"Pohang-Yeongdeok Expressway Opens, Ushering in a New Era for the East Coast Metropolitan Economic Zone"

Revitalizing Tourism and Enhancing Logistics Efficiency
Anticipation for Regional Economic Growth

With the opening of the Pohang-Yeongdeok Expressway on November 7, the travel time from Pohang City to Yeongdeok County is expected to be reduced by 23 minutes.

Pohang-Yeongdeok Expressway.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Pohang-Yeongdeok section is a four-lane, two-way expressway stretching 30.9 kilometers (18.3 kilometers in Pohang and 12.6 kilometers in Yeongdeok). Construction began in 2016, with a total investment of 1.6115 trillion won.

The section includes one Yeongdeok Junction, three interchanges-Yeongilman, North Pohang, and South Yeongdeok-two rest areas in Pohang and Yeongdeok, and four drowsy driving rest stops. Major structures such as 37 bridges (6.43 kilometers in total) and 14 tunnels (9.89 kilometers in total) have also been constructed.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designed the Pohang Rest Area with a ship motif and the Yeongdeok Rest Area with the motif of Yeongdeok snow crabs, a local specialty, to highlight the region's unique characteristics. Additionally, Korea's first in-tunnel GPS system was piloted to further enhance driver convenience.

Pohang City held an opening ceremony for the Pohang-Yeongdeok Expressway on the 7th at the Pohang Rest Area (Pohang direction). Photo by Pohang City

With the opening of this expressway, the travel time between Yeongdeok County and Pohang City, which previously took 42 minutes, will be reduced to 19 minutes. Improved accessibility from major cities in the Yeongnam region, such as Daegu and Busan, is expected to serve as a major turning point for the development of the East Coast's metropolitan economic zone.

In particular, as Yeongdeok County finally secures the long-awaited transportation infrastructure, it anticipates not only industrial and logistics growth in tandem with nearby metropolitan areas but also an increase in tourist numbers, which already rank among the top ten nationwide.

Yeongdeok County views this expressway opening as an opportunity to shift the focus from simple tourist inflow to high value-added "stay-type tourism," and is prioritizing efforts to enhance the quality of tourism.

To this end, in addition to existing attractions such as the Blue Road trekking route, the Jangsa Landing Operation Victory Memorial Hall, Munsanho, Byeolparang Park, the Wood Experience Center, and the zipline, the county plans to fully launch new tourism infrastructure within the year, including the Sangdaesan Gwaneodae Monorail, Jukdosan Observatory, Pottery Culture Experience Center, and the Wellness Nature Healing Center.

Based on these efforts, Yeongdeok County plans to actively promote long-stay tourism content such as wellness healing tourism and nighttime tourism programs, focusing its resources on developing "stay-type tourism" targeting major metropolitan cities in the Yeongnam region.

County Governor Kim Kwangyeol stated, "We aim to become the tourism hub of northern Gyeongsangbuk-do by closely linking the metropolitan transportation network with local roads so that people and tourism can be organically connected," adding, "By expanding transportation infrastructure, we will simultaneously improve residents' convenience and revitalize the local economy."

Yeongdeok County is further upgrading regional transportation convenience by establishing a road network and transportation system that connects the newly opened expressway with the Donghae Line railway, which began operation earlier this year.

Currently, the county is also pursuing major arterial road expansion projects that connect the inland and the coast, such as improving the Andong-Yeongdeok section of National Route 34, constructing the Ganggu Bridge on Local Route 20, building the Ganggu-Chuksan road, and the Dalsan-Jukjang road on Local Route 69.

As a result, Yeongdeok County is emerging as a new transportation hub on the East Coast, with the Sangju-Yeongdeok Expressway connecting the East Coast and inland Gyeongsangbuk-do, the Pohang-Yeongdeok Expressway linking the East Coast with major cities in the Yeongnam region, and the Donghae Line railway connecting the Pan-East Sea region-all converging in one place.