Rural Korean town goes from ridicule to riches as gold prices skyrocket
The golden bat statue made of 162 kilograms of 24-karat gold is displayed in Hampyeong County, South Jeolla Province, April 19, 2023. Yonhap
In rural Hampyeong County, South Jeolla Province, stands a giant bat statue made of 24-karat gold.
When it was completed in 2008, the statue came under fire for allegedly wasting taxpayer money. Nearly two decades later, rising gold prices have shifted the narrative, with the statue’s value now estimated at roughly 14 times its original production cost.
According to the Korea Gold Exchange, the price of pure gold stood at a record 1,034,000 won ($714) per 3.75 grams as of Tuesday.
The figure reflects a continuing upward trend after prices crossed the 1 million won threshold for the first time on Jan. 21, driven by a sharp rise in global gold prices and growing investor demand for safe haven assets.
As gold prices continue to reach new highs, growing attention is being drawn to a giant bat statue in the rural county — or, more precisely, to its current value.
Completed in 2008, the statue is made of 162 kilograms of pure gold and 281 kilograms of silver. At the time of construction, the material cost stood at roughly 2.7 billion won. Based on current prices, the gold alone is estimated to be worth about 38.67 billion won.
The sculpture measures 1.5 meters in width and 2.1 meters in height. It depicts six golden bats with wings spread in flight, mounted on a circular silver structure.
Despite its scale and cost, the project soon came under fire as a waste of public funds, after failing to generate a noticeable increase in tourist traffic in its early years. But now, the perspective has changed.
Since the Korea Gold Exchange began officially compiling and releasing domestic gold price data in March 2008, prices had remained in the 100,000- to 300,000-won range until the early 2020s.
That changed in March 2024, when prices broke above 400,000 won for the first time on record. They continued to surge, surpassing 600,000 won in March last year and 800,000 won in October the same year.
Citing security concerns, Hampyeong County had previously displayed the golden bat statue only temporarily at the Golden Bat Ecological Exhibition Hall near Hampyeong Expo Park. Beginning in 2024, the sculpture was relocated to the expo park itself and placed on permanent public display.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.