On December 1, 2007, Cheongsan Island was designated the first Cittaslow (Slow City) in Asia by Cittaslow International. Cittaslow is not merely a marketing term promoting leisurely tourism; it is an international certification for regions that preserve their distinctive natural environments and traditional cultures while pursuing a sustainable way of life. Behind Cheongsan Island's ability to earn this certification lay the winding stone-walled lanes and terraced rice paddies that island residents had built by hand over generations.
The film's 1993 release and the 2007 Cittaslow designation are two important events in Cheongsan Island's recent history, fourteen years apart. There is no basis for saying that the film's popularity directly caused the certification. Cittaslow evaluates local environment, culture, community, and sustainability, so film-location recognition and certification of the island's living heritage are best explained as distinct layers.
The Slow Road connects stone walls, terraced fields, gudeuljang rice paddies, and village paths made for residence and farming. What tourists experience as “slowness” may still be used by residents and farm vehicles. Cheongsan was among Korea's first Cittaslow-certified communities in 2007; “Asia's first” should be read in that original group context, not as a claim that Cheongsan alone was the sole first place. Membership status can change. The map point is a practical entrance to Slow Road Course 1, not a claim that island-wide certification exists at one object. Routes differ in difficulty, and ferry disruptions are possible.