Gyeonggi Province to expand Yeoninsan Provincial Park

Gyeonggi Province plans to expand the area of Yeoninsan Provincial Park and increase amenity facilities for visitors.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government said Thursday that its committee managing provincial parks held a meeting recently to approve the plan.

The plan calls for excluding from the provincial park 329,000 square meters of land, which is being used as farmland, but subject to various restrictions while adding to the park some 570,000 square meters of the province-owned land that is worthy of preservation. As the result, the total area of Yeoninsan Provincial Park will be increased by 246,000 square meters to 37 million square meters. In addition, the plan calls for building new entry roads and convenience facilities for visitors, including public toilets, parking lots and information center, and increasing attractions such as ecological parks and arboretums.

Gyeonggi Province plans to build amusement facilities on public land around the Yongchu Valley and directly take charge of managing Yeoninsan Provincial Park from January 2018. Currently, the province entrusts the park management to the Gyeonggi AgroFood Institute. According to an official at the provincial government, the province will expand parking lots and build new roads before carrying out the rest of the plan in accordance with the budget situation.

Kyung-Hyun Nam bibulus@donga.com