'Instant Meeting Sanctuary' Yangyang in Crisis, Could It Transform into a Workation Sanctuary?[Curiosity Lab]

A Place to Work + Rest While Playing for a Few Days
Seeking to Expand Resident Population in Depopulated Areas
Jeju, the Origin of Workation... Seoul Rapidly Rising

Desker Workation Center located in Yangyang [Photo by Desker Workation]

Gangwon-do Yangyang, once known as the "Mecca of Surfing," is now facing a crisis as it has deteriorated into an "MZ liberation zone" and a "hotspot for spontaneous encounters." Although the number of summer vacationers visiting six East Coast beaches in the Gangwon region increased by more than one million compared to last year, Yangyang saw a decrease of about 77,000 visitors. The reason for the decline in visitors to Yangyang during the peak season is that keywords like rest and surfing have been distorted into escapism and entertainment, causing family tourists to hesitate to visit.

Gangwon Ilbo recently reported on this issue, stating, "With the increase in entertainment establishments, surfing shop merchants and residents are distressed," adding, "This is due to a significant drop in sales related to the surfing industry, as well as various side effects such as nighttime noise, parking difficulties, and littering." Nevertheless, Yangyang has a population of only 30,000, but the transient population exceeds 300,000. Since the opening of the Seoul-Yangyang Expressway in 2017, accessibility to the metropolitan area has improved, leading to a significant increase in the transient population. While there are several breakthroughs for Yangyang, a solution can be found in workation. In February, CNN reported that "South Korea's pilot introduction of a visa to attract 'digital nomads' who work remotely while traveling around the world could be the starting point for addressing the population decline crisis."

Jeju Workation Promotional Photo [Photo by Jeju Province]

Workation is a term combining work and vacation, referring to a new trend where office workers travel while working remotely. It is also known overseas as Digital Nomad, meaning digital nomadism. Efforts are also being made to increase the registered population. Instead, increasing the transient population can revitalize the region and boost economic effects.

Many depopulated areas in Korea are making such efforts. For example, in Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon, a hostel building that had been left abandoned for a long time within the Yeongwol Gossi Cave tourist site, a natural monument, was renovated into a workation center last July. The first floor houses three convention function spaces and a kids' cafe for infants and toddlers; the second floor features a chocolate museum and a play area for kindergarten children. The third and fourth floors have 25 rooms for visitors to local tourist attractions such as Gossi Cave, and the fifth floor includes convenience facilities like a restaurant and cafe. The county plans to seek revitalization of the local economy through the inflow of living population and stay-type tourism by signing business agreements with entities such as the Double Ease Workation Center to overcome regional extinction.

The origin of workation is Jeju. This year alone, 10,000 people have already participated, with expectations of over 20,000 by year-end. Jeju has established two public base offices and 18 private offices as workation facilities. Recently, Jeju signed agreements with Chung-Ang University and Jeju National University to promote 'runcation,' a concept combining seasonal semester credit exchange programs with travel during vacations. Runcation is a term combining Learning and Vacation. Jeju supports Chung-Ang University students to travel around Jeju while staying at Jeju National University to earn seasonal semester credits.

Panoramic view of Barcelona, Spain

Many local governments overseas are also trying to attract workationers and digital nomads. The global workation population is estimated at 35 million. According to analysis by WorkMotion, most people using remote work are single millennials and Generation Z doing workations. They spend an average of six months in one city. There are several conditions for working and playing long-term. First, entry and exit must be convenient. This means creating a separate visa for digital nomads. If obtaining a visa is complicated or requires frequent renewal, the attractiveness of workation inevitably decreases. Since they stay long-term, accommodation should be relatively affordable. Internet environment must be good. Safety, medical care, and living expenses are also important considerations.

WorkMotion analyzed the attractiveness and ease of remote work in 85 global cities, ranking Barcelona, Spain as number one. Following are Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Prague, Czech Republic; Madrid, Spain; Melbourne, Australia; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Lisbon, Portugal; Sydney, Australia; Gran Canaria, Spain; and Reykjavik, Iceland. Among major cities, Tokyo, Japan ranked 14th; London, UK 24th; Paris, France 28th; New York, USA 30th; and Singapore 32nd. Seoul was not included in this survey and thus does not appear in the rankings.

View of downtown Bangkok, Thailand

Nomad List ranks cities based on living costs, internet environment, safety, etc., and discloses monthly living costs. The top city is Bangkok, Thailand ($1,383), followed by Chiang Mai, Thailand ($1,023); Barcelona, Spain ($4,725); Tbilisi, Georgia ($2,181); and Seoul ($2,579). New York requires $6,984, but Daejeon only needs $1,691.

Digital Nomad Korea selected the top 10 digital nomad cities for 2024. Seoul ranked first. The company said, "It may be biased, but it is the best place." Bangkok, Thailand is the best value for money, followed by Tokyo, Japan; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Istanbul, Turkey; Lisbon, Portugal; Bali, Indonesia; Budapest, Hungary; and Athens, Greece.

Foreign visitors at Cheonggyecheon Stream in Seoul

The government has been piloting a workation visa system since this year. However, only high-income foreigners earning around 90 million won annually can apply for the workation visa, making the threshold relatively high. Accordingly, in June, the government decided to improve the visa system to attract long-term foreign residents. A 'K-Culture Training Visa' will be piloted within the year for foreigners wishing to train in fields such as entertainment company training, K-pop, choreography, and modeling. The introduction of a 'region-specialized digital nomad (workation) visa' is also being considered to allow overseas remote workers to work in Korea while enjoying local tourism. Based on the currently piloted 'digital nomad visa,' local governments will diversify visa requirements linked to incentives provided to foreigners. Plans are also underway to improve inconveniences in the entry procedures.