By Lee Kyung-min
Some people believe they can gain some of the talent and energy of highly successful individuals by visiting the latter’s hometowns.
With this in mind, municipalities in South Gyeongsang Province and Korail are developing a tour program to the birthplaces of the founders of the nation’s top conglomerates that were born in the region.
Officials at Uiryeong County, Gyeong Nam Development Corp. (GNDC) and Korail said Tuesday that they will develop the program, called “receiving energy from the rich for good luck,” by the end of the year.
The program includes visits to the birthplaces of Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull in Uiryeong; LG Group founder Koo In-hwoi in Jinju; and Hyosung Group founder Cho Hong-je in Haman County.
It will also include visit to a rock named Sot in Uiryeong. According to old folktales in the region, people living within an 8-kilometer radius from the rock are likely to become rich.
The birthplaces of these people are all within 10 kilometers of the rock. They are also alumni of Jisu Elementary School in Jinju.
While the rock’s fortune-making mystique has been popular for a long time, Lee’s birth house, built by his grandfather in 1851, has only been open to the public for sightseeing since 2007, the 20th anniversary of his passing.
A one day tour is offered, with people from other parts of the country arriving at Masan Station by train and visiting the rock and the three birthplaces on chartered buses, according to Uiryeong County.
“Tourism is all about having happy memories,” an official of the county said. “We hope the program will make people happy with the thought that their wish to become rich might come true by visiting the places,” she said.
“People want to be rich, healthy and live a long happy life. Who wouldn’t they? So, we came up with the tourism idea by combining those common wishes with the unique history of the region.”
The target visitors are foreign tourists, especially the Chinese, according to a GNDC official.
“Chinese people are known to believe in luck when pursuing wealth. We plan to further develop the program to make the region a must-visit site among Chinese people,” the official said.
According to the Korea Tourism Organization, 6 million of the 14 million foreign travelers to Korea last year, or 40 percent, were Chinese.