Jangheung-gun Seonhakdong Village Selected as Candidate for UNWTO 'Best Tourism Village'

Famous as the Filming Location of Director Im Kwon-taek's Film 'Cheonnyeonhak'

Seonhakdong Village in Hoejin-myeon, Jangheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, has been selected as South Korea's representative candidate village for the '4th UN Tourism Best Tourism Village.'

According to the county on the 29th, this contest, hosted by UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO), has been implemented since 2021 to address global common challenges such as regional imbalances in rural areas through sustainable local tourism development.

In Jeollanam-do, following Sinan-gun and Hwasun-gun, Jangheung-gun is the third to challenge the 'UN Tourism Best Tourism Village.'

Jangheung Seonhakdong Village Panorama
[Photo by Jangheung-gun]

Seonhakdong Village is well known as the setting of the novel "Seonhakdong Nagne" by the master of modern literature, writer Lee Cheong-jun. It is also famous as the filming location of the movie "Cheonnyeonhak," directed by Im Kwon-taek, based on the original work.

It is famous for canola flowers in spring and buckwheat flowers in autumn, and true to its designation as a 'Literary Tourism Special Zone,' the village has a literary trail.

Since 2007, the village has created an official communication site called "Seonhakdong Village Full of Golden and Silver Light," recording village-related news and development processes to promote the village.

Seonhakdong Village has established a solid village management system, winning the 'Jeonnam Happy Village Creation Best Award in Village Landscape and Environment,' being selected as one of the 'Top 25 Non-face-to-face Safe Tourist Destinations for the Spring Season' by the Korea Tourism Organization, and chosen as one of the 'Top 10 Travel Destinations of the Year' by SRT, among many other achievements.

Jangheung-gun plans to conduct on-site inspections and consulting from late February to early March and submit the final application to UN Tourism by the end of April. The final selection results will be announced between September and October.

County Governor Kim Seong said, "If Seonhakdong Village is selected as a 'UN Tourism Best Tourism Village,' the beautiful natural environment of Jangheung-gun will gain international recognition," adding, "We will make every preparation to ensure final selection."