Assemblyman Park Ji-won Welcomes Mokpo City’s Selection as a Regional Tourism Hub City

Laying the Foundation for the Era of Ten Million Tourists in Mokpo...
Committed to Cooperation for Development into a World-Class Tourist City

Assemblyman Park Ji-won

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Hyeong-seok] Representative Park Ji-won (Mokpo, Jeonnam, Alternative New Party) announced on the 28th that Mokpo City was finally selected as a regional tourism hub city in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s public contest for the ‘Tourism Hub City Development Project,’ laying the foundation for opening the ‘Mokpo 10 Million Tourism Era.’

The ‘Tourism Hub City Development Project’ is a project aimed at fostering hub cities equipped with world-class tourism resources and brands that can become new destinations for Korean tourism. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to select one ‘International Tourism City’ (metropolitan) and four ‘Regional Tourism Hub Cities’ (basic) and comprehensively support them over the next five years (2020?2024) in establishing tourism brand strategies, developing region-specific tourism resources and content, improving urban accessibility, and promoting marketing.

In Mokpo City, to open the 10 million tourism era following its designation as a tourism hub city, plans include urban regeneration of the old downtown, creation of modern historical and cultural spaces, the ‘Slow City Mokpo’ project, development of the ‘30-ri Beach Flavor Road’ between Peace Square and Mokpo Maritime University, and expansion of tourism resources on Gohado Island linked with the marine cable car.

Regional tourism hub cities will receive 2.15 billion KRW in national budget support annually this year, and the specific budget scale and detailed project contents to be supported over the next five years will be finalized based on each city’s plan. Mokpo City plans to invest 100 billion KRW over five years.

Although there were initial evaluations that Mokpo was less competitive compared to other cities, Representative Park actively supported Mokpo’s selection by leveraging his experience as Minister of Culture and Tourism during the Kim Dae-jung administration.

Representative Park Ji-won said, “Since last year, I have continuously persuaded Ministry of Culture officials including Minister Park Yang-woo about the justification for Mokpo’s selection, and Governor Kim Young-rok of Jeonnam also actively cooperated. Thanks to the hard work of Mayor Kim Jong-sik and other Mokpo city officials, we were able to receive high evaluations for Mokpo’s tourism potential, including its modern cultural heritage, pristine natural environment, and transportation infrastructure,” expressing his thoughts.

He especially emphasized, “Going forward, I will do my best to ensure the smooth promotion of the tourism hub city project to open the ‘Mokpo 10 Million Tourism Era’ and make it a world-class tourist city.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.