Gov't selects 13 cities for 'Korea Culture City' project aiming to promote regions

Culture Minister Yu In-chon announces the ministry's “Korea Culture City” project. on Dec. 26 at the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul. [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]

 
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Thursday the 13 cities that will lead the development of cultural balance in Korea, under its “Korea Culture City” project.  
 
The Culture Ministry categorized the 13 cities by the different aspects of their culture that are promoted in each region — cities with sustainable growth based on art; cities that promote the establishment of the industrial ecosystem by supporting the cultural industry; cities that make a leap forward through deep-rooted traditional culture; cities that stretch themselves to become a global tourist city based on their natural environment and finally cities that construct their image through local cultural resources.
 

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The selected 13 cities are scattered in six different regions across the country. They are Daegu's Suseong District, Busan's Suyeong District; Sejong; Anseong in Gyeonggi; Sokcho in Gangwon; Suncheon in South Jeolla, Andong in North Gyeongsang; Jeonju in North Jeolla; Jindo County in South Jeolla; Jinju in South Gyeongsang; Chungju in North Chungcheong; Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang and Hongseong in South Chungcheong.
 
Sejong, for example, falls under the “city that constructs its image through local cultural resources” category, as it attempts to promote the region under the vision, “A city that connects the world through Korean alphabet hangul.” It plans to host diverse events, such as an international biennale to promote hangul, to make it a representative culture city of Korea’s central region.  
 
Sokcho, on the other hand, hopes to promote the area by focusing on its diverse delicacies and beautiful landscapes. It plans to campaign for the specialization of ingredients from the East Sea and Ulsanbawi at Mount Seoraksan, as well as its North Korean cuisine culture. It falls under the “city that stretches itself to become a global tourist city based on its natural environment” category.  
 
The Culture Ministry has spent 2.6 billion won ($1.8 million) on the preliminary project this year and will spend 260 billion won ($178 million) more on the development fund for the 13 cities until 2027. The ministry estimated an economic ripple effect of approximately 1 trillion won ($683 million) and the creation of 3,000 jobs.
 
“The unique culture of a region is the pride that keeps residents grounded and the force that draws people to the area," said Culture Minister Yu In-chon. "The 13 locations designated through the 'Korea Culture City' were selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of whether they had established realistic and detailed development plans that leveraged the region's cultural resources, ensured the potential of sustainability to continue projects even after the end of support and could contribute to the overall development of neighboring regions. We will take full responsibility to ensure that 'Korea Culture City' is developed according to plan. We aim to present a new model of transforming entire cities through culture."