Residents and tourists cool off along Cheonggye Stream in Seoul, as tropical night advisories were issued across most of the country, Monday. Yonhap
As relentless heat waves and stifling tropical nights bake the concrete landscape of Korea’s capital, city officials are offering weary urbanites a surprisingly simple refuge: dipping their bare feet into a watercourse running directly beneath skyscraper-lined avenues.
Starting Friday, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will launch the 2026 edition of "Cheonggye Stream Water Splashing," a 10-day summer retreat designed to transform a 120-meter stretch of the restored downtown waterway into an accessible wading creek. Running daily through Aug. 9 between Cheonggye Falls and Gwangtong Bridge, the initiative aims to recreate the refreshing ambiance of a mountain valley in the dense heart of the metropolis.
The concept builds on a burgeoning appetite among city dwellers for low-cost, hyperlocal leisure.
When the city introduced the wading program last summer, more than 50,000 residents and international tourists flocked to the sunken promenade, slipping off their shoes to dangle their legs over stone embankments. The overwhelming turnout prompted municipal planners to expand infrastructure for this year's iteration, adding shaded seating, waterside lounge chairs, and complimentary aqua-shoe rental booths for spontaneous passersby.
