Catch New Year’s sun on east coast

By Yun Suh-young

People heading to the east coast will be able to catch the first sunrise of the Year of the Dragon.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Friday the weather will be mostly cloudy nationwide during the weekend.

“Move east or south if you want to see the sunrise,” said an official from the weather agency.

“It will be difficult to see the sun in the northern or western parts of the peninsula. Anywhere near the East Sea or far South like Busan will be better to see the sunrise.”

Many people are already heading to the east coast to greet the New Year and make a wish as the sun rises on Sunday morning. Light snow is expected during the early morning hours of the first day of 2012 in some western and northern regions but clear skies will replace the snow later in the day.

The sunrise on Jan. 1 will be difficult to watch in Seoul, and Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungcheong, and Cheolla provinces due to cloudy conditions.

Preferable places are mostly regions located to the east of the Taebaek mountain range. Eastern and southeastern cities of Gangneung, Andong, Daegu, Changwon, Busan, and Ulsan are some of the areas forecast to have largely clear skies.

Located in the far south of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island is not exempt.

“Even in Jeju, you will need to move east to see the sunrise properly. My suggestion is, wherever you go, just go east,” said the official.

The sunset on New Year’s Eve, however, will be visible between layers of cloud on most parts of the peninsula, he said.

The hours of sunrise are 7:47 a.m. for Seoul, 7:32 a.m. for Busan, and 7:37 a.m. for Jeju on New Year’s Day. The sunset hours are 17:23 p.m. in Seoul, 17:21 p.m. in Busan, and 17:36 p.m. in Jeju.