Home > National > Social Affairs

Crowds throng east coast towns to welcome the first sunrise of 2026

Published: 01 Jan. 2026, 14:27 Updated: 01 Jan. 2026, 14:45

Tourists watch the first sunrise of the Year of the Red Horse rise over Hapyeong Beach in Sacheon-myeon, Gangneung, Gangwon, on Jan. 1. [PARK JIN-HO]

At around 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, the first day of the new year, Hapyeong Beach in Sacheon-myeon, Gangneung, Gangwon, began to fill with people as sunrise approached.

One by one, tourists gathered along the shore. When the first sun of the Year of the Red Horse rose above clouds touching the horizon at 7:51 a.m., cheers of “It’s coming up!” rang out from all directions.

An estimated several hundred people flocked to Hapyeong Beach that morning. “I’m up for a promotion this year, and my sibling is preparing to find a job, so we left home at 2 a.m. and drove five hours to get to Gangneung,” said Lee Jae-young, who came with his younger sibling to watch the sunrise. “I hope everyone in my family stays healthy and that this year is filled with good things.”

“I wished for more small moments of happiness in the new year,” said Kim Jin-hee, who traveled from Incheon. “I hope our family continues to love one another and stay happy.”

“I hope everyone in my family stays healthy, and that I can be in the same class as the friends I want when the new school year starts,” said Park Ji-woo, who came to watch the sunrise with family members.

The night before, at around 8 p.m. Wednesday — the final day of 2025 — crowds gathered at Gyeongpo Beach in Gangneung to take part in year-end celebrations. At a temporary stage set up in the central plaza, visitors wrote wish cards while local singers performed busking shows. Fireworks lit up the sky following a countdown marking the arrival of the new year at midnight.

“We came to Gangneung to see the first sunrise together as a family for the first time since our children were born,” said Jung Heon-young, who attended the event with his wife, Sung Hyun-jung. “We hope our children meet good teachers and that everyone in the family stays healthy this year.”

More than 40,000 sunrise visitors gather at Sokcho Beach on the morning of Jan. 1, the first day of the Year of the Red Horse, to watch the sun rise above the horizon. [SOKCHO CITY GOVERNMENT]

“I wish hope fills the country in the new year and that my 94-year-old mother back home stays healthy,” said Park Gi-dong, who traveled from Icheon, Gyeonggi. “My wife and I are traveling around the country in a camper van, and we want to continue traveling happily and in good health this year as well.”

A ceremonial turning of the giant hourglass took place on Wednesday night in Jeongdongjin. The hourglass, measuring 8.06 meters (26.4 feet) in diameter and weighing 40 metric tons, takes exactly one year for all the sand to fall. It is flipped at midnight on the final day of the year.

The number of people who visited the city to greet the first sunrise of the year was estimated at around 303,000 — a 19 percent increase compared to 2025, according to Gangneung City.

Sokcho City also held a New Year’s celebration on Wednesday evening. Visitors took part in hands-on activities such as caricature drawing and writing wishes and family mottos, while musical gala performances and busking shows were staged. About 40,000 people gathered at Sokcho Beach on Thursday morning to watch the sunrise.

In Donghae City, a ritual praying for peace and well-being in the new year took place near Chuam Chotdaebawi, a rock formation famously featured in the opening of the national anthem. In Samcheok, a countdown event took place on a deck stage at Samcheok Beach, featuring quizzes, special events, a congratulatory performance by singer Tei and a countdown performance.

Tourists take part in a wish card?writing event at Gyeongpo Beach in Gangneung at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2025. [PARK JIN-HO]

To accommodate sunrise visitors, the Donghae Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries advanced the opening hours of lighthouses in Mukho, Jumunjin and Sokcho from 9 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Thursday.

Ahead of the holiday, the government implemented preventive measures to address large crowds. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety designated the period through Sunday as a “year-end and New Year crowd management special response period” and issued a “concern” level crisis alert. In Gangwon, Gyeongpodae in Gangneung was designated a priority management site, as the number of people there was expected to temporarily exceed 20,000 at peak times.

Police also launched special security operations through Sunday in anticipation of increased demand. Gangwon Police Agency strengthened traffic control and cracked down on behavior that causes accidents around sunset and sunrise event sites.

Travel time from Yangyang to Seoul on Thursday afternoon was expected to take about five hours and 20 minutes, while the drive from Gangneung to Seoul was forecast to take around six hours, according to the Gangwon headquarters of the Korea Expressway Corporation.

“Drivers should inspect their vehicles before departure and take sufficient breaks while driving,” said an official from the Korea Expressway Corporation. “In the event of a traffic accident, drivers should move to a safe location off the road or shoulder and contact the expressway call center or their insurance company to prevent secondary accidents.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK JIN-HO [[email protected]]