Cheongnyeongpo

Cheongnyeongpo is the riverside spot in Yeongwol where the deposed boy-king Danjong was sent into exile. The Seogang River loops around three sides and a steep cliff closes off the fourth, so although it is attached to the mainland you can only get in by boat – "an island that isn't an island". Its pine forest and winding river are beautiful, but the landscape carries the sad story of a teenage king.

History: Danjong's place of exile

After his uncle, King Sejo, took the throne, Danjong was banished here in 1457. About two months later a flood forced him to move to Gwanpungheon in Yeongwol town, where he wrote a poem comparing himself to a mournful scops owl. Eom Heung-do, a local official, is said to have secretly crossed the river to comfort him after hearing him weep; after Danjong's death he defied the threat of punishment to recover and bury the body, at the site now known as Jangneung. In 1726 King Yeongjo erected a no-trespassing stele to keep people out, and in 1763 he raised a stele and pavilion, inscribed in his own hand, on the site of Danjong's lodging. The tile-roofed residence and its thatched annex were restored in 2000, and the site was designated a Scenic Site in 2008.

What to see

• Danjong's residence (Eoso): the restored tiled house and thatched annex, with rooms recreating daily life, plus Yeongjo's stele pavilion.
• Gwaneumsong: a pine thought to be about 600 years old and a Natural Monument. Danjong is said to have sat in the fork of its trunk.
• Eom Heung-do pine: a tree in front of the residence that grows leaning low, as if bowing.
• Manghyangtap: a stone pile Danjong is said to have stacked while longing for his queen, Jeongsun.
• Nosandae: a lookout on the cliff where Danjong reportedly gazed towards the capital.
• Pine forest: the grove covering the site won an award in the 2004 Beautiful Forest contest.

Danjong and Eom Heung-do

After abdicating, Danjong was demoted to the rank of Prince Nosan before being sent here, which is where the name of the Nosandae lookout comes from. After his death, anyone who recovered his body was threatened with the execution of three generations of their family, yet Eom Heung-do gathered the body, buried it in secret, and then left Yeongwol to go into hiding. Standing at Cheongnyeongpo, hemmed in by river and cliff, you understand at once why it was chosen as a place of exile.

Tripto tips

• Boat: after buying a ticket you cross by small boat in little more than a minute. When heavy rain swells the river, the boat may stop running.
• Combine with: Jangneung, Danjong's tomb, is close by and completes the story. Visitor numbers rose sharply in 2026 after the success of the film "The King's Warden" (Korean title: 왕과 사는 남자) about Danjong.
• Practical info: check opening hours and fees with Yeongwol County before you go.
• Follow the story into town: Gwanpungheon, where Danjong moved after the flood and where he died, is in Yeongwol town, so visiting Cheongnyeongpo, Gwanpungheon and Jangneung in that order traces his final journey. The Seogang River bends around the site by about 270 degrees.
• Time needed: about 1 hour for a slow walk around the site.