Jirisan's Cheoneunsa lakeside walk with a KakaoTalk chatbot guide

The forest path below Cheoneunsa Temple, on the western side of Jirisan in Gurye, now has a guide you carry in your phone. In a press release on 20 October, the Korea National Park Service's Jirisan Ecotourism Centre announced that from 2 November it would run Saengtae Bottari on the Cheoneunsa Sangsaeng-ui-gil. Unlike its existing programmes, where a group walks with a ranger-guide, people who have booked set off when they like and receive the stories of otters, mandarin ducks and the Korean winter hazel in a KakaoTalk chat. It suits families and small groups whose day does not fit a fixed guided slot.

How does the walk work?

You start at Cheoneunsa's Iljumun, the temple's first gate. From there the path enters a pine forest and continues along the waterside around Cheoneun Reservoir, about 3.3 km in all according to the press release. The chatbot sends commentary at points along the way, so there is no signboard to hunt for and no guide to wait for. The detailed route has only been published as that one-line summary, so on the day it is safest to follow the order the chatbot gives.

What does the chatbot talk about?

The commentary centres on three species: the otter and the mandarin duck, both natural monuments of Korea, and the Korean winter hazel (Corylopsis coreana), Jirisan National Park's flagship species, which hangs out pale yellow flowers in early spring. KNPS says it also covers how trees survive, what the artificial nest boxes around the reservoir are for, and what "coexistence" in the path's name means. The winter hazel does not flower in November, so for the blossom itself the walk is worth repeating in March.

The mandarin duck and otter photographs below are reference pictures showing what the animals look like. They were taken in Songnisan and Juwangsan national parks, not at Cheoneun Reservoir, and there is no guarantee of seeing either animal on the walk.

Why is it called the path of coexistence?

Provincial Road 861, which passes Cheoneunsa, is the way up to Nogodan, and from 1987 the temple charged everyone using it a cultural-heritage viewing fee of KRW 1,600. The charge outlived the abolition of national park entrance fees in 2007 and drew complaints for years, until on 29 April 2019 eight bodies — including the Ministry of Environment, the Cultural Heritage Administration (now the Korea Heritage Service), South Jeolla Province and the temple — signed an agreement ending it. The trails and facilities around Cheoneunsa were then improved as a follow-up, and the route was named Sangsaeng-ui-gil, the path of coexistence, for the dispute that was settled together.

The starting point, Cheoneunsa's Iljumun, was built in 1723 and designated a Treasure in 2022. Its front plaque reads "Jirisan Cheoneunsa" and is traditionally attributed to the late-Joseon calligrapher Wongyo Yi Gwang-sa, so it is worth a look up before you open the chat.

How do you book, and what does it cost?

Logging in to the booking system requires a KNPS membership and identity verification. Under the general notice for ecotourism-centre programmes, plans can change with the weather on the day, so it is safest to check with the Jirisan Ecotourism Centre (061-780-8700) before setting off.

Getting to Cheoneunsa, and what to expect without Korean

Cheoneunsa is on Nogodan-ro in Gurye, on the road that climbs to Nogodan and Seongsamjae. From Seoul, trains on the Jeolla line run from Yongsan to Guryegu Station, and express buses run to Gurye's bus terminal; from Gurye town, local buses on the Nogodan route stop at Cheoneunsa, but they are infrequent and seasonal, so check the day's times through the Korea Travel Hotline (1330, in English) or take a taxi. The temple itself charges no admission. The harder part is the language. The chatbot commentary arrives in Korean in KakaoTalk, so you will need the app, mobile data, and either Korean or a translation app that can read chat messages. The KNPS English booking site lists only shelters and campsites, and the Korean site asks for a KNPS account with Korean identity verification, which a short-stay visitor usually cannot complete; booking through a Korean-resident friend or your accommodation, or calling the Jirisan centre, are the realistic routes. If none of those works, the path is still a national park trail, and the walk from the gate to the reservoir is there without the commentary.