Incheon’s New Hot Springs: What the Discovery Means for Songdo’s Waterfront Project
Daniel Kim Views
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A potential expansion of hot springs in Incheon’s Songdo International City is drawing attention.
On the 10th, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority said that during the basic-design phase of the Songdo Waterfront Phase 2 project, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) detected groundwater suspected to be a hot spring. The authority plans to begin drilling in the first half of this year.
The find is near Solchan Park in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu District. The Incheon authority, together with the Korea Hot Spring Association, plans to drill and, if tests confirm it is a hot spring, explore integrating it with the ongoing Waterfront project. Officials say pairing the Waterfront development with a hot spring could strengthen Songdo’s identity as a genuine “city of water.”
An Incheon official said, “We will determine whether groundwater in the Waterfront project area can be used as a hot spring. After drilling investigations, we will discuss potential uses.”
The Waterfront project will connect Songdo International City’s retention basin and waterways in a square ‘ㅁ’ configuration. The new waterway will be 21.17 km long and 40–500 m wide.
Approximately 2.4 million tons of seawater will flow in and circulate daily, maintaining water quality at grade 2–3 or higher—comparable to waters off Incheon. Once complete, the project will give Songdo 10 million tons of freshwater storage capacity, improving its flood-control resilience during heavy rains.
This is the second time groundwater suspected to be a hot spring has been found in Songdo International City. In 2021, a large seawater hot spring was discovered at a construction site for a major shopping complex in Songdo-dong.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s 2025 National Hot Spring Status (as of 2024) lists 446 hot spring areas and 555 hot spring facilities across South Korea.
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