Some foreign tourists, influenced by the popular Korean drama series “Descendants of the Sun,” are visiting a former US military base used as a location for the series.
According to the Donga Ilbo, a local newspaper, Camp Greaves, near the demilitarized zone, is attracting foreign tourists with its “Descendants of the Sun Program.”
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(Gyeonggi Tourism Organization) |
The US military was stationed at the camp until August 2004. After the relocation, Gyeonggi Province and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization cooperated to remodel the base as a youth hostel in December 2013.
The authorities arranged a “Descendants of the Sun Program” last year, based on the success of the Korean drama series, featuring Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki.
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(KBS) |
The participants of the program get to try on the military uniforms and take pictures at the production site. The theme song of the drama, “You Are My Everything,” is played in Korean and Chinese at the set. The tourism program is to end this year.
Around 1,400 tourists participate in the program every month. Among them, 95 percent are from Malaysia, Taiwan and China.
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(Gyeonggi Tourism Organization) |
The authorities have plans to change the camp into a historic park and also to install a gondola that connects the camp and the nearby Imjingak Pyeonghwa-Nuri Park. Also a restaurant that looks over the Imjin River, which runs across the border between North and South Korea, is to be situated at the park.
By Im Eun-byel (
silverstar@heraldcorp.com)
