Starting in March 2021, you can ride a cruise ship to visit Nodeul Island. The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced that the watercourse to Nodeul Island will be restored for the first time in about 50 years. The island was beloved by people as a vacation spot for more than 100 years and the watercourse was disconnected when the sandy beach of the island disappeared when Gangbyeonbuk-ro was constructed.
Starting on Sat, Mar. 6, 2021, the SMG will operate a cruise ship to Nodeul Island once a day. It is a course that departs from Yeouido at 7:30 PM (Wed.-Sun.), goes around Banpodaegyo Bridge, arrives at Nodeul Island to stop for about 15 minutes, and returns to Yeouido.
The SMG has made Nodeul Island a cultural complex with nature, music, book, and relaxation in 2019 in order to give it back to citizens. In addition, at the beginning of 2021, the SMG transformed the abandoned wharf into “Moonlight Nodeul,” a cultural space on the water with an observatory deck, relaxing place, and a small stage as well as pursued the operation of the cruise ship. The SMG expects that all-out transformation of the space and enhancement of its accessibility will make Nodeul Island, which has been abandoned for a long time, reborn into a space where citizens can enjoy and unwind anytime.
In particular, the wharf of Nodeul Island, which turned into an artwork through the Seoul’s public art project “Seoul is an Art Museum,” became a water gateway of Nodeul Island that welcomes citizens with ships coming and going, along with the giant artificial moon “Moonlight Nodeul.”
“Moonlight Nodeul” is a public artwork with a 12-meter diameter in the shape of a full moon. 45,000 holes on it let you enjoy the rays of light and wind with the flow of the river. When you stand on the observatory deck, you can take a glimpse of a stunning view of the flowing river, green Hangang Railway, and 63 Building. At sunset, the scenery reaches its peak.
At night, the light emitted from the holes of “Moonlight Nodeul” forms the ring around the moon. The “Moonlight Nodeul” shining on the surface of water shows the “conjunction of sun and moon, new moon, young moon, waning moon, and old moon” for 5 minutes once every 30 minutes, lively showing the flow of time in the desolate urban landscape. This will be a nightscape that will arouse a new hope and artistic sensitivity among citizens whose daily life has been stopped and who need consolation.
The SMG held a ship welcome ceremony on the evening of Tue, Feb. 23 to welcome the first cruise ship that arrived at Nodeul Island before the full-fledged cruise ship operation. At the same time, the “Moonlight Nodeul,” which has been displayed to citizens since January, will be officially opened.
There will be an event to float 120 wish lamps with the wishes of citizens on Hangang River as well. The wish lamps can be seen until Mon, Mar. 1. More than 380 wishes were registered last month and most of them were related to COVID-19.
The cruise ship is the “music cruise ship” of Eland Cruise. It will depart at 7:30 PM from the first wharf of Yeouido (280, Yeouidong-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul), go around the Moonlight Rainbow Fountain around Banpodaegyo Bridge, and arrive the wharf of Nodeul Island (445, Yangnyeong-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul) at about 8:10 PM.
You can both board or get off the ship at Nodeul Island. You may get off the ship and enjoy the nightscape of the Hangang River or go back to Yeouido on the ship. From Nodeul Island to the wharf of Yeouido, it takes about 10 minutes. For more information about boarding and making a reservation, contact Eland Cruise at +82-2-6291-6900 (www.elandcruise.com).
Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG): english.seoul.go.kr
