Hello, this is 속초어때 (Sokcho Eottae). It is 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22, and Sokcho (속초) is at 21°C under clear skies. The chance of rain is 0% and tonight's low is 18°C, so it is a perfect evening for a walk by the sea. Something a little special happened across Sokcho this morning. For two hours, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, about 900 people, including residents, civic groups, related agencies, and staff from City Hall and the neighborhood community centers, cleaned 37 sections of downtown Sokcho all at once. It was the '2026 Chuseok Environmental Cleanup,' held two days before the Chuseok holiday.
If you walked around Daepo Port (대포항) or Cheongchoho Lake (청초호) this evening, you may have noticed the streets were cleaner than usual. The question is how long this cleanliness will last. During the four-day Chuseok holiday from the 24th, the day after tomorrow, through the 27th, visitors returning home and tourists will arrive all at once, and the spots cleaned today are the first places where trash will pile up again. Today, we look at where and how the cleanup took place, and how travelers and residents can best handle their trash during the holiday.
Two hours this morning: where were the 37 sections cleaned?
This cleanup was not just about tourist spots. The cleanup areas were divided into two broad groups.
- Tourist spots: around Yeongnangho Lake (영랑호) and Cheongchoho Lake, 속초관광수산시장 (Sokcho Gwangwang Susan Sijang), Sokcho Beach (속초해변), Daepo Port, and Seorak-dong (설악동)
- Residential areas: main roads, residential alleys, parks, harbors and ports, and around parking lots
What stands out in particular is that areas with repeated illegal dumping or frequent complaints were cleaned up first. If you only clean places with heavy tourist traffic, they look good in photos, but the alleys residents walk through every day are left as they are. This time, residential alleys and areas around parking lots were included too, effectively tidying up the whole neighborhood for the holiday.
Sokcho Mayor Lee Byung-sun said, "I thank everyone who joined in making Sokcho clean and pleasant ahead of Chuseok," and the city plans to continue holding regular environmental cleanups while spreading a culture of 'I clean in front of my own home and my own shop.'
Sokcho Beach was already cleaned once last week
This is the second cleanup at Sokcho Beach this month alone. On the 16th, the Sokcho City Facilities Management Corporation held a 'Love the Sea Beach Environmental Cleanup and Beachcombing Volunteer Activity' at Sokcho Beach. In addition to plogging, picking up trash while walking along the sand, participants did beachcombing, creating environmental protection messages out of the marine debris they collected. Also notable was that the activity was carried out in a 'zero waste' way, reusing existing banners so that no new waste was created during the event.
The beach has already closed for swimming, but this evening the water temperature is 23.5°C and the wave height is 1 m, so the sea is still fine for dipping your feet. Many families are likely to come for walks during the holiday. Food packaging or firework debris buried in the sand will eventually be dragged out to sea by the waves. Putting trash from the beach in a bag and taking it back to your accommodation or car is the surest method. Note that there are no lifeguards at closed beaches, so it is best not to go into the sea at night.
How should trash be disposed of during the four-day holiday?
This is the part residents will be most curious about. The City of Sokcho included household waste collection and disposal and public restroom management in its comprehensive Chuseok holiday measures, and said it will announce the waste disposal schedule for the holiday period on the city website and official social media. As of this evening, Sokcho's detailed day-by-day disposal schedule has not yet been confirmed. Looking at other local governments, many suspend collection during the holiday and accept waste from the evening of the last day of the holiday, but we cannot assume Sokcho will operate the same way, so be sure to check the announcement.
Until then, here is what actually helps.
- Tomorrow (the 23rd), Wednesday, is the last weekday before the holiday. It is best to take care of any food waste from clearing out your fridge by tomorrow if possible.
- Leftovers from ancestral rite food, and scraps from cleaning fish and shellfish bought at the fish market, start to smell quickly, so drain as much liquid as possible, store them in an airtight container or the freezer, and put them out on the disposal day.
- Styrofoam packaging from gift sets, boxes, and the plastic trays inside wrapping cloths all need to be separated for recycling. Remove the tape and shipping labels from boxes, and remove any tape and stickers from styrofoam so it can be recycled.
- If you are a traveler staying at accommodation, just sort your trash according to the accommodation's instructions when you check out. If you leave bags by street trash bins or under utility poles in alleys, they may remain uncollected throughout the holiday.
The 17-team comprehensive situation room starts on the 24th
Ahead of the Chuseok holiday, the City of Sokcho has put together comprehensive measures consisting of 24 tasks in 5 areas. The key is the comprehensive situation room operating from the 24th to the 27th. It is made up of 17 situation teams, and 4 of them, covering disaster safety, water supply, sewage, and public facility management, work 24 hours a day. If problems such as water outages, sewage backflow, or damage to road facilities occur during the holiday, contact City Hall.
- Parking: City Hall and 4 nearby parking lots, with a total of 263 spaces, will be open during the holiday. Keep this in mind if you have trouble finding parking downtown.
- Medical care: An emergency medical care situation room will operate and provide information on open hospitals and clinics. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, emergency medical institutions will provide 24-hour care as usual during the holiday, and open hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies can be checked on the 응급똑똑 (Eunggeup Ttokttok) app, the National Emergency Medical Center's E-Gen website, and the 129 and 120 call centers.
- Prices and traditional markets: Prices and supply of major items will be checked, and on-site staff will be stationed at traditional markets during the holiday to handle crowd management and patrols.
속초어때 will also keep checking crowded tourist spots and access roads during the holiday and keep you updated.
7 p.m. this evening: Sokcho right now
As evening falls, the freshly cleaned streets are filling up with people again. The busiest spot right now is Daepo Port Observatory (crowded). This is the time when people flock to see the harbor lights after sunset, so there may be a wait for parking. Cheongchoho Lake, Cheongchoho Lake Park (청초호호수공원), Sinheungsa Temple (신흥사), 테라크랩팜 (Terra Crab Farm), and 한화리조트 설악 워터피아 (Hanwha Resort Seorak Waterpia) are all at 'normal' levels.
- Recommended walk: If Daepo Port is crowded, we recommend Cheongchoho Lake Park. It is one of the sections cleaned this morning, and with a clear, nearly windless evening at 21°C, it is a good time to walk a loop around the lake.
- What to wear: Temperatures will drop to 18°C overnight. It feels cooler by the sea because of the wind, so bring a light jacket.
Access roads: slow toward Seoul and on the coastal road
As of 7 p.m., estimated traffic conditions are slow on Misiryeong-ro (미시령로, toward Seoul) and Donghae-daero (동해대로, coast and downtown), and smooth on Seoraksan-ro (설악산로, toward Seorak). The slow traffic toward Seoul on a Tuesday evening two days before the holiday appears to be due to vehicles traveling early to avoid the holiday overlapping with commuter traffic. From tomorrow evening, traffic heading home for the holiday will start arriving in earnest and getting into downtown may become slower, so if you plan to stop by the fish market or Daepo Port, we recommend going in the morning.
One-line summary for travelers and residents
- This morning, about 900 people cleaned 37 sections, including Yeongnangho Lake, Cheongchoho Lake, the fish market, Sokcho Beach, Daepo Port, and Seorak-dong.
- Be sure to check the City of Sokcho website and social media for the holiday trash disposal schedule, and take care of food waste by tomorrow.
- Comprehensive situation room operating from the 24th to the 27th; 4 parking lots around City Hall with 263 spaces open.
- Check open hospitals and pharmacies on the 응급똑똑 app or by calling 129 or 120.
- Right now, Daepo Port Observatory is crowded and Cheongchoho Lake Park is normal.
Today we looked at Sokcho's Chuseok environmental cleanup, trash disposal during the holiday, and the comprehensive situation room. Did you find it helpful? We hope this holiday is one where everyone takes their own trash with them, so that the streets 900 people cleaned for two hours stay clean until the end of the holiday. We'll be back next time with even more useful information.
