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The moon boats in the city of Andong attract about 3,000 tourists on weekends (Courtesy of Global Korea) Riding a crescent moon-shaped boat that changes colors is a must-do experience in the small South Korean city of Andong, 190 km southeast of Seoul.The moon boats were introduced by tourism startup Global Korea in 2020 to the city with a population of 156,000 population, or the birthplace of Korean confucianism.Thanks to their popularity, the Woryeonggyo Bridge, under which the boats are floating, became the top tourist attraction in Andong, beating the Hahoe Folk Village, a UNESCO World Heritage.Equipped with two driving motors, the electric leisure boat for three is illuminated by LED lamps on board. The light colors can be chosen among the 1,658 types. It can rotate a full 360 degrees by using a simple joystick. Passengers can listen to music using a Bluetooth wireless network inside the boat.With about 3,000 tourists on the wait list for the boat on the weekends, Global Korea recently doubled the number of moon boats to 12. But they can accommodate only 1,500 people per day. Global Korea’s Chief Executive Song Jin-ho has developed and introduced the moon boats to two other South Korean cities -- Gimpo and Incheon, west of Seoul.When it was showcased during the Wearable Technology Show 2019 in London, the boat caught the eye of Dutch ship designers, who expressed their amazement at its creative design.Song has spent 600 million won ($460,000) on the research and development of the moon-shaped boat. He has registered its design patents in 39 countries as the startup is preparing to take its themed boats into overseas markets.The former programmer also has developed a pheasant-themed boat inspired by a hen pheasant character in a popular Korean fairy tale book.By Kyeong-Mook Ookmook@hankyung.comYeonhee Kim edited this article
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