Ulsan, the Automotive City That Began on a Salt Farm Site in 1968

A 5-million-square-meter plant built in 1968 on land of salt fields and fisheries

Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan Plant was completed in 1968. The Hyundai Motor Group explains that at the time, Ulsan was an area where salt fields and fisheries were the main industries. Hyundai Motor began construction of an automobile plant in May 1968 on a 200,000-pyeong site in Ulsan and started producing the Cortina that same year. After the integrated automobile plant was completed in 1975 and the Pony, Korea’s first independently developed passenger car, began production in 1976, Ulsan became an industrial city with an automobile manufacturing base alongside shipbuilding and petrochemicals.

According to current official information, the site covers 5,000,000㎡, approximately 1.5 times the area of Yeouido, and is a single production base equipped with five finished-vehicle plants, engine and transmission plants, and an export-only pier. Hyundai Motor lists its annual production capacity at 1.41 million finished vehicles and 1.8 million engines, with 190 export destination countries. The key point is that the plant’s sheer scale makes it a tourism destination in its own right, offering insight into how Korean manufacturing connected ports with production lines.

A 90-minute route linking the Heritage Hall, Plant 3, and the export shipping pier

The official factory tour begins at the Heritage Hall on the first floor of the Hyundai Motor Culture Center, continues to the tour passage on the second floor of the assembly plant in Plant 3, and ends at the export shipping pier. The entire tour takes approximately 90 minutes. At the Heritage Hall, visitors watch a 10-minute briefing and promotional video about the Ulsan Plant, followed by a 15-minute viewing of the plant’s history and classic-car exhibition. The Heritage Hall exhibition is titled ‘Dreams ever dreamt.’

Visitors then travel for 10 minutes from the Culture Center to Plant 3 and receive a 20-minute explanation of the automobile assembly line and production process in the assembly-plant tour passage. After another 10-minute transfer from Plant 3 to the export shipping pier, visitors receive a 15-minute tour of the automobile-only pier, followed by another 10 minutes to exit the facility. The route may be shortened, changed, or canceled depending on production conditions, so it may not suit visitors who fix their schedules specifically to see a particular process.

Individuals: up to 4 people; groups: 15 people; reservations vary by bus

Advance reservations are required for the tour. According to information from the Korea Tourism Organization, group tours require 15 or more people, while an individual applicant may apply for up to four people in total. Hyundai Motor’s reservation page states that group applications can only be made by bus, not by passenger car or van. Therefore, families and small parties should prepare under schedules available for individual tours, while schools, companies, and clubs should apply as groups with a bus and participant list.

Group participant lists must be downloaded in a separate format and sent to [email protected]. Preschool children must be accompanied by a guardian, and the route may be changed or canceled even after an application has been completed because of production conditions. Tour inquiries: 052-215-1021~1024; plant main line: 052-215-2114. Admission is presented as free because no separate paid item is listed in the official reservation and tourism information, but visitors should reconfirm reservation approval and same-day assembly instructions before departure.

Distinguish the Culture Center at 601 Yeompo-ro from the main gate at 700 Yeompo-ro

The plant’s main address is 700 Yeompo-ro, Buk-gu, Ulsan Metropolitan City, Ulsan Plant Main Gate, and the lot number is 700 Yangjeong-dong. However, the arrival location for group tours is separately listed as “Hyundai Motor Culture Center, first floor,” at 601 Yeompo-ro, Buk-gu, Ulsan Metropolitan City. If navigation is set only to the main gate, it may differ from the tour assembly point, so visitors should prioritize the assembly location stated in the confirmed reservation notice.

From Ulsan KTX Station, the official instructions recommend taking express seat bus 5002 and getting off at the “Hyundai Motor Main Gate” bus stop. The journey is listed as 50–60 minutes by bus or approximately 40 minutes by taxi. From Ulsan Airport, bus 102 or 112 takes approximately 20 minutes to the “In Front of Hyundai Motor Plant 4” stop, while a taxi takes approximately 15 minutes. From near the Ulsan Express and Intercity Bus Terminal, take bus 401 or 1104 and get off in front of Hyundai Motor Plant 4; the journey takes approximately 30 minutes by bus or 20 minutes by taxi.

The Pony’s starting point and a port dispatching an average of 6,000 vehicles a day

Plant 1 at the Ulsan Plant was established in 1975 and is introduced as the site where the Pony, Korea’s first independently developed model, was produced. Today’s official production-model information includes the Kona EV, HEV, and N; IONIQ 5; G70; G80; G90; Palisade; Tucson; and Nexo. However, production models and line operations may change according to market demand and plant operations, so visitors should not assume that they will see a particular model during the tour.

The Ulsan Plant is officially introduced as producing an average of approximately 6,000 vehicles per day and has a dedicated export pier capable of accommodating three 50,000-ton-class vessels simultaneously. The reason the pier is included at the end of the tour is to show how completed vehicles are connected to global markets through the port rather than by road. Construction of a new electric-vehicle plant, pursued since 2023, shows that this production base is being reorganized into an electrified-production base rather than remaining solely a legacy of the internal-combustion-engine era.

Schedule it on a weekday and prepare for group transportation rather than walking

Tours of Ulsan’s industrial facilities are often scheduled on weekdays because of company operations. Hyundai Motor’s tour also takes place inside a production facility, so the dates open on the reservation screen are the actual available dates; operating availability on weekends and public holidays and regular closing days have not been publicly disclosed as fixed information. Rather than leaving operating hours and closing days blank, visitors should check their preferred visit date directly on the reservation page, while groups should inquire about available times at 052-215-1021~1024.

Accessibility information registered in tourism guidance includes accessible restrooms, elevators for people with disabilities, designated accessible parking spaces, step-free main entrances, wheelchair rental, and convenience services for visitors with visual impairments. However, movement inside the plant follows safety and security guidelines, so wheelchair use, stroller accompaniment, and the need for foreign-language guidance should be noted in advance under the nationality, language, and special-notes fields during reservation. Because official information confirming private-car parking availability and the location and fees for tour-visitor parking could not be verified, groups traveling by car should obtain separate instructions when their reservation is confirmed.

• Recommended duration: approximately 90 minutes from assembly to exit
• What to bring: reservation confirmation, identification in case identity verification is required, and comfortable shoes
• 注意: The tour route may be shortened, changed, or canceled depending on plant conditions