Chuncheon-si and Gangneung-si Selected as Government-Funded 'Legal Cultural Cities'

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Announces 5 Regions Designated as 2nd Legal Cultural Cities
Up to 20 Billion KRW Invested Over 5 Years, Including 10 Billion KRW Each from National and Local Governments

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-cheol] Chuncheon City and Gangneung City in Gangwon Province have been selected as legally designated cultural cities by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Gangwon Province announced on the 7th, "After reviewing 12 preliminary cultural cities nationwide, five regions including Chuncheon City and Gangneung City in Gangwon were finally designated as legally recognized cultural cities." The designated cities are Chuncheon City and Gangneung City in Gangwon, Bupyeong-gu in Incheon, Wanju-gun in Jeonbuk, and Gimhae City in Gyeongnam, totaling five local governments.

The cultural city project is promoted based on the 'Regional Culture Promotion Act' to realize citizens' cultural lives and promote regional development through culture.

During the previous preliminary project period, Chuncheon City presented the vision of a "Transition Cultural City" and promoted transition cultural projects through communication with citizens such as Experience Sharing School, Life Workshop, Urban Designer, and Festival Archiving.

Gangneung City proposed "Beautiful, Pleasant, and Fun Cultural City, Sinami Gangneung," and has been implementing initiatives such as Urban Exploration Team, Citizen Autonomous Budget System (Jaktangmoi), and support for local content development.

Both local governments plan to invest up to 20 billion KRW over the next five years, including 10 billion KRW from the national government and 10 billion KRW from local governments, to promote projects such as establishing a cultural city management system, discovering urban value, revitalizing local culture, and cultural urban regeneration projects.

Previously, the two cities received approval for their cultural city creation plans in December 2019 and conducted preliminary projects for one year. After on-site inspections and final presentations, they were finally designated through the Cultural City Deliberation Committee's review. Last year, a total of seven locations, including Wonju in Gangwon Province, were selected.

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