Attention is being drawn to the possibility of additional hot spring development in Incheon's Songdo International City.
The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZA) announced Wednesday that it discovered groundwater suspected to be hot spring water using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) during the basic design phase of the Songdo "Waterfront" Phase 2 project, and plans to proceed with hot spring drilling in the first half of this year.
The discovery site is in the Solchan Park area in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu. IFEZA is reviewing plans to utilize the hot spring in connection with the ongoing Waterfront project if drilling conducted with the Korea Hot Spring Association confirms it is indeed a hot spring. IFEZA expects that combining the Waterfront project with a hot spring would make Songdo a true "city of water."
"We want to verify whether the groundwater in the Waterfront project area can be utilized as a hot spring," an IFEZA official said. "We plan to discuss utilization measures after conducting drilling surveys."
The Waterfront project connects Songdo International City's detention basins and waterways in a square-shaped configuration. The waterway being constructed will be 21.17 kilometers long and 40 to 500 meters wide.
With 2.4 million tons of seawater flowing in and circulating daily, water quality will be maintained at Grade 2-3 or higher, equivalent to the waters off Incheon's coast. Upon project completion, Songdo will have 10 million tons of freshwater capacity, providing disaster prevention capabilities to withstand heavy rainfall.
This is the second time groundwater suspected to be hot spring water has been discovered in Songdo International City. A large-scale seawater hot spring was also discovered at a large shopping complex construction site in Songdo-dong in 2021.
Meanwhile, according to the "2025 National Hot Spring Status Report (based on 2024 data)" released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, there are 446 hot spring areas and 555 hot spring businesses in Korea.
