Pohang boasts Korea’s one and only walkable rollercoaster

Posted on : 2022-01-11 17:56 KST Modified on : 2022-01-11 17:56 KST
Pohang’s Space Walk opened to the public on a trial basis in November
The Space Walk, Korea’s first experience-oriented art installation, opened on Nov. 19. (provided by the city of Pohang)
The Space Walk, Korea’s first experience-oriented art installation, opened on Nov. 19. (provided by the city of Pohang)

Space Walk, Korea’s first experience-oriented art installation, has attracted some 110,000 visitors in around 50 days since it opened in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

“Since opening on Nov. 19 of last year, Space Walk has become a new tourist destination with beautiful views of the sunrise, sunset, and nighttime landscape, with over 110,000 visitors to date,” the city of Pohang said Sunday.

Space Walk loops around like the track of a rollercoaster. Measuring 333 meters long and 25 meters tall and covering an area of 3,420 square meters, the art installation was built in Hwanho Park, in the Buk District of northern Pohang. When visitors walk along the track, it wobbles the way a rollercoaster does when you ride it.

The installation was commissioned by POSCO and donated to the city of Pohang. It was made by the German artist duo Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth. They named it Space Walk, describing the pleasure that it evokes.

For safety reasons, visitors aren’t allowed to enter Space Walk in a downpour or winds upwards of 8 meters per second. Only 250 people are allowed on the installation at one time.

Pictures of Space Walk have been cropping up on social media since it opened. “It was exhilarating to feel the track wobbling as I climbed up,” one user wrote.

“What a gorgeous view — it’s like walking on air,” another said.

“I went up a few steps and then gave up [from fright]. I would have gotten a fantastic view of where the ocean and the sky meet,” a third recalled.

The installation is open on a trial basis through February. After making adjustments for any issues that come up, Pohang will begin normal operations in March.

By Kim Gyu-hyun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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