Bugaksan’s Final Restricted Trail Opens After Nearly Six Decades

SEOUL — The final restricted section of Bugaksan, the forested mountain behind South Korea’s presidential compound, will open to the public Saturday, completing a phased restoration of access after nearly six decades of security controls.

The new 1.32-kilometer route runs along the mountain’s southwestern slopes toward Cheongun-dong in central Seoul’s Jongno District. It will open at 9 a.m. and remain accessible around the clock, in line with other Bugaksan trails. Four new viewing areas offer vistas of Inwangsan and Namsan, the Cheong Wa Dae grounds, Gyeongbokgung Palace and central Seoul.

The route starts near Dolgorae Shelter, the first rest point on the path from Changuimun toward Bugaksan’s summit. Along the way, hikers pass rocky outcrops and pine groves before reaching Manse Dongbang, a spring beside a rock bearing an inscription wishing the king a long life.

The trail also passes a site tied directly to the mountain’s modern security history. The Jan. 21 Incident Pine still bears bullet marks from a 1968 confrontation between South Korean security forces and North Korean commandos who had approached Cheong Wa Dae in an attempted raid. The episode, also known as the Kim Shin-jo Incident after a captured member of the raiding party, led authorities to impose tight civilian-access restrictions around the mountain.

Bugaksan is one of the four inner mountains surrounding Seoul’s historic Hanyang City Wall, alongside Namsan, Naksan and Inwangsan. Its reopening has proceeded in stages. A 2.2-kilometer northern route opened in 2020, followed by a 3-kilometer southeastern section in 2022. Opening the remaining southwestern stretch completes that process.

Authorities have paired broader access with safety and security measures, including patrols from trail information centers, surveillance cameras and guard systems. Six information centers along the mountain have been operating again since March, providing directions and trail patrols.

Public interest in Bugaksan has grown as access has expanded. Government heritage bodies recorded 66,720 visitors in April and May this year, up 62.6 percent from 41,035 during the same period in 2023. The final opening gives residents and visitors a new walking route while reconnecting a prominent part of Seoul’s landscape with the city around it.