Taebaek City Cultural Tourism Guide Wins 'Grand Prize' at Gangwon Province Competition

Tour Guide Lee Jeongsuk, '500 Million Years of Geological Report' Gumsunso Storytelling
"A Result of Interest and Affection for Taebaek... Come to Taebaek"

Taebaek City, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Mayor Lee Sang-ho) announced on the 22nd that Lee Jeong-sook, a guide who represented Taebaek City, won the grand prize at the "2024 Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Cultural Tourism Guide Storytelling Competition" held in Gangneung City for two days from the 18th to the 19th.

From the 18th to the 19th, at the '2024 Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Cultural Tourism Guide Storytelling Competition' held in Gangneung City, Jeong-sook Lee (center), a guide representing Taebaek City, received the grand prize for her storytelling of the '500 Million Years Geological Report' at Gubunso. She is being congratulated by officials. Photo by Taebaek City Hall

This year, Lee Jeong-sook, who attended as the representative of Taebaek City, won the grand prize by clearly explaining the "Geological Report" Gumoonsso in Taebaek City, linking the geological information of Gumoonsso with nearby tourist attractions. As a result of winning the grand prize, she has been granted priority to participate in the upcoming National Cultural Tourism Guide Storytelling Competition and priority for training on excellent case studies.

She said, "I think my interest and affection for Taebaek were factors that led to good results in the competition. I will continue to do my best to actively promote the region to tourists on the front lines of tourism and improve their satisfaction."

The term "Gangin flows through the mountain" refers to a river that cuts through the mountain, creating a large stone gate and forming a deep water pool beneath it. Gumunso is one of the representative tourist attractions in Taebaek City, Gangwon Province, and is geologically very valuable as it provides insight into the formation process of the Korean Peninsula's terrain. Photo by Taebaek City Hall

A Taebaek City official stated, "Taebaek City operates 15 cultural tourism guides to promote major tourist attractions such as the Coal Museum and Gumoonsso, and this year, we have newly trained two additional cultural tourism guides to provide professional and interesting cultural tourism explanations to tourists visiting Taebaek." He added, "We will continue to spare no effort to provide various support so that tourists visiting Taebaek do not experience any inconvenience."

Meanwhile, Gangwon Province holds an annual storytelling competition for cultural tourism guides from 18 cities and counties within the province to enhance the professionalism of cultural tourism explanations and to create opportunities to discover and acquire new storytelling techniques.