Tourist Dies in Fall Four Months After Nighttime Viewing Resumes; Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls Nighttime Opening Temporarily Suspended

【Financial News, Jeju—Jeong Yong-bok】 Seogwipo City restricted access to the accident area and temporarily suspended nighttime opening after a tourist in his 50s fell into the water at Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls and died while taking photos during regular nighttime viewing hours. The suspension came just over four months after the city resumed nighttime viewing in May following a comprehensive overhaul of its lighting facilities, which cost 840 million won.
According to Seogwipo City, fire authorities and others on the 28th, a report was received at 8:32 p.m. on the 26th that a male tourist in his 50s, identified as A, had fallen into the water while taking photos at Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls in Seogwipo City.
A is believed to have fallen into water about 2 meters deep while taking a photograph with the falls in the background.
Firefighters conducted an underwater search and rescued A from the water about 10 minutes after the report was received. A was transported to a hospital while receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation after suffering cardiac arrest, but died.
Shortly after the accident, nearby tourists also threw lifebuoys provided at the scene into the water, but the effort did not lead to A's rescue. Warning signs about falls, emergency rescue equipment cabinets and lifebuoys were reportedly installed around the accident site.
Police are investigating the exact circumstances of the fall based on closed-circuit television footage from the site and witness statements. They are also considering an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
It has not yet been determined whether A fell from the standard viewing route or entered a separate hazardous area. Police will also need to investigate whether a facility defect or inadequate management contributed to the accident.
Seogwipo City installed safety barriers around the accident site and restricted access to part of the area. Nighttime opening at Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls, which had operated until 10 p.m., will be temporarily suspended through the end of this month. The city plans to consider additional safety measures based on the results of the police investigation.
The accident occurred at 8:32 p.m., during Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls' regular viewing hours. The falls are open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with last admission at 9:20 p.m.
The accident occurred just over four months after Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls completed a large-scale lighting overhaul to promote nighttime tourism. Seogwipo City invested a total of 840 million won this year in a project to upgrade the lighting along the Cheonjiyeon viewing path. It was the first comprehensive overhaul in 42 years, since nighttime viewing was introduced in 1984.
The city replaced all 185 lights across nine types of outdated lighting equipment and upgraded the electrical facilities before resuming nighttime viewing on May 11. At the time, Seogwipo City said the upgrades to the aging electrical facilities had improved safety.
Visitor numbers rose after nighttime viewing resumed. In July, Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls received 77,509 visitors in total, up 9.4% from the same month last year. Nighttime visitors accounted for 12,535 of them, a 32.3% increase from the 9,473 recorded in the same month the previous year.
From August 13 to 17, nighttime visitors totaled 2,181, about 3.5 times the 620 recorded during the same period last year. By the end of July this year, the total number of visitors to Cheonjiyeonpokpo Falls had reached 512,871.
With nighttime visits on the rise and a fatal accident occurring during regular operating hours, a review of the nighttime viewing environment has become unavoidable, regardless of the cause of the accident.
Seogwipo City plans to consider follow-up measures, including reinforcing safety facilities at the site and deciding whether to resume nighttime opening, once police complete their investigation into the cause of the accident.


[email protected] Jeong Yong-bok Reporter