2 Billion Won Spent, Yet It’s a White Elephant: What Happened to Ulsan Bridge?

[Anchor]

Back in March, a World Food Culture Center, where visitors could taste dishes from around the globe, opened with high expectations at Ulsan Bridge. However, four months after its opening, it is being shunned by the public.

UBC reporter Bae Dae-won has the story.

[Reporter]

The World Food Culture Center opened at Ulsan Bridge this past March.

Even during lunchtime, there are almost no customers to be found.

Some restaurants have their doors locked, with no owners in sight.

With the sweltering heat these days, some restaurant owners have given up on operating during the day altogether.

Even the restaurants that are open are just as empty; one restaurant barely managed to serve a single customer by the time the lunch hour ended.

The building's structure, which remains hot even with the air conditioning on, the distance to the restrooms, and a lack of attractions are cited as reasons why visitors have stopped coming.

[Restaurant Owner: (In the past) when they made the outside look nice, people would come and hang out, but now there is nothing. I can't even cover labor costs. (You can't even cover labor costs?) No, I can't.]

While 2 billion won was spent on constructing the facility and a total budget of 600 million won has been allocated for this year, the results over the past four months have been dismal.

The average daily revenue of the Uzbekistan restaurant, operated directly by the Ulsan Facilities Management Corporation, fell from the 80,000 won range in March to the 60,000 won range the following month.

Although it saw a rebound in May thanks to street performances, it plummeted back to the 50,000 won range last month.

Furthermore, the average daily number of orders at other restaurants has also been on a downward trend for the three months since March.

The Ulsan city government and the corporation plan to revitalize the area through various programs, such as linking it with festivals.

Ulsan Bridge has attempted several transformations, including the Bridge of Delivery, the Bridge of Youth, and the installation of landscape lighting.

This time, it reopened with a focus on world food experiences, but it is turning into a white elephant in the middle of the city.

(Video by Ahn Jae-young, UBC | Graphics by Koo Jung-eun, UBC)

Reported by Bae Dae-won, UBC
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.