For most of its history Korea was an independent kingdom, or at least an autonomous kingdom under Chinese influence. This came to an end in 1910 when Japan annexed all of Korea. At the end of World War II in 1945 the 38° parallel was established as the dividing line between U.S. and Soviet zones of occupation, and in 1948 separate civil administrations were established in the two halves of the country. The Korean War (1950-53) ended in a draw with the armistice line falling close to the prewar 38° line. The Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly called South Korea (Daehan Minguk in Korean), occupies the Korean peninsula south of the armistice line. South Korea is divided into nine provinces and eight province-level cities; the provinces are subdivided into counties and cities. This page covers lighthouses of Gunsan City in Jeollabuk (North Jeolla) Province and the adjoining Seocheon County in Chungcheongnam (Chungnam) Province. These two jurisdictions surround the important harbor of Gunsan, located on South Korea's southwest coast facing west on the Yellow Sea (usually called the West Sea in Korea). In 2000 South Korea adopted a Revised Romanization System to replace systems formerly used in the West. In the Revised System, the word for a lighthouse is deungdae (등대); dan (formerly tan) is a cape, seom (som) or do (to) is an island, am or amseog is a rock, man is a bay, and hang is a harbor. Some place names, including Gunsan (formerly Kunsan), may be more familiar to Westerners in the spellings of older systems. Navigational aids in the ROK are regulated by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF). The lights in Gunsan are maintained by the Gunsan Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. KR numbers, where available, are from the Korean light list. Admiralty numbers are from volume M of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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Gunsan (Kunsan) City Lighthouses
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![]() Bieungdo East Breakwater Light, Gunsan, April 2024 Google Maps photo by Yongho Row |
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![]() Gunsan Sinhang South Breakwater Light, Gunsan, July 2010 Flickr photo copyright Karla Velasco; used by permission |
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Seocheon County Lighthouses
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![]() Hongwon Marina Light, August 2011 photo copyright kwangsik; used by permission |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Boryeong Area | West: Okdo Islands | South: Gochang and Buan Counties
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Posted January 9, 2008. Checked and revised June 8, 2024. Lighthouses: 33. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.