‘Video Album Mountain’ A Scenic Journey··· The Gogunsan Archipelago of Gunsan, Islands Embracing the Sea

KBS2 ‘Video Album Mountain’

At 6:55 a.m. on the 12th, episode 1035 of KBS2 ‘Video Album Mountain’, ‘A Scenic Journey-Islands Embracing the Sea···Gunsan Gogunsan Archipelago’, will air.

Gunsan is a city where the sea and a river meet to paint a single landscape. The Gogunsan Archipelago, lying off the coast of Gunsan, has long been famed for scenery as if Mount Geumgang were submerged in the sea.

Here, where large and small islands blend into a grand spectacle, you can watch the West Sea sunset and stroll between islands as if wandering through a painting. To the mysterious islands of the Gogunsan Archipelago, where clear blue waters and rocky spires together create a landscape fit for immortals, ocarina performer Kim Jun-woo sets out on a journey.

Before heading to the Gogunsan Archipelago, he turns his steps into downtown Gunsan. The city of Gunsan, the setting of the novel 『Turbid Stream』, has long served as a hub of logistics distribution and an international port thanks to its geography touching the West Sea to the west. As a result, during the Japanese colonial period, European-style buildings rose around Gunsan’s inner port.

KBS2 ‘Video Album Mountain’

Today, Gunsan is reinventing itself as a new tourist destination by creating a Modernization Street that preserves traces of this modern history. Beyond Modernization Street, Eunpa Lake Park opens up, with a winding path that follows the lake’s edge.

A path for walking while savoring the atmosphere of Gunsan, a city of water. Along the promenade, plum buds open one by one, making it clear that the long winter has passed and a warm season is arriving.

Feeling a greater sense of freedom in Gunsan as he faces the endless sea, Kim Jun-woo heads toward the Gogunsan Archipelago, passing the Saemangeum Seawall. Where islands cluster to form a garden upon the sea, the scenery befits the name ‘Gunsan’, derived from the meaning that ‘islands gather like mountains’.

Following the blue swells of the West Sea past Sinsi-do and Munyeo-do to reach Jangja-do, he steps onto the Gubul-gil that links the islands of the Gogunsan Archipelago. True to its name, the Gubul-gil, laid out throughout Gunsan, lets walkers follow meandering old paths and fully take in the nature and culture held within them. As he explores every corner of the small island of Jangja-do, the vigor of spring and the vastness of the West Sea make body and mind feel sturdier.

KBS2 ‘Video Album Mountain’

Passing Jangja-do, where the blue sea and a tranquil fishing village harmonize, he begins the hike up Daejangbong on Daejang-do. Along the quiet forest path, spring flowers appear one by one, and fresh green leaves begin to sprout under the warm sunlight.

After passing the sanjago, a wildflower that heralds spring, he climbs with the sea at his back. Though only 142 meters above sea level, the mountain has steeper-than-expected sections that leave him short of breath. Step by step he finally reaches the summit, where the Gogunsan Archipelago, including Seonyu-do and Gwallye-do, spreads out at a glance. Before a view rarely encountered on any mountain, he feels almost like an immortal.

Descending from Daejangbong, he heads to Seonyu-do, situated at the heart of the Gogunsan Archipelago. Once an important waypoint for maritime trade and a strategic military point, Seonyu-do holds vast beaches that stretch between islands.

A road that feels like walking inside a painting. Next he goes to Bieung-do, named for its resemblance to a hawk in flight. The Bieung Mapaji-gil, running between pine forest and sea, is a path where the crash of breaking waves sounds right at your side. Relishing vistas that never grow tiresome no matter how long he walks, he enjoys leisure and romance. Amid the dazzling landscapes unique to the islands of Korea’s West Sea, Kim Jun-woo steadily fills his own happiness.