Gwangmyeong Cave. History's irony of turning from a abandoned mine into a theme park.

 Gwangmyeong Cave, located in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi-do, close to Seoul, was originally a mine developed by Japanese imperialism in 1912 for the purpose of exploiting resources.

Japanese colonial era During that time, Japan exploited many of Korea's resources to use them as war materials. In addition to daily necessities such as rice and cloth, natural resources were exploited by developing mines.

Gwangmyeong Cave is not a naturally formed cave, but a place where humans were dug out of necessity and then abandoned.Gwangmyeong Cave, which had been used as a salted shrimp warehouse for 40 years since it was closed in 1972, was purchased by Gwangmyeong-si in 2011 and transformed into a historical and cultural tourist attraction.

Gwangmyeong Cave is considered to be Korea's best cave theme park combining its value as an industrial heritage and cultural value, and the world visited by more than 1 million tourists a year has achieved a miracle of abandoned mines.

The underground level of the mine, which is 275m deep, is decorated as a tourist resource facility and serves as a unique exhibition hall among the caves, so exhibitions are sometimes held inside the cave.

There is also a concert hall and performances such as concerts are held. It is very small in size, but it also has an aquarium and a botanical garden. In front of the wine seller, wine tasting and sales are also performed. They also sell cheese.

There is also a museum that displays models explaining the history and structure of the mine. To match the fantastic atmosphere inside the cave, you can also see limited figures and Gandalf's staff produced by Weta Digital, which is famous for its giant dragon sculptures and Lord of the Rings movies.

It is good to carry a flashlight or camping lamp that you can carry in your hand. It's because there are dark places, so it's good to be able to shine, and it can be used as a lighting when taking selfies.

Of course, there is a light inside, so you don't have to take it. In addition to the cave, there are exhibition halls, restaurants, and parks nearby, so I recommend you to look around.