Changnyeong Bugok Becomes 'Korea's First Hot Spring City'

Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 14th that Bugok Oncheon in Changnyeong-gun has been designated as South Korea's first hot spring city.

According to Gyeongnam Province, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety officially designated Changnyeong Bugok Oncheon, Chungbuk Onyang Oncheon, and Chungbuk Suanbo Oncheon as hot spring cities in the hot spring city designation review held on the 13th.

This is the first time since the relevant provisions were established in the Hot Spring Act in 2010 that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has designated hot spring cities.

The Minister of the Interior and Safety selects regions expected to contribute to regional development and economic revitalization through the hot spring industry according to the Hot Spring Act, accompanied by administrative and financial support such as securing related budgets and establishing policies.

Bugok Oncheon, Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

The province explained that it had visited the Ministry of the Interior and Safety several times to promote the excellence of Bugok Oncheon, and that the hot spring city designation review team evaluated it as a distinctive place during on-site and presentation assessments.

With Bugok being designated as the nation’s first hot spring city, it is expected that the brand effect guaranteed by the South Korean government will change the previously held outdated image and provide grounds for national budget support to improve facilities, thereby revitalizing Bugok Oncheon.

According to a nationwide hot spring status survey conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the number of visitors to Bugok Oncheon decreased from 3.3 million in 2008 to 3.88 million in 2013, 3.1 million in 2017 when Bugok Hawaii closed, 2.8 million in 2019, 2.62 million in 2021, and 2.64 million in 2022.

The province plans to develop and implement revitalization measures to increase tourists to Bugok, a hot spring-themed tourist destination, unlike other hot springs primarily used for bathing.

▲ Request for national budget support for joint water supply facility projects ▲ Development of the Bugok Hawaii site and attraction of private investment ▲ Continued use of government regional investment funds are planned.

Governor Park Wan-su said, “This designation by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will be a great opportunity to promote the excellence of Bugok Oncheon nationwide,” and added, “We will do our best to make it a new model that breathes life into small cities through tourism revitalization.”