Opening of Gyeongbuk's Largest Tourist Landmark '3 Major Cultural Zone Projects'... Convention, Confucianism, and Traditional Culture Themes, Attracting 10 Million Visitors

‘Andong International Convention Center’, the Only MICE Industry Hub in Northern Gyeongbuk Region

‘World Confucian Culture Museum’, Building a Global Hub and Archive for Confucian Culture

‘Korean Culture Theme Park’, Time Travel to 16th Cent

A view of the 3 Major Cultural Zone project site under development in Andong City.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] The three major cultural zone projects, set to become the largest tourist landmarks in Gyeongbuk, are opening one after another.

Andong City announced on the 28th that the opening ceremony for the World Confucian Scholar Culture Park and the Korean Culture Theme Park, the core projects of the three major cultural zone projects located in Dongbu-ri, Dosan-myeon, will be held on August 31.

The opening ceremony will be held at the Andong International Convention Center's main auditorium with about 1,500 citizens in attendance.

The World Confucian Scholar Culture Park and the Korean Culture Theme Park, part of the three major cultural zone projects, have a total project cost of 393 billion KRW. They were selected as a leading project of the metropolitan economic zone in 2008 and began then. After administrative procedures starting in 2010, construction began in 2014 and was completed in June 2021. Full operation will commence in September.

The three major cultural zone projects, which will establish themselves as the largest tourist landmarks in the Gyeongbuk area, are the only complex cultural tourism sites in Korea where a convention center, museum, and theme park are developed together.

▶ The Andong International Convention Center covers a site area of 29,583.6㎡ and a total floor area of 28,443㎡. Its main facilities include one main auditorium and 13 medium and small conference rooms, playing a central role in fostering the MICE industry. It is expected to become a hub for major domestic and international events such as international conferences.

At the Andong International Convention Center, which can accommodate about 2,000 people simultaneously, events include △ the Humanities Value Forum on September 21, △ the 16th Andong International Association of Educational Cities (IAEC) World Congress in October, involving 500 cities from 35 countries, and △ the 18th World Historical Cities Conference in November, with participation from 125 member cities across 65 countries.

▶ The World Confucian Culture Museum is a museum based on the concept of a "Larchive" to establish a global hub for Confucian culture. It is specialized to share the future value of Confucianism with the world and to serve as a repository for global Confucian culture by discovering agendas.

The museum plans to build a digital archive of Confucian knowledge that integrates the functions of a museum, records center, and education center, providing global visitors with access to Confucian knowledge, information, and cultural enjoyment opportunities.

▶ The Korean Culture Theme Park covers a project area of 433,012㎡ (building area 13,617.09㎡, exhibition area 2,837.01㎡) and is themed around a 16th-century Joseon Dynasty mountain fortress village. It consists of the fortress village (including fortress walls path, marketplace street, bell tower plaza, military camp, and village), fortress forest trail, Yeonmu yard, and Yeonmu platform. It is a space where visitors can directly experience the identity of Korean history and culture.

Additionally, from the end of September, the Korean Culture Theme Park will offer permanent special programs including △ ‘Hidden Card’ (a spectacular fortress thief capture story) based on Toegye Yi Hwang’s Seonghak Sipdo at the folklore theater, △ ‘At Andong Station,’ a story about a man who left the city and returns to meet his first love at the traditional theater, and △ ‘Nallibeoseok Beokkutong,’ a comedy performance set in a school.

Mayor Kwon Ki-chang said, “We will work closely with related organizations to operate the site with solid and attractive tourism content and increase recognition through continuous promotion and attracting tourists from the metropolitan area.”

The mayor added, “The three major cultural zone projects, which involved the largest budget and construction period in Andong’s history, will become the main axis for revitalizing the local economy and will open the era of 10 million tourists as a world-class tourist destination and an international MICE industry hub.”

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