Jeongdongjin

Character

Jeongdongjin gives screen tourism a measurable before-and-after. Passenger handling stopped on January 1, 1996 as the mining-era station faded; *Sandglass* crowds helped reverse that retreat, and passenger service resumed on March 15, 1997

The comeback continued in railway terms. Sunrise trains began running from Cheongnyangni in 1997, and the station later gained higher-tier stops as visitor demand endured. A location seen on television became a reason to travel by the same transport system that had been losing its purpose

The experience

Arriving by rail is still the clearest way to understand the place. The platform sits immediately beside the East Sea, and the beach is only a few minutes away on foot. The station, shoreline and Sandglass Park form a compact district, but each contributes a different part of the visit: arrival, sunrise and the afterlife of the drama

Dawn is the main time-based event. The coast fills before sunrise, then the crowd disperses toward the station, cafés and nearby attractions. Because the rail timetable and sunrise move independently, the most successful visits are planned around the actual dawn time first and transport second

Sandglass Park gives the television association a permanent physical form. Its giant hourglass, completed in 1999, is 8.06 meters in diameter and holds about eight tonnes of sand. The monument belongs to a place where scheduled trains, sunrise and a drama named *Sandglass* all made time part of the destination’s public identity

History

Jeongdongjin Station opened in 1962 as the surrounding coal economy expanded. Trains carried both passengers and coal, and the local population grew to roughly 5,000. When coal-industry rationalization accelerated from the late 1980s, employment, population and rail traffic fell sharply; by the early 1990s the station had become a quiet stop and closure was considered

The 1995 SBS drama *Sandglass* changed the traffic pattern. Viewers began visiting the seaside station used as a filming location, turning a declining transport node into a national tourism destination. Passenger handling was suspended on January 1, 1996 while the station’s future was uncertain and its facilities were adapted for the new crowds

Service returned on March 15, 1997. That same year, sunrise trains from Cheongnyangni began bringing visitors directly to Jeongdongjin. The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History records the station later developing far beyond its former rural service level; by 2002 even Saemaeul trains were stopping there

Gangneung reinforced the new identity with Sandglass Park, completed at the end of 1999. The important sequence is unusually concrete: industrial traffic collapsed, fiction created passenger demand, rail service returned, and the destination then acquired permanent public infrastructure around the new tourism economy

Before you go

For a sunrise visit, check the actual sunrise time before choosing the train. Current rail schedules do not automatically place passengers on the beach before dawn, so an overnight stay or an early local transfer can be the more reliable plan

Use the station as the orientation point rather than assuming one set of rules covers the whole district. The beach, rail facilities and Sandglass Park have separate operating conditions, and the short walking distances make it practical to combine them after arrival