Mt. Palgong Becomes National Park

Mt. Palgong in Daegu was named as Korea's newest national park by the Environment Ministry on Tuesday.

It becomes the country's 23rd national park and the first since Mt. Taebaek won protected status seven years ago.

Rising around 1,192 m above sea level, Mt. Palgong is home to some 5,300 wildlife species including 15 endangered species and 80 beautiful natural sites such as waterfalls and rugged cliffs. 

The first national park was Mt. Jiri in 1967.

Now Mt. Palgong is a national park, the number of visitors is expected to increase about 30 percent from the current 3.6 million to 4.6 million a year.