Mokpo City Wins Excellence Award at Korea Local Autonomy Management Competition

‘City of Flavor Mokpo’ Branded, Selected as an Excellent Case for Economic Revitalization

In April last year, the first-ever "City of Taste Declaration Ceremony" in Korea was held in Seoul, successfully establishing the image of "When it comes to taste, Mokpo." (Photo by Mokpo City)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Ki-dong] Mokpo City in Jeonnam announced on the 17th that it received the Excellence Award (Minister of the Interior and Safety Award) in the regional economy category at the 16th Korea Local Autonomy Management Competition.

Hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and supported by six central government ministries including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Korea Local Autonomy Management Competition annually selects outstanding policies in 10 fields such as regional economy, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, and safety from local governments nationwide.

This time, Mokpo City received high evaluations for enhancing economic ripple effects through the creation of a city of taste and revitalizing the local commercial district.

Mokpo City designated "taste" as its most competitive resource and aimed to increase the added value of the regional economy through tourism products by vigorously promoting the "City of Taste Mokpo" project last year. A major aspect was proactively preparing for the increase in tourists following the opening of the marine cable car.

To this end, in April last year, the city held the country's first-ever "City of Taste Proclamation Ceremony" in Seoul, successfully imprinting the nationwide image of "When you think of taste, think Mokpo" by securing the taste brand.

Additionally, the city focused on turning Mokpo cuisine into a tourism product by developing a brand image befitting the city of taste, selecting top restaurants, renewing booklets and maps, and organizing the Mokpo 9-Mi (Taste) Competition.

Furthermore, judging that the success of the "City of Taste" depends on private sector participation, the city concentrated on improving food culture services in restaurants through education, meetings, guidance, and inspections. To encourage broad civic participation, the Mokpo Love Movement promoting kindness, order, cleanliness, and sharing has been extensively carried out and continues steadily to this day.

Thanks to these comprehensive efforts by the city, the number of tourists visiting Mokpo last year approached 7 million, marking an all-time high.

Among them, a significant portion were gourmet travelers seeking taste, and a satisfaction survey conducted by the city from October to November last year targeting restaurant users in tourist-concentrated areas showed that over 71% positively evaluated all areas including cleanliness, kindness, and taste.

The taste of Mokpo is playing a vital role in revitalizing the regional economy.

A Mokpo city official stated, "Taste is Mokpo's greatest comparative advantage resource and serves as a vital force that breathes life into the regional economy, especially in self-employment sectors with a high proportion of restaurants," adding, "We will continue to strengthen the image of Mokpo as a city of taste so that taste becomes a reliable key product supporting the regional economy."

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