Source: Dong-A Ilbo · 여행

What happened

According to Dong-A Ilbo, the 2026 Camping & Pet Scout Festival will run September 4–6 at the World Jamboree Training Center in Goseong County, Gangwon Province. The Gangwon Pet Association is organizing the event with Gangwon Province cooperation, and organizers expect roughly 1,500 participants — both pet owners and people who do not own pets.

The festival is built around a two-night, three-day camping trip theme: pet owners, their dogs, and non-pet-owning visitors camping together. Dong-A reports the goal is to spread healthy leisure culture and revive regional tourism by combining pet culture with camping on a site that already has natural surroundings and fixed camping infrastructure.

The breakdown

The training center — best known internationally as the host venue for large scout gatherings — is being repurposed as stay-type tourism: visitors camp on-site rather than dropping in for a single afternoon program.

Organizers are splitting the grounds into distinct areas. One zone is for pet-accompanied camping; another is for general camping without pets. Dong-A says the split is meant to keep every participant safe and comfortable. A dedicated off-leash zone will allow registered dogs to move without a collar leash or chest harness, which is unusual in Korea’s typically leash-heavy public spaces.

Non-pet owners are explicitly welcome. Dong-A lists camping fields, a brand zone, and a food zone alongside pet-focused programming. Scheduled activities include animal registration and behavior-correction counseling, puppy yoga, health-management sessions, a campfire, and an outdoor film festival.

Capacity is framed at about 1,500 people — treat that as an organizer expectation, not a sold-out headcount, unless registration numbers are published later.

Why it matters outside Korea

Korea’s inbound travel story is often Seoul cafes and coastal seafood; this event shows how Gangwon Province is pitching pet-inclusive, multi-day outdoor stays as a regional draw. For expats and visitors traveling with dogs, Korea’s pet-travel rules are uneven — many hotels, beaches, and parks still restrict animals — so a province-backed festival with separated zones and an off-leash field is a useful signal of where structured pet tourism is being tested.

The timing also matters: early September sits after peak summer holiday traffic but before autumn foliage season fully kicks in. If the model works, similar pet-camping weekends could spread along Gangwon’s east coast corridor, where camping culture already runs deep among Korean families.

What travelers and expats should watch

• Registration and pet paperwork: Dong-A highlights on-site animal registration and behavior counseling — if you plan to bring a dog from overseas or another province, confirm whether Korean registration, vaccination records, or festival-specific waivers are required before you book transport to Goseong.
• Zone rules vs. everyday Korea: the off-leash area applies inside the festival footprint only; leash norms off-site in Goseong towns, beaches, and rest stops still apply. Do not assume festival rules carry over to your hotel or convenience-store runs.
• Non-pet visitors: general camping and food zones mean you can attend without a dog, but expect pet traffic between zones — pack allergy medication or choose the non-pet camping section if that is a concern.
• Access and lodging spillover: the World Jamboree Training Center is a large rural site; check how organizers handle parking, check-in windows, and whether nearby Goseong or Yangyang accommodations fill when a 1,500-person camp-in is underway.

Context

Read this as a provincial bet on pet-camping as overnight tourism, not as a nationwide loosening of Korea’s pet-access rules. Dong-A’s core facts are Sept. 4–6 / Goseong World Jamboree Training Center / ~1,500 expected participants / split pet and non-pet zones / off-leash field / 2-night camping format. Korelay’s frame: the actionable signal for travelers is whether Gangwon can turn scout-scale outdoor infrastructure into repeatable pet-friendly stay packages — and whether September dates become a template for fall camping demand.

Source

Dong-A Ilbo: 반려견과 강원 고성에서 2박 3일 캠핑 하세요 — Korean original; paraphrased for briefing; read the original for full detail.