Village History

Gwanghwaldeul is the setting for Cho Jung-rae's epic novel 'Arirang.' In 1925 during the Japanese colonial era, a large-scale reclamation project, involving numerous laborers from across the country, was undertaken in the Gwanghwal area. Through their efforts, the coastal landscape transformed into 'reclaimed land,' and the horizon shifted to a new perspective. However, the majority of the reclamation workers found themselves living as tenant farmers, subject to exploitation by the Japanese. They were referred to as 'reclaimed land laborers' or 'Gaetangsoe' as they had to endure a life of hardship.

Gwanghwal Field is the central area of the Gimje and Mangyeong Plain, offering the widest view of open fields in South Korea. The entirety of Gwanghwal-myeon in Gimje is a field without any mountains, making it the only place in South Korea where you can see a golden field stretching to the horizon in autumn.

When passing through the Gimje region traveling along the West Coast Expressway, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the vast paddy fields neatly organized in a checkered pattern. The 15-kilometer-long ridge road, stretching along the paddies from Nampo-ri in Seongdeok-myeon, Gimje to Changje-ri in Gwanghwal-myeon takes about 20 minutes to travel by car. Provincial Route 702 runs through the Gwanghwal Field in an east-west direction