Selection of Maldo Lighthouse in Gunsan-si in the first public contest for the Lighthouse Marine Culture Space development project


The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister Chun Jae-soo) announced that it selected Maldo Lighthouse submitted by Jeonbuk State and Gunsan City as the first site for the Lighthouse Marine Culture Space* creation project.


* A cultural facility space utilizing lighthouses and auxiliary facilities to promote marine culture, arts, experience, and education


The Lighthouse Marine Cultural Space development project aims to expand the lighthouse culture by turning lighthouses located in areas with excellent scenery into cultural facilities and utilizing them as marine tourism content in cooperation with local governments. The first contest was held in April, following the enforcement of the Act on the Conservation and Utilization of Lighthouse Heritage in January.


The selected lighthouse was the first lighthouse installed in the Jeonbuk region in 1909, illuminating the sea for 116 years to ensure the safe navigation of fishing boats operating on the west coast and ships traveling to and from China.


The project scope includes ▲installation of an observatory to view the scenery around the lighthouse, ▲creation of an exhibition and experience space utilizing idle space in the lighthouse, and ▲improvement of access road leading to the lighthouse by investing KRW 4 billion (KRW 1.2 billion from the national budget and KRW 2.8 billion from the local budget) to transform Maldo Lighthouse into a marine cultural space.


MOF plans to designate and announce Maldo Lighthouse as a new Lighthouse Marine Culture Space, with the development project to be executed by Jeonbuk State and Gunsan City and completed by 2027.


“We expect Maldo Lighthouse—which was first selected through a local government public contest project—to play a major role in revitalizing local culture and marine tourism, and we will continue to create marine cultural spaces utilizing lighthouses in the future,” Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Seong-beom said.