KBS News Plaza videos for the first week of August featured places with refreshing beaches. 🏖️

In particular, Songpa Book Museum is a place I didn't know about before, so I plan to visit there sometime.

Buno-ri Fortress

Address: 1 Dongmak-ri, Hwado-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, Incheon

A fortress is a small-scale observation and defense facility built on the coast or in border areas.

Soldiers stand guard inside the fortress, watching for enemy invasions and any suspicious circumstances, and taking countermeasures.

When an enemy invades, they also defend themselves with weapons stationed inside the fortress.

Buno-ri Fortress is one of the 48 fortresses built in 1679, located next to Dongmak Beach.

The original plan was a square structure, but it became a crescent shape because of the natural terrain used in its construction.

While most fortresses are square or round, Buno-ri Fortress is uniquely shaped like a crescent.

Located at the end of a mountain ridge that protrudes from the back mountain to the coast,

it has a very wide field of vision, with a harbor on either side forming a deep, curved mudflat.

It is an outer fortress with gates installed in four locations, and was so important that it had a separate fortress manager appointed by the government office.

(Source: Korea Tourism Organization)

Songpa Book Museum

Address: 77 Songpa-daero 37-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul

The first public book museum in the country, it conducts academic research related to books and reading culture, as well as book exhibitions,

lectures and educational programs, and preserves cultural assets.

The Eoullim Hall, located in the center of the museum and constructed in a stepped fashion, is a multi-purpose space where anyone can easily read,

and where various events and lectures are held.

It also has a book experience exhibition hall and educational programs for children, making it a great place for families to visit.

There are also spaces for a café and relaxation. (Source: Korea Tourism Organization)

Nami Island Skyline Zipwire

Address: 1024 Bukhangangbyeon-ro, Gapyeong-eup, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do

Nami Island has been consistently hosting various cultural events, concerts, and exhibitions based on the concept of "a fairytale land, an island of song," and is a natural, ecological and cultural space. It is located in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, but to enter Nami Island,

you need to visit the Nami Island ferry terminal located in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do.

There are two ways to get there: by ferry or by zipwire.

<Nami Island Skyline Zipwire>

Operating Hours: 09:00 ~ 18:00

Fee: Family Course ₩49,900 per person, Adventure Course ₩52,900 per person

Includes Nami Island entrance fee and outbound ferry fare

Ferries operate from 7:30 am for the first ferry to 9 pm for the last ferry

Tickets are checked when entering Nami Island by ferry, and there is no separate ticket check when exiting

Dongmak Beach

Address: 1481 Haeannaml-ro, Hwado-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, Incheon

Dongmak Beach, boasting the largest sandbar in Ganghwa, is considered to be one of the world's five great mudflats, making it a great place for

mudflat experiences.

It boasts a pristine natural landscape surrounded by a white sand beach and lush pine forests.

You can enjoy swimming at high tide, and observe various creatures living in the mudflat at low tide.

When the tide recedes, endless mudflats emerge, allowing you to observe various sea creatures such as mud crabs, cockles, rice-patterned snails, and lugworms, making it a popular summer vacation destination for families.

On one side of the beach, there is a coastal promenadecalled "The Path to See the Spoon-billed Sandpiper."

The spoon-billed sandpiper is a globally endangered species designated as a natural monument and is protected, and

its breeding grounds were discovered in Ganghwa mudflats. The Ganghwa mudflat and Spoon-billed Sandpiper breeding groundis designated as a natural monument.

(Source: Korea Tourism Organization)

https://www.ganghwa.go.kr/open_content/tour/tour/tourInfoDetail.do?tour_seq=111&tourdiv=beach_park

Heonhwa-ro

Address: 149-3 Geumjin-ri, Okgye-myeon, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do

Gangneung Heonhwa-ro, running along the coast facing the sea cliffs, is considered to be the best drive course on the East Coast.

It was also featured in the final episode of the tvN drama <Signal> through aerial photography.

It is the road closest to the sea in Korea, extending from Geumjin Beach in Okgye-myeon, Gangneung-si, north to Simgok Port, and then to Jeongdongjin Port.

The Geumjin Beach-Simgok Port section, which opened in 1998, is a coastal road, while the Simgok Port-Jeongdongjin Port section, which was extended in 2001, is an inland road.

The road's name comes from the fact that the scenery here is similar to that of the <Heonhwaga> story recorded in the 《Samguk Yusa》.

During the Silla period, when the Pureunggong was appointed as the governor of Gangneung, he was having lunch on the beach when he saw azalea flowers blooming beautifully on a thousand-foot cliff next to him.

The Pureunggong's wife, the Surobuin, wanted those flowers, but no one dared to pick them.

Then, an old man passing by picked the flowers and presented them to her, singing the <Heonhwaga>.

As you drive from Geumjin Beach towards Simgok Port, you will see the cliff where the azaleas were said to have bloomed on your left, and

the sea stretching out to your right.