Goheung-gun Passes Written Review for Designation as the 3rd Legal Cultural City by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

People Changing the Future, Motem Cultural City Project Gains Momentum

[Goheung=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Goheung-gun, once considered a depopulation area, is seeking transformation into a new city, and has taken a step closer to being designated as a legal cultural city as part of this project.

On the 5th, Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that it passed the written review by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Culture) for preliminary city approval, the first gateway to the 3rd designation of legal cultural cities.

Once designated as a preliminary city, it will be finally designated as a legal cultural city through an evaluation of the preliminary project performance over one year, and will receive 10 billion KRW in national funding over five years.

This year, 41 cities applied for preliminary city approval for the 3rd cultural city designation, an increase of 16 from last year, prompting the Ministry of Culture to conduct an additional online interview beyond the originally planned written review.

As a result, 25 cities including Goheung-gun were selected as sites for on-site review, bringing Goheung-gun one step closer to being designated as a cultural city.

Goheung-gun submitted a cultural city development plan to the Ministry of Culture in July under the vision of “People Changing the Future, Motem Cultural City Goheung,” presenting inclusion, harmony, creation, and healing as core values to realize this vision, and is undergoing the review process.

According to this plan, Goheung Cultural City will implement a “people-centered” project, investing a total of 12.84 billion KRW by 2026 in 20 detailed projects across four areas: people, activities, spaces, and industries.

The plan focuses on implementing bottom-up citizen governance led by Goheung residents, in line with the Ministry of Culture’s cultural city promotion policy that prioritizes “community-led local community revitalization” (from the 2020 Cultural City Promotion Guidelines).

Accordingly, Goheung-gun has formed a private cooperative named “Motem,” composed of Goheung people who gather well and contribute their strength for the region, actively promoting various pioneering projects voluntarily with the goal of “a changed future and cultural city Goheung.”

As a pioneering project, the “Resource Motem” project, which archives tangible and intangible cultural resources, is being carried out under the leadership of residents, and the “Motem School” is being operated and promoted to nurture cultural mediators, activists, and planners such as youth in the region.

Mayor Song Guigeun said, “The cultural city development project created by the power of residents is a project that revitalizes various communities in the region and spreads culture in the lives of residents,” adding, “Through this project, we will newly grow from a city in decline to a city with self-sustaining vitality where culture breathes.”

Meanwhile, the 3rd cultural city designation project will designate preliminary cities through on-site reviews in October to November and a comprehensive presentation in December, followed by the Minister of Culture’s review by the Cultural City Deliberation Committee.

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