[Anchor]

Wolmyeong Mountain, located in the old downtown area of Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, is a representative urban park of the city. The Gunsan City government has thrown its hat into the ring to make it South Korea's first national urban park.

Reporter Kim Jin-hyung from JTV.

[Reporter]

A mountain ridge stretches long from east to west along the Gunsan Port.

Reaching the 148-meter-above-sea-level peak offers a panoramic view of not only the old downtown, which preserves modern cultural history, but also the Geumgang River and the West Sea.

Wolmyeong Park, where four mountains and a lake harmonize, is loved as a signature resting space for citizens.

The Gunsan City government is bidding for Wolmyeong Park to be designated as the country's first national urban park promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The national urban park system was introduced in 2016.

However, because the designation requirements were strict—such as requiring the park area to exceed 3 million square meters—not a single place has been selected so far.

Yet, as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport relaxed the designation criteria to 1 million square meters or more last year, Wolmyeong Park, which spans 2.32 million square meters, became eligible to apply.

The Gunsan City government launched a service project to establish a master plan for the national urban park last year.

Having secured 73% of the total site, Gunsan plans to purchase all the remaining land by October this year.

Wolmyeong Park is evaluated as having strong competitiveness, as it is adjacent to Gunsan's modern cultural heritage and harmonizes a 12-kilometer walking trail, forest healing spaces, and marine ecological resources.

[Gunsan City Official: It seems they will look comprehensively, requiring history, cultural heritage, and good facilities within the park.]

If designated as a national urban park, the park will receive government subsidies for systematic management, and effects such as an expansion of tourist inflows and revitalization of the local economy are also expected.

Because of this, around 10 local governments nationwide, including Busan, Daegu, and Incheon, are engaged in fierce competition.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to select South Korea's No. 1 national urban park as early as the first half of next year.

How persuasively Wolmyeong Park presents its historical and cultural potential is expected to determine the success or failure of its selection.

(Video Footage by Kwon Man-taek / JTV)

Kim Jin-hyung from JTV