At the Edge of Land, the Sea Begins: Walking the 4,500 km Korea Trail
Creatrip Team
a month ago
The newly connected 4,500 km “Korea Dulle-gil” links coastal trails around the peninsula — Haeparang (East Sea), Nampalang (South Sea), Seohaerang (West Sea) and the DMZ Peace Trail — offering a continuous long-distance walk that traces nature, history and local life. The route through South Jeolla (Jeollanam) highlights quiet forest paths around Mandeoksan in Gangjin where scholar Jeong Yak-yong (Daesan) once walked to meet the monk Choeui; the rugged Dalmasan ridge and the cliffside hermitage Dosolam in Haenam that open onto the calm archipelago (Dadohae); and the ‘ttangkkeut’ (land’s end) tower where the sunny south coast trail hands off to the West Sea route. Further along, the West Sea’s tidal flats and peaceful beaches such as OsiAno (Oceano) provide gentle coastal stretches and dramatic sunsets. The journey finishes in Mokpo, where century-old port-side alleys, red-brick colonial buildings and preserved Japanese-style houses meet the energy of young locals repurposing old homes into cafes, galleries and guesthouses — a living mix of wounded history and creative revival. This trail is as much about landscapes as the human stories embedded along the way.
