Sea and forest trails meet... Taean holds launch ceremony for ‘Walking Travel Week’

【Taean, South Chungcheong Province = Reporter Jeong Sun-min】 On the afternoon of the 1st, beneath the fairly intense autumn sun, a launch ceremony for the ‘2026 Korea Dulle-gil × East-West Trail Walking Travel Week’ was held in the courtyard of the Taean Marine Healing Center, located by the sea in Nam-myeon, Taean, South Chungcheong Province. Alongside representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), which hosted the event, the Korea Forest Service and Taean County, about 500 walking travelers also gathered to celebrate the start of the festivities.
There was good reason for holding the event in Taean, South Chungcheong Province. Taean is where the Korea Dulle-gil, one of the two main pillars of walking travel in South Korea and run by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KTO, meets and overlaps with the East-West Trail, run by the Korea Forest Service. Route 65 of the Korea Dulle-gil’s Seohaerang Trail, which follows the coastline before entering a pine forest, exactly overlaps with Section 2 of the East-West Trail, which the Korea Forest Service is currently developing.

After the ceremony, participants walked together along the approximately 3-kilometer stretch connecting the Taean Marine Healing Center and Mongsanpo Beach. Starting from the event venue, the route follows a gently curving coastline before soon entering a pine forest. The moment the walk shifts from the sea-facing path to a densely wooded pine trail, the significance of this event, ‘Korea Dulle-gil × East-West Trail,’ comes into sharper focus.
The nearly hour-long walk also made use of the ‘Follow’ feature in Durunubi, a location-based walking travel app jointly developed and operated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KTO. Participants followed the trail for about 4,000 steps, taking in turn the two landscapes offered by Taean’s coast and forest. The walking event followed a route that began at the Taean Marine Healing Center, where the launch ceremony was held, passed through the pine forest and Mongsanpo Observatory near Mongsanpo Beach, and returned to the starting point.

The event did not end with the walk. Afterward, the Taean Marine Healing Center hosted activities including yoga and singing bowl sound therapy. About 120 people who had registered in advance exercised by walking, then took time to rest with yoga focused on breathing and relaxation and the resonant sounds of singing bowls. It was a wellness program combining walking, rest and healing.
The Walking Travel Week is not limited to a one-day event in Taean. KTO has designated the period through the 11th as Walking Travel Week and prepared 40 specialized programs, centered on rest areas along the Korea Dulle-gil nationwide. The programs combine walking and wellness with humanities and ecological experiences, giving people different ways to enjoy the trails in each region.
In Busan, participants can try taping, stretching and post-walk self-recovery activities on the Oryukdo Safe Walking Road, while Ulsan has prepared an experience program at the Haepa-rang Shelter. In Gangneung, Gangwon Province, a program combines train travel with a walk along the Haepa-rang Trail. In Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, participants can walk Sections 61–62 of the Namparang Trail with a cultural tourism guide. Buan, North Jeolla Province, is also offering a program combining a walk on the Seohaerang Trail with outdoor yoga and local experiences.

There are also ongoing programs. Examples include completion badges and a challenge to verify completion of the Haepa-rang Trail in Ulsan’s Dong District; a course-completion mission tour in Gangneung; the Blue Road walking companion program in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province; a Namparang Trail completion program in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province; and ‘Hongseong’s Roads and Paths’ in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province. In Taean, a program also offers souvenirs to those who complete all 11 courses of the Seohaerang Trail and collect stamps.
An event offering an easy way to enjoy walking travel has also drawn attention. From the 3rd to the 5th, and again from the 9th to the 11th, the ‘Walk and Have a Cup of Coffee’ event will give free coffee each day to the first 100 people at designated nearby cafes who complete a designated Korea Dulle-gil course and collect a stamp in the Durunubi app. The aim is to encourage walking travelers to visit local areas and bring vitality to their businesses.
Programs using smartphones have also been prepared. Among them are ‘Find It! KoDul, the Master Detective,’ in which participants identify a route from AI-reimagined scenery along the Korea Dulle-gil, and the GPS-based ‘KoDul Stamp Challenge.’ By adding games and verification features to walking the trails, the programs make it easy for younger generations to take part, too.

The appeal of walking travel is not about rushing past a destination. Rather, the slower you walk, the more scenery you notice and the more people you meet. When I walked in Taean myself, the scenery kept changing even along the short, approximately 3-kilometer route from the sea to the forest. What had looked like a single beach before the walk felt different with each step—the coastline, the pine grove and even the direction of the wind all came into view in new ways.
The value of this kind of ‘slow travel’ is also what KTO is highlighting through Walking Travel Week. Park Jeong-ung, head of KTO’s National Tourism Division, said, “I hoped that bringing the Korea Dulle-gil and East-West Trail together would help people experience the appeal of walking travel in a more familiar way,” adding, “We will develop a range of content so that walking travel can become a new channel for revitalizing regional tourism.”
Meanwhile, ahead of the event, KTO signed a business agreement with eco-friendly footwear brand Le Mouton on the 28th of last month at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul, to promote walking travel in South Korea and expand a sustainable walking culture. Under the agreement, the two sides plan to pursue various collaborations by linking the Korea Dulle-gil with ‘Le Mouton Walking Club,’ a local walking campaign run by Le Mouton.
[email protected] Jeong Sun-min Reporter