Daejeon to build Mount Bomun observation tower, amusement park for tourism development project

Daejeon will build a 215-meter (705.38-foot) observation tower and a network of cable cars and monorails on Mount Bomun, a mountain in the center of the city, as part of a sweeping tourism development initiative set to run through 2031.

A rendered image of Daejeon's new Bomunsan Tower, slated to be completed in 2031 [DAEJEON CITY GOVERNMENT]

Daejeon will build a 215-meter (705.38-foot) observation tower and a network of cable cars and monorails on Mount Bomun, located in the center of the city, as part of a sweeping tourism development initiative set to run through 2031.

City officials said on Wednesday that Daejeon City Corporation will lead the project and finance it through bonds and other measures.

The tower will be located near Manghyangtap in Daesa-dong, Jung District. Although it will be slightly shorter than Mount Namsan's N Seoul Tower, which measures 236.7 meters, Mount Bomun reaches about 457 meters above sea level, compared to Mount Namsan’s 243 meters; as a result, the Daejeon tower will sit at a higher elevation.

Designers plan to model the structure after a spacecraft — covered in a media facade — to highlight Daejeon's identity as a city of science. The project will cost 48.9 billion won ($33.86 million).

The two-level observatory will house restaurants, a bakery by a well-known local brand and a shop that sells merchandise inspired by Kumdori, the city’s mascot. On days when the city’s baseball team, the Hanwha Eagles, wins a home game, the tower will light up at night.

According to officials, the project has completed its investment review, and a design competition is underway.

“When it is finished, Bomunsan Tower will become a landmark comparable to N Seoul Tower,” Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo said.

Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo speaks about the new Bomunsan Tower construction project on Feb. 13. [DAEJEON CITY GOVERNMENT]

The broader plan includes a 2.4-kilometer (1.49-mile) cable car line connecting O-World, an amusement park and zoo, to Sirubong, the highest peak on Mount Bomun. A 1.3-kilometer monorail will also link Sirubong to the observation tower. The 10-passenger cable cars will be able to carry up to 2.24 million riders a year. Installation will cost 72 billion won for the cable car and 64 billion won for the monorail.

The city will also operate electric buses along a 3-kilometer route between the tower and the city’s baseball stadium. In nearby Isa-dong, officials plan to build a hanok (traditional Korean house) village.

Separately, Daejeon City Corporation will invest 330 billion won in what it calls the “O-World Recreation Project” by 2031. The plan will convert the Flower Land and Bird Land sites into an amusement park.

Hanwha Eagles fans cheer during the fifth game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO postseason Korean Series against the LG Twins at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Oct. 31, 2025. [NEWS1]

Officials said that they aim to build amusement park rides that can compete with others, such as the Steel Dragon 2000, which is the world's longest rollercoaster at 2,479 meters, at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan.

“We plan to build [the rides] to be world-class,” a corporation official said.

The project will add family attractions to O-World’s Joy Land and expand the zoo from 25,000 square meters (6.2 acres) to more than 33,000 square meters, an increase of over 30 percent.

“The Mount Bomun development, along with the O-World overhaul, will transform the city’s tourism infrastructure and further raise Daejeon’s profile, building on the popularity of the local bakery Sungsimdang and Kumdori,” Mayor Lee said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY KIM BANG-HYUN [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]