South Korea's hiking trails are experiencing a surge in international visitors, driven by K-pop culture, local cuisine, and easily accessible mountain peaks in major cities. The transformation has shifted these trails from destinations primarily frequented by older Korean locals to attractive spots for young international travelers seeking authentic cultural experiences.
Lari, a 20-year-old visitor from France, exemplifies this new trend after hiking Gwanaksan in southern Seoul during her first trip to Korea in June. She was inspired by a YouTube video featuring K-pop singer Boo Seung-kwan of the group Seventeen at the mountain's summit. "I really liked the views throughout the trail, even though I was a bit scared at the very top. The few people I met were nice, and someone even helped me find the right way at one point," Lari explained.
The numbers tell a compelling story of this growing interest. According to the Seoul Tourism Hiking Center near Bukhansan National Park, foreign visitor numbers reached 7,944 as of Tuesday. This represents more than a four-fold increase from the 1,753 visitors recorded in 2022 and more than double the 3,237 who visited last year. Across Seoul's three tourism hiking centers located at Bukhansan, Gwanaksan, and Bugaksan, foreign visitors have comprised 25 percent of approximately 150,000 total users since 2022.
Jeong Ran-su, director of the Future Tourism Strategy Institute, highlighted the unique appeal of Seoul's mountains. "It is not very common for the center of a capital city to have mountains this high, where visitors can enjoy panoramic views of both natural and urban scenery at once," he noted. The accessibility factor proves crucial, as visitors can reach these mountains within about an hour from the city center using public transportation.
Several factors contribute to the mountains' growing popularity among international visitors. The possibility of same-day trips, the variety of trails offering different difficulty levels, and the sense of safety provided by steady foot traffic all serve as major attractions. The hiking boom extends beyond Seoul as well, with improved intercity transportation and mobile-based ride-hailing services allowing travelers to reach trailheads just a few hours from the capital.
National park statistics demonstrate this expanding reach. Last year, Seoraksan in Gangwon Province welcomed approximately 203,000 international visitors, while Hallasan in Jeju Island saw about 130,000. Together, these numbers exceeded the total of 166,000 visitors recorded across all of Korea's national parks in 2022. Gateway cities to Jirisan National Park also experienced significant growth, with Hadong in South Gyeongsang Province and Namwon in North Jeolla Province seeing international visitor increases of 73 percent and 62.6 percent respectively from January to October this year compared to the same period in 2023.
The hiking trend aligns with evolving travel preferences as visitors seek experiences rooted in local life rather than traditional landmark sightseeing. Social media frequently features photos of international visitors enjoying gimbap at mountain summits, while online communities showcase posts from hikers seeking companions to share traditional post-trek meals. These typically include baeksuk (Korean chicken soup), acorn jelly, or scallion pancakes with makgeolli, dishes long popular among Korean hikers and sold at restaurant clusters near trailheads.
K-pop fan pilgrimages have emerged as a particularly strong motivator for hiking in Korea. Trails and valleys frequently appear in daily-life posts and variety shows featuring popular idols, inspiring fans to follow in their footsteps. Fans often photograph photocards or dolls representing their favorite idols at locations the stars have visited, sharing these images with fellow enthusiasts.
Melanie Hingpit from the Philippines, a Stray Kids fan, exemplifies this phenomenon after hiking Bukhansan during her second Korea visit in October. She encountered three other Stray Kids fans carrying stuffed dolls representing band member characters. The mountain features a stream in a valley where the group filmed a YouTube show while eating baeksuk. "I kept searching for the exact filming location but couldn't find it, so I ended up climbing all the way to the summit of Bukhansan instead," Hingpit said. "It's my own way of connecting my love for the mountains with my love for Stray Kids."
Bukhansan also attracts BTS fans, as group members have shared hiking moments there. A forest named after BTS member Suga, created by fans to celebrate his birthday in 2023, has become another attraction for mountain visitors.
Local governments are promoting hiking tourism, though these efforts remain in early stages with challenges in meeting current demand and generating broader interest. Seoul officially launched a new hiking tourism center on Gwanaksan in April, bringing the city's total to three centers. These facilities provide trail information in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese, organize group tours for domestic and international visitors, and lend hiking gear to foreign hikers.
However, foreign-language guidance along trails remains insufficient. Lari noted that while she researched her hike beforehand for safety reasons and didn't struggle much with signage, some areas lacked clear direction. "At one crossroads, though, I felt a bit unsure if the path I was going to was the one I wanted to go to. Some parts were with no signage, so I could feel unsure if it was ok to be there," she explained.
Observations on Tuesday revealed that some sections of Inwangsan trails in central Seoul, popular with international visitors due to their city center proximity, were blocked with ropes and lacked clear guidance, making it difficult for hikers to navigate back to the city.
Experts emphasize the need for long-term strategies to establish hiking as stable tourism. The lack of government-level promotion keeps hiking tourism confined to specific target groups. Jeong suggested that "adding themes to each mountain and creating challenge-type competitions could help boost interest in Korean mountains, such as offering souvenirs for reaching summits, which are not always easy to hike." He added that such efforts should receive systematic promotion by the Korea Tourism Organization and overseas missions to inform potential visitors about these experiences before their arrival.
