Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Revitalize 5 Tourist Zones Including Itaewon... "Promoting Attraction of Foreign Tourists"

Itaewon, Yongdusan, Jagalchi, Goyang, Dongducheon, Bugok Oncheon Selected
Up to 200 Million KRW Annual National Funding per Special Zone

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 11th that it has selected a total of five tourism special zones, including Itaewon and Dongducheon, as support target areas through the '2024 Tourism Special Zone Revitalization Support Project' contest.

Yongsan-gu Itaewon World Food Culture Street area.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

The areas selected as support targets in this contest are ▲ Itaewon (Yongsan-gu, Seoul), Yongdusan and Jagalchi (Jung-gu, Busan) ▲ Goyang (Goyang-si, Gyeonggi) ▲ Dongducheon (Dongducheon-si, Gyeonggi) ▲ Bugok Oncheon (Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongnam), totaling five tourism special zones.

The 'Itaewon Tourism Special Zone,' selected as a revitalization support target area this time, will create an environment for tourists' safety and comfortable nighttime tourism, considering that the space is relatively narrow, rest areas are lacking, and various cultural and tourism activities take place at night due to the area's characteristics. A rest and meeting space will be created around Noksapyeong Square, and nighttime lighting will be installed to disperse tourist congestion and improve the tourism infrastructure so visitors can comfortably enjoy the nighttime scenery.

Panoramic view of Yongdusan Park, Busan Metropolitan City.
Photo by Busan Metropolitan City

The 'Yongdusan and Jagalchi Tourism Special Zone' will transform the area around North Port Pier 1, an industrial heritage of Busan's modern history, into a 'cultural exchange platform' by operating various cultural contents such as the 'DJing Festival' and cooking competitions (Jung-gu Blue Kitchen Festival). Nighttime scenery connecting major downtown tourist spots like Yongdusan Park and Jagalchi Market with both directions of the North Port will also be created, bringing tourists and citizens closer.

2024 Goyang Flower Expo. [Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]

The 'Goyang Tourism Special Zone' will promote the 'K-pop Flower Pop Goyang' project, which fuses Hallyu and flower brands reflecting the region's characteristics. The function of the Goyang Tourism Information Center will be innovated to establish a tourism special zone hub, and the foundation for urban projects that will create synergy with K-pop concerts, such as mobile sound and lighting and public benches, will be laid. Additionally, a Christmas festival decorated with flowers will be held.

Dongducheon City is creating graffiti art in the Bosan-dong tourist district as part of the 'K-Rock Village Development Project' in collaboration with the Gyeonggi Museum of Art.
[Photo by Dongducheon City Hall]

The 'Dongducheon Tourism Special Zone' has created graffiti (street art) artworks on subway viaducts and old shopping areas within the Bosan-dong Tourism Special Zone from 2016 to 2021, and will showcase the charm of the birthplace of Korean popular music by creating graffiti art murals featuring pop art portraits of domestic and international popular musicians on the outer wall of Bosan Station.

Bugok Oncheon panorama. [Asia Economy DB]

One of Korea's representative hot springs, the 'Bugok Oncheon Tourism Special Zone,' will revitalize the tourist area by enhancing tourism content with abundant attractions and entertainment such as performances welcoming hot spring tourists.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is promoting the 'Tourism Special Zone Revitalization Support Project' to attract foreign tourists and foster international tourism hubs by improving tourism infrastructure conditions such as developing diverse contents and expanding convenience facilities across nationwide tourism special zones (33 locations nationwide excluding Jeju). For this, up to 200 million KRW in national funds per special zone annually (with a 50% local government co-payment) is supported.

Park Jong-taek, Director of the Tourism Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "Through the revitalization of tourism special zones, we will actively cooperate with local governments and the private sector to induce foreign tourists to visit regional tourism and help local commercial districts revive."

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