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The lighthouse on Yeongpyeong Island

After 45 years of darkness, a lighthouse at Yeonpyeong Island is being turned back on amid a mood of inter-Korean reconciliation. The lighthouse was closed in the 1970s to prevent North Korean spies from reaching the island over the water.

On Nov. 25, South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced that it would be repairing and relighting the Yeonpyeong Island lighthouse because of the changes to fishing operations on the island that have been brought by the recent improvement in inter-Korean relations.

Ongjin County

The lighthouse was built on Mar. 1960 on the southwestern end of Yeonpyeong Island at an elevation of 105m above sea level. But the lighthouse was closed in Jan. 1974 on the grounds that its illumination made it easier for North Korean spies to infiltrate by sea. Prior to its closing, it was a manned lighthouse, with a lighthouse keeper.

The lighthouse was left derelict until 2013, when the National Maritime Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Office, which reports to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, installed GPS jamming and monitoring equipment at the lighthouse.

The Ministry has been pushing to turn the Yeonpyeong Island lighthouse back on because it expects fishing operations around the island to change. Since the Panmunjom and Pyongyang declarations were made by the leaders of South and North Korea, there have been efforts to set up a joint inter-Korean fishing zone near the northern limit line (NLL), and there is also talk about allowing fishing boats to operate at night around the five islands in the Yellow Sea.

The Ministry also believes that, if a sea route for cargo and container ships is opened between the harbors of Incheon in South Korea and Haeju and Nampo in North Korea, the lighthouse will be necessary to ensure the safety of ships passing near Yeonpyeong Island.

After three inspections carried out between August and October, the Ministry concluded that repairs will make it possible to turn the lighthouse back on. The Ministry plans to finalize the relighting schedule through deliberations with the Ministry of Defense. Reports indicate that the National Maritime PNT Office recently removed the GPS jamming and monitoring equipment at the lighthouse in line with these developments.

The Ministry also reviewed the possibility of relighting a lighthouse on Baekryeong Island, the northernmost South Korean island in the Yellow Sea, but it believes the facilities there are too dilapidated to be reused. Instead, it’s considering the idea of tearing down the current lighthouse and building another one if operating a lighthouse there is deemed necessary. The Baekryeong Island lighthouse, which was built in 1963, was shut down in May 1974 for the same reasons as the Yeonpyeong Island lighthouse.

By Lee Jung-ha, Incheon correspondent

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