Moon boats light up the birthplace of Korean Confucianism

Riding a crescent moon-shaped boat that changes colors is a must-do experience in the small South Korean city of Andong, 190 km southeast of Seoul.

The moon boats were introduced in 2020 by tourism startup Global Korea in the city with a population of 156,000, or the birthplace of Korean Confucianism.

Thanks to their popularity, the Woryeonggyo Bridge, under which the boats are floating, became the top tourist attraction in Andong, beating the Hahoe Folk Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Equipped with two driving motors, the electric leisure boats for three are illuminated by LED lamps on board. The colors of the lights can be chosen among 1,658 types.

They can rotate a full 360 degrees by using a simple joystick. Passengers can listen to music on a Bluetooth wireless network inside the boats.

With about 3,000 tourists on a waiting list for the boats on weekends, Global Korea recently doubled the number of moon boats to 12. But they can accommodate only 1,500 people per day.  

Global Korea’s Chief Executive Song Jin-ho has developed and introduced the moon boats to two other South Korean cities -- Gimpo and Incheon, west of Seoul.

When it was showcased during the Wearable Technology Show 2019 in London, the boat caught the eye of Dutch ship designers, who expressed their amazement at its creative design.

Song has spent 600 million won ($460,000) on the research and development of the moon-shaped boat. He has registered its design patents in 39 countries as the startup is preparing to take its themed boats into overseas markets.

The former programmer also has developed a pheasant-themed boat inspired by a hen pheasant character from a popular Korean fairy tale.

Write to Kyeong-Mook O at okmook@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.