Operation of 3 Baekje Heritage and Tourist Courses Including ▲Pungnap Toseong ▲Mongchon Toseong ▲Seokchon-dong Ancient Tombs Until September
Starts Every Friday and Saturday at 6 PM... Reservation Required 7 Days in Advance on ‘Seoul City Public Service’ Website
Songpa-gu (District Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced that it will launch a ‘Cultural Tourism Nighttime Commentary Program’ to help forget the tropical nights during the full summer season, and will operate it on a trial basis until September.
Since 2016, the district has been running a year-round ‘Cultural Tourism Commentary’ program where participants stroll through Baekje-era historical sites and tourist attractions while listening to interesting stories about history and culture. Experienced professional guides accompany the tours and provide systematic explanations in four languages including English, Japanese, and Chinese, making it a consistently popular program.
In fact, in 2023, more than 2,000 people participated, more than double the previous year, and according to participant surveys, 98% expressed their intention to join other courses again, showing a very positive response.
Encouraged by this response, the district planned an additional nighttime exploration program to enjoy while avoiding the daytime heat. Among the existing commentary courses, three routes were selected and will be operated: ▲ Pungnap-dong Toseong-gil, where nighttime landscape lighting was newly installed in May, ▲ Mongchon Toseong-gil, where visitors can enjoy the wide and green evening scenery of Olympic Park, and ▲ Seokchon-dong Ancient Tomb Cluster-gil, which features attractive urban night views including the district landmark Lotte World Tower and Seokchon Lake.
The district expects this nighttime exploration to promote the charm of its long-standing historical tourism city and to serve as an opportunity to enhance residents’ understanding of the area and their local pride. Visitors will be able to enjoy the summer night atmosphere in the city while having a special experience of seeing, hearing, and feeling the cultural heritage of Hanseong Baekje, which flourished around the Han River basin 2,000 years ago.
The commentary will be held every Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. on each course, and reservations can be made up to 7 days in advance through the Seoul Public Service Reservation website. Children up to 6th grade in elementary school must be accompanied by a guardian, and there is no separate usage fee.
Meanwhile, the existing daytime commentary will also be operated alongside the nighttime commentary. Regular commentary sessions are held every Saturday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and on-demand commentary sessions, which require prior reservation, are available from Tuesday to Friday and Sunday (at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.), excluding Mondays. For more detailed information about reservations, please contact the Songpa-gu Tourism Promotion Division.
Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “We have prepared a city exploration program that utilizes the district’s abundant tourism resources, where the dual charm of cutting-edge technology and long history coexist,” and added, “We will continue to make various efforts to promote the charm of Songpa-gu, Seoul’s representative tourist city, to the world.”
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