Nighttime coffee overlooking North Korea: Gimpo Starbucks store sees visitor surge with extended hours

Starbucks with a view of North Korea — The Aegibong Peace Ecological Park in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, has seen a surge in visitors following the opening of a Starbucks store and the launch of monthly nighttime hours.

Visitors to the Starbucks branch that opened at Aegibong Peace Ecological Park in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, are seen on Dec. 21, 2024. [YONHAP]

Starbucks with a view of North Korea — The Aegibong Peace Ecological Park in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, has seen a surge in visitors following the opening of a Starbucks store and the launch of monthly nighttime hours.

The park recorded 190,234 visitors last year — a monthly average of 15,852, according to the Gimpo city government on Monday. But in just the first four months of this year, the park has already drawn 129,517 people, with the monthly average more than doubling to 32,379. Foreign visitors are also on the rise. While 16,441 foreigners visited the park in all of 2024 — or 1,370 per month — the number reached 13,409 by April this year, an average of 3,352 per month, marking a 2.4-fold increase.

The boom in visitors is largely attributed to the opening of a Starbucks store inside the park last November. The location, which offers a direct view of North Korea without the need for binoculars, has gone viral online as the "Starbucks with a North Korea view."

The park’s observatory sits just 1.4 kilometers (0.86 miles) from the coast of Kaepung County in North Korea’s Hwanghae Province.

Kaepung County in North Korea’s Hwanghae Province as seen from Aegibong Peace Ecological Park in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 12. [NEWS1]

City officials also credit their broader tourism development strategy for the success.

Since October 2023, the park has opened once a month in the evening, offering a rare nighttime glimpse across the border. The park itself was built on the site of a dismantled military observatory and now features an ecological exhibition center, the Jogang Observatory, and eco-trails. It officially opened in 2021.

Gimpo city announced that total visitors to the park surpassed 500,000 as of February and is projected to reach 800,000 by the end of the year.

“Gimpo lacked a signature tourist destination, so we focused on developing this site and drawing visitors,” said Mayor Kim Byung-soo. “Having met our initial targets quickly, we now plan to expand tourism infrastructure and channel it into broader economic revitalization.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY KIM JI-HYE [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]