Major cities in southwestern Gangwon Province are rolling out targeted marketing campaigns to capture a tourism surge driven by the hit film The Man Who Lives With the King (Wang-sa-nam), which dramatizes the life of Danjong, Joseon’s sixth monarch.
As interest in Danjong’s exile sites — Cheongnyeongpo, Jangneung and Gwanpungheon in Yeongwol County — has grown, Pyeongchang has joined Wonju and Taebaek in promoting local ties to the movie and the historical figure.
On the 14th, Yeongwol County said that as of the 12th, Cheongnyeongpo and Jangneung had drawn roughly 120,000 visitors so far this year. The film opened on the 4th of last month and has now attracted more than 12 million viewers. That popularity has translated into a marked increase in visitors to Cheongnyeongpo and Jangneung, sites linked to Danjong’s exile and burial.
On the 12th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety designated restaurants around Gwanpungheon as food-safety certified businesses, and Yeongwol Central Market became the first traditional market in Gangwon to receive a food-safety zone designation. The ministry said it made those decisions after reviewing the rapid rise in visitors to Yeongwol following the film’s success.
As Yeongwol reaps these benefits, neighboring municipalities are sharpening tourism strategies to capture spillover visitors. Taebaek’s 365 Safe Town, a public safety experience center, is running a special promotion titled "Yeongwol’s King Becomes Taebaek’s Guardian," offering free cable car rides and other facility experiences to visitors who present admission tickets or receipts from Yeongwol’s main attractions. The program aims to attract some of the film-driven tourist flow to Taebaek. The city is also highlighting its Danjong stele pavilion.
Wonju is pursuing a similar approach. The city plans to stage a tourism event along the Danjong Exile Trail during the 22nd Wonju Love Walking March, expected Aug. 26–30, under the provisional title "Danjong Exile Trail Trek — Wonju Section."
Pyeongchang has joined the effort by promoting the filming location of the 2005 movie Welcome to Dongmakgol. That site was used for key scenes in The Man Who Lives With the King, including the Noru-gol sequence depicting the scramble for the king’s remains.
City and county officials said the film’s success has increased interest in regional attractions, and they are coordinating improvements to local tourism assets so visitors drawn to Yeongwol will also explore neighboring cities.
