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Gwangju City News Reprinted with permission from Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall
Jeonil Building 245 Becomes “Hidden Tourist Destination”
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
November 2020
MONTHLY NEWS
J
eonil Building 245 was selected as a “hidden tourist attraction” for the fall season recommended by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization. Since 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization have been promoting the “hidden tourist destination” project to introduce new and seasonally (quarterly) tourist destinations that are open only for a limited period of time. This fall season’s “hidden tourist destinations” received 2209 online applications in July alone, and seven tourist destinations nationwide were carefully selected by a committee composed of tourism experts such as travel writers and journalists. Jeonil Building 245 was reborn as a space for the future that preserves the past and stories from the May 18 Democratization Movement. The selection committee evaluated it as a place worth visiting, with the life and history of Gwangju that goes beyond the bullet impact craters that are believed to have been caused by helicopter fire during the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980, and selected it as the only hidden tourist destination to be selected in the in Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk area. Jeonil Building 245 is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the summer and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the winter. Among its attractions are “19800518,” a May 18 memorial space built around the original place where the bullets were shot from the helicopter during the May 18 uprising; the “Namdo Tourist Center,” where tourist information on Gwangju and nearby locations can be obtained; and the “Digital Information Library,” where DVDs and videos can be enjoyed through laptops and tablets, available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tours with explanations are available for the entire building or personalized for each area (19800518, Namdo
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Tourism Center, etc.). Regular tours are offered five times a day for groups of at least 10 people. However, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the number of tourists per tour is limited to 20. Kim Jun-young, head of the city’s Cultural Tourism and Sports Department, said, “Jeonil Building 245, which contains a May 18 memorial space of the painful history in Gwangju, won the grand prize at the Korea Spatial Culture Awards and was selected as a hidden tourist destination by the Korea Tourism Organization. We will make more efforts to develop Jeonil Building 245 as a cultural and tourism resource representing Gwangju.” After 52 months of remodeling, Jeonil Building 245 was opened on May 11 after being transformed into a multicultural complex called “Citizens Plaza” (basement to 4th floor); Gwangju Contents Hub (5th to 7th floor); and May 18 Memorial Space (19800518), and Jeonil Maru and Chimney Garden (8th floor & rooftop), which are observation and rest spaces.
10/28/2020 10:49:00 AM
