon-do, but also to its other cultural and leisure areas.
The governor, who is also a former CEO of Munhwa Broadcasting Corp., said he is expecting Filipinos to go to Gangwon-do, enjoy its winter season scenery and also witness the games next year.
“I’ll wait for you there,” he quipped to those present during the conference.
According to KTO, South Korea received a total of 17.2 million tourists in 2016, an increase of 30.3 percent over the previous year. From this number, 556,745 were Filipino visitors, posting a growth of 37 percent compared to 2015’s total of 403,622.