Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon, "The International Garden Expo Must Succeed Next Year"

National Garden Visitor Recovery Phase... Support for 700 Youth Jobs

Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] “The 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo, held for the first time in 10 years since 2013, will be held under the theme ‘Living in the Garden’ to encourage participation from all citizens. Through this, we aim to establish Suncheon as the first Garden City and develop it into a mecca of the garden industry.”

This is the ambitious aspiration of Heo Seok (58), mayor of Suncheon, who will be running for re-election in the upcoming local elections.

Although the party’s cut-off and final primary process remain, his determination for the success of next year’s expo can be seen through his bid for re-election.

We discussed not only the details of the International Garden Expo but also the vision for the With-Corona era and the challenges that need to be addressed going forward.

▶ It seems the local election atmosphere is now in full swing. When do you plan to register as a candidate?

The mayor’s term lasts until June 30. While the party primary is important, governance during the COVID-19 era cannot be overlooked. To avoid inconveniencing citizens, I delayed candidate registration to carefully oversee city administration. I plan to register soon, considering the primary schedule, and begin full-scale election campaigning.

▲ Recovery phase after decline in visitors to the National Garden

▶ Suncheon’s tourism industry, including the Suncheonman National Garden, is growing in importance. How much damage and impact has COVID-19 caused?

Due to the spread of COVID-19, in 2020, the number of tourists dropped to 3.72 million, about one-third of the previous year, severely impacting the tourism industry. Especially, restrictions on private gatherings and inter-regional travel led to a sharp decline in group tourism demand, causing a crisis in the travel industry.

For example, the number of group tourism incentive payments dropped drastically from 283 cases in 2019 to 21 cases in 2020, showing significant contraction in the tourism sector. Accordingly, Suncheon City provided 300 million KRW in disaster relief funds to travel agencies to revitalize the travel industry.

In response, Suncheon quickly adapted to the changing travel trends caused by COVID-19 by developing small-scale tourism products and promoting Suncheon as a safe tourist destination emphasizing ‘slowness, leisure, pause, and healing.’

Fortunately, last year, the number of tourists increased by 31% to 4.9 million, and the upward trend continued through February this year, indicating gradual revitalization of the tourism business.

▲ Expansion of local gift certificates to 150 billion KRW, activation of the garden industry market

▶ We are gradually moving into the With-Corona era. Local governments bear the responsibility and burden of revitalizing regional economies. How will you approach this?

Suncheon City is focusing all administration and finances on ‘recovering daily life, reviving the economy.’ We will expand the issuance of Suncheon Love Gift Certificates to 150 billion KRW to circulate money throughout markets and downtown areas.

Along with this, we plan to provide 30 billion KRW in disaster relief funds to self-employed and small business owners. Suncheon will broadly support traditional market vendors and non-store operators who are not covered by government loss compensation.

Above all, the successful hosting of the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo next year will industrialize gardens.

Supporting this, through the main functions of the Suncheonman Garden Market?such as the garden tree wholesale market and the comprehensive garden materials distribution and sales exhibition hall?we will create a garden industry city where gardening goes beyond a hobby to create jobs through garden tree distribution, standardization, and garden material sales.

▲ Support for 700 youth jobs including youth startups

▶ For a city to sustain growth, the youth population must increase and youth jobs must be secured. You have implemented significant policies such as the Youth Startup Plaza. What are the concrete achievements?

We aim to make Suncheon a ‘land of opportunity’ where young people can succeed with just an idea.

So far, we have held the Startup Idea Competition twice. Last year, we opened the Korean branch of Zhongguancun, China’s Silicon Valley, in Suncheon and held the 1st Korea-China Startup Innovation Forum.

In December this year, we will complete a startup incubation center around Suncheon Station’s station area, creating a space for entrepreneurs to network and allowing startups at various growth stages to move in.

Additionally, to support youth settlement in the region, we are promoting a region-led youth job project. By matching employers and young workers and supporting wages and education costs, we are building a foundation for youth to find their dreams locally.

We plan to support 700 youth jobs this year.

Especially, through support for Jeonnam youth toon jobs specialized in the ‘K-content industry’ such as webtoons and animation, and the content reshoring project, we will facilitate the relocation of content companies to the provinces and create about 200 youth jobs.

▲ The entire city will become the expo venue next year

▶ Following 2013, the 2023 Suncheonman National Garden Expo will be held again. There is much anticipation about what will be showcased. Could you please introduce it?

The 2013 Suncheonman International Garden Expo was held only within the National Garden, an eco-belt preserving the Suncheonman Wetland. However, the second garden expo in 2023 will have the entire city as a garden.

Therefore, the expo’s theme is ‘Living in the Garden.’ Since the expo will take place throughout the city, all Suncheon citizens will actively participate. Hence, the sub-theme is ‘My Own Garden.’

From now on, the 290,000 citizens of Suncheon will each cultivate their own garden?on walls, rooftops, balconies, offices, even in spaces as small as a hand span. To support this, ‘Citizen Garden Promotion Teams’ have been formed in all 24 towns and townships.

While the first expo led to the birth of the first National Garden and introduced garden culture to Korea, the second expo aims to create the first Garden City and develop it into a mecca of the garden industry.

Also, the 2023 expo is preparing three major killer contents to achieve the target of 8 million visitors.

First, the ‘Korean Peninsula Crater Garden.’ It is a 1/200 scale model of Baekdusan Cheonji and Hallasan Baengnokdam. The crater garden, symbolizing purification water at North Korea’s Cheonji and South Korea’s Baengnokdam, will be a landmark representing peace and unification at the 2023 International Garden Expo.

Second, the ‘Botanical Garden’ (glass greenhouse) installed within the National Garden. Visitors will experience dramatic spatial changes from a primeval jungle through the Ice Age to the present via a three-dimensional route from underground to the air. We are confident it will become a representative botanical garden of Honam.

Third, the ‘Future Garden,’ which is unlike ordinary gardens, will be viewed by moving from above ground to underground. Underground will feature a media garden using video AI technology and metaverse, as well as an aqua garden showcasing various aquatic plants. As an indoor garden, it is expected to greatly attract visitors during the hot summer.

▲ Secured the largest-ever national budget... Enactment of the Garden Expo Special Act

▶ It must have been difficult to visit ministries amid the COVID-19 crisis, yet you secured the largest national budget ever this year, increasing the budget by 1.5 times compared to early in your term. What is the background?

Not only COVID-19 but also the frequently changing domestic and international economic conditions and government policy changes made budget acquisition more difficult. Our staff frequently visited Jeonnam Province, central ministries, and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to explain the project’s validity and build consensus.

By meeting multiple times with Koo Yoon-chul, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Park Wan-joo, Chair of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, and Song Young-gil, party leader, we persuaded the National Assembly and central ministries to secure a visible achievement of 676.3 billion KRW in national funds.

The secured budget includes 233.6 billion KRW for 61 general pending projects, 53.7 billion KRW for 74 projects under the National Balanced Special Account, 155.7 billion KRW for SOC projects to expand infrastructure, and 233.3 billion KRW for social welfare, agriculture, and annual/repetitive projects.

Especially, the timely enactment of the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo and Yeosu-Suncheon 10·19 Incident Special Act, led by Representative So Byung-chul, greatly helped secure the budget. Additionally, efforts by Representative Seo Dong-yong and Budget and Accounts Special Committee member Shin Jeong-hoon resulted in securing an additional 14.2 billion KRW for eight projects.

▲ Urgent issues: Clean-up Environment Center, undergrounding of Gyeongjeon Line

▶ Looking back on the past four years, what is the most regrettable aspect, and what are the urgent issues?

Half of my term was spent alongside COVID-19. COVID-19 is not only a problem for Suncheon but a global issue. The ‘Zhongguancun Project in China’ and ‘Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Project’ are projects that must be carried out abroad. These two projects have been of interest and pursued since the beginning of my term.

However, due to COVID-19 and strained North Korea-US and inter-Korean relations, progress was not smooth. Nevertheless, last year, the Korean branch of Zhongguancun was established in Suncheon, and the 1st Korea-China Startup Innovation Forum was held, linking the startup ecosystems of Suncheon and Zhongguancun.

Also, for the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Project, we signed an agreement with the Inter-Korean Economic and Cultural Cooperation Foundation and are working to continue exchanges through international and private organizations.

Although I have devoted all my efforts to creating a new Suncheon with citizens, there remain tasks that require citizen power: the site selection for the Clean-up Environment Center and the undergrounding of the Gyeongjeon Line electrification project.

The site selection for the Clean-up Environment Center is currently undergoing a strategic environmental impact assessment on the top-priority candidate site until June.

Based on the results, the final site will be selected. Regarding the undergrounding of the Gyeongjeon Line electrification project, we proposed alternatives based on Suncheon’s feasibility study to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and submitted a petition signed by 11,432 Suncheon citizens urging undergrounding. We will wisely resolve these issues by gathering citizens’ wisdom.

Mayor Heo Seok is from Haeryong-myeon, Suncheon, graduated from Suncheon High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Economics, and was elected mayor of Suncheon in 2018 with 62.65% of the vote. He currently serves as vice-chairman of the Democratic Party’s Korea Peninsula Peace Economy Special Committee and as a member of the UNESCO Korea Committee.

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