Ganjeolgot Cape

On Ulsan's southern shore a headland points out into the East Sea. Ganjeolgot is known as one of the first places on the Korean mainland to see the sunrise, and every 1 January it draws huge crowds. The rest of the year it is a seaside park with a white lighthouse, a giant red postbox and grassy slopes above the rocks.

The name and the sunrise

"Ganjeol" comes from ganjitdae, the long bamboo pole used to pick fruit: seen from far out at sea, the cape looks like one. In the early Joseon period it was also called Igil-got, after a beacon station that stood here.

Sunrise at Ganjeolgot is said to come one minute earlier than at Homigot in Pohang and five minutes earlier than at Jeongdongjin in Gangneung. It became widely known when the national observatory and the millennium committee named it the first place on the peninsula to see the new millennium's sun, which rose here at 7:31:26 a.m. on 1 January 2000. Strictly speaking, Dokdo sees the sun first in Korea, and Ganjeolgot is not the easternmost point of the mainland.

What to see

• Ganjeolgot Lighthouse: first lit on 26 March 1920; a new 17-metre tower was built in 2001, a white octagonal body topped with a copper-tiled roof. The lantern section of the old lighthouse has been set on the ground so you can see it up close.
• The Wish Postbox: at 5 metres high and 2.4 metres wide it is the largest postbox in Korea. Built in 2006 to resemble a 1970s postbox, it is in real service: postcards dropped in are delivered anywhere in the country.
• Millennium monument and mother-and-daughter statue: a marker stone from 2000 and a statue honouring the wife and daughter of the loyal Silla official Bak Je-sang stand on the slope.
• Windmills and lawns: windmills, broad lawns and a strip of pine trees make for an easy stroll. The shore is mostly flat rock rather than cliffs.

Ganjeolgot Sowang-gil

The coastal path through the cape is called Ganjeolgot Sowang-gil, the "wish trail". It runs about 10 km from the north end of Myeongseon Bridge in Jinha to Sinam port and is divided into five themed sections. Jinha Beach, the Seosaengpo Japanese fortress and the Nasa beacon station are all nearby.

Good to know

• A local saying, "Ganjeol-ukjo-jo-bando", holds that morning only comes to the peninsula once the sun has risen at Ganjeolgot.
• Warm and cold currents meet off the cape; the sea is coldest in April and warmest in August.
• In front of the lighthouse, the "Lighthouse of Love" sculpture plays a proposal song when a couple stands on its hearts.
• In 2016, when the location-based game Pokémon Go launched in Japan first, the Ganjeolgot area happened to fall inside the playable zone, and players flocked here to try it early.

Tripto tips

• Visiting: the park is open at all times, every day, with free entry and free parking. There are toilets.
• Send a postcard: the local produce shop Ganjeolgot Haeolje hands out free postcards to post in the giant box.
• Sunrise festival: held every year from 31 December until sunrise on 1 January. More than 100,000 people come, so roads and car parks jam badly; set off early and dress warmly.
• Time needed: about an hour for the lighthouse, postbox and lawns; allow half a day if you walk part of the Sowang-gil.
• Combine with: Daewangam Park, about 16 km north, for a full day on the Ulsan coast.