Imsil-gun, Eastern Region Development Project Achievements... Seomjingang Renaissance Era Approaches

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Nosik] Imsil-gun, Jeonbuk, is advancing the Jeonbuk Eastern Region Development Project, which is promoting ImsilN Cheese and Seomjingang Okjeongho as core growth engines, achieving remarkable results and bringing forward the Seomjingang Renaissance era.

According to Imsil-gun on the 10th, the Eastern Region Development Project is a strategic priority project to promote regional balanced development, with Jeonbuk Province supporting 5 billion KRW annually from 2011 to last year for the specialized development of six cities and counties in the eastern region, and from this year to 2025, providing 6 billion KRW annually.

Since 2015, the county has achieved results in growing ImsilN Cheese into a global premium brand through the Imsil Cheese Food Cluster Development Project, which invested 16.6 billion KRW from 2015 to 2020.

The ImsilN Cheese Festival was designated as a cultural tourism festival in 2020-2021 and was selected as the best festival in Jeonbuk Province for four consecutive years.

ImsilN Cheese, the cheese co-brand, demonstrated the strength of Korea’s original cheese by winning the Korea Representative Brand Award for seven consecutive years.

Additionally, productivity was improved by establishing a processing base, including the completion of the second ImsilN Cheese factory, and by expanding the operation of the ImsilN Cheese Cafe, rest area sales outlets, and experience centers, greatly contributing to promoting the cheese industry and attracting many tourists, thereby revitalizing the local economy.

Last year, despite the COVID-19 crisis, it grew into a vibrant project generating an income of 23.4 billion KRW.

The Imsil Cheese Theme Park, the number one experiential tourism destination, attracted over 2 million visitors and gained fame as Korea’s representative tourist spot themed around cheese.

The first phase of the Seomjingang Eco Museum project, which began in 2015 during the 6th local government administration, invested 28 billion KRW to transform the area into a tourist destination with pristine natural scenery by promoting projects such as Bungeo Island Eco Garden, the tourist scenic road ‘休 (Hyu)’, Eco Nuri Campus, and Eco Touring Routes.

Last year, a visitor information center was built on a 20,000-pyeong site on Bungeo Island, and seasonal trees such as pine, Korean chrysanthemum, spider lily, azalea, and hydrangea were planted, with the opening scheduled for next year.

In particular, in the second half of this year, a suspension bridge connecting Bungeo Island and the Okjeongho Skywalk will open, expected to attract many tourists nationwide, drawing attention as a year-round experiential and ecological healing tourist destination.

The second phase of the Seomjingang Eco Museum project, starting this year with an investment of 25 billion KRW, plans to expand mountain sports experience facilities and waterfront tourism infrastructure, completing an eco-friendly ecological tourism hub in the Okjeongho area.

County Governor Shim Min said, “With the full support of Jeonbuk Province, visible results are being produced as core specialized resources lead the region’s future development,” and added, “We will do our best to promote the Eastern Region Development Project to bring forward the Seomjingang Renaissance era and inject vitality into regional development and the economy.”

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