WikiTambang – Explore corner of the city in South Korea

WikiTambang is a photo taking event hosted by Wikimedia Korea, where participants visit selected city in Korea, take photos of every nook and cranny of the city, and contribute the photos to Wikimedia Commons.

The contents of facilities and cultural heritage sites in South Korea have been databased through the efforts of government agencies including the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea. The contents of Wikipedia articles can be elaborated using freely available descriptive data from the Cultural Heritage Administration and local signage. With this information, there is a sufficient amount of data in Wikipedia. However, compared to the database, there is a lack of media coverage because cultural heritage sites are left unattended in many parts of the country. 

Photo taken during wikitambang, Top: Pungnammun in Jeonju, bottom: Pocheon Defence bunker

WikiTambang range from self-directed explorations of a city to group photowalks, where participants are organized into groups and travel together to explore the sights. Since 2019, we’ve organized at least one WikiTambang every year, and from 2023, we are organizing two WikiTambang events. At each event, we have an average of four to six users participating and uploading 200 photos. 

Recently in February 2025, We traveled to Yeoncheon and Pocheon, which are close to Seoul but off the beaten path, and participants expressed interest in finding and exploring the hidden cultural treasures and attractions of Korea.

“It was very interesting to turn traveling into contributing to Wikipedia. It also taught me that there are many cultural assets and attractions hidden in the neighborhoods of places you wouldn’t normally think of as travel destinations.” – Comment from participant

We use the framework of Wikitourism to do a variety of activities. We regularly organize Youth WikTambang volunteer programs to explore city landmarks such as museums with Korean artifacts and the Blue House, as well as “infinity photo walk” with neurodiverse people to contribute photos of cultural attractions in South Korea.

While WikTambang has become more successful each year, there are still limitations. First of all, it is necessary to capture the scenery of the city, but so far, WikTambang activities have been focused on cultural assets. This is due to the lack of panoramic freedom in Korea and the fact that it is better to look for cultural assets that have already been database, making it easier to explore and contribute.  

We will continue to organize various WikTambang events every year to distribute freely available media in Korean cities across the country.