Ulsan Culture Street

In the 1970s and 80s, when Ulsan was known as Korea's industrial capital, the Seongnam-dong area of Jung-gu was the busy heart of the city. After commerce moved to newer districts, galleries, small theatres and workshops moved into its streets, creating the Ulsan Culture Street, about 1 km long. At weekends art fairs and buskers take over the street, and sculptures telling stories of old Ulsan hide in the side lanes.

Art filling the old town

The street runs past the Ulsan Dongheon (the old county office), the site of the former guesthouse for officials and the Ulsan Art Museum, lined with galleries, small theatres, cafés and restaurants. Local artists create, exhibit and sell their work here, so you can wander between small shows that feel very different from a big museum. Every weekend brings art fairs, busking, street exhibitions and concerts, where residents and artists meet on the street.

The Ulsan Art Museum, opened in January 2022, stands right next to the Dongheon. It was the first public art museum in Korea with a dedicated hall for immersive media art, and it fits easily into a walk along the street.

Things to look for

• Ulsan Keunaegi: the character you see all along the street represents a fair-skinned, kind-hearted young woman of Jung-gu. The name comes from singer Kim Sang-hee's 1969 song "Ulsan Keunaegi".
• Traces of tearoom culture: Seongnam-dong once had many dabang (old-style tearooms) that doubled as exhibition spaces and meeting places for writers. A sculpture of a man offering a cup of coffee recalls that era.
• The clock tower: the landmark of the old town, built on the site of the colonial-era Seongnam Station. On the hour a model train circles the top of the tower.
• Narrow old lanes: small shops and murals hide in the alleys that branch off the main street.

The Ulsan Keunaegi Story Trail

The street is the starting point of the Ulsan Keunaegi Story Trail around the old town. It has three sections: the 2.5 km Keunaegi Trail from the Culture Street to the Jungang-dong community centre, the 1.6 km Memory Trail through Ttokttak-gil and Cheongchun Gobosu-gil to the clock tower, and the roughly 800 m Fortress Trail around the site of Ulsan's old town walls. Walking all three takes about 2 hours. The Ulsan Keunaegi House tourist information centre is a convenient place to start.

On the Memory Trail, Ttokttak-gil is a narrow lane named after the tick of a clock. After the 1990s hardly anyone walked it and it was considered unsafe, but flower pots and murals have brought people back. The roughly 150 m Cheongchun Gobosu-gil that follows honours singer Ko Bok-su (1911–1972), best known for the song "Tahyang Sari" (Life Away from Home).

Tripto tips

• Time needed: 1–2 hours for the street and a few galleries; half a day with the Ulsan Art Museum.
• When to go: weekend afternoons, when the street events are on, are the liveliest. Weekdays are better for quiet gallery visits.
• Fees: the street is free to walk; galleries and performances set their own hours and prices.
• Getting there: the street is in the old town of Seongnam-dong, Jung-gu, reachable by Ulsan city buses heading for Seongnam-dong. From Taehwagang Station on the Donghae Line it is about 3.5 km as the crow flies, so a taxi is easiest.
• Nearby: eat at Ulsan Jungang Market right next door, then walk through the Youth Street down to the Taehwagang River and on to Taehwagang National Garden.