Park names Daegal, Saegal... What are the changed names after complaints about "bad connotations"?

New Alias Selected and Assigned Through Contest
To Be Used Alongside Real Name Later

Incheon’s 'Daegal Park' and 'Saegal Park' have each received new names through a public contest. This decision reflects residents' complaints.

Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, announced on the 9th that the nicknames 'Galwol Moonlight Playground' and 'Milky Way Playground' were selected for Dae-gal Nori Park and Sae-gal Nori Park in Galsan-dong, respectively. This was the result of addressing residents' complaints that the existing names of the two parks carried negative images and needed more friendly nicknames.

Saegal Playground [Image source=Bupyeong-gu]

Previously, residents of Galsan-dong frequently expressed complaints that the sound of 'Daegal' and 'Saegal' was strange. In particular, there were complaints that Daegal Park reminded people of the slang word 'daegari' (head), which is considered vulgar.

Bupyeong-gu decided to assign nicknames first and use them alongside the official names, considering that changing the official names through the place-naming committee would take a long time and involve complicated procedures and requirements.

'Daegal' and 'Saegal' are abbreviations of Daegalwol and Saegalwol, respectively. The old name of Galsan-dong, where the two parks are located, was 'Galwol-ri.' Here, Daegal referred to the Galwol-ri area, which was an established large village, while Saegal referred to a relatively newer village.

When the 'Defense Road,' the predecessor of the Gyeongin Expressway, was constructed around 1943, soil was lacking, so the northern ridge of Galsan-dong was excavated and used. After liberation, a settlement formed in that area, which came to be called Saegal (newly formed Galwol-ri).

Meanwhile, Bupyeong-gu has previously assigned nicknames to existing parks based on residents' opinions. In November 2022, the district gave the Manwol Children's Park in Bupyeong-dong the new nickname 'Bupyeong Moonlight Park.' At that time, there were complaints that the Manwol Park in Bupyeong-gu could be confused with a park in Namdong-gu because of the presence of Manwol Mountain in Namdong-gu.