Homigot Lighthouse

The Homigot cape runs out to the easternmost point of the mainland, and the lighthouse at the end of it was built in 1908 in brick, an octagonal tower of around twenty-six metres finished in white with the lantern room on top. It is the tallest of Korea's surviving early lighthouses and it is still in service. A small museum beside it covers the country's coastal lights and how they were run. The headland around has been made into a park, with a well-known bronze hand rising out of the water offshore. Sunrise is the local pilgrimage, since the cape faces east with nothing at all in front of it.

History

The lighthouse was built in 1908 of brick alone, without steel reinforcement; it is 26.4 m high, divided inside into six storeys whose ceilings carry the plum blossom emblem of the Korean Empire. It was designated a provincial monument in 1982 and took its present name in 2002, when the cape was renamed Homigot (Korean Wikipedia).

What to look for

• The tower - the 1908 brick lighthouse, white and octagonal, still working.
• The lighthouse museum - the small display on Korea's coastal lights.
• The cape - the easternmost point of the mainland, open to the sea on three sides.
• Sunrise from the headland - the reason most Koreans come here at all.

When to go

Sunrise is the event, and on the first morning of January the cape is packed to gridlock, with buses from Pohang running through the night. Any other morning it is quiet. Spring and autumn are the comfortable seasons; the headland is fully exposed and the wind off the sea barely stops. Allow an hour each way from Pohang.

Good to know

The tower interior is normally closed, so the visit is a walk around the outside plus a small museum. The park around it is dressed with sculpture and food stalls that some find kitsch. It is an hour by bus each way for a short stop, the wind is relentless, and the industrial edge of Pohang sits on the route out.

Nearby

Pohang and its harbour are an hour west; Gyeongju lies to the south.

Key facts