The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced Monday that five municipalities in Gangwon Province — Inje, Yangyang-gun, Donghae, Goseong and Gangneung — have been selected for the "2027 Korea Dulle-gil Highlight Section Revitalization" grant program.
The Korea Dulle-gil, overseen by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is a 4,500-kilometer walking trail network that the government and local authorities spent roughly a decade developing. It comprises four routes: the Haeparang Trail from Goseong to Busan along the Gangwon Province east coast, the Namparang Trail from Busan to Haenam, the Namparang Trail from Haenam to Ganghwa, and the DMZ Peace Trail from Ganghwa to Goseong.
Crossing through the interior of this rectangular trail network is the Taebaek-Uljin East-West Trail, a mountain-centered walking route managed by the Korea Forest Service.
The grant program targeted 78 cities and counties across the country bordering the Korea Dulle-gil, with the aim of supporting overnight walking travel programs.
The five municipalities — Gangneung, Goseong, Donghae and Yangyang-gun on the Haeparang Trail, and Inje on the DMZ Peace Trail — each submitted applications featuring locally distinctive content and were chosen as final recipients after document and in-person reviews.
The total project budget for Gangwon Province comes to 1.8 billion won ($1.33 million), split evenly between national and local government funding, and will be directed toward promoting walking tourism along the Korea Dulle-gil.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization plan to conduct consulting sessions with the selected municipalities this month to refine project plans, with final national funding allocations to be confirmed by the end of November. Gangwon Province said it will provide administrative support to ensure the national funds are disbursed to the relevant municipalities without delay in early 2027.
"Thanks to the sincere efforts of our municipalities in preparing overnight walking programs that highlight each area's unique character, we were able to achieve these strong results," said Lee Gyeong-o, director of the tourism development division at Gangwon Province. "We will continue to provide all necessary support to ensure that projects centered on the Korea Dulle-gil are carried out smoothly at the local level."
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