Mokpo City Launches Full-Scale Development of Former Honam Bank Site as a Tourism Hub

Utilized as an Exhibition and Experience Facility Storytelling Modern Culture and Popular Music

Old Honam Bank Building. Photo by Mokpo City Provided

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seung-hyun Jeong] Mokpo City in Jeollanam-do announced on the 25th that it plans to develop the former Honam Bank Mokpo Branch near the station area into a tourism hub.

The city held a 'Kick-off Meeting for Basic and Detailed Design and Production Installation Service for the Former Honam Bank Mokpo Branch' on the 24th.

To increase the public utilization of modern heritage within the modern historical and cultural space, the city purchased the former Honam Bank Mokpo Branch building from Shinhan Bank last year.

After various expert reviews and idea collection, consensus was reached to create the '(tentative name) Mokpo Popular Music Hall' themed around the concepts of open port, international city, and a city of arts.

Accordingly, the city plans to complete the restoration work by December this year and open the facility in the first half of next year.

The former Honam Bank Mokpo Branch, established in 1926 by Honam figures as a purely national capital bank, is the only existing modern financial building in Mokpo. The city plans to focus on highlighting the symbolic significance and the historical and architectural characteristics that showcase the bank building's structure by producing exhibitions and creating a visitor platform, making it a key facility within the modern historical and cultural space.

A notable feature is the planned exhibition space related to popular music. During the modern era, Mokpo developed culture and arts amid active economic activities and international exchanges. Especially in music, figures such as Inan-young (1916?1965), known for "Tears of Mokpo," the first girl group Kim Sisters, and composer Son Seok-woo (1920?2019) were active, laying the foundation for the development of Korean popular music.

Based on Mokpo's historical significance and stories related to popular music, the core of utilizing the former Honam Bank Mokpo Branch is to create a music exhibition and experience space that citizens and tourists can enjoy.

A city official stated, "To attract tourists, we need to process the content of 'modern culture' and 'popular music' with Mokpo's unique presentation to differentiate it from other museums," adding, "We will do our best to make the former Honam Bank Mokpo Branch a tourism hub within the modern historical and cultural space and, furthermore, a landmark of Mokpo."

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