Jinju City, Cultural and Tourism Projects ... Reflected in Next Year's Government Budget Proposal

Feasibility Study for National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Jinju Branch
Incorporating Old Downtown Development and Namgang Father-Son Road Construction
Partial Inclusion of Southern Region Wide-Area Tourism Development

Jinju City in Gyeongnam is expected to gain momentum in its key projects. This is because significant cultural project budgets, such as the establishment of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Jinju Branch and the hosting of the Korea Drama Festival, have been reflected in the 2024 government budget proposal.

This achievement was made possible through close cooperation between the Jinju City dedicated team led by Mayor Cho Gyu-il and National Assembly member Park Dae-chul. Meanwhile, part of the budget for the development of the southern regional tourism area was also included.

In 2019, Jinju City and the National Museum of Korea signed an agreement to relocate and rebuild the current National Jinju Museum, located within Jinju Fortress, to the site of the old Jinju Station railway land regeneration project, and the project is underway.

Jinju City Korea Drama Festival.

As a plan for utilizing the current National Jinju Museum after relocation, Jinju City decided to attract the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Jinju Branch to reduce the cultural gap with the Seoul metropolitan area and promote balanced development, and has been pursuing this since 2020.

With the inclusion of 200 million KRW for the feasibility study of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Jinju Branch in the government budget proposal announced on the 29th, the attraction of the Jinju Branch is expected to accelerate. Currently, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art operates four branches nationwide: Gwacheon, Seoul, Deoksugung, and Cheongju.

The Jinju Korea Drama Festival, which began in 2006, is the only comprehensive drama festival in Korea and has been held every October with unique programs themed around drama during the festival period.

With the inclusion of 600 million KRW for next year’s event budget in the government budget proposal, it will contribute to the development of the broadcasting and video content industry and the globalization of Hallyu culture. In particular, from next year, programs linked to the video industry will be significantly strengthened, supporting the expansion of distribution markets to establish a foundation for the overseas advancement of domestic broadcasting and video content and the creation of an industrial ecosystem.

The southern regional tourism development is based on the 2022 plan established by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and some parts of the old downtown retro alley project and the Namgang Buja Road (K-Entrepreneurship Tourism Belt) creation project were included in next year’s government budget proposal.

Jinju City’s old downtown retro alley project (project cost 21.4 billion KRW) plans to create a workshop alley in the Mangyeong-dong area, establish a tourism base in the Bae Geonne Village, create a retro cultural street, produce retro alley scenes, and build a traditional culture experience center for traditional culture performances and experiences, turning the old downtown alleys into tourist attractions to revitalize the local economy and contribute to the inheritance of traditional culture.

The Namgang Buja Road creation project (project cost 5 billion KRW) will be carried out around Seungsan Village in Jisu-myeon, developing K-Entrepreneurship experience and tourism programs.

Jinju City plans to secure additional budgets by actively responding during the National Assembly review stage, reinforcing the feasibility and necessity of the southern regional tourism development project, of which only part of the budget has been reflected, and projects not yet included.

Mayor Cho said, “Despite the government’s sound fiscal policy and stringent fiscal reforms, the inclusion of our city’s key projects in the 2024 government budget proposal has secured the driving force for more profound and diverse development in Jinju’s culture and tourism sectors, along with balanced development between the metropolitan area and local regions,” and added, “I ask for continued efforts during the remaining National Assembly review stage.”

Meanwhile, the 2024 government budget proposal will be submitted to the National Assembly on September 1 and is expected to be finalized on December 2.

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